Page 27 of Sorry, Not Sorry
‘I’m not yet fully qualified, but yes, I do counsel clients,’ Delilah said carefully. Instinct told her this wasn’t the time to get into the technicalities of her current situation.
‘Alright, if you’re serious about making things right with me, then I need you to help me make things right with Zazie.’
‘Wait, what? Who’s Zazie?’
‘My girlfriend.’
The words sent a sharp stab of pain through Delilah. This had definitely not been part of her imagined script, and she couldn’t help wondering if Noah was deliberately trying to hurt her, which would be understandable after what she had done to him. But then, Noah being involved with someone else shouldn’t have come as a surprise. It was over three years since she’d walked away, and he was a very attractive man who had never lacked for attention from women. Reminding herself that she had no right to feel betrayed, Delilah rallied quickly, determined not to show her hurt feelings.
‘I see. What’s the problem?’
‘We’ve been going out for a while and it’s serious – or rather it could be, if she and my mum would just get along.’
Delilah had dubbed Noah’s mother the Wicked Witch of the West for good reason and despite her mixed feelings about Noah’s new girl, she felt a pang of sympathy for the unknown Zazie. But that didn’t mean she wanted to get involved.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said firmly. ‘I don’t see how I can help with that. I work with couples on their own relationships.’
‘Exactly. My relationship with my girlfriend’ – Delilah tried not to flinch at the emphasis Noah seemed to enjoy placing on the word – ‘is messed up because of her relationship with my mother. I don’t want to lose my girlfriend, and you’re a relationship counsellor. It’s simple: you help sort us out – me and Zazie, and Zazie and Mum – and then maybe I forgive you for what you did to me.’
Delilah jumped to her feet. ‘That’s outrageous!’ she gasped, dropping any attempt to be conciliatory. ‘And it’s also blackmail!’
When Noah looked unmoved, she took a breath and tried to speak calmly. ‘There’s no way I can counsel you and your’ – she tried, but she couldn’t get the word out – ‘um, Zazie, when you and I used to be a couple. It would be completely unethical, and I could get fired.’
‘I don’t see how that’s a problem since you and I are ancient history,’ said Noah in an indifferent tone that set Delilah’s teeth on edge. ‘But I suppose you have a point.’
‘Thank you!’ Delilah breathed in relief.
‘So we won’t tell Zazie we used to go out.’
Delilah opened her mouth to argue, but Noah stood up and placed a silencing finger on her lips to stop her. It was the first time he had touched her since her arrival at his door, and it was as if her body had suddenly gone up in flames. She looked up into his eyes and their gaze locked for what felt like an eternity. Then she shook her head, freeing her lips from his touch and breaking the spell.
Despite herself, her eyes darted towards his arm. Was the tattoo still there under the sleeve of his sweater? If Delilah was ancient history, it was very likely he’d had it removed or – worse – had tattooed Zazie’s name over it.
The idea that she had been so easily replaced shifted Delilah’s emotions from sadness into the safer territory of anger. She knew it was irrational to be upset that he’d moved on, but that didn’t stop her silent fuming. Even if Noah was in love with someone else, how dare he demand that she help him with his relationship? She might have behaved badly towards him, but what he was asking of her was simply cruel.
‘You’re being unreasonable,’ she snapped at him with blazing eyes. ‘I can’t force your mum to like someone she doesn’t. In case you’ve forgotten, I couldn’t even get her to like me!’
‘I’m not changing my mind, Delilah, so it’s up to you. Help me fix things with Zazie and then I’ll forgive you. That way, we can all move on.’
His tone was uncompromising, and Delilah turned away in frustration. She had come to apologise, not to land herself in an impossible dilemma. She might need Noah’s forgiveness to complete her mission and prove to Polly that she had gained enough self-awareness to get her job back, but if she was daft enough to agree to his outrageous request, she would be jeopardising the very job she was desperate to save.
20
‘Oh no, he didn’t!’ Salome breathed.
‘Oh yes, he did,’ Delilah echoed grimly.
‘But that’s ridiculous!’
‘No, it’s beyond ridiculous! It’s absurd, asinine, laughable, outrageous?—’
‘Calm down, Ms Thesaurus, and let’s think this through logically,’ Salome cut in impatiently. ‘I totally get that he’s still furious with you – and for good reason – but he surely can’t expect you to be his counsellor. What if you… I don’t know… deliberately tried to break them up?’
‘He knows I wouldn’t do that!’ Delilah protested. ‘Besides, it would be unethical.’
Salome arched a sceptical eyebrow. ‘At this point, I think we’ve moved way past ethical and into la-la land. Anyhow, what makes Noah so sure this Zazie woman would even agree to bare her soul to a woman he was once engaged to?’
‘That’s what I asked, and he says he’ll introduce me to her as a friend of a friend. For obvious reasons, we’d have to keep our past a secret.’
