Splintered Memory (2 page)

Charlie and Matt had started dating when she was fifteen
, and very shortly after she’d broken up with Rich. She’d gotten a pretty bad time of it when she’d initially made this switch, but this had been partly to do with the fact that Matt and Rich were best friends. Yet it had also been partly to do with the fact that they’d all grown up in Cheddar. In Cheddar everyone knew everyone else’s business, and they liked to comment on it.

No one had thought that
their relationship would last. It had been seen as just another young romance that would peter out when he went off to university, but theirs hadn’t. He’d gone to Birmingham Uni to study medicine, and a year later she’d followed him there to study law. They’d moved in together in her second year, and they’d gotten married shortly after she’d turned twenty one.

She
and Matt had always made every effort to stay in touch with their close knit group of friends that they’d grown up with, and had gone to school with, including those that hadn’t come to Birmingham for university. For Matt this had meant staying in contact with Rich, Ben, and Nick. For Charlie it had meant staying in touch with Bex, Rachel – or Rach as she preferred to be called, and Claire who had been her best friend since infancy.

They
’d managed to maintain their friendships by hosting regular dinner parties, and given that Rich and Bex also lived in Birmingham the dinner parties were usually either at theirs or at Charlie and Matt’s like tonight.

Rich and Bex
had also come up to Birmingham for university and had never left. They both now worked as teachers, Bex in a junior school and Rich teaching history in a local senior school.

Bex had been in Charlie’s year at school
, and she’d always held a candle for Rich. Yet even though they now lived together, Rich and Bex weren’t the likeliest of matches. Bex was quite plain to look at. She wasn’t unattractive, but she had no particularly distinctive features. Rich on the other hand was very good looking, and in a very obvious way.

Bex
was smaller than Charlie by a couple of inches, and although probably the same dress size she looked a little bigger. She had mousy mid length hair that she usually kept tied back, except when Claire got hold of her with either her hair straighteners or curling tongs.

Rachel and Ben had both gone to Bristol
University. They’d started dating a year or so after they’d graduated, and they’d married a couple of years later.

Ben and Rach were well suited
in Charlie’s opinion. They were both relaxed and incredibly funny, and if there was ever an occasion when they were unable to make one of the planned dinner parties the evenings were never as much fun.

Rach had vibrant red curly hair
, and bright green eyes that glistened when she was at her most witty or cutting. She had a pretty face, and she was slightly taller and bigger set than Charlie.

Ben was
the same height as Rich and he had the same coloured hair, but facially though he wasn’t all that attractive. He had blue eyes but they were slightly dull in colour. Yet he did have a kind and genuine smile, and that combined with his wit and charm made him instantly likeable.

Claire and Nick both lived in Bath
and had only gotten together fairly recently, much to Matt’s objections when Nick had first confided in him.

Claire was a solicitor like Charlie
, and Nick worked for an insurance company. Although it was hard to keep track of exactly what he did, as he seemed to change jobs every couple of months.

Nick was
tall, dark haired, and handsome to look at. He had dark mysterious eyes and very prominent cheekbones which made his features quite striking, but the only thing that Charlie had never found particularly attractive about him though was his smile. It came across more as a sneer than a smile, and Charlie had always found that this made him less attractive as a result.

Claire
on the other hand was stunning and always had been. She had a tiny size six frame and was only 5ft 3inches tall, but despite her small size she was somehow very shapely. This shapeliness combined with her platinum blonde hair that she wore in a striking razor sharp bob, her fiercely blue eyes, and her angelic face, had the effect of dazzling men.

“I thought you weren’t going to make it
,” Charlie said to Matt as Rich waltzed out of the kitchen having been handed another bottle of red wine by Matt.

“Sorry
,” he said looking apologetic. “We’ve been swamped all day and I couldn’t get away. A couple of new doctors started and I had to show them the ropes. Have you had a good day though?”

Charlie nodded
and smiled as she put the lamb that she’d cooked down in front of him and asked; “can you carve?”

“
Hmm,” he said smiling. “I think I can manage that, but first,” he said grabbing her as she went to walk away. “A kiss for my beautiful wife on her thirtieth birthday,” he said before kissing her.

Charlie felt her heart melt the same way
it always did when he kissed her, and the same way that it had fifteen years earlier when he’d kissed her for the first time.

“Hey
,” she said pulling away from him slightly. “You know the rules. No mentioning of the age!”

“Sorry,
” he said laughing; “I forgot that I wasn’t allowed to say thirty at any point today.”

Charlie
hit him with the oven gloves that she was holding, but Matt just laughed again and pulled her back towards him.

They kissed
, and Charlie could have happily never stopped kissing him. The problem was she knew that they had guests to entertain. So reluctantly, she pulled away from him again. “That’s not going to carve itself,” she said nodding in the direction of the lamb.

He gave her a wicked grin as he reached for her han
d to pull her back to him once more, but she quickly stepped back and said; “come on Mr Grayson, we’ve got company!”

“Yes Mrs Grayson
,” he said still grinning but finally turning to the job at hand.

***

Everyone was getting ready to leave, as Charlie stood at the front door talking to Claire. She could feel Matt watching her, and she knew that he’ be trying to read the expression on her face. Yet she was trying desperately to conceal it from him.

“It’ll be okay Claire. We’ll sort things out I promise. I’ll come and stay with you for a couple of days, and we can even go to the spa and treat ourselves
,” Charlie said trying to sound as reassuring as she could. She also hugged her best friend tightly, as everyone else made their way over to the front door.

