Page 11 of Heal You
“You’re married, Amanda.You have a fucking husband.Did you not think that was something I should know?Did you not think it was important for me to have this information so I could decide if I wanted to do this with you?”
“H-how do you know about my husband?”
Morgan couldn’t believe this woman.Did it really matter how she knew?“I found out last weekend.One of my regulars saw you leaving the flat, and they know you.They also know that you’ve been married forthirtyyears.”
“That’s nobody else’s business!”
Morgan nodded slowly.“It’smybusiness, Amanda.I can’t do this with you if you’re married.I know we’ve hada lotof fun, but it stops now.Right now.Please, don’t come here again.”
Amanda snorted and pushed off the wall.“You’ve no idea what you’re walking away from.You’ll be sorry.”
“Sorry to walk away from a cheat?Nah, I don’t think I’ll regret this decision at all.”Morgan opened the door again and ushered Amanda back out into the bar.“Take care of yourself.I have a job to do.”
Amanda stood on the other side of the bar, dumbfounded by Morgan’s reaction.She blinked repeatedly, but Morgan wasn’t discussing this any further.Amanda was married, and that was that.It didn’tneedany further discussion.
“Morgan, can we work this out?”
“Nope.We can’t.”Morgan lifted her phone from the shelf and found two messages waiting for her.
Am I okay?That’s quite the question to ask.The honest answer is no.I’m not.Still, I have no choice but to pick myself up and move on with my life.I don’t know what that looks like yet, but at least I’m not staying with a man who sleeps with other women.That’s something, I guess x
Then came the other message, timestamped almost ten minutes later.
I’m sorry.That was too much.You don’t need this.Thank you againx
Shit.Jan must have thought that Morgan’s lack of response meant she didn’t care or that this was all too much.Only she did care, and she would care a whole lot more the moment Amanda left her bar.She quickly started writing out a reply.
Would you like to come over tonight?
Jan likely wouldn’t take her up on that offer, but Morgan secretlyandstupidly hoped she would.She could be an adult and offeranothershoulder to Jan, right?
Morgan looked up.Amanda was watching her intently.“Are you going to leave?”
“No, I’m not.I’m not leaving until we’ve talked about this.”Amanda moved closer and lowered her voice.“You have no right to judge me when you take a woman up to your flat who has only come into your bar for a drink!Because that’s what happened, Morgan.Youencouraged me up those stairs.”
“Mm.I did.Andyouhad no issues using your legs and taking yourself up them, did you?”Morgan sighed.She couldn’t be bothered with drama.“I really need to get on and serve my customers.”
Morgan’s heart jumped when Jan responded.
I think you gave me enough of your time on Monday night.
Chewing her lip, Morgan thought about how best to approach this.She wanted to spend time with Jan again to find out what the next step for her was, but she didn’t want to sound desperate.
Look, I’ll be here all evening.If you find yourself at a loose end and want to talk, you know where I am.
Satisfied that her response was good enough, she locked her phone and shoved it into her back pocket.“Right, I’m off to do some work.Please leave, Amanda.”
Amanda took her bag from the bar this time.“I’m not done with this.Iwillbe back.”
Oh, I’m sure you will, Morgan thought.“And when you do, I’ll tell you the very same thing again.Whatever the fuck we were doing…hasended.”
* * *
Armedwith a huge arrangement of flowers, Jan stepped inside The Corner bar and looked around.Damn it.It seemed Morgan wasn’t working tonight.Jan didn’t really know why she was here; she wasn’t sure it was the wisest idea in the world, given the fact Morgan had revealed a few things to her earlier in the week, but Morgan seemed to care.She seemed to want to be there for Jan.At the moment, it felt as though Morgan was all she had when it came to someone she could talk to.
She still found herself unable to reach out to Gillian and Finn again, so here she was…hoping for the support Morgan had so selflessly offered on Monday.Right now, Jan only hoped she didn’t find herself an emotional wreck in Morgan’s flat, as she had on the previous occasion.Even though she rarely showed her emotions, she felt safe doing so with Morgan.Jan couldn’t put her finger onwhyshe’d felt drawn to come here this evening, but she was just going to go with it.It was just a drink, and Morgan had already invited Jan over. Maybe she would even gain a friend out of this.
Your real friends are going to hit the roof when they find out about this.
