Manchester to London, to try and start a new life. He blamed Stephen Myers for breaking up your relationship. He admitted that he was relying more and more on drink to try and cope with it all. I hadn’t realised until then just how low he was.’
‘Did he tell you about what he’d done to Stephen Myers?’
‘No, he didn’t. I swear, he didn’t tell me anything about Stephen Myers having died.’
Emma took in the revelations. It was a reshaping of history; everything that she had believed about the origins of their relationship had been false.
It had all been built on this secret.
‘So the evening that we met in the pub, and your friend called me over, you already knew who I was.’ Emma was finding it difficult to look at him. He knew how much Stuart hurt me. And he’s been keeping their connection secret, all this time . . .
He nodded. ‘Stuart talked about you quite a lot, particularly towards the end of his relationship with Kelly. I’d heard so much about you, so many good things, that I wanted to find out more. I must admit, I wasn’t familiar with you before that – you know I don’t watch a lot of TV – so I found out about you on the internet. And when I saw you walk into the bar, I recognised you straight away. You were even more beautiful than in the photos. I made a comment to my friend, Mike, and, well, you know the rest.’
‘Were you still in touch with Stuart when we met?’ She dreaded his response to this question, and prayed for the desired answer.
‘No. We’d lost contact a few weeks after he split with Kelly. That was some months before we met.’
‘How many months?’ Emma wasn’t sure why this mattered, but it did.
‘Oh, it must have been five, six months.’
‘So not long, then.’
‘No, I suppose not. We stayed friends for a short while after the break-up. Kelly got fed up with his drinking – that’s why she broke up with him – and so did I eventually, to be honest. It can be pretty draining to be around someone who drinks so much, and is so unhappy. I just couldn’t be his friend any more. It was taking too much out of me.’ He looked at her. ‘I know it sounds selfish.’
‘No, I can understand that; it wasn’t being selfish. You did what you had to do. And you swear that you didn’t see him or speak to him after we started dating.’
‘I swear. I didn’t see him, or speak to him.’
‘But why didn’t you tell me about the connection?’ she said. She already knew the answer to this, or thought that she knew, but she wanted to hear it from him. ‘Why didn’t you tell me that you knew Stuart?’
He paused. ‘I nearly told you, right at the beginning. Not when we first met, but on our third date . . . You remember we went to the theatre—’
‘To see Les Misérables , yes.’
‘Well, before that, at the restaurant, I planned to tell you. It had been bothering me that I was keeping it from you, and I decided it was best to just come out with it, but . . .’
Emma closed her eyes. Things were now making sense. ‘That was the evening I told you about how much he’d hurt me, and how I’d tried to move on from it all.’
He nodded.
‘And then that put you off saying anything.’ She hadn’t for one second intended to tell Dan all about her history, at least not so soon in their relationship, but she’d felt so comfortable with him that she hadn’t been able to help herself. And it had come out so naturally. ‘You thought that if you told me there was a connection between you and Stuart, I’d end the relationship.’
‘You were saying how you and I seemed like such a fresh start, a real break from the past. I got scared that you’d end it if you knew the truth. I didn’t want to risk losing you, because I knew from the start how much I felt for you.’
Emma wondered what she would have done if Dan had told her the truth on that third date. The honest answer was, she didn’t know. But it would certainly have made her think
‘Did he tell you about what he’d done to Stephen Myers?’
‘No, he didn’t. I swear, he didn’t tell me anything about Stephen Myers having died.’
Emma took in the revelations. It was a reshaping of history; everything that she had believed about the origins of their relationship had been false.
It had all been built on this secret.
‘So the evening that we met in the pub, and your friend called me over, you already knew who I was.’ Emma was finding it difficult to look at him. He knew how much Stuart hurt me. And he’s been keeping their connection secret, all this time . . .
He nodded. ‘Stuart talked about you quite a lot, particularly towards the end of his relationship with Kelly. I’d heard so much about you, so many good things, that I wanted to find out more. I must admit, I wasn’t familiar with you before that – you know I don’t watch a lot of TV – so I found out about you on the internet. And when I saw you walk into the bar, I recognised you straight away. You were even more beautiful than in the photos. I made a comment to my friend, Mike, and, well, you know the rest.’
‘Were you still in touch with Stuart when we met?’ She dreaded his response to this question, and prayed for the desired answer.
‘No. We’d lost contact a few weeks after he split with Kelly. That was some months before we met.’
‘How many months?’ Emma wasn’t sure why this mattered, but it did.
‘Oh, it must have been five, six months.’
‘So not long, then.’
‘No, I suppose not. We stayed friends for a short while after the break-up. Kelly got fed up with his drinking – that’s why she broke up with him – and so did I eventually, to be honest. It can be pretty draining to be around someone who drinks so much, and is so unhappy. I just couldn’t be his friend any more. It was taking too much out of me.’ He looked at her. ‘I know it sounds selfish.’
‘No, I can understand that; it wasn’t being selfish. You did what you had to do. And you swear that you didn’t see him or speak to him after we started dating.’
‘I swear. I didn’t see him, or speak to him.’
‘But why didn’t you tell me about the connection?’ she said. She already knew the answer to this, or thought that she knew, but she wanted to hear it from him. ‘Why didn’t you tell me that you knew Stuart?’
He paused. ‘I nearly told you, right at the beginning. Not when we first met, but on our third date . . . You remember we went to the theatre—’
‘To see Les Misérables , yes.’
‘Well, before that, at the restaurant, I planned to tell you. It had been bothering me that I was keeping it from you, and I decided it was best to just come out with it, but . . .’
Emma closed her eyes. Things were now making sense. ‘That was the evening I told you about how much he’d hurt me, and how I’d tried to move on from it all.’
He nodded.
‘And then that put you off saying anything.’ She hadn’t for one second intended to tell Dan all about her history, at least not so soon in their relationship, but she’d felt so comfortable with him that she hadn’t been able to help herself. And it had come out so naturally. ‘You thought that if you told me there was a connection between you and Stuart, I’d end the relationship.’
‘You were saying how you and I seemed like such a fresh start, a real break from the past. I got scared that you’d end it if you knew the truth. I didn’t want to risk losing you, because I knew from the start how much I felt for you.’
Emma wondered what she would have done if Dan had told her the truth on that third date. The honest answer was, she didn’t know. But it would certainly have made her think
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