Heartbeats in Moonlight

Chapter 11

Seconds ticked. Ella took what she considered to be her only viable approach if she wanted to keep her friendship with Evie and Amelia. Ella closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Obviously she was going to them about that episode.

She rubbed at an itch on the side of her nose and said, "You want to know why David and I have an issue." Ella stated quietly and bluntly. She forced herself to remain calm and said in a reasonable tone, "Ok. I will try to explain the situation." She ran a hand round the back of her neck, hoping to dislodge some of the tension there. "But I will not rehash this again. Ok?" The quicker she got this chore done, the better. She turned around, "And what I say here, stays here, within these four walls. You don't share it with anyone." Her gaze stayed on Evie. "And you don't use it to score points when we have our next squabble." She kept her eyes on Evie. They were all good friends, but that didn't mean that they shared the same opinions. They had disagreements. But they accepted the difference.

"I was nearly eighteen, and finishing at school when I met David."

"David was on a rugby camp with her dad." Amelia added automatically. "You know Ella's dad was a manager."

"Yes. I know that." Evie said.

"What do you know, Amelia? What did David tell you?"

"He said you kissed him and then left him to face the wrath of your father by suggesting he took advantage. He said he didn't even know you were still at school. You came onto him, and then left him high and dry to face the music. That you accused him of sexual harassment."

Evie stared in shocked confusion, her eyes flicked from Ella to Amelia and back to Ella. "You accused him?" Evie asked.

"No." Ella muttered as she felt a sharp jolt of pain. Ella turned away, to glance idly out of the window.

Evie asked, her eyes as wide as saucers, "But you accused him of taking advantage?" The bafflement had changed to sheer incredulity.

"No." Ella mumbled and turned to face her two friends.

"Ok. So?" Evie asked.

"When I was seventeen, nearly eighteen, my dad was the under twenty-one manager for rugby league." Ella stated flatly and provided details to Amelia's summary. Her lack of tone went unnoticed by Evie, but Amelia knew from her friend's stance that explaining this was painful. "I met David during his first week of his training session with the squad."

"So what happened?"

"Everything and nothing." Ella muttered and came forward into the room. She curled up on the well-worn comfy chair that faced the fireplace. In Evie's house most things were well worn. Battered, but serviceable. Evie was also very proud and would not take any charity.

Amelia, wise beyond her years, was sure that what she'd heard from David didn't begin to cover the story and she wondered if Ella would provide the full version.

"I never went to training sessions before." She hesitated as she thought about it. How much information should she share here? She had managed to pack it at the back of hermind, as it brought up emotions that she wanted to forget. "I was at a boarding school." She took another breath. Her feelings surfaced with a vengeance: how could justthinking about that situation made her feel so vulnerable and at the same time thatflutter of butterflies' wings. "I went there to meet up with my dad after a trainingsession." Ella clasped her hands loosely in front of her and straightened upher spine before she continued, "There were heaps of people around the opensessions." She remembered how exciting she was when she arrived at the field,saw how many people were there just to watch the training. ""Including lots of young women." Not surprising givenhow many of the guys training were gorgeous and fit. A few seconds later Ellacontinued, "Anyway, one day, Dad asked me bring something down for him, and Ihung around to watch the end of training." She hadn't noticed David, until just a few minutesbefore training finished. She remained composed, kept her eyes blank and herchin high as she sifted through her next statements in her head. She gave Eviea winsome smile as she quietly, "I was there when David took a hit."