John entered the bar, making a beeline for Louis, his feet squelching on the sticky floor. He thanked God that Darlene was finally letting him off the leash, at least a little.
"The things I have to do to go out for a few beers," he joked as he joined Lous. "Adultery is so not worth it." Louis laughed half-heartedly and he quickly moved on. "So how did it go with Charlotte, are you guys together now? I mean properly together."
Louis looked away, a slight frown on his face. "Sort of, more so than we were but...I dunno, just when I'm getting somewhere she backs off."
"Isn't that the story of your life with her?" he joked and Louis's frown deepened. "Look tread carefully, you don't really know her."
"I've known her all my life," Louis said sounding defensive.
John shook his head. "Not for the past six years you haven't, and that's probably been the most important time in both your lives." Louis didn't know what Charlotte had been through and nobody knew what he'd been through, that was a well-kept secret.
"So what are you saying?" Louis caught his eye, his gaze was penetrating. "You're obviously hinting at more than you're letting on."
John sighed, indicating to the bartender to line up a drink. "You keep remembering the girl you used to know, and I get it. I did the same with Rosalind. But you might not like who Charlotte is now, and by the time you wake up to that, you'll be in too deep."
"Woah you're giving me relationship advice." Louis lit a cigarette looking away from him. "I don't think I'm gonna suddenly dislike her, she hasn't changed that much."
John sighed, he hated talking about all this relationship stuff, he was so not the expert. "Look Charlotte's probably done things over the years that might make you feel differently about her." Things you can't handle.
"Like what has she done?" Louis demanded, a frown on his face.
"Well her marriage was difficult..."
"Are you saying she's lying about it?"
"No, not at all," he said quickly. "'I've met her husband plenty of times and he's a jerk. And I thought that before she lost the baby."
"Right so what aren't you telling me?" Louis asked irritably.
John took his time lighting a cigarette as he contemplated how much to say. "The end of her marriage was pretty messy." To say the least. "Anyway, one day she was arguing with McKenna outside of their house and he pushed her. She fell down the steps - there's only three or four so he must have hit her pretty hard cos she was knocked out cold. By the time she came round she was in hospital miscarrying the baby and McKenna was by her side playing the doting husband." He scowled, sickened by the events.
Louis was silent for a moment. "Yeah Charlotte said she fell, and that Nick said it was an accident."
"Well he would say that, wouldn't he." He fought down his indignation. "The police got involved and everything. They should have pressed charges."
"Why didn't they?"
"Lack of evidence. Charlotte was concussed, and Nick was coaxing her with her statement."
Louis looked at him opened mouthed. "And the police went along with that?"
"She was doped up on tranquillizers and confirming his version of events." He shrugged helplessly. "So she was patched up and sent home with him." He squirmed: he and Darlene had long speculated about Charlotte's marriage, and Darlene especially had felt something was seriously not right after the accident.
"So why'd she eventually leave?" Louis asked. "I don't want to push it with Lottie, but why didn't she leave after she lost her baby, why did she wait? What could have been worse than losing her baby?"
"I guess it took her a while to recover." John paused thinking Louis would find the truth out eventually. "I think she tried to pretend everything was all right."
"Darlene are you sure it's such a good idea to be checking up on Charlotte like this?" John asked as they pulled up by her house.
"I just want to make sure she's okay, she never answers my calls." They got out of the car and approached the house. Darlene began to rap on the door but John noticed the curtains were drawn.
"That's odd," Darlene said following his gaze and she began to bang more determinedly.
"Here let me," John said standing back ready to throw his weight against the door.
"Wait." Darlene put her hand on the handle and the door swung open. "Lottie?" They stepped inside and found Charlotte sat in the living room; if she thought it was odd they were there she didn't say so.
"Are you okay?" Darlene asked sharing an anxious look with John.
"Sure," Charlotte said popping a pill out of the packet and swallowing it down.
"It's just I haven't heard from you..."
"No sorry," She shook her head absentmindedly. "You'll never guess who I have heard from though?" She looked at them both, and they frowned in reply.
"I've had Nick's girlfriend stop by here, can you believe that?" She popped another pill into her mouth.
"What! No!" Darlene went and sat by her. "Nick has a girlfriend?"
"Apparently so." Charlotte took a sip of water, swallowing the pill.
"What happened?"
"She came here to tell me she's pregnant."
John thought Charlotte's voice seemed strangely devoid of emotion, and he wondered if Darlene had picked up on it.
"Pregnant?" Darlene repeated.
"Yep, it seems like they're gonna have the perfect happy family together cos obviously I can't give him that." She swallowed another pill as Darlene put an arm around her, hugging her closely.
"How many of those have you had?" John demanded and Darlene looked up startled. Charlotte looked at him, her eyes slightly vacant.
"Oh at least half the packet," she said as she popped another pill out. John flew towards her as she reached to put it into her mouth, the glass of water that was in her hand shattered.
"John!" Darlene shrieked taken aback by his sudden movement.
"Call an ambulance," he yelled as he grabbed Charlotte, holding her in place. She squirmed in his arms, holding a piece of broken glass that she slashed at her opposite wrist.
"Jesus Charlotte!" He twisted her hand forcing her to drop the glass as blood ran down her arm.
"Let me go," she said fighting against him. "I can't go on like this, just let me go." He kept tight hold of her, blood dripping onto them both, as a panicked Darlene called for an ambulance.
Louis stared at him slack-jawed, his face at least a shade whiter, possibly more.
"That mark on her wrist, the one she's always scratching, she did that to herself?" he asked quietly.
"Yeah, obviously she wasn't thinking straight, and it was the wake-up call she needed to get the hell out of her marriage."
"Jeez," Louis said appalled. "I can't believe she'd do that."
"And under normal circumstances, she wouldn't. You can't tell her you know." He gave Louis his best 'shut the fuck up' look.
"How can I not mention it?"
He shuffled, playing with his drink. "Well, she hasn't told you so she doesn't want you to know. You'll have to wait for her to tell you in her own time."
Louis gaped at him open-mouthed.
"I've only told you cos I don't want you to mess her about."
"What do you take me for?" Louis asked clearly offended, and John shook his head.
"Come on it's me you're talking to. You and her, you've split up before." Suddenly an image of Rosalind came into his mind.
"We split up cos I was stupid. Looking back it was more my fault."
John paused, "And maybe you've spent all this time regretting it." Just like I have with Ros.
"Maybe, but I'll regret it if I don't try," Louis said stubbing out his cigarette. "I'm gonna have to tell her what you told me, how can I not? I mean she tried to kill herself."
John grabbed hold of his collar. "No she didn't but she was in a bad place." He released him just as quickly. "Keep this to yourself, you wouldn't want to upset her."
Louis made a non-committal response and he scowled in reply.
Fine, Louis could go blundering in but he had fuck all clue what he was dealing with.
~~~
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