Getting him Back by Anna Pescardot Page B

‘Who is she?’
    ‘You don’t know
her. I met her at work. She’s my new PA.’
    ‘Oh, that’s
just typical. A man sleeping with his slutty secretary. I thought
you were better than that!’
    ‘ Don’t
you see? She’s done you a favour. If it weren’t her it would’ve
been somebody else, probably after we’d got married. It’s better
this way. You’d better go.’
    I wanted
to hug him, just as I always did before leaving, but I thought
better of it. I threw my key onto the table, burst into tears and
ran out of the flat. How could he do this to me? He wouldn’t get
away with it. Nobody breaks Terri Gordon’s heart.
Nobody.
     

Chapter Three
Home Sweet
Home
     
    After the
horrible day at work I’d had, I was happy to smell Mum’s
best-recipe casserole simmering on the stove. She was sitting at
the table reading a woman’s magazine. ‘Hi, love. Did you have a
good day?’
    ‘It was ok.
What about you?’
    ‘Oh, same as
usual. Cleaning, cleaning and then some more cleaning.’
    I threw
my handbag onto the floor and placed my coat around the back of the
chair. She had a hot cup of tea waiting, as usual and I felt warm
inside as I sipped it. ‘I thought I’d go and see Claire later if
that’s ok.’
    ‘ You do
what you want, love, you’re twenty- three years old now.’
    ‘I know, but
while I’m still under your roof and all that…’
    Mum smiled, ‘I
know it’s hard for you right now but look at Catherine, she didn’t
meet anyone until she was twenty-nine and she’s settled now.’
    Catherine
was my older sister. She’d moved out two years ago and lived a
twenty-minute train ride away in a big, posh, converted barn. She’d
had problems with her love life too until she’d gone to work at an
accountancy firm after she’d passed her financial exams. She’d
hooked up with one of the partners and she hasn’t looked back
since. He’s quite nice too, Graham. He’s not your usual
accountant-type; he wears jeans a lot and does extreme sports. He
keeps trying to take Catherine scuba diving but she refuses – not
because she’s “Little Miss Sensible” or anything, but because she
nearly drowned when we were little. We were at this indoor swimming
centre, which had its own wave pool and we thought she was laughing
when she got caught in the waves, and so did the lifeguard at
first. It was only when her face turned purple that Dad realised
she was drowning and went to save her. She hasn’t been in water
since. It’s turned into a phobia but she still refuses to do
anything about it.
    ‘Do you think
I’ll ever meet anyone else, Mum?’ I asked, feeling quite sorry for
myself.
    ‘Of course you
will. Look at you – you’re gorgeous! Mark’s an idiot. Forget about
him.’
    But it
was easier said than done. I couldn’t stop thinking about him. I’d
cried my self to sleep every night since he dumped me and I’d lost
half a stone in weight. If it wasn’t for Mum’s tasty casserole I
doubt I’d have eaten at all. I was just about managing to maintain
my dignity in work, but it was getting increasingly difficult. If
Mia wasn’t careful I’d lose it big time; it was getting so hard to
control my outbursts of anger and frustration, lately.
    I thought
about her too ; Mark’s
new PA. I pictured her in my mind – a cross between Katie Price and
Stacey Solomon – all glamour and fun and everything that I wasn’t.
How could he fall for his PA? It was so predictable. There again,
at least she wasn’t a doctor or lawyer or anything like that, she
had the same job as me so we were even in those stakes at
least.
    Mum stood up
and started to stir the casserole. ‘Tea’ll be ready soon so if you
want to go and shower I’ll dish it out when you’re done.’
    I ambled
upstairs and threw myself onto my bed. I was so tired, lately; I
barely had any energy to move, let alone shower. I wasn’t sleeping properly, you see,
because when I wasn’t tossing and turning or crying I was