The Weekend - Completed

Chapter 56

I stared at the door for a long time, still a little shocked it was finally over, not quite believing he wouldn't burst through the door and tell me he's not giving up on us. But as the seconds turned to minutes I realised he wasn't coming back, he had at long last accepted we were never getting back together. I closed my eyes and sighed, whilst my mind raced trying to understand why if this is what I wanted, then why did it hurt so much?

I had always believed the debilitating pain I felt all those years ago was a result of how we split up, the suddenness, and because I'd never seen it coming I couldn't prepare myself for the fall out. I suppose in the back of my mind I thought I had held onto the ache in my heart because I longed for...oh I don't know closure or something. As I shuddered at the thought of the sadness and despair in Daniel's eyes I knew I had well and truly had enough of bloody closure to last me a lifetime. Rather than bringing relief and understanding I've been an emotional wreck for the past fortnight, no avoidance is most definitely my chosen method of relationship therapy from now on, I'm now a fully paid up member of the 'out of sight, out of mind' club.

"Oh my God Alex, tell us what happened" Amanda whined as she crashed through the door quickly followed by Jules. I shrugged my shoulders and went to sit behind my desk, sinking into the familiar chair.

"You can't just leave us hanging like that, what's a shrug suppose to mean?" Amanda continued as they both followed me to the desk.

I watched as Jules bounced into the chair opposite mine, expectantly waiting for me to pour my heart out to her.

"Jules said he looked really upset when he got down to reception, tell her Jules" Amanda added from the corner of my desk where she's perched.

"Yeah that's right, I swear he had tears in his eyes when I saw him, and when I asked if he was alright he couldn't even speak he just shook his head and hurried out the door. What did you do to him?" She asked edging further forward in her seat.

"I didn't do anything to him" I sighed heavily, their disbelieving expressions clearly showing their doubt in that.

"Okay, We went out a long time ago, before I met Joel, and after we bumped into one another again at a friend's wedding he got it into his head we might get back together again." I impressed myself with my nonchalance.

"Why would he think that?" Amanda asked, before her eye widened and a huge grin fixed upon her face. "You shagged him, didn't you?" I prayed Professor O'Neill wasn't in his office as regardless of whether the window was open or not there was no way he hadn't heard her flabbergasted screech.

They mistook my chagrin as an admission of guilt and for the next couple of minutes they bombarded me with questions.

"How long have you known him for?"

"Is he good in bed?"

"Why have you never mentioned him before?"

"How many times did you shag him?"

"What just happened?"

"Has he got a big di..."

"Enough!" I yelled, thankfully cutting Amanda off mid-word. She was most definitely the most naturally gifted student I had ever taught and when Professor O'Neill suggested she do her teacher training with me little did I know I'd be learning as much off her as she learnt off me.

I can remember that day with clarity, when we sat in his office as he extolled her plaudits enthusiastically, he described it as an excellent developmental opportunity for us both, before cheerfully concluding there could really be no one else for the job, as she did, after all, remind him so much of me. Listening to her now I couldn't quite decide if the professor was a horrible judge of character, or if secretly he had always imagined I was a bit of a 'goer', either way I'd have serious doubts about taking his advice in the future...ever.