Page 49 of One Summer Weekend
‘But something rattled him.’ His gaze strayed briefly along the corridor, as if distracted by a noise or movement, then returned. He said, almost casually, ‘Where is he now?’
An air of bravado. ‘In the bathroom. You’ve got three seconds to get your hands off me before I call him.’
‘Long enough for this?’ Without waiting for an answer, he bent his head and kissedme. Not that I co-operated; I was too busy flexing my knee, preparing to deliver a short, sharp blow to his groin.
Then, out of nowhere, Jack’s voice, icily clear: ‘I thought I’d left something behind. But I haven’t. I can see that now.’
The blood drained from my face. I tore myself away from guarding the door and pushed at Troy with both hands. A brief struggle as he resisted – butit was more for balance than control.
Because the damage was done. The timing of his kiss had been perfect: he’d seen Jack coming, he’d known I was bluffing, and he’d delivered one last malevolent blow.
I wrenched myself free, only to see Jack walking away. ‘Jack!It’s not what you think!’ It was little more than a croak, but he would have heard me. Hemusthave heard me. Whereas secondsearlier I hadn’t heard him at all, not even the pad of his footsteps on the deep, duplicitous carpet.
I made to go after him, but Troy grabbed my arm. I jerked round. ‘Get off!’
His eyes bored into me. ‘I don’t recall you fighting like that for me.’ His face, his tone – everything about him radiated resentment. Strange, wasn’t it, when he’d just scored one final victory?
‘Don’tyou remember?’ A brittle smile. ‘There wasn’t anything to fight for, you’d already made your choice. I’ll never forget the look on your face when Maria walked in.’
‘I’ve told you – it wasn’t as simple as that. Why won’t you let me explain?’ His shoulders slumped, as if in defeat; he said, with a mournful sigh, ‘If it’s any consolation, there are still places in California I can’t bring myselfto visit, thanks to you.’
A twinge of compassion for the man from the Golden State, with his mantra of self-indulgence. I said, more gently than I’d intended, ‘This is goodbye, Troy.’ When I pulled away, he made no move to stop me. Not even when I swept past him into the room and slammed the door shut.
No point in going after Jack now; he’s had too much of a head start. And I needsome time alone. Time to recover from the events of the last few hours. Time to reflect on the future.
I leaned back against the door, drained; yet, at heart, calmer than I’d felt for years.
Only then did it hit me. I’d closed down this long-running chapter of my life – but at what cost to the next?
