Splintered Memory - By Natascha Holloway Page 0,14

for them to have a family, and she hadn’t wanted his worries or guilt about her career to make her doubt her own decision. She also hadn’t wanted to raise his hopes about them having a baby, if she hadn’t been one hundred percent sure that she had wanted to start a family.

The very last thing she’d wanted to do was to tease him with the idea that they should try for a baby, only to change her mind. It wouldn’t have been fair on him. Unfortunately the problem was, when she’d finally made the decision to come off the pill they’d been arguing so much about Claire that she’d forgotten to tell him. So she knew that he didn’t even know that they’d been trying for a baby, which she felt sure was only going to add his surprise tonight.

She looked again at her watch anxiously and breathed a sigh of relief. It was a quarter to five, and she knew now that it was okay. She was just coming off the M5 and onto the Bristol Road. If she really stepped on it she could be home just before five, which would give her enough time to hide her bag before Matt got home.

She knew that she was making the assumption that he’d end his shift on time, which wasn’t all that likely, but she thought that it was better to be safe than sorry. She knew that if he beat her back home then she’d have to explain where she’d been, and then they’d argue and she’d never get the chance to tell him that she was pregnant.

Glancing into the rear view mirror, she didn’t see the car in the lane next to her suddenly swerve into hers. Charlie slammed on the brakes, but it was too late. She heard the sound of her car hitting the one in front a second before she felt the impact of it. Her face smashed against the steering wheel and everything went dark.

Emily

She’d been supposed to meet Charlie for a glass of wine, but when she arrived at Matt and Charlie’s the back door was wide open. She smiled as she walked straight in, just as everyone always did at Matt and Charlie’s, and she shut the door behind her. She’d long since gotten used to it being left open by Matt, and shut by Charlie when she’d lived with them.

She loved their house. Coming in from the backdoor you were immediately in their kitchen. It wasn’t big, but it was cosy. It also had just enough room for a small round table in the middle of it, which Matt used as a general dumping ground for his coat, keys, bag, and whatever else he had on him.

The kitchen led straight onto the living room, and as Emily headed on through she stopped dead in her tracks. Matt was stood on one side of the living room and Charlie was stood on the other, and it was clear that they were right in the middle of a very heated argument.

“Why is it too much for me to say that I’m sick of her putting all of her shit on you?” Matt yelled.

“She’s my best friend. I shouldn’t confide her secrets to you, but I do because you’re my husband and I don’t want to keep any secrets from you. But her shit is my shit,” Charlie retorted.

Matt sneered.

“Fuck you!” Charlie said angrily.

“So her being able to confide in you is more important than our relationship?” Matt asked.

“No, but you’re being ridiculous! You’re my husband,” Charlie said. “You’ll always come first, but I won’t apologise for taking my friends feelings into account. Yes Claire’s fucked up, and I’m not denying that. But,” she continued as Matt went to intercede; “she does love Nick in her own way, and you shouldn’t be so eager all the time to ruin what they have.”

“Me ruin it? You’re joking right? What if things were the other way around? What if I confided in you that Nick had been fooling around and had gotten some other girl pregnant? Are you telling me that you wouldn’t be straight on the phone to Claire?” Matt demanded.

Charlie looked at him and opened her mouth to retort, but then she closed it again. Emily watched as Charlie’s face faltered as she realised that she didn’t have a response, and she slowly sank down onto the sofa and put her head in her hands. Emily saw the anger in Matt’s face