Page 74 of Be More Octopus

Jack stopped chopping.

'Are you ok?' Em asked.

'Yes. I was thinking about Mark. I miss having a close friend.'

'No chance of you making it up with him?'

'I don't know how I'd feel seeing him again. Or if he'd even want to see me.'

'When was the last time you saw him?'

Jack looked at her with a 'When do you think?' expression.

'Sorry - I wondered if you'd spoken to him since.'

'Just an angry text from me telling him what I thought of him, with a reply from him begging forgiveness. I blocked him after that. '

'Nancy blames Isabella.'

'She's right. But he didn't have to … ' Jack couldn't bring himself to say it. 'It's not like she drugged him.' He went back to chopping but more aggressively this time.

'Everyone makes mistakes.'

Jack stopped again. 'But could I trust him when I get a new partner? How would you feel if you'd caught Lucy in bed with Connor?'

'I'd be horrified. Confused. Upset. Think I'd slipped into an alternative universe as she can't stand him. Probably fantasise about murdering her.'

Jack raised his eyebrows.

'Only fantasise!' Em emphasised. 'But I hope I'd want to talk to her about it. Find out why, if nothing else. We've known each other since nursery.'

Jack finished chopping the last few mushrooms. 'It's a lot of friendship to lose, isn't it? '

'Yes, it is. Would another girlfriend use him like Isabella did?'

'I won't make the mistake of giving my heart to a woman like that again. You think I should contact him?'

'I don't know. You're more generous than me - you took Isabella back. I didn't give Connor a chance to explain.'

'Do you regret that?'

'No, I don't. It had been going on for months. Perhaps if it had been a one-night stand - a drunken lapse - I might have been more forgiving. No, Connor was having a full-on affair. I could never take him back.'

'Whereas Mark and Isabella was a one-off deliberately timed by her so I would catch them and get rid of her closest rival for my attention,' he said thoughtfully.

Jack started melting butter in a frying pan. 'Thank you - that helped,' he said, scraping the mushrooms off the chopping board and into the pan.

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

When Em walked into the kitchen on Tuesday morning, Nancy was singing to herself.

'You sound happy.'

'I am, and I think I have you to thank.'

Em looked baffled.

'Mark's coming home - just for the weekend. Jack contacted him. Offered an olive branch.'