Charlotte adjusted her hat as she sat in the back of Dale's car, trying her hardest to ignore the conversation that was occurring in the front seats. She couldn't believe she'd been dumb enough to accept a ride to the funeral from the Townsends, she'd make damned sure she lost them at the wake.
"I don't think it's a good idea for me to go to the funeral," Rosalind said, her voice carrying to the back of the car. Despite herself, Charlotte listened more keenly.
"We've been through this before," Dale said, his fingers drumming on the steering wheel. "You can't hide away, and Brad was our friend too. It would be disrespectful not to go."
Rosalind let out a sigh. "He was John's best friend. Or one of them."
"So John will be there. If I can face him then you certainly can."
Charlotte felt couldn't help feeling sorry for Dale, he could hardly relish the idea of running into John Lombardo. Not only did he have to deal with the pain of his wife's affair, but he'd been publicly humiliated as well. Just when she thought the conversation was finished, Ros cleared her throat.
"There's Darlene to think about as well." She turned her pale blue eyes onto Dale, her look suggesting he was being unreasonable.
He briefly glanced at her before turning his attention back onto the road. "If I recall correctly you didn't think about Darlene when you were sleeping with her husband."
Charlotte recoiled hearing the anger in his voice but she couldn't say she blamed him. In the front seat, Rosalind let out an exaggerated sigh.
"How many times do I have to tell you I'm sorry?" she asked bitterly. "Don't you know how much I regret what I've done, I'd do anything for it not to have happened?"
Dale gripped the wheel tightly. "But it did Ros, and I'm trying to forgive you but it's not that easy. So if I can face everyone at the funeral then so can you."
Ros nodded and they continued the remainder of the journey in silence. Charlotte breathed a sigh of relief when Dale parked on the roadside outside of the church. He got out of the car, walking around the back of it to open her door, studiously ignoring Rosalind.
"Thanks," she said, pretending not to notice he'd snubbed his wife. She looked at the people milling around outside the church. "I guess we should go straight in, it looks like quite a turnout."
"Yeah, he's more popular in death than in life," Rosalind said sardonically. "People are such hypocrites."
Dale glowered at her. "Very true."
Charlotte strode forward trying to put a bit of distance between herself and the Townsends but they remained close behind her. She passed more than one old friend from high school and got no more than a cursory nod in reply to her smile and brief hello.
Quelle surprise.
When she'd first returned to Glendale some of her old friends had got in touch but she'd fobbed them off fearful that her husband would disapprove. The few friends who had met Nick's exacting standards - the dutiful wives of career-minded men - had dropped her when her marriage broke down, almost as if they feared it was contagious.
She stepped into the church and instantly spotted John and Darlene sat in a pew at the back. John mouthed 'hey' before facing forward again, Darlene, however, scowled as she looked past Charlotte's shoulder. She didn't need to turn around to know Rosalind was standing behind her.
"Let's sit over there," Dale said indicating to a pew on the opposite side of the church and Rosalind hurriedly sat down.
Charlotte didn't blame her, it would be the height of bad taste to have a catfight at a funeral. She tried to catch Darlene's eye wanting to apologise for being with Ros, but then that she caught sight of Louis sat with Judy. As if sensing he was being watched he looked up and she felt her face heat up. She smiled tightly before quickly taking a seat next to Dale.
~~~
Louis turned to Judy who was sat beside him. "Wow, she doesn't like me, does she?" he said watching Charlotte sit down.
Judy looked up frowning. "Who?"
"Charlotte. She was going to sit over here until she spotted me."
Judy scoffed. "No she wasn't, she can't sit with us when she's with them." She tilted her head in the direction of Rosalind and Dale. "Rosalind is persona non grata as far as we're all concerned, it's nothing to do with you."
Louis stared at her blankly. "You've lost me."
Judy glanced at Darlene and then leaned closer to him. "I can't go into all the details here but Darlene and Ros had a big fallout, and it was all Ros's fault."
