Succulents on the Window Sill

Chapter 12

As Corinne pulled into a parking space outside of the bakery, she could see the looming clouds overhead. They were just as dull and heavy as her mood. 

Just as she stepped out of the car the spits of rain began to fall. By the time Corinne reached the bakery, she was running with her handbag over her head for cover. 

"It's coming on heavy out there." Michael smiled over from behind the counter he was wiping down. "Looks like thunder too." 

"I heard on the radio that we're expecting some."

"Better not tell Sara." He flashed her a smile a second before the door into the back room opened and Sara stepped out with a tray of cupcakes. 

"Don't tell me what?"

"Oh, nothing." With another smile, Michael turned from Corinne to wipe down the back bench. 

Sara eyed him suspiciously, before moving to slide the cupcakes into the glass display case. Once they were in, she stood back with her hands on her lips, eyes darting straight to Corinne as a grin crept its way onto her face.

"Someone looks happy..." Corinne shrugged off her jacket, glad that it wasn't completely soaked through. 

"Someone was on a date last night." 

"What?" Corinne stopped dead, eyes locking with Sara's. 

Sara's smile grew wider as she nodded her head. She looked delighted, almost as if she could jump and bounce on her toes with excitement. "Zach took me out to dinner. We went to this new restaurant inside the Birchdale Country hotel. It was really fancy."

"Zach?" Corinne felt her skin grow cold. 

"Well, I'd hardly be on a date with anyone else." Sara chuckled, in too good of a mood to let anything get her down. 

"Yeah, but...Zach?"

"Corinne, why is it so hard for you to understand, that yes, Zach, my boyfriend, took me out to dinner last night?" Corinne dropped her attention to the floor, biting back the need to either scream or burst into tears.

It hurt to know that when Zach claimed to be at work and the gym, he had instead been snuggled up with Sara in some fancy restaurant. He had lied. 

It was more than just a restaurant though, it was a hotel with rooms. Corinne didn't want to question just what had been on their menu. The thought of Zach getting close to Sara, it made Corinne feel ill. He had brought her to the cheap Italian in town, yet Sara got five-star service. It was simple, Corinne was jealous. She had no choice to push past Sara and into the back room, before she said something she knew she shouldn't. 

Sara followed her, calling her name, grabbing at her arm as Corinne hung her jacket and bag on the provided hooks. She shook her off, focusing on trying to calm her breathing and avoid sending herself into a bigger state than what she was already in.

"Fiona collapsed last night." Corinne's tone was blunt, straight to the point. She hadn't the energy to speak in any other way. 

Sara's jaw dropped open, and the hand that had just found its way back to Corinne's arm fell. 

"Jake went with her in the ambulance while I packed a bag for her and drove over there. Eric had to leave a valuation, and Zach...well Zach didn't bother turning up until nearly ten o'clock." Corinne swallowed the lump in her throat.

"He ignored all of my calls, all of Jake's... She was in tears with the pain, Sara. Every time she woke up she was crying out for him." It had been one of the most heart-breaking things Corinne had ever witnessed. It was crushing her to know now just where he had been, and how he had lied about it.