Chapter 44
It had been a long night, it had almost felt like extra hours had been added to it, each time she had looked at the clock the hands had stood in a stationary position.
The first few hours hadn’t been too bad at all, after Mark had left she had spent a little while watching MTV, Christian had one of those huge entertainment units where the television looks more like a cinema screen. She had then managed to find some old a1 home videos in a cupboard near the video player which had kept her amused for a while (until it had turned into some awful home made porn flick featuring Paul and some leggy blonde girl).
She had then moved into the kitchen to cook herself some scrambled eggs on toast, for a moment she almost sprinkled some Norwegian Goats Cheese on the top, but had managed to change her mind when the pungent smell hit her nose.
It was after all that that she had started to get bored. It had reached the early hours of the morning, Christian wasn’t home, and she wouldn’t go to bed until he was. She couldn’t bear the thought of knowing that he was with that stuck up cow, and there was no way that she could bring herself to sleep until he was safely back home.
To start with she had convinced herself that he would be back any moment now. There was no way he would spend all night out, and any second he would walk back through the door, indeed she had spent a good hour just staring at it, willing it to open. It never did, and the more she stared at it, the more tired she began to get.
Forcing herself up she made her way to the kitchen to make a strong cup of coffee, which she drank in front of a fan, hoping that the cool air would keep her awake.
Somehow she must have fallen asleep because a click of the door jolted her to her senses, and she realised that she had been slumped on the chair, her head rested on her arm. Looking blindly around, her eyes fell on the clock on the mantelpiece. It was 6.00 am – he had been out all night.
She turned to look at him.
“You spent the night with Ella?” she asked the shadow moving towards her.
“Shit!” a voice exclaimed, “you made me jump, what are you still doing up?”
“Couldn’t sleep,” she admitted.
“Me neither”
“Good night with Ella?” she asked, forcing the words out of her mouth when all she really wanted to do was be sick.
“Didn’t spend much of it with her,” he grunted.
“Oh?”
“I got about as far as her door, which she slammed in my face.”
He sat down on the other end of the sofa.
“Oh,” Mel responded, not entirely sure what else she could say.
“She didn’t want to see me, said she hated me.”
“So you didn’t talk to her at all?
“Nope, shouted through the letter box a bit, but she just ignored me.”
“So where have you been all night?” Mel asked, sliding herself along the couch until she was sat right next to him.
“Wandering around,” he said simply.
“Where did you go?”
“Sat by the river.”
“All this time?” she slipped an arm around his shoulders and gave them a little squeeze.
“Yeah, was thinking.”
“Did it help?”
He looked up at her and she could see that his eyes were full of water, glistening against the light, he was hanging on by a thread – another word was sure to send the whole lot tipping down his face.
“I’ve come to a decision.”
“What’s that?”
A single tear fell from his eyes and slid silently down his cheek. Mel had never seen a grown man cry before, and the fact that it was Christian moved her even more. She wrapped her arms tightly around him and ran her hands down his back, trying to sooth him until he had calmed down enough to talk.
“I’m going to have to let her go,” he said.
“There’s no hope for you guys?” Mel asked, “no small chance that you will get back together?”
“She hates me Mel, you should have seen her, she looked so angry.”
“She may calm down,” Mel soothed, “things may get better.”
“They won’t, I know they wont, its finished.”
At that moment he completely let go as his whole body shook with sobs. He took in deep painful breaths, each time sending a fresh batch of tears dripping down his face.
“I’m sorry,” Mel said, in her heart of hearts this was exactly what she had always wanted, but she couldn’t say it was fun seeing him like this, and knowing that it was partly her fault.
“It hurts so much,” he admitted.
“It will get easier,” she said gently.
“How can it?”
“Eventually you will meet someone else and you can be just as happy.”
“I won’t ever meet anyone else,” he said adamantly, “she’s the only girl for me.”
“You will,” she told him, giving him another tight hug, “I guarantee that your soul mate is waiting for you.”
“I don’t believe that can happen,” he said.
“It will,” she said, stroking his hair gently, “she’s all ready for you, she’s just waiting for you to be ready for her.”
“You think?”
“I know,” she smiled at him, “as soon as you are ready she will find you.”
“That’s beautiful,” he said, looking up at her and giving her a faint smile, “you believe in all that stuff?”
“Absolutely”
“You found him yet?”
“Who?”
“Your soul mate.”
“Yeah”
“Where is he?” he asked, forgetting the tears and sitting up on the sofa.
“Not ready for me yet.”
“So we are both waiting,” Christian said smiling, “we can wait together.”
“I’d really like that,” Mel smiled at him, and putting her arms out towards him they had another hug.