Splintered Memory (26 page)

Claire turned round and he saw that she looked momentarily uncomfortable at seeing him, but she just as quickly composed her face into a bright smile that made her blue eyes sparkle.

“Matt, it’s nice to see you. Wow, look at you looking devilishly handsome in your morning suit. God we must be running really late, we haven’t even changed yet. Well obviously
,” she said pointing to her jeans and boots and talking ridiculously quickly.

He hadn’t really been listening to what she’d been saying though. He’d instead been looking at the back of the woman to her right. He knew this was going to be Charlie, but she looked different even from the back. He noticed that she’d lost weight, and that she’d had her hair cut incredibly short.

Charlie turned round to face him, and he was momentarily stunned by how well both the haircut and the weight loss suited her. Charlie had always been beautiful, but Matt had never seen her look this stylish. She’d always been naturally pretty and very girl next door. She’d never been about flash clothes or trendy looks, but it seemed that they really suited her. He jealously wondered how many men she must have after her, aside from the guy that was stood with her.

He noticed as he continued to look at her that her hair cut shaped her face and framed her features. It looked styled but
also understated, like she’d just woken up and had run her hands through it. Her eyes seemed bolder somehow with the hair cut, and her cheekbones looked more defined and prominent. Yet he knew the definition might have been from her weight loss.

From the front it was even more evident that Charlie was much thinner than he
’d ever known her, but she looked amazing and it made her look taller. Matt couldn’t help but stare at her as he tried to look her over as subtly as possible, but he guessed that he’d failed at subtlety when she smiled at him. It was just that all of her clothes were figure hugging, and she’d looked
really
good in them.

“Hi, I’m Adam,
” the guy stood next to Charlie said as he held out his hand to Matt.

Feeling
very conscious that he hadn’t spoken Matt shook hands with Adam, but as he did he looked him squarely in the face and thought that he disliked this man intensely. He also wondered if he was aware that Charlie was married. That Charlie was actually
his
wife.

“Matt
,” he said releasing Adam’s hand and then asking as nonchalantly as he could; “you’re here with Charlie and Claire?”

Adam nodded and said;
“I drove them up from London this morning.”

London Matt thought
. So that’s where Charlie had gone when she’d left Cheddar. He’d never imagined that she’d head there, or that she’d go and stay with Claire. In fact he wondered how that had even come about given that Claire hadn’t shown the slightest bit of interest in visiting Charlie after the accident.

“My better half
,” Claire said moving to stand by Adam and looping her arm around his.

“I don’t disbelieve it
,” Matt said smiling at Claire but also feeling a massive wave of relief that this guy wasn’t accompanying Charlie this weekend.

Claire returned his smile almost smugly, and he knew that she hadn’t missed either his comment or his look of relief. He really disliked her at times he thought.

“Your room keys,” the receptionist said.

“Come on
,” Charlie said to Claire taking the keys from the receptionist. “We need to change.”

“Yeah okay
,” Claire said smiling at Charlie.

“It’s nice to see you,
” Charlie said lightly. Yet before he could reply she turned away from him with Claire and Adam, and he watched her walk away carrying her overnight bag in her hand. 

Matt stood there dumbstruck. It’s nice to see you he thought. That was it he asked himself? Nearly ten years of marriage
, and a fifteen year relationship in total before she’d walked out on him, and that was all she had to say to him now. She surely had to be joking he asked himself?

He shook his head and remembered that for her, he was just some moody guy that she’d
had to live with for six months. He was just some good for nothing guy that had slept with her once and had then walked out on her. What had he been expecting he thought? Added to which, on thinking about it he hadn’t actually said anything to her. He’d just stood there looking her over and probably making her feel ridiculously uncomfortable. He shook his head despairingly.

“Matt, what are you doing?” H
e heard an angry voice ask him from behind, and he turned around and saw Bex stood in a big white dressing gown.

“Can you please go an
d attend to your best man duties, and ensure that Rich is where he’s supposed to be?” Bex asked.

Matt nodded
, and dashed off in the direction of Rich’s room. Today was not about him he thought.

***

Matt had felt distracted throughout the wedding, and whilst he’d been stood to Rich’s right – waiting for Bex to make her entrance, he’d felt as anxious as he had when their positions had been reversed almost a decade ago. His eyes had kept wondering over to where he’d known Charlie had been sat, but he hadn’t been able to see her properly. He had however caught a glimpse of her arriving, and he’d been able to see the pretty lilac flower that she had in her hair.

Outside after the service, he stood with Emily who was talking
to him excitedly. Yet he still felt distracted and he continued to look around for Charlie, but he couldn’t see her anywhere. He tried to engage himself in conversation with people, and he stood for a while making polite chit chat with Bex’s parents while Emily held his hand tightly as though to remind him that he was there with her.

It was only when he was stood talking and laughi
ng with Rich, as the photographer took photographs of the two of them, that he finally spotted Charlie. She was stood talking to his parents and he stopped laughing. He looked at the photographer and asked; “are we done?”

The photographer looked shocked by Matt’s
sudden change of demeanour, and he nodded. Rich nodded too, as a sign that it was okay for him to walk away from his best man duties for a while.

Matt walked quickly over to where Charlie
was stood with his parents, and as he reached them he put his hand on his father’s shoulder briefly and kissed his mum on the cheek.

“Hi
,” he said quietly to Charlie. She smiled in response.

“We were just telling Charlie that she must be living it up in London too much to have lost all this weight,
” his mum said; “but that we do like this fancy new haircut of hers.”

