Chapters (60)
- Cover
- Books by Sheryl Browne
- Dedication
- KARLA
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Epilogue
- The Affair
- Hear more from Sheryl
- Books by Sheryl Browne
- A Letter from Sheryl
- The Babysitter
- The Second Wife
- Acknowledgements
Jason hadn’t yet mentioned it was his own company he was selling. There was a lot she needed to know about him. A hell of a lot. Maybe, in time, he could explain to her what his ‘complications’ were without leaving her as shocked as he’d felt when he’d found out.
‘Speak soon,’ she said. ‘Keep your chin up, but watch what you’re doing with your other body bits.’
‘I will.’ Jason chuckled as she signed off, leaving him somewhat dazed. She’d blown into his life like a whirlwind just when he needed her. He only hoped she didn’t come to regret it.
He was heading for the outer office, thinking he ought to show willing and actually do some work, when his phone rang again.
Karla.
Swallowing back his now almost overwhelming guilt, Jason picked up.
‘Do you love her?’ she asked immediately, sounding tearful. ‘Jessie, do you love her?’
Jason stumbled over his answer.
‘Are you going to tell me it’s not what I think it is?’ Karla went on, before he could formulate any sensible thought.
‘No,’ he said, no idea what else to say. ‘I…’
‘I want you to tell me it’s not what I think. You have to!’ Karla cried forcefully. ‘You can’t love her. You love me!’
Thirty-Nine
KARLA
The rain is relentless, drumming bullet-like off the pavement, icy daggers slicing into my clothes and wetting me through to my skin. My body is shaking. It’s uncontrollable. My stomach lurches as I heave. I’m not sure what happened. One minute I was drinking, dancing, in another place, happy, bubbly me. The next I was crying as the walls tilted and the world seemed to close in on me. I tried to stay calm, inhaling deeply, exhaling slowly. It didn’t help. My legs almost buckled beneath me as I blundered, disorientated, to the exit. Now I am bent over in the street, wearing a body-con dress that clings to my flesh and shows too much of my thin body, and I am so sick, so very sick. This time, I know I am in deep trouble. The rotating blue light that skims the shop window beside me confirms it.
The police are patient, though their despair is thinly veiled. The female police officer who assists me into the patrol car and seats herself next to me seems particularly unimpressed. ‘Would you like to repeat that again, sweetheart?’ she says, clearly struggling to understand my gabbled explanations as to why I’m wandering the streets in the dead of night, vomiting into the gutter. ‘But a little bit more slowly this time, hey?’