Splintered Memory (24 page)

“I don’t believe you. Is Charlie planning on coming back to Birmingham
?” Emily asked.

“No
, she’s not. I promise you,” Claire said; “no one is planning on telling Matt.”

They sat in silence for a while, both of them sipping their coffees and eyeing each other warily, but Claire finally broke the silence and said; “I wish I hadn’t come now. I’m sorry that I told you. Look, my train
’s in ten minutes so I’m going to go. You won’t have to see me again, except for at Rich and Bex’s wedding of course. You should probably also know that Charlie’s going to be there as well.”

“But she’s not
going to talk to Matt?” Emily asked nervously.

“
I can’t guarantee you that they won’t speak, but I can promise you that Charlie will never tell Matt the truth. Charlie knows that she hurt him too much in the months after the accident for them to ever get back together,” Claire said knowing that what she’d just said was the first honest thing that she’d said to Emily since she’d arrived.

Emily looked at her but didn’t say anything, and Claire turned on her heel and walked away without saying another word. She knew that she’d done what she’d come to Birmingham to do. She’d put the fear of god into
Saint Emily, and she smiled

Life
in London was different to what she’d expected, but it had also been exactly what she’d needed. She loved the obscurity of life in the capital. It was big and noisy and obtrusive all of the time, and she found that it was in the noise and general bedlam that she was able to lose herself. No one knew who she was, and no one had even bothered to try and get to know who she was.

Having lived under a con
stant spotlight for almost thirteen months, Charlie found the sense of being inauspicious soothing and strangely a little comforting. No one knew that she had suffered from amnesia, and better still Charlie was fairly certain that had people known they wouldn’t have cared. Everyone in the capital was too wrapped up in their own lives, and in their own problems.

Charlie had interviewed at three law firms and had been offered positions at two
of them. She’d chosen the smaller of the two firms that had offered her a position, and although it had been a slight step down in title compared to her previous role the money had actually been better.

She had known before her accident that she’d b
een at a point in her career where she’d already started contemplating changing direction. She had therefore hoped that by choosing the smaller of the two law firms that had offered her a role, she would have a more rounded career and would not be pushed again into working in a specialised area.

The firm was based by London Bridge
, and the commute from Claire’s was relatively short. From her flat just off Battersea Rise, in between Clapham Junction station and Clapham Common tube station, the journey simply entailed a quick bus ride to Clapham Common and then a few stops on the Northern line to London Bridge. Once there, it was then less than a five minute walk to her offices.

Everyone at Angershore, Fortly
, and Jarvis, were friendly and welcoming, and Charlie had after just a couple of weeks felt completely at home there. She also enjoyed her commute, but then she knew that it helped that she worked long enough hours to rarely have to experience the rush hour crush.

T
hanks to Claire, Charlie had also been ingratiated into a circle of friends that Claire had already made after having moved to London from Bath. All of the women were really friendly, and most of them were solicitors too which made it easy for Charlie to fit into the group. She’d thought that it had also helped that they too had all enjoyed a night in or out with a few bottles of wine.

None of these
women knew the first thing about Charlie, which was another relief. They didn’t know about her accident. They didn’t know about the amnesia, and best of all none of them knew anything about Matt. This meant that she’d been able to start completely afresh, and she’d never had to field any awkward questions about him.

The subject
of her having been married though had come up once when Jenny – one of her new friends, had noticed that she wore both an engagement and a wedding ring, but Claire had quickly and craftily navigated the conversation away from Charlie. She’d explained that Charlie’s marriage was a dull story, and ended the way that they all do with her husband having an affair with a younger woman.

Charlie had raised an eyebrow at this
version of the story, but she’d been thankful to Claire for her quick thinking. It had led the conversation away from her, and they’d instead talked about the way that modern society forced women to try and stay younger looking.

That night
Charlie had removed her rings, but she hadn’t known what to do with them. She hadn’t been able to bear the idea of putting them in a drawer, or heaven forbid having thrown them away, so in the end she’d put them in her purse. She’d liked that they were still near her, but Claire had mocked her and had been adamant that men would find it strange.

The topic of men was still a strange one for Charlie. She wasn’t
shy around men, but she just wasn’t sure how to be around them in a non platonic way. She’d spent half of her life, and all of her adult life with the same man. She’d also grown up with him, and had been friends with him before they’d gotten together. The idea of talking to men in an attempt to get a date, or find a new boyfriend made her feel nervous. She also wasn’t sure that she was ready to replace Matt.

In the past she
’d never bothered or thought much about her flirting, she’d known that it wasn’t leading anywhere and this had made her feel very relaxed. Now though she felt tense all of the time, and she was constantly worrying about coming on too strong or not strong enough.

Claire had set her up on a couple of dates
, but they’d gone awfully and Charlie had been thankful to Adam when he’d told Claire to stop pushing her.

Charlie had been impressed by
Adam. She had been unsure about what to make of this so called high flying investment banker, and she’d felt protective over Claire when they’d first been introduced. She had been expecting a bit of an
ego has landed
encounter, but Adam didn’t have an ego at all. He was kind, funny, and most importantly to Charlie he looked after Claire. Yet he still kept her on her toes, which Charlie knew that she needed, by teasing her mercilessly.

