Three Years On

Chapter Thirty

So, no one's comment on the last chapter yet -_- How about this? The first person to comment on this one gets a dedication. Anyways. I just want to know what you think.

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     Michael had thrown his belongings in the back of his car, and was already ten minutes out of St. David’s before he stopped. Robert had been in luckily, and hadn’t questioned why he was in tears and racing to leave. He was still crying like a baby, even though it had been half an hour since he had left Debby on top of the cliff. He didn’t care that it wasn’t manly, he just couldn’t think. He knew her, and he knew that she meant it – every word she’d said.

     His only thought of reassurance was that now he could maybe get over her. Last time it hadn’t worked because they’d been forced to break up when neither of them wanted to, but at least this time he knew it was really over.

     When he was halfway to Haverfordwest, his phoned pinged. He felt it was probably urgent, so he pulled his car up on the side of the road to read the message.

      It was from Anna. Hey, you never got back to me yesterday about meeting up, I’m free today though, if you and Debby want to do something. Michael only felt more upset reading this. Only two days ago they had been in his kitchen in Warwick making plans to see Anna, only yesterday he’d beat up Alfie and he and Debby had consummated their love, only this morning he’d believed everything was fine. Within the space of a few hours his whole world had fallen apart.

     But then another thought occurred to him. Anna. When he’d told Debby her story three days earlier, about how her boyfriend Jack had left a rose on her doorstep everyday until she forgave him, Debby had made Michael promise never to give up on her.

      And that’s exactly what he was going to do.

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     ‘You still sure you don’t want to talk about it?’ Beth asked. She was trailing around after him in the big Tescos in Haverfordwest. ‘I’m dying to hear your explanation about the whole not having sex thing.’

     Michael stopped abruptly, the shopping cart banging into him slightly, and turned to Beth. She was staring up at him with her big silver eyes, pleading.

     ‘Beth, it’s only been a day,’ he reminded her. ‘We broke up yesterday. I’m not ready to talk about it yet. I’m worried that if I do, I’ll burst into tears.’

     Beth nodded her head wildly at him. ‘Sure, sure, I get it. But you can cry,’ she told him. ‘It won’t make me think less of you.’

     ‘We’re currently standing in the middle of a supermarket,’ he observed. ‘So, no. Anyway, your mum asked you to do the shop, so why am I doing all the work? I don’t even know what you guys get on a weekly basis.’

     Beth sighed and pushed him out of the way to take control of the cart. ‘Just the normal basics,’ she told him.

     They wandered back and forth in the supermarket, picking up food from everywhere. Beth didn’t normally do the shopping, so she didn’t have it organised and they would get one thing, only to realise they needed something from the other end of the supermarket, and when they got there they would realise there was something else they needed down at the end where they’d already been.

     When they were finished, Michael led her to the flowers saying, ‘One more thing.’ He stared at them for a long time, hesitating, before picking up a bunch of deep red roses. ‘These look nice enough to you?’ he asked her.