Splintered Memory - By Natascha Holloway Page 0,51

he said.

“What do you mean how I look at her?” Matt asked feeling a little choked up.

Rich shook his head with a half laugh half sign and said; “you’re either looking at her like she’s just broken your heart and your begging her to realise and fix it, or you’re just staring at her unseeingly. Smiling to be polite, or nodding at things that she’s saying to you, but you’re clearly wishing you’re somewhere – hell I don’t know, anywhere else at all.”

Matt didn’t say anything. He was genuinely a little amazed that Rich had been so perceptive of his interaction with Charlie.

“Look, if you want me to tell you that you’re a twat or something? Then fine, you’re a twat. You’ve cheated on my first and your only love,” Rich said with a quick flick upwards of his eyebrows.

They both knew that it normally riled Matt when Rich referred to Charlie as his first love. Yet Matt couldn’t even be bothered to roll his eyes at Rich for the comment today, instead he just sat down heavily on the stool which was beside him and put his head in his arms.

“I also slept with Charlie,” he said into the counter unable to bring himself to look back up at Rich.

“At the same time,” Rich said sounding shocked but equally impressed.

Matt laughed as he looked up and saw Rich’s face. He just couldn’t help himself, but as he did he felt the more familiar feeling of guilt return.

“No,” he said. “Emily last night and Charlie this morning, but both of them were accidents and huge mistakes,” he said despairingly as he put his head back in his arms.

“Not bad mistakes though?” Rich asked trying to make light of the situation, but Matt didn’t answer and there was silence between them for a whole minute.

“Okay let’s hear it,” Rich said; “although it’s not that I’m all that surprised. Emily’s legs have been open to you for ages, but go on why did you sleep with her? You haven’t shown an interest before now, and she’s been on the scene for a while?”

“You’d pissed me off, and I was drunk. Oh I don’t know,” he said; “if I’m honest, she was just sort of there.”

He saw Rich look at him sceptically, but he said; “and Charlie?”

Matt looked at Rich guilty and said embarrassedly; “she caught me unawares this morning. I was tired and I’d just gotten out of the shower. I tried to resist her but…”

“It’s Charlie,” Rich finished for him. “Was it good?”

“Always is,” Matt said with a smile.

“I remember,” Rich said. To which Matt did his best not to scowl at him.

“And Emily,” Rich said.

Matt flushed scarlet.

“Filthy?” Rich asked reacting to Matt’s embarrassment.

“It was her first time,” Matt said looking imploringly at his best friend for words of wisdom.

“So shit then?” Rich asked neither sympathetically nor wisely.

“No, just…”Matt began to say, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to go on.

“Just?” Rich asked not letting him off the hook.

“It was good,” Matt said sounding like he wished that wasn’t the answer.

“Are you going to tell Charlie?” Rich asked; “or just keep seeing Emily on the sly?”

“Neither,” Matt said sounding shocked. “What kind of husband would I be if I admitted to my wife – who has amnesia, that I’ve done this to her? I’m the one person that she’s been reliant upon since she’s woken up, and she’s trusted me without any reason to. How can I possibly tell her that I’ve cheated on her? And how can I keep seeing Emily? I work with her and I’m married to Charlie!”

“Want a beer?” Rich asked.

He was about to say that it was too early when he thought better of it and said; “yeah, why not.”

Matt stayed at Rich’s drinking beer until Bex came home and started yelling at Rich, at which point he made a hasty retreat and headed home. As he walked back he took out his phone, and he saw that he had two missed calls and two messages. The missed calls were from Charlie, and the texts were from Emily. She wanted to see him, but he hit delete to both messages. He couldn’t worry about her now. He needed to think about what he was going to say to Charlie when he got in.

He reached the front door, but as he was about to put his key into the lock he paused. He didn’t know why, but he suddenly felt momentarily scared to go inside. A feeling