Page 71 of Someone Like You

“Of course he did. We tell each other everything.”

It wasn’t so much the statement that stunned Ian as Abigail’s unblinking self-assurance.‘We tell each other everything’... No resentment, no judgement. Only blind trust that didn’t fear betrayal.

“All I want,” said Abigail, “is to fix this situation as best as we can, as fast as we can. For Phil’s sake.”

For Phil’s sake.

That was all Ian cared about.

“What did he tell you, exactly?”

“Everything.” Abigail crossed one leg over the other, one arm comfortably lying across her lap. “He misses you. Terribly.”

She didn’t seem angry. Concerned, if anything. Ian couldn’t figure out what the core of this conversation was. It sounded like Abigail was reprimanding him, not for seducing her fiancé, but for pushing him away.

“There was nothing I could do without hurting him to some extent,” he said warily. A crushing weight set on his shoulders, forcing him to lean his elbows on his knees. He passed a hand over his face, something between a groan and a sigh heaving out of him. “I’m not proud of it, but it was the right thing to do.” He sought Abigail’s eyes and found them already pinned on him, watchful and calculating.

“I know your guilt,” she said, sorrow seeping into her expression. “I’ve hurt him, too.”

“You?”

“Phil’s burnout was partially my fault.”

“Don’t be daft.”

“It was.” Abigail took a sip of her tea, then her lips pursed. “We met in the period when his popularity was taking off. I naively assumed it was the abrupt change in his lifestyle to cause him all that stress… But it was also our relationship.”

“He says his life got better the day he met you.”

Abigail smiled. “That might be true, but… I’m sure you’ve noticed Phil has his own way of tackling life: he adapts to the environment around him to survive.” Ian nodded, although he hadn’t witnessed much of that adaptation personally, as knowing Phil’s aversion for crowds and noise he’d always tried to keep him away from all of that. Save for the pub, but he’d been ready to fight the noisy guys for him. He’d never forget Phil’s relief when he’d silenced them. “His world shifted significantly when we got together and I think he unconsciously gave up too much of himself to be the man he thought he should be for me.” Another sip. Abigail looked sad. “The never-ending effort took a toll on him before I had a chance to realise what was really happening. And now here we are, trying to start over.” She swirled the tea around the cup. “Two months in Glasgow with barely any improvement, then Phil meets you…” A pause punctuated by a sharp look. “And things magically change.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Ian objected. He still felt like he was under some sort of evaluating scrutiny, he just didn’t know what he was being evaluated for.

“You were a stranger,” said Abigail. “A clean slate. He didn’t owe you anything.” She held the cup between her hands, resting it on her lap. “He didn’t feel like he had to adapt with you, so he was just… himself. A chameleon without any predator to hide from, if you will.”

“And you have no problem with that?”

“Are you asking if I’m jealous?” Abigail was a difficult woman to read through. She spoke directly, no beating around the bush, with the relaxation of someone who was too confident to be afraid of confrontation. Her eyes narrowed imperceptibly. “If Phil needed a kidney and I couldn’t give him one, how do you think I’d feel towards a compatible donor?”

The question smacked the entirety of the story into a whole different perspective. Mental illness was still an illness, potentially terminal to many. If you loved someone enough, a cure, especially a life-saving one, was a blessing, no matter who it came from.

“You restored him, Ian.” Warmth. Gratitude. The most beautiful smile Ian had ever seen. “No wonder he fell in love with you.”

All of Ian’s predictions about this meeting were crumbling down one by one and he could only watch and fumble, trying to predict Abigail’s next move, which was never what he was expecting.

“I never wanted to get in the way,” he said, like an apology — an unsolicited one, because nothing in Abigail’s behaviour indicated that sheblamedhim in any way. Ian wasn’t really sure what they were here for.

“Alright, just to be clear.” Abigail set the now empty cup down on its saucer. “I’m not here to berate you. You didn’t‘get in the way’. I appreciate you walking away from Phil out of respect for me, but that’s not going to work for any of us.”

It took a moment to click.

“Anyof us?”

“He wants usbothand thinks he has to give up one of us in order to keep the other.” Abigail’s head tilted, dark hair cascading over her shoulder. “The question is: do we want to force him to pick?”

We.

Us both.

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