Splintered Memory
By
Natascha Holloway
Matt was sat on the window ledge of Charlie’s bedroom. He had his feet on the large chest that she kept beneath her window, but for what purpose he had no idea, and he had his forearms resting across his thighs. He was leaning forwards, and he was laughing loudly at her expense.
Charlie was one of Matt’s two best friends. She was also the girl that he’d been harbouring a crush on since he was seven, and he’d found her sat on the curb outside his house nursing a cut on her knee. What was currently causing his amusement now though, was the sight of her in what had to be the ugliest dress that he’d ever seen. The moment was being made all the more comical by the fact that she kept wobbling and nearly falling over, but this was largely due to the fact that she was trying to balance on just one leg.
In fairness Matt knew that Charlie couldn’t actually stand up properly given that her left leg was currently broken and in a cast, but he was still finding the scene in front of him hilarious.
He’d been with her at the hospital when she’d had her cast put on. She’d initially wanted a blue one, but had ended up with the unsightly black cast that she had on now, and hated, because she’d obstinately refused to have a girly pink one or the traditional white. Sadly though these had been the only other available alternatives that the hospital had had to black, blue hadn’t been available.
“Matt, you’re not supposed to be in my room! If you keep laughing,” Charlie said sternly; “my dad’s going to hear you and kick you out.” Her voice though had still had a lightness to it that had made her tone difficult to take seriously.
“Sorry,” Matt said still laughing; “it’s just you look ridiculous!”
Charlie looked crestfallen, and for the slightest moment Matt felt guilty. That was until he was about to say something to make up for his comment, and Charlie started laughing again. She also began swishing the ugly blue metallic coloured puffy dress that she had on from side to side.
“This is just stupid,” she said dropping the handfuls of dress that she’d been holding and hobbling back towards her bed. “Plus this sodding leg! I can’t believe that it’s still broken.”
“Yeah, who’d have thought that after two whole weeks in a cast it wouldn’t be fixed by now? Plus I’m not sure the leg can be blamed for that hideous dress,” Matt said before laughing again.
“And sodding Rich has gone into Bristol without me,” she said; “and I bet Bex will be all over him.”
“Is sodding the word of the day or something?” Matt asked her sounding amused. “Oh and congrats on the prize for the most random and unconnected thought of the day,” he added catching the pillow that Charlie had just launched in his direction.
She smiled seeing him catch it, and he couldn’t help but smile back at her.
“Rich is an idiot,” he said throwing her pillow onto her bed. He also firmly believed, as he kept his eyes on hers, that what he’d just said was true. Charlie was beautiful, funny, great company, and he couldn’t understand why Rich would want to spend his time with any other girl.
Rich was Matt’s other best friend, and they were both in the year above Charlie at school. Everyone in their year, and in the year above them, had been eager to ask Charlie out. So when the rumour mill had circulated that Rich had gotten to Charlie before anyone else could, nearly all of the boys at their school had been jealous. Yet none quite so much as Matt, who’d been wanting to ask her out for long before Rich had ever shown any interest.
“No he’s not,” Charlie said defensively.
“Yeah he is,” Matt said looking at her pointedly.
There was the briefest silence between them before Charlie smiled and said; “you’re right he is. He broke my leg, and he’s not been an attentive boyfriend for the whole time that I’ve been cooped up at home. Plus there’s every chance that he’s cheating on me right now with my arch nemesis.”
“I don’t think you can blame him for the fact that you lost your balance climbing into Claire’s window and fell out of a tree,” Matt said grinning. He then added; “er, also since when has Bex been your arch nemesis? I thought you two were best friends?”
Charlie looked momentarily guilty. She knew that there was slightly more to the tree story than she’d let on to Matt, so she decided to change the subject. Although just as she opened her mouth to do that, he said; “he should’ve visited you more though.”
Charlie smiled and said; “well at least I’ve had you for company.”
“Glad I make a good substitute,” Matt said feigning mock hurt.
“That didn’t come out right,” she said apologetically.
There was silence between them again, but this one lasted for a few seconds longer than the last, and it was only finally broken when Charlie’s awkwardness made her feel nervous about the glances that she and Matt were trading with each other.
“Come on, you need to help me out of this sodding dress. Can you undo the buttons at the back for me please?” She asked standing up, and putting all of her weight onto her good leg.
“I’d be happy to,” Matt said with a glint in his eyes and a hint of mischief in his voice.
Charlie rolled her eyes at him, and then turned her back to him unsteadily. He undid the buttons on her dress, but noticed with embarrassment that his hands were shaking the whole time.
“There, all done,” he said sounding calmer than he felt.
“Thanks. Can you chuck me that top and then turn round?” Charlie asked.
Matt threw her the top that she’d just pointed to, and then turned his back to her. Although as he did, he made sure that he was positioned so that he could still see her in her mirror.
Charlie put the top on her bed, and as she leant forwards her long dark hair fell in front of her heart shaped face. She quickly swept it back behind her ears with her fingers, and Matt watched her pull her arms out of the stiff material of the dress before lowering it to her waist. He felt his face flush as he saw more of her body than he’d seen before, and he momentarily looked away from the mirror.
