Getting him Back

Copyright 2011 Anna Pescardot

Smashwords Edition

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I should
have been in Saint Lucia, lying on the beach while my new husband
rubbed suntan lotion on my back. Instead, I was at my desk typing
up a report for the boss from hell. She’d given it back to me twice
already and I knew she’d go mad if I got it wrong for a third time,
but my mind wasn’t on the job. All I could think about was Mark- my
first real love - my childhood sweetheart. I looked at the words on
the screen. They seemed to merge into a blur as I tried to stop
myself from crying again. Doreen, who sits next to me, gave me a
sympathetic look. ‘Are you all right, love?’ she asked.

‘
I’m just
fed up.’ I hammered the keys on the keyboard, trying to release the
pent up anger inside me. Once the last sentence was complete, I
gave it a quick proofread before taking it to Mia’s office. Mia
looked up from her laptop. ‘I hope it’s going to be perfect this
time.’ She took the papers from me and scrunched up her eyes as she
read, her concentration etching a small line between her eyebrows.
She sighed and tutted. ‘This is not good enough - again. You know,
Terri, if this is the best you’re capable of then I am seriously
going to have to look for a new PA.’ I felt like telling her to do
just that but I needed the money and right now, my job was all I
had going for me, even though it was utterly boring and full of
stress.

‘I’m sorry,
Mia. You know I’ve had personal problems.’

‘
You
can’t bring personal problems into the workplace. I’ve told you
that before. It’s completely unprofessional. For your information,
I happen to have personal problems of my own – not that you’d know
unless I told you. I keep my problems to myself and I refuse to let
it affect my work.’

I found
it so hard to remain calm.
‘I’m trying my best. Just let me know how I can improve the
report and I’ll do it.’

She
rolled her eyes. ‘That’s what you said last time. I’ve added the
amendments. Maybe you should get Doreen to check it before you
bring it to me. I need it done before close of play today so I
suggest you get back to it.’ She threw the papers towards me and
turned her eyes towards her laptop. ‘And close the door behind
you.’

I went back to
my desk and was pleased to find a nice hot mug of tea and a scone,
which Doreen had bought from the cake trolley. Doreen was great.
She was like a second mum. ‘Thanks, Dor. This is just what I need.’
I bit into the scone and savoured its sweet, sickly taste. It
masked the bitterness I was feeling.

‘
Did she
give you a hard time?’ Doreen asked, nodding at my
report.

‘What do you
think? She’s such a cow. I’m sure she does it on purpose.’

‘
I don’t
envy you, love. I’m just happy I have Steve. He never makes a
fuss.’

‘
Yeah,
but you’re
good at your
job though. I’m rubbish. I don’t know how I got this job in the
first place!’

‘You must have
done something right.’

‘Either that or
nobody else would work for her!’

‘You’ve got a
point there!’ Doreen laughed and nibbled her scone.

Mia
Cowell was head of the
marketing department and she made everyone’s lives a
misery. She had the right name: Mia, because all she thought about
was herself – me, me, me and Cowell, because firstly, she was a
total cow and secondly she was as sarcastic and judgemental as
Simon Cowell, only not as funny and likeable. And to top it all she
was annoyingly pretty. She was as tall and slim as a catwalk model
with long dark brown hair and sharp green eyes, which slanted
upwards like a black panther’s. She drove a black car too, a black
sports car. I refused to believe that she had personal problems. I
bet the only problem she had was whether she’d get her hands on the
latest designer bag before anyone else did.

After
Doreen had given her seal of approval, I took the report into Mia’s
office. I wouldn’t be responsible for my actions if she threw it at
me again. Her face remained expressionless as she turned each page,
which was a good sign. She turned the last page, nodded and then
handed it back to me. ‘That’ll do. Send it to Mr Groves and keep a
copy for me in the file. Thanks.’ She waved her hand at me, which
was her sign for me to leave.

Now that
I’d finished the report, I had nothing major to do, except think
about Mark. I replayed the scene from that
Thursday night, over and over, inside my
head until I thought I would die.

Chapter
Two

I always
went to Mark’s flat on Thursdays. He would either cook something or
get us a takeout from the local Chinese. He would usually have
chicken chow
mien, while
I preferred the spicier options. I’d let myself in with my key and
was surprised to see an empty flat. Mark was nowhere to be seen and
there was no sign of any food being cooked.
Maybe he’s gone out for the
takeout
, I thought, but
then I saw it on the table – a note.

Gone to the
pub. Back soon. Mark

The first
thing I noticed was the lack of emotion. He usually wrote something
like,
Dear
Terri
and
Love
Mark
. I felt my stomach
turn over. Feeling nervous I walked over to his fridge and cracked
open a can of lager. I took it to the table and read the note
again. It was quite abrupt; this wasn’t like Mark at all. I sipped
the lager and jumped when I heard his key turning in the door. His
eyes widened when he saw me. It was as though he didn’t expect me
to be there. ‘Terri,’ he said, staggering towards the table. He sat
down. ‘How are you?

‘I’m a little
bit confused actually. What’s going on?’

