Bad For Me
Page 13
“Sure. Fire away.”
“Alone?” I looked at Wendy.
“Wendy can hear anything you have to say,” Billy said.
“It’s okay.” Wendy said. “I’ll leave you two alone. I’ll be in the garden.” She disappeared out of the back door.
“You’re washing the pots.”
“I bet you never thought you’d see the day.” He dried his hands, and ushered me into the living room.
“I don’t think this is a good idea.” I said.
“What? The clinic said I was ready to leave.”
“I mean moving in with Wendy.”
“Why not? Don't you like her?”
“She seems really nice.”
“So, what's the problem?”
I checked to make sure Wendy hadn't come back in.
“You've got to stay off the drink, Billy.”
“Don't you think I know that?”
“It's not a good idea for you to be with someone who has their own drink problems.”
“Wendy's good for me. We help one another.”
“What if she starts to drink again?”
“She won't—I won't let her. We've got each other's backs.”
“What will you do for money?”
“I'm going to look for a job once I'm back on my feet. Wendy has her own money. Her parents are loaded. Don't spoil this for me, Megan.”
“I'm not trying to spoil it. I just don't see how you can trust her.”
“What's the alternative? Do you want me to spend the rest of my life not trusting anyone?”
“You're making a mistake.”
“Maybe I am, but I'm willing to give it a try.”
The conversation went around in circles for the next ten minutes, but I could see I wasn't going to change his mind. I couldn't bear to see him throw away everything he had achieved at Mossbry.
“I'd better be going,” I said.
“Be happy for me, Megan.”
“I am.”
We hugged, said our goodbyes, and I went back to the car.
“Everything okay?” JJ said.
“I don't want to talk about it.”
“Thanks for paying Billy's clinic fees, and for taking me over there every day.”
We were parked outside my flat.
“No problem. It seems to have been money well spent. Will you need me to take you over to see Billy again?”
“No, thanks. He doesn't need me now—he's got Wendy.”
“So, will I see you again?”
“No. If you can let Julie know when you're planning to come over... ”
“You'll do what? Hide?”
“I'm sorry, JJ. It's better this way.”
I climbed out of the car, and hurried towards the flat. I didn't look back—I didn't want him to see the tears in my eyes.
Chapter 32
JJ didn't come to the flat again. Instead, Julie went to his apartment most weeks. She never talked about him, even though I think she wanted to. She was probably scared I'd bite her head off. Even without JJ at the helm, DraxSoft continued to go from strength to strength. I was given a promotion after I'd been there for six months. It wasn't anything dramatic; I was still in the same department, but it did mean a few extra quid each month. I'm not sure I would have still been there if JJ hadn't quit the company when he did. Seeing him every day would have been much too painful.
“Hi.” I called to Julie as she came back from visiting JJ.
She slammed the door closed, and headed straight for her bedroom. It was obvious something was wrong, and my immediate thought was that JJ was back on the drink. I gave it ten minutes to see if she would come back out—she didn't.
“Julie? What's up?”
She was lying on the bed.
“Leave me alone.” She was crying.
“Tell me what the matter is.” I sat beside her on the bed. “Is it JJ? Is he okay?” I didn't want to ask if he was drinking.
“What do you care?”
Her words stung and took me aback for a moment.
“Of course I care. What's wrong with him?”
Julie sat up—her face was red and blotchy.
“He's leaving.”
“Where?”
“I don't know. I'm not sure he knows. He says he's going to travel the world.”
“Why is that a bad thing? It'll be fun.”
“You haven't seen him lately.”
“Is he drinking?”
“No. Why do you always think the worst of him?”
“I don't. I didn't. I just meant... ”
“He hasn't touched a drop. He's just... I don't know. He doesn't smile any more. It's like the life has drained out of him. I'm worried what might happen when he's travelling alone.”
“Why don't you go with him?”
“It isn't me he wants to go with him.”
I could feel her gaze burning into me. I didn't know what to say. I tried to put my arm around her, but she pushed me away.
“When is he leaving?”
“Tomorrow afternoon.”
********************
The atmosphere in the flat overnight was terrible. Julie was obviously doing her best to keep out of my way, and when we were in the same room, she hardly spoke. I felt like anything I might say would only make things worse, so I kept quiet and hoped it would blow over by the morning.
Julie was in the same foul mood the next day. I couldn't stand anymore, so decided to get out of the flat for a few hours. I wandered around town for an hour. I had a little spare cash since my promotion, but I wasn't in the mood for shopping. I kept thinking about JJ. I was just about to get a coffee when I spotted them. Across the road, arm in arm, were Billy and Wendy. Even from that distance, I could see he looked great. He had a huge smile on his face, which was reflected by Wendy. They had a real spring in their step as they walked down the street—chatting and laughing as they went. I hadn't seen Billy since the day he had discharged himself. If I'm honest, I'd half expected to get a phone call from him saying it hadn't worked out with Wendy, and could he come and stay with me. Or worse still, a call to say he'd been found drunk somewhere.
