Chapter 7

Andrew was already at the table when Millicent arrived for lunch.  He got up to greet her and pulled her chair out for her. 

“I am so glad we could get together,” Andrew said, sitting down.  “I figured this would be a good place, considering it’s so close to your work.”

“Thanks,” Millicent said as she glanced over the menu.  She hadn’t told him she walked by this café everyday on her way home from work but had never eaten there.  The waiter came and took their orders.  Millicent saw Andrew smile when she ordered the pot roast and remembered passing out in the Oxford bookstore after not eating for two days.

“I know I said this yesterday,” Andrew said, “but you really look great.  You look healthy.”

Millicent laughed.  “I was all skin and bones when you came to Wainwright Manor.  So what are you doing now?  Are you still in finance?”

“International finance now.  I get to travel a lot through Europe.  Flora and Ian moved to London soon after we returned to Oxford so I decided to make the move as well.”

“That’s great.  I’m happy for you.”

“Was John happy with you moving here?”

“He wasn’t at first but he’s fine with it now.  He comes to visit.  He’s still with Sophie.”

“Have they gotten married yet?” Andrew asked.

“Not yet,” Millicent said.  “I think they are happy the way things are.  Sophie is living at the manor though but is still running the bookstore.  And the manor is running smoothly and making a profit.”       

“That’s good to hear.”

Over lunch they continued to catch up on each other’s lives from the past three years.  Millicent told Andrew about working in the bookstore and Andrew shared with Millicent all the places he had traveled for work.  When the lunch plates were cleared they ordered coffee.

“Do you remember when we got back to Land’s End after that weekend you were in the hospital?” Andrew asked.

“What a horrible weekend that was.”

“Do you remember what you asked me in the car?  You asked if we could be friends.”

“I remember.”

“Do you think after all that has happened we can still be friends?” Andrew asked.           

Millicent took a sip of coffee before answering.  “I don’t know.”

“It would really mean a lot to me but I can understand if it would be too hard for you.”

“Would Flora have a problem with us being friends?” Millicent asked.

“Don’t worry about Flora,” Andrew said.

“It’s going to be hard not to,” Millicent said.  “She’s your girlfriend and they usually don’t like their boyfriends having female friends.”

“It may not seem like it but I have learned from my mistakes,” Andrew said.  “It won’t be like last time.”

Millicent fiddled with her napkin.  She was not the same person she was three years ago.  She had changed and felt she could handle this type of relationship.  She knew the risks and was willing to deal with the consequences if the relationship failed.

“Okay, we can give this friendship thing a try.”

* * *

The next weekend John came into the city for a visit.  On Saturday Millicent and John wandered through the shops at Portobello Market and ate lunch from hot dog vendor.  That night they decided to see a movie.  The multiplex was crowded and Millicent waited in line to buy popcorn while John went to the men’s room.  She’d been in line for a only a few minutes when someone bumped into her, nearly knocking her down.

“I’m sorry,” the man said.

Millicent started to say it was alright when she realized she was staring at George.

“Don’t I know you from somewhere?” he asked.

“No, I don’t think so,” Millicent lied, looking desperately in the crowd for John.

“You look really familiar.”

Millicent was finding it hard to breath.  “Excuse me,” she said and pushed her way past George and towards the doors.

“Millicent!” she heard John yell but she didn’t stop.  Not until she on the sidewalk outside.  She took a deep breath of the cold night air.  She walked a few steps before leaning up against the wall and then slide to the ground.  She had her head between her knees when John found her.

“Are you alright?” John asked.  “What happened?”

“I’m fine.  I guess it just got a little too crowded for me.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t something else?”

“Like what?”

“I saw him,” John confessed.  “I saw George.  I would have beaten him to a pulp if I hadn’t seen you running for the door.  What did he say to you?”

“Nothing.  He didn’t even remember me.”

“What a bloody bastard,” John said.  “I should go back in there and find him.”

“No,” Millicent said, getting up.  “Let’s just go.”

When they got back to Millicent’s flat John asked if she had ever thought of going to a counselor.          
“I went after I found out Cynthia had been shagging that bloke in her office.  It really helped.”

“You went to a therapist?  Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“I don’t know.  It had been a hard decision to go in the first place so I guess I just kept it to myself.  I went to this guy for several months before I moved to Land’s End.  And I think he relocated to London.  Let me see if can find his number for you.”

“I’m not sure I need a therapist.”

“After what happened tonight I think you should.  You obviously have some issues with George that you still need to deal with.”

“It was just the shock of seeing him after all seven years,” Millicent said.  “And the fact that he didn’t know who I was.”

“It was a terrible ordeal,” John said.  “You got help to heal your body after the accident but you’ve never really talked about what happened.  I think you should.”

