“Not more important, no,” Erica said, reluctantly.
“Well thank you for that.”
“It’s just that right now Lucy needs me. And she probably needs a bit of understanding and consideration too…”
“Oh,” Erica’s girlfriend said. “So her feelings aren’t more important, except that really, yes they are?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Yeah you did.”
“No,” Erica said, sounding a little frustrated. “I really, very carefully didn’t.”
“So pick then. Her or me. Tell her to leave or I’ll go.”
Erica didn’t say anything.
“Pick, Erica. Pick one of us or the other, right now.”
“This is completely stupid,” Erica said. “I’m not choosing between you two. It doesn’t even make sense why I would.”
“Fine, then I’ll go. I’ll leave and give you two space.”
“We don’t need space,” Erica said. “We don’t need anything. Lucy just needs someone to talk to.”
“She needs you to talk to.”
“Well, yes, but that isn’t…”
“Yeah, it pretty much is. And I don’t like it. So pick whether you want her to stay or me to.”
“Please don’t be like this,” Erica said.
“I’m not being like anything. I’m asking which of us you want to leave.”
“Neither of you. Obviously. And obviously not you.”
“Well, I’m going to if you don’t tell her to go instead.”
“That isn’t fair. I can’t.”
“So you want me to go?”
“No,” Erica said. “Of course not.”
“Then you’ll go inside and tell her to leave?”
“I can’t do that either…” Erica said, then, “Fuck.”
There was a silence. They seemed to be both be staring at each other, Lucy thought, from what she could see out the windows. Both were staring at each other, and both were angry, and neither was willing to listen or change their minds or back down. It was awful, when they were supposed to be a couple, and presumably to like and trust one another. It was awful that both of them were so stubbornly refusing to just listen to what the other one was saying.
Lucy sat there, feeling terrible.
She felt terrible because she had caused this, and she wanted them to stop. She almost wanted to get up and go outside and say that she would just leave, that it was fine, and if her being here was this much of a problem, then she didn’t need to stay at all.
She wanted to do that. She decided that she should.
She ought to just leave, she thought, even though it would be a little awkward admitting what she had overheard.
YOU ARE READING
Losing Everything
RomanceLucy loses everything that matters to her, her partner and job and business and all her money. She loses everything, and in doing so she reconnects with an old friend, Erica, and begins to fall for her instead. And as she does, she realizes that e...
