Page 52 of Mad About You

‘The end was the end anyway. That’s why.’

They both reached a natural pause and had to hold fire to let a gang of students in activewear and jelly shoes past before they could resume debate.

‘You don’t think this is some scheme to split them up and get him back?’ Harriet said, with considerable difficulty. She didn’t want to ask this, but it had to be addressed to be dismissed. She didn’t want to know and yet couldn’t not know how badly compromised Lorna still thought she was. Her years with Scott had stripped her of credibility. ‘I promise you I’d not go near Scott Dyer again in a million more lifetimes.’

‘Uh …’ Lorna considered this, and Harriet squirmed, as she’d hoped for an emphaticof course not!The trouble with best friends who tell you the truth is that they tell you the truth. ‘I don’t know, to be honest. That whole period of your life was impenetrable to me. How hard you fell, how fast you fell. How impossible you were to reach during.’

Lorna welled up all of a sudden and Harriet put her hand on her arm. Lorna wiped at her eyes. ‘It was like the way people talk about loved ones in an addiction spiral. The addicts pass a point where you can’t help them, they won’t let you. All you can do is watch and wait and hope to God they decide to save themselves. It made me truly understand what it means to feel helpless.’

‘I’m so sorry for what I put you through,’ Harriet said, thickly, starting to tear up as well, and swallowing it back.

Lorna said brusquely: ‘Don’t be. You weren’t the one putting me through it. It took balls to get out. Right. Where were we …? No, OK, this isn’t about the risk of you falling for Scott again. It’s because this is one huge wasp’s nest and every instinct I have says don’t poke a stick in it, to no obvious benefit whatsoever. Is this revenge? I get it, if so, but it’s going to rebound. He has to live the rest of his life as Scott Dyer, that’s his punishment.’

‘It’s not revenge. Helping his fiancée, now I’m on the outside … it’s an exorcism for me.’

‘Could be more like a saviour complex.’

‘Courage calls to courage everywhere,’ Harriet said.

‘I know that’s a neat slogan on a Tatty Devine necklace but I’m not sure it has tons of practical application,’ Lorna said.

‘It’s from a Suffragettes speech!’

‘And this is the horse you’re throwing yourself under.’

‘Seriously, Lorna,’ Harriet stopped, to catch her breath, and to make sure the family with the young kids on scooters had passed. ‘Who stops these men? How do we stop them? Scottnever hit me, he never physically attacked me or hurt me in any way where I can point to a scar. But he demolished me. If I could go to the police, I would.’

‘I think you can go to the police over what he did now.’

‘Not five years after the fact. Not with my job either, probably. “Associated with scandal” isn’t what people want from a wedding photographer. All we really have is warning each other. Who am I, if I don’t warn this woman? Ultimately, it’s as much for me as for her. If I leave another woman to suffer Scott Dyer because I’m frightened of intervening, then nothing has really changed. If I don’t do it, Lorna, then I’m still scared of him. That’s just a fact.’

Lorna exhaled, heavily, and a light breeze whipped at their hair.

‘I guess I see that. I also see you’ve made up your mind and it will eat away at you if you don’t do it.’

‘Thank you.’

‘Let’s say you send this letter, and his fiancée leaves him. You think if Scott knows you’re the cause, he’ll take that lying down?’

‘Maybe not, but what can he do? I don’t have a fiancé for him to cost me.’

‘Mmm. Does he have any photos of you that you’d not want posted publicly? Or videos?’

‘Oh, no! You know me, I like to take the pictures, not be in them. There was nothing like that at all. I’m glad to say that was never Scott’s thing.’

‘Good. I’m surprised you told me beforehand, by the way. You’re a victim of your own honesty. You could’ve posted your letter and saidguess what!while I roared.’

Harriet laughed. ‘I’m honest and … to send it, I need your help.’

‘Oh for fu— I’m not a pigeon.’

‘It’s easy. I’ll only be able to find details for the fiancée through social media. I’m sure Scott is on Facebook and he’s got me blocked. He won’t have blocked you. If you can look him up, maybe you can find out her last name from what you can see on his profile?’

Lorna opened her phone and found the app. ‘Scott Dyer … D-Y-E-R, right?’ she murmured. ‘Here we go. Six Mutual Friends. Fucking hell. Six people who need to get a fucking clue … In A Relationship With … Marianne Wharmby.’

‘That’s her!’

‘This look like who you saw?’

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