Moving On (3 page)

“I… I… I have to go. I’m sorry” whispered Clare as she grabbed her expensive clutch bag and stood up. “I’
m sorry” she repeated as she turned and headed for the
door.
As Clare made her way out of the restaurant in a desperate attempt to get away from the painful memories that had haunted her for years she couldn’t help but make eye contact with HIM. For a split second she was confronted with the man who had ruined her life but surprisingly she didn’t feel any anger or hatred towards him, only pity. She could see shame in his face but she could also see fear. What she had caught him doing was terrible and would cause any woman to run a mile in the opposite direction if she found out. She thought he looked scared; petrified that she would tell his attractive guest what he got up to when he was in the house on his own. Clare
found she didn’t care about getting even with him despite all the pain he had caused her. Instead she
just looked straight ahead and headed for the door
. She stepped out into the night and called a passing taxi. She thought of Ben as the taxi pulled away into the night. She thought about him sitting there on his own, asking for the bill and walking out alone. As the taxi sped towards her lonely, empty house she couldn’t help but feel bad for Ben. She hoped he would understand.

It seemed to Ben that the whole r
estaurant had stopped and stared
at him with accusing eyes. He could hear them whispering about him, tr
ying to work out what he had said
to that poor woman. He could feel them glaring at him with disapproving stares and he felt like telling them to go away and mind their own business, or words to that effect! He spent a few minutes composing himself and trying to work out what he had said to upset Clare so much. He couldn’t put his finger on what it was but he felt sad, upset and a little embarrassed. He paid for
the meal and walked out of the restaurant past all of t
he couples trying to appear
not
to
notice
him but failing miserably. He walked out into the still, cool night and made his way home. A walk would be good; it might help him to understand what had just happened.

Chapter 7

Clare hardly slept that night. She found herself replaying the night’s contrasting events over and over again in her head. When she did finally give in to sleep she dreamt of
him. She was back in the hot, balmy summer when she thought her life was mapped out in fine detail and everything was exactly how she wanted it. She was entering the flat she shared with him just like she had that day but this time she knew what was going to happen, she knew what to expect but still she carried on. She couldn’t stop herself from opening the lounge door and seeing him on his knees in the centre of the room. His back was facing her and when she gasped in horror at what he was doing he turned to face her. But it wasn’t him; it was Ben, and Ben wasn’t shocked and embarrassed at being caught like he was. Ben just smiled and began to laugh.

Chapter 8

The following day Clare decided she had to speak to Donna about what happened so they arranged to meet in town for lunch.
Over a frothy cappuccino Donna told Clare that she thought she had reacted quite well given the circumstances but that she had treated Ben unfairly all the same. “I really thought he might be different” said Clare as she elegantly sipped her hot coffee. “He might be!” replied Donna with a slight tinge of frustration. “You have to give him a chance. It was just bad luck that your ex happened to turn up when he did. Are you going to let him spoil what you and Ben might have?” Clare knew her best friend was right, she always was. That was what made her a good best friend. “I need to speak to him and apologise. I’ll ring him this evening.” Donna looked at her friend and sighed. “You can’t apologise for something like that over the phone. Go to his practice and speak to him face to face. It’ll mean more
.
”
Clare knew her best friend was right again and agreed to go and speak to Ben straight after their lunch.

She arrived at the practice feeling nervous and also embarrassed
. She had made herself look like a stupid, emotional wreck the night before and she also felt disgusted with herself for the way she had treated Ben. She entered the reception area and approached the desk where Helen the receptionist was filing her nails. “Hi” said Clare. “Would it be possible to speak to Ben?”

“I’m sorry” said Helen, still filing her nails. “You’ve just missed him. He only works on Saturdays when he has to fit in certain clients. What did you want to see him about?”

Clare felt disappointed that she had missed Ben but also anger at Helen for her sullen attitude and prying questions. “Not that it’s any of your business but I wanted to speak to Ben about a personal matter. Do you know where I might find him?”

At this, Helen abruptly stopped attending to her nails and turned to face Clare for the first time. “I’m sorry but I don’t. Besides I wouldn’t bother if I were you.”

“What do you mean?” asked Clare, slightly shocked by Helen’s snide remark.

“Hasn’t he told you?” sneered Helen. “Ben and I are an item. We’ve been seeing each other for
quite a while now and we’re very happy!” Helen emphasised that la
st point
the way only a possessive woman can.

Clare felt herself start to well up inside at this. She felt dizzy and confused. “You…you can’t be” she said. “He would have said. I would have known.”