As Charlie struggled to keep the dress around her waist, put her top on, and not put any weight on her broken leg, Matt couldn’t help but smile. Yet as he did Charlie lost her balance, stumbled, and fell over. He turned around quickly, but he knew instantly that she was alright by the sound of laughter that was coming from the other side of the bed.
He walked around to where she’d been stood, and saw her on the floor. Her top was over her head and one arm, the dress that she’d had on was trapped around her cast, and she was trying desperately to untangle herself whilst stand up.
“Here,” Matt said reaching out his hand and hoisting her up onto her good leg.
As she stood up though, the horrible blue dress that she’d had on fell to the floor in a heap. Yet it took Matt a full second to notice. He had, as like so many times before, been distracted by Charlie’s beautiful face. He’d been sidetracked by her kissable lips, her sweet button nose, her flushed cheeks, and her big brown eyes that always seemed to pull him in and make him lose his train of thought.
“Thanks,” Charlie said with a trace of embarrassment in her voice. She also put her other arm into her top, and pulled it down around her to cover the top half of her body. She then quickly shifted her weight so that she could bend down and hoist the dress back up around her waist, to cover the bottom half of her body, but as she bent forwards her bedroom door swung open.
Matt who was stood just inches in front of Charlie, stared uncomfortably and somewhat guilty at the person who’d just walked into her room. Charlie though, who was still bent double, simply looked through her legs to see who it was.
There in the doorway st
ood her boyfriend and Matt’s other best friend Rich. Charlie smiled awkwardly, but she saw that the grin that had been on Rich’s face when he’d opened her door had quickly disappeared. He also wasn’t looking at her. He was staring daggers at Matt.
“Nice,” he said angrily to his best friend as his face turned to thunder; “real nice!”
Part One – Fifteen years later
Charlie
She was stood in her kitchen scrolling through the old messages on her blackberry, and hoping as she did that this would prompt a new one to be delivered. Unfortunately whilst no new messages appeared, she heard another bout of laughter emanate from her living room. She knew that she needed to get back to her party.
Currently six of her closest and oldest serving friends were sat drinking wine, and apparently entertaining themselves whilst they waited for her to serve dinner. This had been something that she’d been trying to delay. Yet just as she contemplated putting down her phone, she felt someone come and stand behind her and rest their chin on her shoulder.
“You have no new messages,” Rich said imitating the voice heard on answering machines.
Charlie turned to look at him and shook her head. “Nope,” she said trying not to sound despondent about this. “Who’d be sending me messages anyway?” She asked smiling cheekily at him. “It’s not like it’s a special occasion or anything.”
Before he could reply though, she asked; “how hungry do you reckon everyone is?”
“Well speaking personally, I’m starving,” Rich said smiling; “but I believe that tonight is a special occasion,” he said winking at her. To which Charlie felt her face flush as she returned his smile.
Rich had always been good looking, which is why she’d dated him when they’d been kids. He was tall and rugged looking. He had dirty blond hair, and blue eyes that she often told him had a hint of dirty in them. He was, and always had been, confident, charismatic, and popular, and he’d been an obvious first choice boyfriend for most teenage girls. Yet Charlie had never been as attracted to him as some of the girls at their school, and she’d known long before they’d broken up that her feelings for him hadn’t been as strong as either of them had wanted them to be.
“Come on then,” Charlie said putting down her phone and throwing the tea towel that she had in her hand at him. “Help me carry some of this through. It looks like I’m hosting alone tonight.”
“But I’m a guest,” Rich said sounding aggrieved and looking at her in an appalled manner.
“Yeah you are a guest. So shouldn’t you be drinking my good wine, and telling filthy jokes about my wife? Or at the very least making inappropriate comments about her age?” A voice said from behind them, and both Charlie and Rich turned towards the back door.
Rich grinned broadly as Matt walked in through the back door, and Charlie could see that he looked worn out. In fact she thought that he looked like he could pass out at any minute, but there he was smiling at her whilst at the same time taking the towel off Rich and whipping him with it lightly.
“Happy birthday,” he said before kissing her on the cheek and adding; “sorry I’m late.”
Charlie felt the familiar feeling of happiness flow through her. Matt was she knew, the real reason why she’d never fallen properly for Rich. She’d had a crush on Matt for as long as she could remember, but when he hadn’t shown any interest in her she’d done what any girl in her position would’ve done. She’d set out to make him jealous, and she’d known just how to do it. She’d accepted a date with another boy, and that boy had just happened to be his best friend.
Matt was, as Charlie’s best friend Claire had always described him, ridiculously handsome. At school all the girls had fancied him, and he’d been the stereotypical high school heart throb. He was tall, good looking, and very charismatic. His hair was such a deep shade of brown that it appeared nearly black, and he had for as long as Charlie could remember worn it short and tousled. His eyes were hazel in colour, and he had smile that set his whole face alight.
