“Tell me Cecilia, what's been going on in your life. It feels like a long time since we've had a good gossip session. Have you had any romantic escapades recently?”
“None at all,” I sighed. I wanted to tell her that I couldn't have any because I was desperately in love with her but my lips were locked and I dared not speak the truths that were lurking within my heart.
“That's a shame...you should take advantage of your youth while you can. Before you know it you'll be old, like me, and the good life will be just a memory.”
“You're hardly old Lucy, and you look better than most girls my age.”
“Flattery will get you everywhere,” she said, raising her glass to me and taking a long gulp of the dark red wine. How I wished that that sentiment was true though, and it took all of my willpower to refrain from pouring out all of my long-festering frustration.
“I appreciate the sentiment,” she said, setting her glass on the table and welcoming the food that was being placed in front of us. “But I fear that my best years are behind me. It's a funny thing, life. When I was your age, I thought that I was invincible. I could have done anything and gone anywhere, and believe me I did a lot of things that I probably shouldn't have. And then I got a little older and I met a good woman who I knew would take care of me, and I settled down and thought that my life would be a steady stream of contentment. I didn't even need anything wild because I had enough of that when I was younger. But then things change when you least expect them and you look around and wonder what you life has become...what you've become, and whether you've lost yourself somewhere along the way.”
She looked sad, and my heart went out to her. I didn't know why she had chosen me as the one to share that dinner with her but I wanted to be the one to make her feel better.
“Lucy, there's obviously something going on with you today. I've never seen you like this before. I've tried to respect you and let you deal with it in your own way but you obviously asked me here for a reason so you might as well tell me what's playing on your mind.”
Lucy took another long sip of wine and then leaned forward on her elbows. Her dark hair fell around her face, making it look as though she was wearing a hood, whilst the candlelight flickered in front of her, casting an orange hue over her countenance. Then she said the words that utterly stunned me.
“I had a very long conversation with Wendy last night and she wants to divorce me.”
Chapter 8
The words echoed around me. They were said in such a simple way that Lucy may as well have been telling me about the weather, but held within them matters of such importance that they hung in the air. I had no idea how to react but the choice of words were important as well. She wants to divorce me. Wendy was the one initiating it. Was she mad? She was married to the most wonderful, gracious woman in the entire world and she wanted to throw that away? It sickened me. There I was, willing to do anything to spend even one night with Lucy, and Wendy was just going to give up the most precious treasure in the world.
“I'm...sorry,” I eventually said, but it felt like a lie.
“Thank you. I just...I suppose it's been coming for a long time really but it's still a shock and I'm not quite sure how to deal with it.”
“What happened, I mean, why is she trying to divorce you?”
“Oh there are a lot of things, and I think part of it is the fact that after six years you start getting a little bored with each other. I thought we'd be able to deal with that though but she says I've changed over the years. She's at a stage now where she wants to reclaim her youth and go out partying. We were different beasts, you see, I had lived through all that and she was attracted to me because it was a part of the world that she had never experienced. I think she thought that by marrying me she would have an entry into that way of life but I was ready to retire from partying, and for a long time the stories were able to sustain her but as we got older she wanted to do it for herself before it was too late and all I wanted to do was spend the evenings relaxing. But I don't want to lay the blame at her feet. I know I haven't been the best wife. Work takes up a lot of time and I know that I've been marking books when I should have made time for her, and she started to feel like she was a second priority in my life. I tried to tell her that wasn't the case but she wouldn't have it.”
“Are you going to try and fix things?”
“I'm not sure there is any way to fix things like this. That's probably part of the problem too. I don't know, I always thought that when you got married things would be easy. I mean, I know that relationships take work and you have to keep fighting for things but it's gotten to a point where we're getting on each others' nerves more and more, and it's like being together is a chore. Does that make me sound like a bitch?”