Page 85 of Forgive Not Forget
“Sorry.” She craned her head to peer out the window at the main gate. “She still in there?”
“Yes. What on earth are you doing here?”
“I cleared a few hours of my schedule to be here for my best friend.”
Anna checked the rear-view mirror to see a cab disappearing back down the road. “I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.”
“Here.” Rebecca thrust a takeaway cup at her. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, though I assumed living with Katherine you’d be addicted to peppermint tea by now.”
“Thanks. It’s perfect.”
Anna wrapped her cold hands around the welcome cup to warm them. Running the engine of a car to keep warm wasn’t something she approved of, not in spring anyway.
“How’s she been?” Rebecca asked, taking a sip from her cup.
“She went in a shaking wreck. No doubt she’ll come out as one.”
Rebecca extracted her phone from her pocket and began tapping at it furiously, so Anna returned her attention to her book. Rebecca was an unexpected but welcome surprise. She had a way with Katherine that Anna just couldn’t fathom, though she supposed it came with their years of friendship. She calmed her more easily, and she always said the right thing. Anna was learning slowly, picking up what she could from Rebecca. When Katherine had said she was petrified, every part of Anna wanted to just drive her away from the source of her pain. She hadn’t. Instead, she tried to empower her and give her the strength that Rebecca would have.
Rebecca placed her phone on the dashboard and turned to Anna. “Thank you for getting her here.”
Anna was about to speak when Rebecca continued.
“I know we may not always see eye to eye when it comes to Kat, but I’m glad you’re —”
“Coming around to your way of doing things?” Anna finished with a sly smile.
Rebecca spat out a laugh. “Yes, something like that. I’m sorry, I should have been more open with you, helped you. I suppose I didn’t want Kat to replace me. I’m used to being the one she comes to, and if she could come to you for everything she got from me, well, she wouldn’t need me anymore.”
Anna snorted. “Seriously, you think Kat could ever be without you? And yes, you should have seen me more as an ally than a threat. We both love her and want to help her. We need to start working together and supporting each other to do that. It will only serve Kat’s interests more.”
Rebecca nodded her agreement. She picked at her red-varnished nails as she took in the surroundings.
“You know, it was me that introduced them.”
“I didn’t know that. I’ve tried not to ask too many questions for fear of upsetting her.”
“Helena worked at an art gallery in the West End. I’d bought some pieces from her over the years, and we’d become friends. She invited me and a plus one to an exhibition, so I took Kat. I hadn’t even realised Helena was into women. I knew she had an ex-boyfriend, so I’d ignorantly assumed she was straight. I’d have introduced them earlier had I realised, and things… things may have been different.” Rebecca’s fingers became agitated, and her hands trembled slightly. She rubbed them together as if warming them.
Anna finally understood Rebecca. Having introduced the two of them, she felt the weight of responsibility for Katherine’s heart being ripped apart when Helena was taken from her. Had she spent the last few years replaying everything in her mind, wondering if she could have done something to make the outcome different?
Rebecca wiped a tear away and sniffed. “Anyway, I’m here for you as much as I am Kat, okay? I’m pleased you called me that day. It must have taken a lot of guts after the way we left things. I know I’m not the most approachable of people. It comes with the job, I’m afraid.”
Anna nodded. She couldn’t find any words. It was strange to see Rebecca lowering her walls.
Rebecca returned her attention to her phone. Assuming that was the end of the conversation, Anna returned to her book once again, only to realise she wasn’t taking any of it in.
On what felt like the hundredth time she’d glanced up to check the road for signs of Katherine, she finally saw her emerge from the prison walls.
“She’s coming.”
Rebecca shoved her phone back into her pocket and opened her door. Realising Rebecca was going to meet Katherine, Anna extracted herself from the car and followed. Rebecca was one of those annoyingly confident people who knew just the right thing to do and when. In short, she was a leader. Like Katherine.
Katherine made it a few metres away from the prison before she spotted them and stopped, holding her hand over her mouth. Reaching her first, Rebecca wrapped her in a hug as Katherine fell into her arms. Feeling like a spare part as she often did when Rebecca was around, Anna approached the two of them slowly. The two sobbing women opened their arms to her and pulled her into the hug with them.
As they eventually pulled apart, Katherine was almost unrecognisable, her face puffy and red from crying. Anna held her face in her hands and wiped under her eyes with her thumbs before placing her lips on Katherine’s.
“I’m so proud of you,” she said as she pulled back. “We both are,” she added, nodding to Rebecca.