Charlie and Matt had started dating when she was fifteen, and very shortly after she’d broken up with Rich. She’d gotten a pretty bad time of it when she’d initially made this switch, but this had been partly to do with the fact that Matt and Rich were best friends. Yet it had also been partly to do with the fact that they’d all grown up in Cheddar. In Cheddar everyone knew everyone else’s business, and they liked to comment on it.
No one had thought that their relationship would last. It had been seen as just another young romance that would peter out when he went off to university, but theirs hadn’t. He’d gone to Birmingham Uni to study medicine, and a year later she’d followed him there to study law. They’d moved in together in her second year, and they’d gotten married shortly after she’d turned twenty one.
She and Matt had always made every effort to stay in touch with their close knit group of friends that they’d grown up with, and had gone to school with, including those that hadn’t come to Birmingham for university. For Matt this had meant staying in contact with Rich, Ben, and Nick. For Charlie it had meant staying in touch with Bex, Rachel – or Rach as she preferred to be called, and Claire who had been her best friend since infancy.
They’d managed to maintain their friendships by hosting regular dinner parties, and given that Rich and Bex also lived in Birmingham the dinner parties were usually either at theirs or at Charlie and Matt’s like tonight.
Rich and Bex had also come up to Birmingham for university and had never left. They both now worked as teachers, Bex in a junior school and Rich teaching history in a local senior school.
Bex had been in Charlie’s year at school, and she’d always held a candle for Rich. Yet even though they now lived together, Rich and Bex weren’t the likeliest of matches. Bex was quite plain to look at. She wasn’t unattractive, but she had no particularly distinctive features. Rich on the other hand was very good looking, and in a very obvious way.
Bex was smaller than Charlie by a couple of inches, and although probably the same dress size she looked a little bigger. She had mousy mid length hair that she usually kept tied back, except when Claire got hold of her with either her hair straighteners or curling tongs.
Rachel and Ben had both gone to Bristol University. They’d started dating a year or so after they’d graduated, and they’d married a couple of years later.
Ben and Rach were well suited in Charlie’s opinion. They were both relaxed and incredibly funny, and if there was ever an occasion when they were unable to make one of the planned dinner parties the evenings were never as much fun.
Rach had vibrant red curly hair, and bright green eyes that glistened when she was at her most witty or cutting. She had a pretty face, and she was slightly taller and bigger set than Charlie.
Ben was the same height as Rich and he had the same coloured hair, but facially though he wasn’t all that attractive. He had blue eyes but they were slightly dull in colour. Yet he did have a kind and genuine smile, and that combined with his wit and charm made him instantly likeable.
Claire and Nick both lived in Bath and had only gotten together fairly recently, much to Matt’s objections when Nick had first confided in him.
Claire was a solicitor like Charlie, and Nick worked for an insurance company. Although it was hard to keep track of exactly what he did, as he seemed to change jobs every couple of months.
Nick was tall, dark haired, and handsome to look at. He had dark mysterious eyes and very prominent cheekbones which made his features quite striking, but the only thing that Charlie had never found particularly attractive about him though was his smile. It came across more as a sneer than a smile, and Charlie had always found that this made him less attractive as a result.
Claire on the other hand was stunning and always had been. She had a tiny size six frame and was only 5ft 3inches tall, but despite her small size she was somehow very shapely. This shapeliness combined with her platinum blonde hair that she wore in a striking razor
sharp bob, her fiercely blue eyes, and her angelic face, had the effect of dazzling men.
“I thought you weren’t going to make it,” Charlie said to Matt as Rich waltzed out of the kitchen having been handed another bottle of red wine by Matt.
“Sorry,” he said looking apologetic. “We’ve been swamped all day and I couldn’t get away. A couple of new doctors started and I had to show them the ropes. Have you had a good day though?”
Charlie nodded and smiled as she put the lamb that she’d cooked down in front of him and asked; “can you carve?”
“Hmm,” he said smiling. “I think I can manage that, but first,” he said grabbing her as she went to walk away. “A kiss for my beautiful wife on her thirtieth birthday,” he said before kissing her.
Charlie felt her heart melt the same way it always did when he kissed her, and the same way that it had fifteen years earlier when he’d kissed her for the first time.
“Hey,” she said pulling away from him slightly. “You know the rules. No mentioning of the age!”
“Sorry,” he said laughing; “I forgot that I wasn’t allowed to say thirty at any point today.”
Charlie hit him with the oven gloves that she was holding, but Matt just laughed again and pulled her back towards him.
They kissed, and Charlie could have happily never stopped kissing him. The problem was she knew that they had guests to entertain. So reluctantly, she pulled away from him again. “That’s not going to carve itself,” she said nodding in the direction of the lamb.
He gave her a wicked grin as he reached for her hand to pull her back to him once more, but she quickly stepped back and said; “come on Mr Grayson, we’ve got company!”
“Yes Mrs Grayson,” he said still grinning but finally turning to the job at hand.
***
Everyone was getting ready to leave, as Charlie stood at the front door talking to Claire. She could feel Matt watching her, and she knew that he’ be trying to read the expression on her face. Yet she was trying desperately to conceal it from him.
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