Page 57 of The Grosvenor's Ghost
It’s not long after one of those painful silences where Phoebe is literally twitching to say something that Sebastian slaps his knees and leaves the room.
“And then there were three…” She sighs, resting her chin in her hand.
“I’ll be off soon,” Mia nods.
“Why?” Phoebe cocks her head. “Is this getting awkward for you? I guess it is, considering the whole threesome scan—”
I nudge her arm, shake my head at her when I see Mia sink into her seat and turn pink.
“Sorry,” Phoebe mutters sheepishly, excusing herself and walking out of the room.
Mia laughs, shakes her head, stares at me.
“What?”
“You’re still really in love with her, aren’t you?”
I frown. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“She’s with someone.”
“So was Sebastian,” I shrug.
She tuts, licks her lips. “That was different.”
“How? You knew Sebastian was with someone but you still loved him.”
“I didn’t—” stops herself, groans a bit.
“You didn’t love him? Seems like a bit of a waste, then.”
“No,” she shakes her head. “I did—it was just different.” Mia takes a deep breath, stares out of the window. “I still do love him. I think I always will. Sleeping with him just confused things.” And then she looks at me. “You can love two peopleat the same time, Arthur. What happened with Sebastian and I wasn’t cheap or sordid.”
“I never said it was.”
“Yeah, but, I know that’s what you’re thinking—it’s what everyone thinks,” she laughs lightly.
“Do I really look like I’m in any kind of place to judge?” I give her a look, she smiles softly. Maybe thankful because I haven’t treated her like everyone else?
“Well…no, but I wouldn’t judge you if you did judge me.”
“That’s because you’re a good person.”
She laughs, like actually, laughs. “That’s probably the most controversial opinion I’ve heard in the last ten years.”
“Why? Because you did one bad thing? That makes you a bad person, does it?”
“I guess not but what I did wasn’t just a little slip up—I wrecked an almost marriage.”
“So,” I shrug. “It’s not like you killed someone. Some people even think what I did was worse.”
“True,” she sighs. “Have you ever killed someone?”
“I don’t know—hope not.” I swallow, look away.
Mia laughs. “Well, there we have it: we’re not that bad after all.”
“Yep,” I mutter.