He took
off his jacket and placed it around the back of his chair, ‘I’ve
something I need to tell you. There’s no easy way to say it so I’ll
just come out with it. I can’t marry you.’ He burped then pulled
out his chair to sit down. I didn’t know what to say so I just
stared at him. His pale blue eyes, which were usually so warm, were
devoid of emotion and his dirty-blond hair was dishevelled where he
kept pushing his hands through it. It was as though somebody else
had replaced him. I was so angry that he felt he had to get drunk
to tell me.

I felt tears
welling up in my eyes, ‘Why?’

‘It’s better I
tell you now, right? I didn’t want to stand you up at the
altar.’

‘
But why
did you let it get this far? The wedding’s in two
weeks!’

‘
I know.
I guess I just got swept along. We’ve been together nine years so I
thought it was the right thing to do.’

‘Don’t you love
me any more?’

‘Yeah, course,
but it’s more like brother and sister. I’m bored with us,
Terri.’

I started
to cry. He tried to get up but stumbled and bashed his leg on the
table. He shouted some obscene words and then stood closer to me,
his fingers moving through my hair. ‘I’m so sorry, love, but it’s
for the best.’

‘But I don’t
think so. What’ve I done wrong?’

He turned
my face towards his and I so wanted to kiss him. ‘You haven’t done
anything. You’re a stunning girl and any man would be glad to have
you. We’ve just been together too long, that’s all. We were just
kids when we got together. I don’t think I’m cut out for
marriage.’

I loved
him so much I didn’t care whether we got married or not, so I took
hold of his hands. ‘Ok so we don’t get married. We’ll just carry on
as we are.’

‘
No.’ He
pulled away and stumbled over to the window, ‘it’s over. It’s all
over.’

I felt my
stomach churning. Why did he want to end
it? Nine years was such a long time and he wanted
to throw it all away just like that. ‘You still haven’t told me
why. You were ok last night. Has something happened? Maybe you’ve
just got wedding jitters. It’s normal…’

‘
I
haven’t got the jitters.’ He turned his back to me and stood
completely still for a moment. ‘I’ve met somebody.’

I felt
like I’d been shot. I wanted to find her and kill her. How dare she
take my Mark away from me. ‘Who is she?’

‘You don’t know
her. I met her at work. She’s my new PA.’

‘Oh, that’s
just typical. A man sleeping with his slutty secretary. I thought
you were better than that!’

‘
Don’t
you see? She’s done you a favour. If it weren’t her it would’ve
been somebody else, probably after we’d got married. It’s better
this way. You’d better go.’

I wanted
to hug him, just as I always did before leaving, but I thought
better of it. I threw my key onto the table, burst into tears and
ran out of the flat. How could he do this to me? He wouldn’t get
away with it. Nobody breaks Terri Gordon’s heart.
Nobody.

Chapter
Three

After
the
horrible day at work I’d had, I was happy to smell Mum’s
best-recipe casserole simmering on the stove. She was sitting at
the table reading a woman’s magazine. ‘Hi, love. Did you have a
good day?’

‘It was ok.
What about you?’

‘Oh, same as
usual. Cleaning, cleaning and then some more cleaning.’

I threw
my handbag onto the floor and placed my coat around the back of the
chair. She had a hot cup of tea waiting, as usual and I felt warm
inside as I sipped it. ‘I thought I’d go and see Claire later if
that’s ok.’

‘
You do
what you want, love, you’re twenty-
three years old now.’

‘I know, but
while I’m still under your roof and all that…’

Mum smiled, ‘I
know it’s hard for you right now but look at Catherine, she didn’t
meet anyone until she was twenty-nine and she’s settled now.’

Catherine
was my older sister. She’d moved out two years ago and lived a
twenty-minute train ride away in a big, posh, converted barn. She’d
had problems with her love life too until she’d gone to work at an
accountancy firm after she’d passed her financial exams. She’d
hooked up with one of the partners and she hasn’t looked back
since. He’s quite nice too, Graham. He’s not your usual
accountant-type; he wears jeans a lot and does extreme sports. He
keeps trying to take Catherine scuba diving but she refuses – not
because she’s “Little Miss Sensible” or anything, but because she
nearly drowned when we were little. We were at this indoor swimming
centre, which had its own wave pool and we thought she was laughing
when she got caught in the waves, and so did the lifeguard at
first. It was only when her face turned purple that Dad realised
she was drowning and went to save her. She hasn’t been in water
since. It’s turned into a phobia but she still refuses to do
anything about it.

‘Do you think
I’ll ever meet anyone else, Mum?’ I asked, feeling quite sorry for
myself.

‘Of course you
will. Look at you – you’re gorgeous! Mark’s an idiot. Forget about
him.’

But it
was easier said than done. I couldn’t stop thinking about him. I’d
cried my self to sleep every night since he dumped me and I’d lost
half a stone in weight. If it wasn’t for Mum’s tasty casserole I
doubt I’d have eaten at all. I was just about managing to maintain
my dignity in work, but it was getting increasingly difficult. If
Mia wasn’t careful I’d lose it big time; it was getting so hard to
control my outbursts of anger and frustration, lately.

I thought
about her too
; Mark’s
new PA. I pictured her in my mind – a cross between Katie Price and
Stacey Solomon – all glamour and fun and everything that I wasn’t.
How could he fall for his PA? It was so predictable. There again,
at least she wasn’t a doctor or lawyer or anything like that, she
had the same job as me so we were even in those stakes at
least.