Letting in Light ✔️ [Completed] [Book two]

Chapter 13

"So long, January. You've been a bitch!" Caroline exclaims loudly, lifting her glass of red wine.

I look at her quizzically, not really sure why she is so down. I then watch wide eyed as she guzzles most of the contents of her glass.

"You ok?" I ask, frozen perfectly still with my glass suspended in mid air.

Her eyes flit to mine. The hardness of her face softens immediately. I know my best friend, she has something to tell me, and she's not ready just yet. I've learnt from experience that I will have to bide my time if I want her to open up.

I clink her almost empty glass. "Longest month of my life." I raise my glass of white wine, and then proceed to take a long drink. The coldness hits the back of my mouth, and soothes my sore throat. Damn you, cold!

The waiter comes over and we order our lunch quickly, knowing we're both pressed for time.

"Other than our spa break, I feel like I've hardly seen you."

"I know, all I've done is work." I slouch back in my chair, exhaustion creeping inside my bones.

"How you sleeping now?" She's trying, and failing to make me forget that she has something on her mind. But I'll play along for now, and let her change the subject.

"Not great. I'm trying to be rational. I know I have to just adapt to the situation, this is my life now. I love him. But, when I saw those bloody photos of him and Marcia... you know... it knocked the wind out of my sails."

I sigh loudly, remembering the feeling of waking up to the images of them kissing passionately while they were rehearsing a scene, like a juggernaut hitting my heart.

"You have been rational. You handled it so well. Most women who aren't actresses would find it too overwhelming to actually see their partner kissing another woman because... well, things like that don't happen in the real world unless he's cheating. It's surreal, and Daniel said you were amazing about it."

"Thanks Hun, that means a lot. You're right though, it's mental. I have to watch my boyfriend literally simulate sex with other women, and react like it's no big deal because it's part of the job." I make quotation marks in the air with my hands sarcastically to show that Daniel really doesn't think it's a big deal.

"I couldn't do it, not even if it was Xander Birch. So, I think you're incredibly strong."

I shrug in response.

"What can I say, he's worth it. So, Xander is still number one on your celebrity list then?" I ask, wiggling my eyebrows.

"Oh God, yes." She laughs, but I can hear that it's false.

"Anyway, I thought Jer was due to come home?"

"Two more weeks. I'm not going to lie, it's getting harder to deal with how often he's away. You still heading over to Ireland on Saturday?" Her tone is clipped, so I know that I've hit a raw nerve about Jer.

She finishes her glass of wine, and waits for me to answer her. She's still not ready.

"Oh yes, its been exactly four weeks since I've seen him. He's filming through the night tomorrow into Saturday, so I said I would fly over Saturday morning because we promised four weeks would be the max." I feel the smile spread across my face. The usual butterflies swirl around my stomach at the thought of seeing him again.

"I bet you're in for a fun twenty four hours." She winks at me, and I burst out laughing, almost spitting out my wine in the process.

We gossip over lunch, and there is barely a minutes silence. Once we have finished, the waiter collects our plates. I pay the bill as it is my turn, and then reach for my coat.