I followed them at a distance until they disappeared into a coffee shop—the same one I'd planned on visiting.
“Megan!” Billy called.
“Billy, Wendy, hi. I saw you from across the road.”
“Will you join us?” Wendy asked.
“No, it's okay. I just wanted to say hello.”
“Stay and have a drink,” Billy said. “What do you want?”
“Okay. I'll have a Latte please.”
“I'll get the drinks,” Billy said. “You two chat.”
I took the seat next to Wendy.
“He looks great,” I said.
“He is. We both are.”
“I'm glad.”
“Billy told me what you said—that I'd be bad for him.”
“Oh. Right. I'm sorry...”
“It's okay. I understand. You care about him—so do I.”
I nodded.
“You can say what you're thinking,” Wendy said—still smiling.
“I wasn't... ”
“You were thinking 'but for how long'. Who knows? All we can do is to take it one day at a time. Right now we love one another, and that's all that matters.”
I couldn't argue. They looked great—they looked happy—they looked in love.
“Here we are.” Billy was back with the coffees.
Part 4 - JJ
Chapter 33
There was a knock on the door—I'd told Julie not to come around, but I knew she would anyway. She'd been really upset when I told her my news yesterday.
“Megan?”
“Can I come in?”
“Err... Yes, sure. Come in. Did Julie send you?”
“She doesn't know I'm here. She told me you were leaving—she's really upset.”
“I know. Will you look after her for me?”
“I can't—sorry.�
�
“Why... ”
“I won't be here.”
“You're leaving again. What about your job?”
“I'll have to give it up.”
“Where will you go?”
“I don't know.”
“You can't just run away like you did before.”
“I don't know because you haven't told me where we're going.”
“We?”
“That's what I said.”
“You want to come with me?”
“If you'll have me.”
“Are you being serious? This isn't some kind of joke?”
She took a step forward and kissed me gently on the lips. What's the opposite of a nightmare? A really great dream? There should be a better word for it. I was terrified that this was a really great dream, and that I'd wake up at any moment.
“I'm deadly serious,” she said.
“What changed your mind?”
“Billy and Wendy. I saw them today—they're happy—they're in love. I thought they'd be bad for one another, but they're not. They're good for one another. Maybe we could be too. I'd like to try—if you would.”
“Yes. God yes. We'll be good for one another. I promise. Do you trust me?”
“Yes.”
Another knock on the door broke the spell.
“Don't go anywhere,” I said.
Megan smiled. I loved that smile.
“Janet?”
“This trip of yours isn't a good idea, JJ.” Her look of concern changed to one of anger when she spotted Megan. “What's she doing here?”
Megan's smile evaporated.
“Come in, Janet. Let's talk.”
“It doesn't look like there's anything to talk about. I might have known she was behind this.”
She stepped into the apartment, and slammed the door closed behind her. She was still staring at Megan, who seemed to have shrunk several inches.
“Hold on Janet. Don't say any more.”
“JJ, you can't go. Not with her.”
“Her name's Megan.”
“You'll be back on the drink within a week.”
“No he won't,” Megan yelled. “I won't let him.”
“Just like you didn't let your mother or brother.”
I stepped forward so I was standing between them.
“Megan had nothing to do with my decision to leave.”
“So why is she here?”
“Because I love him,” Megan said.
I turned to face Megan. Our eyes met, and for a long moment I forgot Janet was still in the room.
“I love you,” she said—much quieter this time.
I turned back to Janet.
“We'll be okay. I promise.”
“I can't bear the thought of you...” Janet was close to tears, and struggled to get the words out. “I can't bear the thought of you going back to that dark place.”
I stepped forward and pulled her head down onto my shoulder.
“I'll be okay—I promise,” I whispered. “We'll be okay. We'll look after one another.”
Ten minutes later, Janet had managed to compose herself.
“Is there anything I can say which is going to change your mind?” She said; her voice was still raw with emotion.
“No. But, I'm never going to drink again—I promise.”
Janet nodded, and walked over to Megan.
“Look after him.” She stared into Megan's eyes.
“I will. I promise.”
Janet moved back to me, and we embraced.
“Keep in touch. Call me every day.”
“I will.”
And then she was gone. It was just the two of us. Both of us nervous—scared even.
“You said you loved me,” I said in little more than a whisper.
“I do.” Megan smiled. “We're going to be okay, aren't we?”
“Of course we are. We have each other now. That's all that matters.”
WEB SITE:
http://www.JBLeigh.com
Want to receive an email when my next book is published?
Sign up here: http://eepurl.com/Cjycr
Table of Contents
Part 1 - Megan
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Part 2 - JJ
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Part 3 - Megan
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Part 4 - JJ
Chapter 33