“I wasn’t actually
,” Matt’s dad said. “I was just telling Charlie that if I was twenty years younger and not her father-in-law…”

“Okay dad, I don’t think
any of us need to hear the end of that sentence,” Matt said interrupting his dad just in time and making his parents and Charlie laugh.

“Matt
,” Emily said from behind him before putting both of her hands on his right arm.

Matt’s mum
, dad, and Charlie, all looked from Emily to Matt. He looked from Emily to all of them, but his eyes lingered on Charlie’s as he tried to make a silent apology to her.

“Hi
,” Emily said holding out her hand to his dad.

“Dad
, this is Emily. Emily this is my dad,” Matt said as Emily shook hands with his dad. “This is my mum,” he continued as she shook hands with his mum; “and Charlie you know,” he finished almost ashamedly.

Charlie smiled at Emily
, and then with a laugh she said to Matt’s parents; “with introductions like that, maybe Rich and Bex should’ve sprung for name badges.”

Matt’s parents laughed, as did Emily, but Matt just
looked at Charlie.

“
Matt’s dad is Robin,” Charlie said to Emily as Robin laughed again; “and this is Marie,” Charlie added sharing a warm smile with Matt’s mum. “Hi,” she finally said to Emily before hugging her and astounding Matt.

Emily pulled back from Charlie and said to Matt;
“Bex is demanding that you get back over to her and Rich. As best man I think you’re supposed to be in most of the photos.”

He
could feel his mum scowling at Emily, and so he said; “okay, well I’d better get back then.”

A
s he walked away from his family he tried to guide Emily in front of him, but he was mortified when she stopped and took his hand in hers before continuing back towards the main party.

Matt
wondered what his parents were making of his new girlfriend. He knew they wouldn’t be enamoured, but then Emily hadn’t done herself any favours in coming over when they were talking to Charlie. His parents loved Charlie. Although he now felt guilty that he hadn’t bothered to speak to Charlie before today. He knew that he owed it to her, or to the old her at least, to have found out where she’d moved after Cheddar and to have told her that he was with Emily.

He also couldn’t believe that he’d just embarrassed himself in front of his
parents like he had. Charlie had had to introduce them to Emily properly, because he’d been so uncomfortable with the introductions that he’d forgotten to tell Emily his parent’s names. It was a disaster he thought. Yet at least as they reached Rich and Bex, Emily stopped holding his hand so tightly.

Matt
exchanged a look with Rich as he positioned himself on Rich’s right hand side, and Emily nestled up against him. He saw Claire in front of him and she looked furious. She stared daggers at him, and then she turned and walked over to where Charlie was now stood alone. Matt wished he could hear what was being said, but then thought that maybe it was better that he couldn’t. This day was turning into a nightmare he knew, and the reception hadn’t even begun.

“I hope you
r speech is clean Matthew,” Bex’s mum said to him.

H
e was grateful for the distraction and he reassured her that it was – well, to the most part.

***

Matt was stood by the bar with Nick and Ben. They were talking, but he was also watching Charlie who was on the dance floor with his dad.

“Your dad st
ill has some pretty sweet moves,” Nick commented as they all watched Matt’s dad spin Charlie and then pull her back into hold whilst she laughed.

Matt nodded
as he looked away from them and asked Nick; “have you spoken to Claire today?”

Nick shook his head
and said; “I was gonna go over and say hi, but then I overheard Rach and her mum talking about the fact that they couldn’t believe that she’d had the nerve to come to the wedding with the guy that she’d cheated on me with. After that, I sought of lost my nerve.”

“Ouch
!” Ben said.

“Guessing you definitely haven’t spoke to him then
?” Matt asked.

“Nope
,” Nick said. “You know what’s weird though? Seeing her wasn’t as bad as I’d imagined it being. She seems happy with him, and I’m not that jealous.”

“That jealous
,” Ben said.

“
Oh come on. Claire can be a bitch, but she’s hot as hell. Always has been,” Nick said as all three of them looked over at where Claire was sat talking to Adam.

“Speaking of hot
,” Rich said coming over to join them. “How hot is Charlie looking today? Oh and nice man,” he said to Matt. “The speech,” he added when he saw Matt’s confused expression. “You know that Bex is going to kill me later when there are no witnesses around.”

Nick, Ben
, and Matt, all laughed.

“In fairness Rich,
” Ben said; “you were the one shouting about it at the end of your stag night.”

“Shit, was I
?” Rich asked Ben whilst eyeing Matt warily.

Nick, Ben
, and Matt, all laughed again.

“Let’s just say that we’re all square now
,” Matt said.

“I don’t think Bex is going to see it that way
,” Rich said before ordering a pint from behind the bar. “Who were you deciding was hot or not by the way when I came over?”

“Claire
. But then you said Charlie, and I agree. She’s looking hotter than I’ve ever seen her, and I’ve always thought that she was fine. Although don’t tell Rach,” Ben said lowering his voice.

“I gotta say” Nick said
to Matt. “I’d happily trade places with your old man right now.”

“Great
! So now we’re all decided that Charlie’s hot, is it possible that we can talk about something else?” He asked knowing that there was a slight edge to his voice.

“Okay, how about the look on Bex’s face when Matt made reference to the school games shed
?” Ben asked before laughing yet again.

“I wasn’t sure which one of you Bex looked most annoyed at,
” Nick said also laughing once more; “but I’m kind of leaning on Matt.”

“
Yeah,” Ben said smiling; “but I reckon Claire looked even more annoyed at Matt than Bex did.”