Chapter Forty-Five- Advisor’s Opinion

“You did the right thing,” James told me. “If that’s any consolation.”

“Barely,” I muttered, tearing a chunk off my muffin.

“Hey, I offered to be an ear,” he said with a shrug. “I never said my mouth would have anything decent to offer.”

I nodded, “I know. Thanks for this. You don’t need to hear all of my teenage angst.”

He just took a sip of his coffee, “Better to let it out. And I had an hour to spare. Matt’s meeting me here at seven.”

“Thanks.”

“It sounds like Danny took it quite well, considering.”

I nodded, “Yeah, though I’m still holding out for the explosion. Danny does have a temper, but I haven’t seen it, yet.”

“Maybe hurt came before anger.”

“Maybe.”

He took a bite of his biscotti, “It was a stupid thing to do. Sleeping with Dougie.”

“I know.” I picked up my cup; put it down again without drinking anything, “So what do I do now?”

“Where Danny’s concerned: Wait it out. Let him come to you, if he does. And, as for Dougie: Avoid if you value your life.”

I snorted, “I know. He’s going to kill me for telling Danny. But I had to.”

“You did.”His tone was simple and honest, “You made a stupid mistake, but you owned up to it. Now, if he does all go to hell, you’ll have a clear conscience. And, if Danny’s the forgiving kind, the relationship will be stronger because of it.”

“Exactly.”

“Oh, my God.”

James winced, “The one time he’s early...”

“You didn’t tell me you were meeting Tom,” Matt chided, rushing over. “Since when do you two have private meetings?”

“I thought you didn’t like coffee.”

Matt rolled his eyes as he pulled another chair up to the table, “The term ‘coffee’ shop doesn’t mean that coffee is all they sell, James.”

I snickered into my mug, “Yeah, James.” He shot me a look over the table.

“Don’t encourage him.”

“Tom’s very presence encourages me...”

I was about to respond when my phone rang. I fished it out of my pocket and groaned when I saw the name on the screen. But I answered anyway. Surely he couldn’t hurt me over the phone. “Hey.”

“Well?”

I chose to play dumb. “Well what?”

“You know damn well what. Did you tell him?”

“Yup.”

Silence, but I could almost feel the heat blasting down the phone. Even if Danny did forgive me, Dougie was going to kill me. “How could you...?”

“Easy. I opened my mouth and said it.”

“Where are you?!”

I named the shopping centre that I was sitting in; added: “Probably not the best murder location.”

James snorted out a laugh and Matt stared at him. “Who is it?” he whispered.

James shrugged, “I dunno. I just thought that comment was funny.”

“Then come and meet me.”

“No, thanks. I like breathing. I’m good at it.”

“Tom. We need to talk about this.”

I picked up my mug; took a sip, “We’ve talked. Now he needs time.”

“I don’t care about him!”

“No, you only care about yourself. If you want him to save you, you’ll have to give him the time. See you tomorrow.”

“Tom, don’t you dare-”

I slid my phone closed and smiled at Matt and James. “Sorry about that. It was Mum. I messed up something. I’m gonna head off and leave you be.”

James nodded, “See you later.”

“Yeah. ‘Bye, Matt.”

“I don’t understand...” I heard him whine to James as I walked off.

“Mind your own business.”