"So," Darlene said as she contemplated Louis. "What brings you back here? If I'd know you were coming around I'd have tidied up." She bent down to retrieve a teddy bear from the floor, throwing it into a pile in the corner of the room.
"It's fine, honestly," Louis said looking around, his eyes resting on her pictures displayed on the mantelpiece. "Your wedding seems a long time ago."
Darlene glanced at the picture of her and John on their wedding day. "Yeah it does, it's like another lifetime."
"That's true, we were barely out of high school."
Darlene winced, taking the comment as a dig before telling herself not to be so stupid. Their school days were only months behind them when she'd got married, they had been hasty. However she'd thought that she'd hit the jackpot with John, she hadn't considered what the realities of married life would be like.
"You didn't answer me," she said turning her attention back to Louis. "How come you're home?"
"I guess I got shot one too many times," he said with a laugh.
"Well it's good that you came home in one piece," she said unsure if he was being serious or not, she'd never quite been on his wavelength. "I'm sorry Lottie was here, that must have been awkward for both of you."
He shrugged. "I guess it was. I mean I went to a warzone to avoid that girl and here she is in your living room."
"I heard you were drafted," she said raising her eyebrows.
"Something like that." His eyes fell on a photograph of her and Charlotte with their sons. "So what's Lottie doing back here?" he asked his eyes lingering on the picture. "She was kinda vague about it?"
Darlene paused, unusually reticent. "I suppose it isn't a secret," she said hoping she wasn't betraying any of her friend's confidences. "She's getting divorced. I don't think she ever really settled in Ohio, she missed her family terribly. Anyway, she convinced her husband to move here but it didn't work out."
Louis laughed without humour. "So she uprooted her husband and then dumped him anyway? That sounds like Lottie!"
"You have no idea what you're talking about," Darlene snapped. "It wasn't like that at all. Nick, her husband, he..." She swallowed down her indignation. "Look, Louis, I can't go into details but she isn't at fault here, not at all."
"Okay," Louis said holding his hands up. "I didn't mean to upset you."
She took a couple of deep breaths. "Sorry, I overreacted."
"So is she back home with her mom?" Louis asked looking more closely at the picture. "I take it the boy in the photo is her son?"
Darlene sighed. "Yes, Jamie is her son. He's about six months younger than Junior so it's nice that they can play together." Louis nodded. "Junior's my son," she added in case he had forgotten.
Louis laughed sounding more genuinely amused than he had earlier. "I know, Darlene. I didn't get shot in the head."
"Sorry, it's just that I have to keep reminding myself that my child isn't half as interesting to other people as he is to me." She could well remember how she used to bore Rosalind stupid with her baby talk. "Anyway, after Lottie left her husband, she took Jamie and moved in with her brother. Her mom's embarrassed by the whole 'broken marriage thing' so it was never an option for her moving back home."
Louis frowned. "That sounds like Mrs Harper, she always was judgemental."
Darlene laughed. "Yeah she hated me, she thought I was a bad influence." The ignorant bitch!
"Who thought you were a bad influence?" John asked opening the living room door and she breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't sure how much longer she could go on making small talk with Louis before she put her foot in her mouth.
"Lottie's mom thought I was a bad influence." She slowly rolled her eyes. "That's kinda ironic when you look at how things have turned out."
John nodded. "She should look closer to home." He turned to Louis. "Can I get you a drink? I didn't mean to bail on you like that."
"I should be going," Louis said looking towards the doorway. "This was only gonna be a flying visit. I just wanted to let you know I'd be at the funeral on Friday."
"Great, we'll see you there." John's mouth turned down. "I mean, it's not great, it's a funeral, not a wedding."
Louis shrugged. "I was wondering if I should let Brad's parents know I'd be going but I didn't want to bother them."
John frowned. "I know what you mean, it seems sorta rude just turning up."
Darlene shook her head. "It doesn't work like that, and anyway the death notice said everyone was welcome at the church service and the wake."
"So that settles it then," Louis said taking a step towards the door. "I'll get going. I'll see you both on Friday."
Darlene waved a hand, noticing that he couldn't get away fast enough. She guessed he was having a hard to acclimatising to civilian life but then again, he never was the most sociable of guys.
"Why didn't you tell me Louis was coming round?" she demanded as soon as she heard the front door close.
"I didn't think," John said his brows furrowing. "It was bad timing Charlotte being here."
"Yeah, the worst. I just hope she doesn't think it was a setup." She could well imagine Charlotte might see it that way. "The last thing I'd do is put her in the same room with another guy who's treated her badly."
John gaped at her. "She dumped him, and I don't think Lou did anything wrong." He pulled a face. "I hate to say it cos I'm on her side but it sounds more like she got the hots for Nick McKenna and looked for an excuse to break up."
"No she didn't," Darlene said shaking her head. "Louis was seeing other girls while she was away at college."
"They agreed to see other people, it was her idea," John said getting a bit testy. "He was pretty cut up about it. He did nothing wrong."
"I think there was more to it than that." However, she was not at all surprised that John would defend the cheating party. "Lottie was hurt, I doubt she'd have ever got together with Nick if it wasn't for him. She was obviously on the rebound."
"Now don't go blaming him for that," John said his eyes darkening. "She made her choices, that's on her. And for what it's worth, Louis thinks she dumped him for Nick and then twisted the facts so she wouldn't be the bad guy."
Darlene shook her head. "I disagree, but then you guys always minimise your own cheating don't you?" She met his eyes, challenging him to disagree with her.
John's shoulders slumped. "Come on, we can't keep raking over this. I've told you I'm sorry till I'm blue in the face. I'll do whatever it takes to make it up to you."
She closed her eyes and turned away. "Yeah but this time you can't." She swallowed down the lump in her throat. "This time it was too close to home." If it had been anyone but Rosalind she would have turned a blind eye, but cheating with his ex-girlfriend, one of her best friends...
John reached a hand out to her, forcing her to face him. "I understand Darlene, I agree. I'm completely in the wrong but we have to move on. For our son's sake more than anyone's."
Resentment bubbled up in her at the mention of their son, John hadn't been thinking of him when he was in bed with Ros. "I am trying very hard here," she said holding her temper in check. "But it doesn't help when you are working with Ros's dad. And it doesn't help that all our friends know what happened and are taking sides. I can't stand that they all pity me." The all too familiar feeling of anger, tempered by humiliation, washed over her. John at least managed to look shamefaced.
"Honestly Darlene everyone thinks I'm the jerk, not you. It's me they're laughing at."
She scoffed letting some of her bitterness out. "No they're not laughing at you, they just think, 'typical John, can't keep it in his pants.'" That there was always some woman flashing her eyelids at him, tempting him from the straight and narrow, only made matters worse. She almost wished he was a bit less handsome, but he turned heads without trying with his Italian good looks. She felt positively plain in comparison.
"Come on, you're upsetting yourself," John said pulling her into his arms and rubbing her back while she remained rigid. "Everyone knows I was out of line and I was. Seriously, Darlene, I love you and I love our family, and I promise this will never happen again."
She sighed resting her head against his chest. She desperately wanted to believe him but it had happened too many times for her to blindly accept his reassurances again.
~~~~
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