Breakeven

Chapter 26

The girls were not at all bothered by the fact that we were staying another week. They were loving being fussed over by all of my family. I was, however, a bit concerned about Adam. He was becoming more and more withdrawn in our calls and it was almost as if he was keeping something from me. I spoke to Danny about it, he is with Adam so if something is going on I'm sure he would know about it but Danny just said that Adam didn't want to sound like he was having too much fun on the calls because he was missing me and wanted me to come home, Danny said Adam is his normal self during the days so that has put my mind at ease.

I am however starting to think that coming away was the wrong thing to do. I have achieved everything I hoped to, I've really gained some perspective and proved to myself that I am able to trust Danny, I don't need to constantly check up on him and I'm ready to go back to being us again. But the times I have spoken to Danny, he just seems very evasive when I mention coming home. He still tells me that he loves me, that he misses me, that he can't wait to have our family back together but then if I mention coming back he always thinks of something else I should do before I come home. If he's realised that he's better off without me then I only have myself to blame.

The doorbell rang, pulling me from my thoughts, I went to answer it and saw Eleanor and Georgianor standing on the doorstep.

"Come on in" I said as I stepped aside.

"I'm so sorry you've had to wait so long for tonight" Eleanor said as she passed me.

"El, you've got to work, it's fine" I said as I followed her to the living room.

"Where's Jessica?" Georgianor asked.

"She's upstairs, go on up if you want." I said and Georgianor went straight up to find Jess.

"Get that opened then" Eleanor said as she handed me a bottle of wine. "I've got loads to tell you"

I laughed taking the wine with me to the kitchen and pouring 2 glasses. I handed one to Eleanor before sitting down ready to hear everything she had to tell me.

"So, how's things with you?" she asked, but I knew she wasn't really interested in hearing about me right now. I could tell that she had some news.

"El, we've got all night, just tell me whatever it is that you're bursting to say" I laughed.

"Well, I've kind of met someone" she said as a smile took over her face.

"Really?" I asked, probably sounding a little more shocked than I should have.

"Don't say it like that Kay, I'm not a nun you know." She joked.

"Come on then, tell me everything, What's his name? Where did you meet? How long have you been seeing him?" I asked

"Alright Kay, calm down, we're not in high school you know." Eleanor said to me, her smile never fading. "He's called Jason, he's my age, he's got 2 kids, I actually met him through work and we've been seeing each other for about 2 months now. I've tried to broach the subject with Georgianor but she's not keen on me moving on, I don't know why because she seems to accept her Dad's new Mrs with no problem."

"Yeah but George moved on quite quickly and she didn't really get a chance to know any different. You and Georgianor have been really close, and she's always been your only focus, just give her time El, I'm sure she'll come around to the idea eventually."

"I hope so but I'm really worried about it. Jason just makes me so happy and I really want them to get on but you know that Georgianor is my life and I know that I can't keep seeing him if she won't accept it."

I suddenly realised the dilemma that Eleanor was in, I've never had to consider not being with the man I loved for the sake of my kids, I'm lucky in that the man I love is their dad. And I get that Eleanor is a mum first, but surely she deserves to be happy?

"Just give it time El, I'm sure she'll come around to the idea eventually. You can't let her keep you single forever, you deserve to be happy and I'm over the moon you've finally met someone who's making you feel that way"

"You say that like you'd know, where is Mr Perfect anyway?" she asked with a laugh.

"He stayed in London with Adam." I answered, keeping my answer as short as possible.

"So, what's going on with The Script then? Why have they just suddenly stopped making any appearances? The illness in the band isn't Danny is it?" She asked

"Eleanor, you know I'm not going to tell you so why bother asking?" I said, and then I saw the look of concern on her face. "The illness isn't Danny" I told her to give her some reassurance.

"Who then?" she asked, hoping for more information.

"El I've just narrowed it down from 3 to 2, I'm not telling you" I laughed.

"You're no fun Kay, I thought I might at least get the inside scoop from you tonight, well I'll just have to tell you more about Jason"

We talked for ages, that's the thing with me and Eleanor, it doesn't matter how long we don't see each other for, we can always pick up like we only spoke yesterday. After about an hour of hearing all about Jason I suddenly blurted out "How did you know that you and George were over?"

Eleanor stopped talking and looked at me with a puzzled look on her face. She knew as well as I did that the question wasn't really about her and George.

"Why would you ask that? Have you and Danny split up? Is that why he's not here with you?"

I looked away, regretting that the words had fallen from my mouth but knowing that I couldn't take them back now.

"We've not split up" I said before pausing for thought, "At least I don't think we have"

Eleanor wrapped her arm around my shoulder, her attempt to comfort me, tell me she was there for me, but all it did was made the tears fill my eyes.

"How did you know El?" I repeated, looking up at her briefly.

"You and Danny are the closest couple I have ever known, you're not over Kay, where has this come from? Has he done something to hurt you? I'll kill him if he has" she said with a false laugh towards the end.

"It's nothing, well not anything I can explain, I just feel like I've fucked up and I'm losing him" I told her honestly. "How did you know?" I asked again, almost begging for her to tell me if my marriage was over.

"He slept with my sister." She blurted out, I had always thought that George and Eleanor just grew apart, she had never told me this before and the look of shock on my face must have been evident to her. "Don't ever repeat that to anyone" she said with regret that she had told me.

"I wouldn't, El I'm so sorry, I had no idea"

"I know, it's not the kind of thing you want to tell everyone. But now do you see, you don't have the same situation as I had, since you haven't even got a sister I know Danny hasn't done to you what George did to me. And you're not over, you two will never be over, what you've got is true love Kay, the kind that everyone hopes to find but only a lucky few actually get."

I smiled as I wiped away the remnants of the tears from my eyes. I guess I sometimes take for granted the relationship I have with Danny but it felt good to hear someone else say that they could see true love between us.

My phone rang, interrupting our conversation. "That'll be Mr Perfect now" Eleanor said with a giggle.

I lifted the phone and saw that it was Mark calling me. "Hello?" I answered, slightly confused by the call.

"Kay, you need to get back here" he said, his voice almost emotionless.

"I'll be back soon Mark, what's happened?" I asked.

"Kay, just come back now" he said, I started to worry.

"What's happened Mark, is it Danny?" I asked as the panic started to rise.

"I don't know what's happened Kay, just get back" he said to me quite calmly but with a real forcefulness to his voice.

"Mark, tell me what the fuck is going on?" I said

"Have you got someone with you?" he asked, I knew then that what he was about to tell me would be bad.

"El's here"