“A therapist probably costs a fortune,” Millicent said.

“I’ll pay for it.  Please, give it a try.  Go a couple of times and if you don’t like it you don’t have to go back.”

“Oh, all right.”

* * *

On Monday Millicent and Betsy were staking new releases in the front of the store when Betsy asked, “So, who was the bloke you were with last week?”

“Where?” Millicent asked.

“The a café down the street.”

“Oh, that was just an old friend,” Millicent said.

“From what I could see he is a very handsome old friend.  What’s his name?”

“Andrew.”

“How long have you known him?”

“I met him about three years ago when I was living in Land’s End.”

“So you do have a past,” Betsy said rather loudly.

“Shhh,” Millicent said, glancing around to see if anybody was paying attention to them.

“I knew there was something,” Betsy whispered.  “You have to tell me everything.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do.  What time do you get off tonight? Six?”

Millicent nodded but kept working.

“Me too.  We can get pizza from Pizza Express, head over to my place, catch EastEnders and then you can tell me everything.”

“What if I told you I had plans tonight?”

“Do you?” Betsy asked suspiciously.

“No, but I could.”

“Then it’s settled.  I can’t wait to hear this.”

* * *

Betsy turned the television off during the closing credits of EastEnders.  She opened the pizza box and took the last slice before sitting down next to Millicent on the sofa.  “Okay, spill it.”

“There’s not that much to tell,” Millicent said.

“Liar.”

“Okay, fine.  Six years ago I moved to Land’s End to live with my brother John.”

“Why?” Betsy asked.

“That is another story for another time.  Anyway, had had just bought an old manor which he was going to turn into a B&B.  After three years he was struggling and the bank had threatened to foreclose.  John got a financial counselor, Andrew, to help him get organized.”

“So you and Andrew had a torrid love affair,” Betsy asked expectantly.

“No.  Don’t you remember what I was like when we first met?”

“You were like a wet tea towel.”

“Well I was ten times worse before Andrew came.  Anyway, he was already having a torrid love affair with a married woman in Oxford.”

“No!”

“Yes.  We sort of became friends and somehow he gave me the courage to tell him what I thought of his affair.”

“You didn’t!”

“It wasn’t in a bad way, really.  I told him he didn’t seem happy and they had no future, Flora wasn’t going to leave her husband, no matter how much she said she loved him.”

“Flora?” Betsy asked, wrinkling her nose at the name.

Millicent ignored her.  “At one point he was going to break up with her and it seemed like there might have been something between us but . . .”

“But what?”

“It gets complicated.  My brother told Andrew something I didn’t want him to know so I thought Andrew’s feelings weren’t genuine.  I thought he just felt sorry for me.”

“Wow,” Betsy said in amazement.  This is better than anything on EastEnders.”

“Anyway, but the time I came to my senses Andrew had left.  Flora had shown up and begged him to go back to Oxford with her and he did.”

“No, he just left?”

“Didn’t even say goodbye.”

“Bastard.”

“For a while I thought he was too.  But then I realized it was probably for the best.  And that’s when I came here.”

“Did you ever try to get in touch with him?”

“Nope.”

“So how did you end up having lunch with him last week?”

“He came into the store.  He didn’t know I worked there.”

“Wow.  So is he still with Flora?”

“Yes.”

“Bollocks!”

“It’s okay, really,” Millicent said.

“Are you going to see him again?” Betsy asked.

“Yes.”

“Even after he left without saying goodbye?  I wouldn’t.”

“Andrew was really kind to me when he came to Land’s End,” Millicent explained.  “I was hiding away in my room reading books and hardly eating when he arrived.  He was the first person, other than John or Sophie, who saw past my ugliness.”

“You’re not ugly,” Betsy insisted.

“I felt ugly on the inside and the outside.”

“You must have been an entirely different person back then,” Betsy said in amazement.

"I was,” Millicent reflected.

Betsy picked up the empty pizza box and went into the kitchen.  “So when are you going to see Andrew again?”

“Tomorrow night,” Millicent said.  “We’re going to a movie.”

“So let me get this straight,” Betsy said coming back from the kitchen.  “You’re dating a man who
is having an affair with a married woman?”

“We’re not dating,” Millicent insisted.  “We’re just friends.”

“Right,” Betsy said unconvinced.

“We are.  And this time I’m not going to give him any advice on how he should live his life.”

“Why won’t Flora divorce her husband and marry Andrew?” Betsy asked.

“She has a son and no money,” Millicent said.

“Ah, now it makes sense.  So, when do I get to meet him?”

“Someday.”

“You know I don’t like to be kept waiting,” Betsy said.