Getting him Back Read Free

finally settling on a music
channel.
    Claire
finally caved and spoke
first. ‘What do you mean, you want him back? How can you after what
he did.’
    ‘ I love
him, though. You don’t know what that’s like.’
    She rolled her
eyes, ‘Yeah, well I don’t need a man. I can look after myself. I
don’t want a man throwing his dirty underpants around my flat.’
    I wanted to
tell her that it wouldn’t make any difference if he did, her flat
was that chaotic, but I thought better of it. ‘Yeah, well I don’t
need a man either. I just want Mark.’
    Obviously
lost for words, Claire continued to stare at Shakira’s wriggling
hips on the television. ‘I suppose you’re going to say that Mark
wouldn’t have left you if you looked like that,’ she said pointing
to the screen.
    Claire
could be quite nasty at times. I sometimes thought I only stayed
friends with her because I had no other friends. ‘I wasn’t going to
say that at all ,’ I
replied.
    She
shrugged her shoulders. ‘All I’m saying is that you’re better off
without him and it wouldn’t matter if you looked like Shakira or
Anne Widdecombe because he doesn’t want you back. Get over it for
your own sake.’
    I
realised that Claire was never going to see sense and so I told her
I was going home. I’d only been there for a couple of hours but I
refused to spend any
more time with somebody who wouldn’t understand that I had to get
Mark back and that the only way to do it was to become friends with
his PA.
     

Chapter Four
Birthday
Surprise
     
    Catherine
placed another mouthful of rice into her delicate mouth. She looked amazing. She’d had her
hair cut into a geometric bob, which sharpened her round face and
gave her some cheekbones. She’d dyed it a darker brown and it shone
whenever the light hit it. Graham looked good too. He’d put gel on
his mousy hair and it looked funky and cool. He’d dressed casually
in khaki combats, white t-shirt, and black leather
jacket.
    ‘So how are you
doing, pet?’ Graham asked, his face showing concern like a parent
trying to comfort an injured child.
    ‘I’m fine,
considering,’ I said, taking a forkful of Cantonese chicken and
putting it into my mouth. The flavour was hot and made me cough. I
took a sip of my lager.
    Mum
started patting me on the back. ‘We can’t take you anywhere,’ she
said with a giggle. I felt embarrassed that Mum still kept treating
me like a child. It was Mum’s fiftieth birthday and since Dad was
no longer with us, Catherine and I had decided to take her to her
favourite Chinese restaurant. I was glad because it meant I could
have a good heart-to-heart with Catherine later, now that they were
staying at our house. Since Dad and Catherine moved out it was just
Mum and me, and the house sometimes felt too big for just the two
of us. As great as Mum was, she’d sided with Claire when it came to
Mark. She said she’d never forgive him for what he’d done to me and
she meant it too. Mum held grudges. Mark’s name had been added to
her grudge list, right underneath Dad’s. ‘Terri’s trying to forget
about “you-know-who” and get on with her life. Isn’t that right?’
Mum said, before taking a sip of her red wine.
    ‘I guess.’
There was no point in arguing. I saw Catherine and Graham exchange
looks.
    Catherine
smiled at me. ‘We can have a good girly talk later can’t we,
Tez?’
    My mood
brightened. ‘That would be great.’
    ***
     
    Graham
headed to bed first and my mum seemed to hang around for ages
making small talk. I wanted to speak to Catherine alone. I rarely
got to see her these days and although Mum didn’t see her much either, I needed some
big-sisterly advice on how to get Mark back. After an hour of
drinking wine and listening to music, Mum could no longer keep her
eyes open so she went to bed.
    ‘Thank God for
that – I thought she’d never go,’ I said collapsing onto the
settee, my legs outstretched.
    ‘It is her
birthday!’ Catherine put her