Claire saw from the name on the front of the door that it was his. Matt sat down at his desk, and he indicated for Claire to sit down opposite him. She closed the door, walked over to his desk, and sat down in the seat that he’d indicated to.
They looked at each other for what felt like an age, before Matt finally broke the silence and said; “you said that you wanted to speak to me about Charlie.”
Claire nodded and said; “yeah I do. But firstly I just want to say that I know we don’t have the best relationship, and I know that you don’t exactly like me.”
Matt made a derisive sound as though he’d just pushed air through his nose.
Claire ignored it and told herself to stay calm. “Anyway I hope that you know that in spite of that, and all of our differences of opinions and whatever, I love Charlie to pieces. She’s my best friend, and I’d never do anything to hurt her,” Claire said pausing to take a deep breath. She knew that she was talking far too quickly, and that she was running her words together.
Matt didn’t say anything, but he carried on looking at Claire as though he was unsure of where she was going with this conversation.
“I wanted to tell you this months ago, and I very nearly did tell you at the wedding,” she said as he sat further forward and leant his elbows on his desk and looked at her with clear misgivings.
“Charlie… Charlie,” Claire tried to say again. But she just couldn’t bring herself to say it.
“Is divorcing me,” Matt said at the same time as opening his desk drawer and taking out some papers. He then threw them down on his desk.
Claire looked at the papers in front of her feeling more than a little sidetracked. She’d known that Charlie had been to see a divorce lawyer, but she hadn’t realised that things had progressed this far. What was Charlie doing she thought?
“As you can see,” he said tartly; “this is information I already know. If you’re here to rush me to sign them, you can tell her that I’m having them looked at. I’ll sign them in my own time.”
“No, I’m not here about this. I knew that she’d been to see a divorce lawyer,” Claire said honestly; “but I didn’t know that she was this serious about it.”
Matt didn’t speak, but instead he picked up the papers and put them back in his drawer.
“Matt,” Claire said making him look up at her. “I know why she’s doing this.”
“Let me guess,” he said tonelessly; “she’s seeing someone new. So she wants to formally end a marriage and a life that she can’t remember anything of.”
“No. She’s not seeing anyone,” Claire said; “and the thing is, she can remember.”
Claire was annoyed at herself for the way that she was doing this. It wasn’t the way that she’d planned to tell him, and she knew that she wasn’t exactly been tactful in her approach.
Matt looked at her disbelievingly and asked scathingly; “what can she remember?”
“Everything,” Claire said pausing and waiting for a reaction from Matt.
When he said nothing she continued; “she came to London about seven months after she left you. She’d been living back at home in Cheddar, surrounded by stuff from our past, and when she came to see me she had her memory back. I was as shocked as what you are now, but she remembers everything. She asked if she could live with me, and she told me that she already had some job interviews lined up. Matt, she’s working as a solicitor again and everything.”
Matt looked shocked. “Why didn’t anyone tell me? Why didn’t her parents, my parents, or even you tell me before now? Why didn’t Charlie tell me?” He asked sounding genuinely hurt.
“She’s sworn everyone that knows to secrecy, and to be honest I’m not sure your parents know! I wanted to tell you, but Charlie begged me not to. Also I think you saw for yourself how she reacted when she saw me talking to you at Rich and Bex’s wedding,” Claire said.
“But why wouldn’t she tell me?” He asked looking as hurt now as he sounded, and Claire saw that his eyes were filling with tears.
“She came to tell you, almost as soon as it happened. Harry drove her straight up here to speak to her doctors, and when they gave her the all clear she went straight to