She locked the shop door behind him, and he gave her a massive hug as she began to cry in earnest. He waited for her to catch her breath, then pulled back to look at her.
“Aurelia, what is it?”
“Oliver and I had an argument,” she said, sniffling.
“An argument?” he asked, sounding confused. “It can’t be that bad, I’m sure—”
“It was areallybig one. He said he needed space and that was yesterday. I haven’t heard from him since then.”
David nodded, still looking confused for a moment before he jumped into action.
“Right, let’s get you upstairs, make you some tea, and you can tell me what happened. Okay?”
“Okay,” Aurelia agreed miserably.
He led her up to the flat and she followed, wiping her face and taking deep breaths to pull herself together.
Upstairs, David sat her down on the sofa while he made them both tea. She heard him digging around in the cabinets and saw, when he came back into the living room to join her, that he’d found some chocolate. She managed a smile before her face crumpled into tears again.
“Sip your tea, have some chocolate, and then we can talk,” David ordered.
Aurelia did as she was told and, improbably, began to feel slightly better.
“Now: what happened?” he asked her at last.
“Oh…”
Aurelia suddenly remembered that she couldn’t, in fact, explain what had happened. She was about to make up a story, to fill in the details of what had really happened with invented ones that would be easier for her best friend to believe. But she just as quickly remembered her call to Louisa and statement to Oliver, and how she didn’t want lying to feel ‘natural’ anymore. Even if she couldn’t tell her friends the truth, she could work harder at getting closer to it—or just not saying anything at all—without whittling away what she owed them, and herself.
She started again.
“We had an argument. It was something I did, and it was…bad. He was really upset and said he wanted to be on his own for a while.”
“So, what was it? What did you do?”
“I… I can’t tell you. I wish I could, I do. But I can’t. Icantell you that he wasn’t overreacting. I really messed up, David,” she said as she began crying again.
He reached out to hug her, patting her back consolingly.
“I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.”
“No… it was.”
“Well, then, I’m sure you didn’t mean to do it. Or say it. Or whatever it was that happened. I’m sure you didn’t mean it.”
“But I did—I just didn’t think there was any other option.”
“Okay,” David said, sounding more baffled by the minute. “You’re sure you can’t elaborate?”
“I’m sorry,” Aurelia said, shaking her head. “I wasn’t going to tell you about it. I didn’t want to bother you with half a story—but you stopped by…” She trailed off.
“I was hoping to steal you away for lunch, but I’m guessing you don’t want to leave the house?”
Aurelia shook her head rapidly, then fell back against the sofa.
“So,” he began, raising an eyebrow. “I don’t know what happened and that’s fine. But this”—he swung his finger from her tangled hair to her wrinkled clothes—“is not fine. You’re wallowing.”
“I am,” she acknowledged. “What else am I supposed to do?”
