Page 53 of When We Were Friends
‘Of course not!’ said Paige. ‘I wouldneverstop Olly and Felix from meeting. I’ve been desperate to tell you! But I know you’ve got another reason for this trip, Morgan. Telling you all the truth, right at the start, would have meant we never came away, never had time to talk things through properly.’
‘Don’t blame your deception on me,’ spat Morgan. ‘I’m done. I’m going back to the B&B, packing and heading back to Manchester on my own. Message me Hu… Felix’s contact details, Paige. When he gets back from Dubai, I will take it from there.’ She looked at the three of them and tears filled her eyes. ‘I so wanted us to be friends again, but some secrets are too big to get over. Emily lied about her mum. Tiff befriended Jasmine. Paige married our worst enemy. I’m not blameless, even though Felix had treated us so badly, I was clearly the only one to go so far as to actually sleep with him back then.’ She breathed in and out. ‘Don’t contact me again, any of you. I mean it.’
‘My pleasure,’ said Tiff tightly. ‘This was all one big mistake. We are different people now and there’s clearly very little forgiveness between us.’
‘We’ve each got our own problems,’ said Emily. ‘I for one don’t need any more drama.’
‘The Secret Gift Society is officially dissolved,’ said Morgan and her voice caught. ‘We never actually said that in 2004.’
‘Let me explain; it’ll make sense,’ said Paige and pressed her palms together. ‘When we met in New Chapter Café, a couple of weeks ago, and—’
‘There’s no point,’ said Tiff. ‘You’ve proved to us, Paige, that we are still capable of betrayal, even at our age when we are supposed to have learnt from our wrongs.’
Morgan delved into her rucksack and pulled out the notebook with closed cases written on the front. She opened it up and handful by handful, she tore out pages, waiting to feel better as they fluttered away on the sea breeze. She turned her back on the others and hailed a taxi. She got in on her own and slammed the door shut. The car pulled away.
29
PAIGE, EMILY, TIFF
Paige’s knees buckled and she fell onto the sand as Emily walked along the beach, heading up to the northern headland. Tiff had followed Morgan back up the path, presumably to get a taxi herself. Time passed, she was unaware of how many minutes. A hand touched her shoulder. Morgan? Emily? Tiff?
‘Are you okay?’ asked Sal, the receptionist. She shook an embroidered handkerchief. ‘One of you dropped this.’
Emily’s. She never had liked tissues. Her mum used to tease her about it, saying she’d been born a century too late.
‘Sounded like a bad argument.’
Paige couldn’t speak.
‘I’m afraid there’s not much privacy on this beach,’ Sal continued. ‘What with the breeze, it’s carried many an angry word over the years. Lovers’ break-ups, the snappy words of tired parents, disgruntled cries from customers who can’t master paddleboarding… I’m on my break. A nice hot drink, that’s what you need.’
Numb, Paige followed her back up the path and into the building once more. Five minutes later, she sat in the staff room, behind the reception area, next to a pile of sports magazines.
‘Thanks,’ Paige muttered. ‘I’m not sure the others would think I deserved this.’
Sal sat down opposite her and put her mug on the pile of magazines before placing her palms on her thighs. She leant forwards, lines around her eyes deepening. ‘Felix is a good man. Kind, considerate, he made an impact during his relatively short time here. He often worked late and always helped out at charity events. Rob trusted him completely and within only a few weeks, he was allowed to lock up by himself. But I’m sure I don’t need to tell you about his good qualities.’
‘He works on youth community projects now. It’s his passion.’
Sal offered Paige a tube of biscuits. She shook her head.
‘We got talking once, at a Christmas party. He opened up about high school, about how he regretted so many things.’ Sal chewed for a moment. ‘We shouldn’t be judged for a lifetime by the things we did in our youth. Paige, is it?’
She nodded.
‘Paige, make your friends listen to what you have to say about the man Felix is now. If, after that, they’re still full of anger then… you have to let go of them. I don’t say that lightly. Female friendship is important, but not if it’s stuck in a place of narrow-mindedness and resentment.’ She sipped from her mug. ‘Trust me. I had three close friends years ago. We’d hung out together since primary school, stayed living in the same town afterwards. We booked the trip of a lifetime… okay, only two weeks hiking in Wales…’ She smiled. ‘But still, it was all our budget could afford and we couldn’t wait to get away from living with our parents. But a week before the trip, I landed the job of my dreams at the local swimming pool. I’d been unemployed for three months and it was an immediate start. I had to accept the offer but my friends couldn’t forgive me. For weeks, I wrote apologies and phoned. Eventually, they softened but still made snide comments every time I mentioned work. That’s not healthy friendship.’
‘But we were so good together. High school would have been awful without Morgan, Emily and Tiff.’
‘My friends were everything to me too. But we aren’t needy young people any more, are we?’ She looked Paige straight in the eye. ‘You have a great husband. A job you enjoy?’
‘Yes… yes, I do.’
‘A successful one, I bet. Look, did you ever used to watchSex and the City?’
‘In my early teens, yes, with Mum.’
‘Did you imagine that’s what female friendship should be like? Out on the razz? Telling each other everything? Displaying unlimited loyalty and forgiveness? Always being there for each other, whatever, no conditions? Putting those relationships before all others?’
