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Back Because She Loves Me Save as PDF
Chapters (50)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication Page
  4. Contents
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Ninteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-one
  26. Twenty-two
  27. Twenty-three
  28. Twenty-four
  29. Twenty-five
  30. Twenty-six
  31. Twenty-seven
  32. Twenty-eight
  33. Twenty-nine
  34. Thirty
  35. Thirty-one
  36. Thirty-two
  37. Thirty-three
  38. Thirty-four
  39. Thirty-five
  40. Thirty-six
  41. Thirty-seven
  42. Thirty-eight
  43. Thirty-nine
  44. Forty
  45. Forty-one
  46. Forty-two
  47. Epilogue
  48. Letter From the Author
  49. Acknowledgements
  50. About the Author

She slowly pulled the quilt down to reveal her face. ‘Do we have to talk about this now? I feel like shit and I don’t want . . . I don’t want to make a big deal out of it. Can’t we just forget it happened?’ She reached out and took my hand. ‘I promise it won’t happen again.’

‘That’s what Belinda’s bloke used to say.’ I wished I could remember his bloody name.

Charlie blinked. ‘Who?’

I explained about Belinda and her jealous boyfriend.

‘And you think that’s what I’m like? A jealous nutter?’

I sighed. ‘I don’t think you’re a nutter. But this morning, well, you scared me.’

She put her hands over her face. After a long pause she said, ‘Is it a condition of us staying together?’

‘What?’

‘If I don’t see a therapist, will you dump me?’ Her voice trembled on the last two words.

I was about to say no, to back down, but I stopped myself. I needed to be strong. ‘I think so. Yes. I don’t want anything to spoil what we have, Charlie.’

She stared at me with liquid eyes. ‘I don’t either. But this morning – it wasn’t me.’

‘You’ve never done that before? With anyone else?’

‘No. That’s why it got so out of control, I think, because I didn’t know how to cope with the feelings, with the . . .’

‘The what?’

She sank back into the bed. ‘I don’t want to talk about it any more.’

‘But we have to,’ I said.

‘No. No we don’t. It won’t happen again. That’s all you have to know.’

This was so frustrating. But I was coming to see this was typical of her, clamming up, refusing to talk about things she didn’t want to face. ‘I want you to see someone, Charlie. Please. For me. Because morbid jealousy . . .’

‘Hang on,’ she interrupted. ‘Have you been Googling this? Trying to diagnose me?’

I didn’t reply.

‘Ha. You have. And you’re probably feeling pleased with yourself because Charlie has a problem and Andrew is going to fix it. Like I’m a leaky tap and the therapist is a plumber. You’re such a typical man.’ She pulled back the quilt and got out of bed, turning to face me, covering her breasts with a forearm. The scratches on her belly were red and livid.

‘Sometimes people act out of character. They get irrational. Do stupid things. That’s what this was. An aberration. But if you want me to see a therapist, fine. I’ll go. OK?’

She walked out of the room.

Twenty-six

Twenty-six