“Thanks Charlie
,” Claire whispered squeezing Charlie tightly before the two of them stepped back from one another.

Nick threw his arm
casually around Claire’s shoulders, and kissed Charlie on the cheek. “Happy Birthday again,” he said smiling before he walked out of the house leading Claire into the night.

Charlie saw Claire turn and g
ive her a desperate look, and she tried to smile at her reassuringly. She felt awful though that there wasn’t more that she could do for her best friend tonight.

“Night hun
,” Rach said arriving by Charlie and hugging her.

“Thanks for coming
,” Charlie said to Rach and Ben. She then smiled and turned from Rach to Ben so as to give him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“Wouldn’t have missed it
,” Ben said throwing a wave to Matt who was now sat on the sofa having said all of his goodbyes.

“
Thirty, thirty, thirty, I believe you’re thirty!” Rich sang like a small child whilst dancing stupidly in front of Charlie, and she couldn’t help but laugh at his immaturity.

“Night Rich
,” she said with laughter still in her voice.

“Night
,” he said before winking and flashing his cheekiest of grins at her.

She
shook her head at him by way of warning not to do what he was thinking of doing, but this only made him laugh. It also didn’t work, and she suddenly felt the familiar sensation of Rich’s goodbye. He grabbed her around the waist, and whilst supporting her neck with his right hand he dipped her to the floor. He then kissed her squarely on the lips before returning her to her previous upright position. Charlie shook her head again, and Rich laughed once more.

“Night
,” Bex said to Charlie whilst at the same time rolling her eyes at Rich.

Charlie smiled and
hugged her.

“Laters
,” Rich said as he grabbed Bex’s hand and led her out into the night behind the others.

Charlie
closed the door with a small sigh, but as she turned round she saw Matt walking over with two glasses of red wine. Charlie took one from him gratefully, and kissed him in return.

“Pl
ease don’t ask me yet,” she said knowing that he wanted to know what she’d been talking to Claire about.

Matt nodded
, but kept the concerned expression on his face as he looked intently into her eyes. She looked away though, frightened that she might betray Claire’s confidence if he kept looking at her that way.

“Good birthday Mrs Grayson
?” He asked. Changing the unspoken subject and taking back the glass of wine that he’d just given to her, which he then put down on the table by them along with his own.

Charlie nodded
, and smiled as he pulled her to him. She put her arms around his neck, and he kissed her whilst wrapping his arms tightly around her waist. Yet just as the kiss was intensifying between them, he pulled away and yawned widely.

She
smiled at him and said; “I’m not quite middle aged yet you know, and neither are you.”

“Sorry
,” Matt said stifling another yawn.

“Come on
. Let’s get you to bed,” Charlie said.

“I’m all about going to bed
,” he said winking at her and then laughing when she rolled her eyes at him.

She pulled away from him smiling
, and walked through into their kitchen to throw some last minute bits and pieces into the dishwasher. She also knew that she’d have to lock the back door that he would’ve left open.

“Rich is going to propose to Bex
,” Matt said nonchalantly leaning back against the kitchen sideboard where Charlie had just watched him put down a couple of dirty glasses.

She looked at him, and she could see that he was trying but also failing to stop himself from smiling at her, and she asked excitedly; “when? And when did he tell you?”

“You know when we thought that he was just being helpful with dessert,” Matt said and Charlie nodded. “He told me then, and asked if I’d be his best man.”

“Did he even need to ask?”
She asked as he turned off the kitchen light, took her hand in his, and began to walk up the stairs fumbling for the landing light switch which as always she found first.

“I told
him I’d have to think about it,” he said in a tone unlike his own.

This made
Charlie stop dead in her tracks at the top of the stairs and turn and look at him. “Seriously,” she said sounding stunned.

“No
,” Matt said laughing.

Charlie
hit his arm, and then staged a mock stomp into their bedroom. She went straight over to their bed, and put his bedside lamp on before sitting down.

M
att followed her over, and he was still laughing as he sat down beside her. “Seriously” he said to himself before laughing again. “I can’t believe you just asked me that,” he said to her.

S
he smiled but also grabbed a nearby pillow. She then pushed him so that his back went flat against the bed, and she moved quickly so that she was astride him and playfully trying to smother him with the pillow that she was holding. Matt laughed from beneath it, and she lifted it off his face smiling.

“Don’t stop
,” he said cheekily; “I’m enjoying you wriggling on top of me.”

“
What time do you have to be in?” Charlie asked throwing the pillow back into place, and leaning over to his bedside table to pick up his alarm clock.

“
Five,” he said.

Charlie looked at him sympathetically, and then set his alarm and put it back down on the bedside table. She smiled
as she leant over him again, but just as she was about to tell him that he should go to sleep he put his forefinger to her lips and shook his head at her.

“
There’s no more time for chit chat Mrs Grayson,” he said as he pulled her down on top of him.

She’d meant to pull away and tell him to go to sleep
,as he had to be in early and it was already late, but once he started to kiss her she changed her mind. She felt the desire in his kiss, and when he rolled her onto her back she couldn’t wait to begin making love to her husband
.

“Charlie,”
he said. He then watched as she opened her eyes groggily. “It’s ten past five,” he said moving her hair from out of her face where it’d fallen in the night; “and I’ve got to go to work.”