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“Eat.”
Sadie looks at the food and then up at me.
“I can’t eat all of that.”
“You can eat at least half. Then I may consider whether you need to see a doctor or not.”
She rolls her eyes and picks up a slice of toast.
“Wise choice, sweetheart,” I say before adding sugar to my tea. I offer her some and she holds up a finger. “At least it’s not the middle one,” I say with a smile as I stir the sugar into her drink.
“It might still be,” she replies before taking another bite of toast.
I watch silently as she eats three slices of toast without even realising it. When she looks down and sees the one slice left she tries to push the plate away but I slide it back towards her. She looks at me for a second or two before sighing and picking up half the slice.
“Share it with me,” she says as she holds it out. I nod and take it from her before biting into it.
“Want to tell me why you have been starving yourself?” I ask as she chews on her last bite.
“I haven’t,” she argues.
“Then why haven’t you eaten since Thursday lunchtime?”
Sadie lets out a deep sigh as she picks up her tea cup and takes a sip.
“I’ve had a migraine. It started Thursday evening during the book club. By midnight I was throwing up and spent all day yesterday in bed. This morning was the first time I was able to get out of bed without being sick.” Sadie puts down her cup and rubs her temples again.
“Do you still have a headache?” I ask. She nods before looking at me. That explains why she looks so run down and tired as well as why her eyes have lost their spark. “Is it a common occurrence?”
She nods. “It’s why I don’t date,” she replies before taking the bottle of water from the table. She picks up a small bag and pulls some pills out and swallows them with the water. “You don’t want to date someone like me.”
“Don’t assume you know what I do and don’t want, sweetheart,” I reply as I take a sip of my drink. “I take it you have seen a specialist?” again Sadie nods and sips the water.
“With the right meds I can manage them most of the time but once or twice a month a bad one hits and I lose a couple of days. I’m never truly pain-free, but I manage.” She takes another sip and places the lid back on the bottle. “I regularly cancel plans last minute even when I want to go. I'm the person that leaves early, arrives late or both. It doesn't matter how much I wish things were different my health controls so many aspects of my life that it's easier to just hide away and avoid the disappointment.” Sadie continues to look deep into my eyes as I swear I see tears fill hers. I don't stop to think as I take her hand in mine and give it a reassuring squeeze before lifting it to my lips replacing a soft kiss on her knuckles.
“This is why you don't want to date me. I’m more hassle than it's worth I know that I'm not a fool, you will get sick of me being ill eventually and leave.”
“You don't know that. You don't know me.”
But Sadie just smiles as she answers “You are no different from anyone else. Trudy told me how you like the fast life, how you like the fast cars the nights out, the parties. With me there is no fast life, there are no late nights out, even if this was a one-night thing, I'm not that type of girl. So you need to stop wasting your time on someone like me.”
I look at her briefly and offer her a small smile. I’m just about to tell her she needs to give me a chance when I hear the jangling of a bell and a small black cat runs into the room.
“Hey, Binxsy Boo. Where have you been hiding?” Sadie asks as she scoops up the kitten and cuddles it to her chest. “You're not allergic to cats, are you?” she asks looking at me nervously I shake my head smiling.
“No, we always had them growing up,” I explain as I reach over and stroke the cat’s head. “This one has unique eyes,” I exclaim as I see one bright orange and one pitch black.
“He's blind in the black eye. I found him when he was a tiny kitten. Someone had let him out and possibly disowned him. He had severe conjunctivitis in this one and a nasty case of cat flu he was only ten weeks old we think,” she explains as she gives the cat a fuss before placing him back onto the floor.
“It must have been expensive treating conjunctivitis and cat flu,” I ask.
Sadie nods her head as she starts picking cat hair from the cushion next to her.
“It was, but I couldn't let him suffer any more than he already had, plus a fantastic charity helped, without them, he wouldn’t have survived. I fell in love with him and knew he was mine.”
“I know exactly how that feels,” I smile. Sadie stares at me for a moment before she starts stroking Binx again. “And he’s recovered from the cat flu?” I ask as I see the cat rubbing against Sadie’s hand.
“He still has issues and needs regular antibiotics, but he's getting there,” she explains. She goes to stand and I jump up to help her but she holds a hand out. “I’ll be right back,” she says before heading towards the stairs.