“Yes, well it looks like he fooled you” replied Helen. “He was only trying to make me jealous. We had a blazing row a couple of nights ago about me sending a text message to my ex-boyfriend. He didn’t like it and blew his top. I’m sorry you got involved but it’s alright now. We’ve made up”

Clare couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Had she been so blind that she never saw what was going on? She had thought that Helen was very cold with her but had put it down to her personality and the fact that she was probably a bitch.
Clare could feel tears welling up in her eyes and so she turned to the door and ran out. She didn’t want to give Helen the satisfaction of seeing her upset. She quickly walked to her little car, got in and locked the doors where she promptly burst into tears. She really had thought Ben was different but now it seemed he was just like all the rest.

After she had calmed down she decided that she wanted to make a clean break of things so she made up her mind to go back into the practice and settle her bill. She didn’t want to have to worry about that in the future so she dried her eyes and nose and went about applying the makeup she used to present herself to the world.
She was an attractive woman but she felt undressed without her foundation and wouldn’t even answer the door to the postman without it. She certainly didn’t want Helen to see she had been crying. When she looked gorgeous again she ventured back into the practice and into the reception area. There was nobody there. The desk was unmanned and the computer was switched off. She was about to turn around and leave when she heard a woman’s voice coming from a small room at the side of the reception. It was Helen and she was talking to somebody.

Clare walked towards the
almost closed door when suddenly she heard her name.

“…Oh. Some woman called Clare Browning. You should have seen her face. I thought she was going to start crying right in front of me. It was perfect”

It definitely was Helen and she was talking
to someone on her phone
about Clare and what had just happened. Worst of all, she was proud and really enjoying telling her silent
friend how she had ripped
Clare’s life
apart
.

“I told her Ben and I a
re an item…Yes, she did believe me. She fell for it hook, line and sinker…No, I don’t think she’ll be back…Yes, I know it was cruel but that’s too bad. If I can’t have him nobody can
,
especially that stuck up cow!”

With this she laughed with a high pitched, shriek which would drive any man to drink
and carried on telling her friend on the phone how much she loved Ben and would stop at nothing to make him hers again.

Clare didn’t know what to think or do. On the one hand she was furious with Helen for lying to her about something so crucial to her happiness but on the other hand she was delighted that there was still a chance that she could make things work between herself and Ben. She suddenly felt extremely relieved that she had decided to come back into the practice to pay her bill. If she hadn’t she would probably never know the truth. She turned around quietly, resisting the urge to tell Helen what she thought of her destructive games and headed back to her car. This time she felt hope and gladness in her heart compared to the misery and despair she had felt only twenty minutes earlier. She had to find Ben but where would he be.
Suddenly she realised. She remembered he had mentioned something about a boat and about him spending all of his spare time there. Could he be there now?

She jumped into her car and sped towards the harbour. It was five or six miles away but she hoped he would still be there by the time she got to him. She reached the harbour just as the sun was fast approaching the horizon. It was a warm evening and the air was still. Not a good evening for sailing but a perfect evening for relaxing on deck. It was only a small harbour with ten or twenty boats so she hoped she would be able to spot him easily.
She jumped out of the car, locked it and headed along the grassy path to the river bank where the boats were moored ready for the next day’s adventures. She scanned each boat carefully as she walked along the uneven path hoping to spot a glimpse of Ben. Suddenly she felt her foot slip into a large, malicious hole and felt the recognisable twang of pain as the very same ankle that had given way on that fateful day in
London
gave way once more. She winced in pain as the jagged shards shot up her leg, sending jolts of excruciating pain to her brain. She bent down to extract her foot from the hole but it wouldn’t budge. “Stupid shoes!” she muttered as she fumbled with the straps when suddenly a familiar pair of hands reached down and smoothly removed her throbbing foot from the hole. Clare looked up and saw Ben standing there with a smile on his face. “Hello Clare” he said.
“Let me help you” He bent over slightly placing one hand behind Clare’s back and the other behind her knees. With effortless grace he gently picked up Clare and held her in his arms. She placed her arm around his shoulder as he carried her with great care onto his boat and into a strategically placed deck chair.

“That looks pretty painful” he said. “You should get it looked at. I know a great Chiropractor” He smiled at this and Clare smiled back despite the pain in her foot. “I’m sorry about last night” she said. “I don’t know what came over me. It wasn’t anything you said or did.”

“I’m glad” said Ben. “I thought I had upset you. That’s the last thing I want to do.” He looked at Clare with his deep, beautiful eyes and said “Clare…I love you. I knew I loved you the moment I met you
.”

Suddenly, the pain in Clare’s foot was a million miles away. She felt something unlock inside her heart, a heavy, cumbersome weight had been lifted from within her with those few simple words. She could barely speak but she managed to say the words Ben had been longing to hear. “I love you too Ben.” He bent down onto one knee, took her slender smooth hand in his and kissed it gently. As the setting sun reached the horizon and their part of the world turned from day to night he leaned forward and with the most delicate of touches, kissed her gently on the lips.

The End