He nodded, thinking Ros had probably grabbed the last lipstick from the makeup counter that Darlene wanted. They always used to have the stupidest fights. "Nothing changes then," he said barely concealing his lack of interest.
"I guess not," Judy said and he noticed her fiddling with her engagement ring.
"Congratulations, by the way." He'd heard she was engaged and should have mentioned it sooner.
"Thanks," she said her face breaking into a smile. "Urgh, that was tactless of me. I shouldn't sit here grinning when we're about to say goodbye to Brad."
"Life goes on," he said lowering his voice. "I wasn't sure if you'd even come today, I nearly didn't myself."
"I thought long and hard about it," Judy admitted. "But in the end, I decided that the most important thing was that I pay my respects to Brad cos we did have some good times together."
To Louis her words sounded rehearsed, he assumed she must have spent a long time deliberating over it. "I guess it was unrealistic being in a long-distance relationship," he said, his mind wandering to Charlotte again. "It was never gonna work out."
"That's right, I was foolish to think otherwise." She let out a wistful sigh. "There were no hard feelings though, we did manage to clear the air."
"You're lucky you had closure." His eyes fell on Charlotte, he was almost certain she was wearing one of her mom's old hats.
"Are you saying you didn't?" Judy asked quietly.
"Not really, no. I never understood why Lottie ended things."
Judy furrowed her eyebrows. "What did she say at the time?"
"Just that it wasn't working out us seeing other people." He shrugged. "I don't know, I wasn't expecting it and I didn't press her. I was probably trying to pretend I didn't care."
"But that was the truth," Judy whispered. "I was with Charlotte and she was miserable. You were in some sort of semi relationship and she was all mixed up. I actually told her I was happier being single and knowing where I stood."
"Gee thanks," Louis said wryly.
"I only suggested to her that she needed clarity. It was a while after you split that she got together with Nick."
"It can't have been that long," he said pulling a face. "If it even was afterwards."
"It was definitely afterwards. She met Nick at a college party which is kinda sleazy looking back on it. He taught at the college so we'd seen him around but Lottie didn't take any of his classes." Judy wrinkled her nose. "At the time I thought he was pretty cool hanging out with us students, and he was only about twenty-seven, so not that old."
Louis grimaced. "It does sound sleazy."
Judy nodded. "It was but remember Lottie was eighteen or nineteen, away from home for the first time and there's this slightly older guy who's smart, funny, attractive, paying all this attention to her. She couldn't help but fall for him, most of the girls would have killed to be in her shoes."
"You sure are boosting my confidence here," Louis said with a quiet laugh. "No way could I have competed with that."
Judy shook her head. "No, I'm just saying, she didn't meet him until after you guys split up and it was a whirlwind romance. He pursued her, probably because she was one of the few girls who wasn't fawning all over him."
"I don't suppose it matters," he said thinking that either way she'd finished with him.
"No, but she wasn't lying to you." She paused, twirling her hair around her finger. "To be honest, I think when she called you she probably hoped you'd say 'let's not see other people then.'"
"Yeah, I kinda suspected that after we'd finished talking. Then I just assumed she'd come home and we'd pick up where we left off." He let out a rueful sigh. "God, I was arrogant thinking she'd put her life on hold when she'd just dumped me."
Judy chucked under her breath. "You were but now you've got a second chance."
"Don't be absurd." He looked over at Charlotte, her face lacked expression and he couldn't catch her eye. "She wouldn't want to get back together."
Judy raised her eyebrows. "But you would. Isn't that what this conversation is about?"
"You've got it all wrong," he spluttered. "Besides I've heard she'll probably reconcile with her husband."
Judy's eyes widened. "Whoever told you that must have been tripping! They'll never get back together."
Louis was taken aback by the ferocity in her voice, she left no brook for any arguments. He wanted to question her further, however, the church music started signalling the service was about to begin.
~~~
Thank you for reading, please consider voting.