because she told her dad that I was getting married and she was my maid of honour, and needed to help plan the wedding and hen night and stuff." She gave a dry laugh. "They sent me a fucking wedding present. I did my best to not let it bother me, because at the end of the day we were together, and that was all that mattered, right?
This carried on for four years, both of us to and fro-ing between here and the states. I started my course, which made things a bit tricky, but we managed and tried to work around my lessons. I never was much of a drinker so I didn't spend money going out like everyone else, and I had a job at a care home as a sleep in carer, so I saved enough money from my job and my student loan to get by and to go see her as well. I was happy enough, and I sort of assumed Sam was too. I was due to go over and stay with her last summer and I'd been saving for ages to buy her this antique ring. It cost one and a half thousand pounds, and I was going to propose to her on her birthday. But about a week before I was due to fly out, she cancelled on me." Darcy exhaled heavily and when she spoke next, her voice was shaky. "She told me I couldn't go out there because her dad had found her a man to marry and it had all been arranged. All arranged! She was already engaged, Alison! As if I'd never even happened!" She looked at me incredulously, the pain as raw now as it had been then by the looks of it. "So I flew out anyway. I had to see it with my own eyes because I thought that maybe, just maybe, it was her dad forcing her into it. I begged her. I mean literally, I threw all my dignity and pride out of the window and physically begged her. I sobbed, I got down on my knees, I clung to her, promised her everything and anything, but in the end, she still walked out and left me in a crumpled broken heap on the floor. She destroyed me. I came back to Britain empty and dead inside."
I felt a lump form in my throat. Was this what I had coming? Would losing Gray destroy me in the same way? I found my grip on Darcy's hand tightening, as if I were holding on to her to stop me dissolving right then and there. Although she'd totally drawn me in with her story, I couldn't let my focus slip to my own situation. This was about Darcy and her first love, and after the way I'd recently behaved toward her, she deserved my full attention followed by a heart-felt apology. I took a deep breath to steady myself.
"Which brings me to the story surrounding the ring. When I got back, Nicki decided to take me out to get completely trashed, and we ended up at a gay club a couple of towns away. I woke up the next morning with some strange girl in my bed. I had no memory of who she was, or how we'd got there, so I just sort of kicked her out without giving her an explanation. A few days later I realised the ring was missing. It wasn't until I started tearing the flat upside down looking for it that Nicki told me there was a small possibility I'd given it to the girl I'd brought back in some bizarre way to 'free' myself from Sam. I think I actually came close to passing out. Luckily Nic remembered that this girl had told her she worked in a bakery and that her name was Chloe, so we phoned up every single bakery in the surrounding area until we tracked her down and I drove out to see her the next day. It was embarrassing for the both of us when I walked on in. For me, because I'd thrown her out, and for her because she couldn't remember my name either! Apparently she'd just been dumped too, which was why we'd hooked up in the club. We'd got trashed together and she'd come back to mine for, as she described it, some of the worst drunk sex she'd ever had! I think that was even being polite! Anyway, she confirmed that I'd given her the ring, but had assumed she wouldn't ever see me again, so she'd pawned it…for two hundred pounds!"
"What !"
"Yeah, they
This carried on for four years, both of us to and fro-ing between here and the states. I started my course, which made things a bit tricky, but we managed and tried to work around my lessons. I never was much of a drinker so I didn't spend money going out like everyone else, and I had a job at a care home as a sleep in carer, so I saved enough money from my job and my student loan to get by and to go see her as well. I was happy enough, and I sort of assumed Sam was too. I was due to go over and stay with her last summer and I'd been saving for ages to buy her this antique ring. It cost one and a half thousand pounds, and I was going to propose to her on her birthday. But about a week before I was due to fly out, she cancelled on me." Darcy exhaled heavily and when she spoke next, her voice was shaky. "She told me I couldn't go out there because her dad had found her a man to marry and it had all been arranged. All arranged! She was already engaged, Alison! As if I'd never even happened!" She looked at me incredulously, the pain as raw now as it had been then by the looks of it. "So I flew out anyway. I had to see it with my own eyes because I thought that maybe, just maybe, it was her dad forcing her into it. I begged her. I mean literally, I threw all my dignity and pride out of the window and physically begged her. I sobbed, I got down on my knees, I clung to her, promised her everything and anything, but in the end, she still walked out and left me in a crumpled broken heap on the floor. She destroyed me. I came back to Britain empty and dead inside."
I felt a lump form in my throat. Was this what I had coming? Would losing Gray destroy me in the same way? I found my grip on Darcy's hand tightening, as if I were holding on to her to stop me dissolving right then and there. Although she'd totally drawn me in with her story, I couldn't let my focus slip to my own situation. This was about Darcy and her first love, and after the way I'd recently behaved toward her, she deserved my full attention followed by a heart-felt apology. I took a deep breath to steady myself.
"Which brings me to the story surrounding the ring. When I got back, Nicki decided to take me out to get completely trashed, and we ended up at a gay club a couple of towns away. I woke up the next morning with some strange girl in my bed. I had no memory of who she was, or how we'd got there, so I just sort of kicked her out without giving her an explanation. A few days later I realised the ring was missing. It wasn't until I started tearing the flat upside down looking for it that Nicki told me there was a small possibility I'd given it to the girl I'd brought back in some bizarre way to 'free' myself from Sam. I think I actually came close to passing out. Luckily Nic remembered that this girl had told her she worked in a bakery and that her name was Chloe, so we phoned up every single bakery in the surrounding area until we tracked her down and I drove out to see her the next day. It was embarrassing for the both of us when I walked on in. For me, because I'd thrown her out, and for her because she couldn't remember my name either! Apparently she'd just been dumped too, which was why we'd hooked up in the club. We'd got trashed together and she'd come back to mine for, as she described it, some of the worst drunk sex she'd ever had! I think that was even being polite! Anyway, she confirmed that I'd given her the ring, but had assumed she wouldn't ever see me again, so she'd pawned it…for two hundred pounds!"
"What !"
"Yeah, they
Similar Books