She
’d seen instantly what had drawn Claire to him. Adam was tall, dark haired, obviously handsome, and wealthy. He was certainly a catch, but then Charlie knew that Claire was too. She’d always been stunning, and had always been an obvious blonde haired beauty. So it was no mystery how she’d managed to attract a man of Adam’s stature. Yet Claire had rarely kept the men in her life around for long, and she’d openly admit that she was high maintenance.

Nick had been her longest relationship, but Charlie had always known that it wouldn’t last. She hadn’t said this though as he was one of Matt’s oldest friends
, and she’d known that had she said it she’d have been accepting that some of the things that Matt had said about Claire were true.

The problem had always been that whilst Nick was a nice guy, he’d never had that something special about him that Charlie had known that her best friend had needed to keep her interested. He had however been dependable, and this was something that Charlie had known had drawn Claire to him.

Adam on the other hand was not dependable in the slightest, and this was plainly obvious to see, but he did have that something special and Charlie was impressed with how he seemed to have managed to calm Claire. At times when it was just the two of them, and they thought that Charlie wasn’t around, they were also really affectionate with one another.

Charlie was happy for Claire, and she was pleased that she finally seemed content with someone. She was also pleased that she liked Adam, and that the two of them got along. She had after all known the difficulties of best friends and partners not liking each other. Yet just as everything in
her new life in London seemed to be on the up, as was always the way there had to be something on the horizon to act as a dampener. It was now less than two weeks until Rich and Bex’s wedding, and she was dreading the moment that she’d have to see Matt again.

The worry of seeing him again had been keeping her up at night, and had been making her feel nauseous all of the time. The one positive side effect of her worrying was that she had all but stopped eating
, and as a result she had lost a fair amount of weight.

Charlie knew that she didn’t really need to lose any weight. She’d always had a good figure – she was athletic and well toned, but as with most women she hadn’t minded discovering that her clothes were less snug.

Claire also noticed the weight loss, and when they were shopping for dresses for the wedding she said; “this worrying is worth it, you look great. What size is that dress?”

“A six
,” the shop assistant said from behind Claire.

“Nice!” Claire said appreciatively. “Now we can finely share wardrobes.”

Charlie laughed whilst pulling at her hair and looking at her reflection in the mirror, and she said to Claire; “do you think I should get my hair cut?”

“Yes,” Claire said; “
and I know just where to go. In fact I may have already booked you an appointment, but Adam forbade me from making you go unless you asked.”

Charlie laughed and said
; “thank god for Adam.”

“Hallelujah
to that!” Claire said laughing and winking cheekily at Charlie.

“Seriously
,” Charlie said laughing again and shaking her head at her best friend.

“Come on
. We don’t want to be late,” Claire said unzipping the back of Charlie’s dress for her.

***

Charlie had looked in the mirror at her hair, and she’d been impressed with what the stylist had done. She’d always had rich thick brown hair, but she’d never done much with it. She’d worn it long for as long as she could remember, and aside from having had some layers cut into it a few years back she’d never really done anything more adventurous. She’d just never felt the need to.

The hairdress
er had cut her hair short at the back, cutting the hair right into her neckline, and had then shaped the rest in a short style that was feathered and shaped round her face. The style included a fringe, which Charlie had never had before and had been nervous about. Yet the effect of the fringe and the style the hair dresser had chosen for her was impressive, and according to Claire she looked more beautiful than before and she only hoped that Adam wouldn’t agree with her.

Charlie
had found herself looking at her reflection wherever possible for the remainder of the day, finding it strange each time that she did she didn’t instantly recognise herself.

The hair style was definitely worth it Charlie
had decided, after receiving her fourth or fifth compliment after having only been in the office for twenty minutes. She’d also thought that if the looks that she’d been getting from some of the men in her office were anything to go by, then she must’ve been looking okay. She’d only hoped that Matt would agree with their assessments.

Charlie didn’t know why she wanted Matt to see her as attractive at the wedding
. She knew that he would be there with Emily. Yet for some reason she did, and she knew that he was the reason why she’d had her hair cut in the first place. She also knew that he was the reason why she’d bought a ridiculously expensive outfit for Rich and Bex’s big day, and why she wasn’t sleeping.

The night before the wedding, Adam assured her that it was natural to want your ex to see you and be
filled with remorse at ever leaving you. As he said this though, Charlie looked across at Claire. Claire avoided her gaze, and Charlie couldn’t help but wonder what she’d said to Adam. Not wanting to go into it, she said nothing and Claire quickly changed the subject. Charlie only hoped that this topic of conversation didn’t come up at the wedding.

She went to bed early to pack
, and to try and get some sleep. They were driving up to Worcester for the wedding first thing tomorrow morning in Adam’s new jag, and she knew that once they arrived she would inevitably at some point see Matt. She’d then have to speak to him, and probably also to Emily
.

The
lead up to Rich’s wedding had been strange to say the least. Everything in his life had been going well up until about two months ago. Work was good, he was out of rehab, and life with Emily was okay. For the first time since Charlie’s accident, he’d begun to feel happy again. A feeling that he had at his lowest points thought that he might never experience again. Yet for the past couple of months something had been off, and he could only attribute this to Rich’s upcoming nuptials.

Emily had been unusually clingy, even for her, and very attentive in the bedroom. Matt wasn’t complaining about
her bedroom behaviour, but he was worried that her clingyness was a reaction to Rich and Bex’s wedding. He was concerned that maybe she was hoping that if she was the perfect girlfriend, then he might consider proposing to her. From what he’d heard from the boys, girls got weird when it came to weddings.