Splintered Memory by Natascha Holloway Page B

Charlie’s sake and not his. Recently though, the animosity between them had intensified and she blamed him for this. He hadn’t liked it when she’d started dating Nick, and he’d been fairly vocal about this, but his reaction had riled her and she’d made that apparent.
    She knew that it was no secret that she’d been a commitment phobe, and had moved between relationships at speed, and whilst she knew that this wasn’t her most endearing quality it had still annoyed her that Matt hadn’t even been willing to give her the benefit of the doubt when she’d gotten together with Nick. He’d just seemed intent on splitting them up and on getting Nick to see the error of his ways.
    Charlie had defended Claire whenever the subject had come up , but Claire knew from Charlie’s recent silences in conversation that her relationship with Nick was taking a toll on Charlie’s relationship with Matt. She felt guilty about this, and she knew that until her and Nick’s relationship had begun Matt and Charlie’s had seemed impenetrable.
    What had made her feel more guilty, was that she knew that all of Charlie’s support and arguments with Matt about her and Nick hadn’t been worthwhile. She had after only recently having moved in with Nick , had a one night stand with a man that she’d met in London on work.
    Typically though, when she’d confided in Charlie she’d been nothing but supportive. She hadn’t thrown any of her arguments with Matt in her face, and she had instead just listened to her concerns over her relationship with Nick. She’d let her unload her conscience over her one night stand, that had actually by the time she’d confided in Charlie turned into a full blown affair, and she’d been reassuring and kind and just how she always was. 
    As Claire sat there hoping that her phone would ring, she couldn’t help but think that she was partly to blame for the accident. She could have stopped Charlie coming to see her. She could have gone to the clinic with someone else she thought. She shouldn’t have made Charlie skip work to be with her. It wasn’t fair, and she knew that she’d been taking advantage of their friendship recently.
    She knew that Charlie had been going over and above what was expected of her as a best friend with the regular trips to Bath to check that she was okay, but she hadn’t thought to tell her this or even to stop her. She’d leant on Charlie the same way that she always did in a crisis, and she’d once again – just as she always did, taken advantage of her best friend’s overly generous nature.
    Her mind kept turning back and running through the conversation that she’d had with Charlie, in her and Matt’s bathroom, on the night of her thirtieth birthday. If only she hadn’t told her about her pregnancy Claire thought desperately.
    ***
    “Charlie I need to talk to you,” Claire whispered urgently as she followed Charlie into her bathroom.
    Charlie looked at her with concern etched in her face and asked; “what’s wrong?”
    Claire burst into tears, and Charlie shut the bathroom door. She pulled Claire into a hug, and then gently put her hand against Claire’s face and said; “don’t cry, whatever it is we’ll fix it.”
    Claire felt herself smile through her tears. This was typical Charlie she thought; calm, reassuring, and one hundred percent confident that any problem could be solved.
    “I’m pregnant,” Claire said turning away from Charlie to put the lid on the toilet seat down so that she could sit on it.
    “And obviously delighted ,” Charlie said perching on the edge of the bath and smiling playfully.
    Claire smiled back in spite of herself, but then said desperately; “I don’t know who the father is.”
    Charlie didn’t say anything for a second , and kept a completely composed face, but then as only she could she said something that completely threw Claire’s panic stricken train of thought.
    “ This other guy, Adam right, is he super hot?