I went to the hospital to visit my friend and nearly had a heart attack myself when I saw who was sharing her ward.
“Valerie, love, you gave me such a fright!” Emma hurried into the hospital room, clutching a bag of grapes. “When your daughter called to say youd had a heart scare, I almost fainted on the spot!”
Valerie lay in the bed by the window, pale but smiling.
“Em, darling, thank goodness you came!” She reached for her friends hand. “Its so dreadfully dull hereI thought Id lose my mind from boredom.”
Emma set the bag down on the bedside table and glanced around. The ward had four beds, but only two were occupied. On the bed next to Valerie, a woman with long silver hair neatly braided lay with her back to them.
“Whos your roommate?” Emma whispered, sitting in the chair beside her friend.
“Oh, her? Thats Margaret. She was brought in yesterday. Quiet as a mousejust reads books and scrolls on her phone,” Valerie murmured. “They say her blood pressures as dodgy as my heart.”
Just then, the woman turned, and Emma felt the colour drain from her face. Those familiar hazel eyes, the delicate features untouched by time, the mole on her left cheek
“Margaret?” Emma gasped, barely believing her eyes. “Margaret Carter?”
The woman on the next bed went still, then slowly sat up and stared.
“Emma Whitmore?” Her voice held the same lilt it had thirty years ago. “Good heavens it cant be.”
Valerie looked between them, bewildered.
“You two know each other?”
“We do,” Emma said shortly, not taking her eyes off Margaret. “Very well.”
An awkward silence fell. Margaret looked down at her hands, while Emma kept staring as if trying to convince herself this wasnt a hallucination.
“Girls, what on earth is going on?” Valerie demanded. “Emma, you look like youve seen a ghost!”
“Almost a ghost,” Emma said quietly. “Margaret and I havent seen each other in a very long time.”
“Thirty-two years,” Margaret added, still not looking up.
“Blimey!” Valerie propped herself up on her elbows. “Old school friends, then?”
“Not exactly friends,” Emma finally sat back in her chair, though she looked tense, as if ready to bolt at any second. “We had something in common once.”
Margaret lifted her head and met Emmas eyes properly for the first time.
“How is Andrew?” she asked softly.
Emmas knuckles whitened as she clenched her hands together.
“My husband died eight years ago. Heart attack.”
“Oh Im so sorry. I didnt know.”
“Dont be. Lifes like that, isnt it?” Emma waved a hand dismissively.
Valeries curiosity was burning now.
“Right, someone explain properlyhow do you two know each other? I feel like Ive walked into a soap opera!”
Emma and Margaret exchanged a glance, neither looking keen to start the story.
“We worked together,” Emma finally said. “At the same school. I taught English, and Margaretwhat was it you taught again?”
“History,” Margaret replied. “And RE.”
“There you go, Val,” Emma turned to her friend. “Colleagues. Though not for long.”
“Not for long,” Margaret agreed. “Only two years.”
“And what, you fell out over work?” Valerie wasnt letting this go.
“Over a man,” Emma said bluntly. “Classic womens tragedy, really.”
Margaret flinched as if struck.
“Emma, dont”
“Why not?” Emma turned to her. “Val wont drop itshes like a dog with a bone. May as well tell it straight. Its not like it matters now, does it?”
“I suppose not,” Margaret said quietly.
“Well, go on, then!” Valerie burst out. “Ill die of suspense otherwise!”
Emma leaned back and gazed out the window.
“I was twenty-four. Fresh out of uni, teaching at St. Marys. Young, naïve, and hopelessly romantic. And there was this deputy headAndrew Whitmore. Handsome, clever, ten years older than me. Married, of course.”
“Oh dear,” Valerie muttered.
“Oh dear indeed,” Emma smirked bitterly. “We had an affair. Secret, obviously. Met after work, he spun me the usual yarnhis wife didnt understand him, their marriage was just for show Same old rubbish married men always spout.”
Margaret listened silently, nodding slightly.
“Then, a year later, another new teacher joined the school,” Emma continued. “Margaret. Clever, pretty, full of life. And Andrew, apparently, decided one mistress wasnt enough.”
“Emma, it wasnt like that”
“Wasnt it?” Emma turned sharply. “You knew about us! I told you myself! We were friends!”
“We were,” Margaret admitted softly. “And I never meant to It just happened.”
“Just happened,” Emma repeated bitterly. “You just happened to steal another womans man.”
Valeries head swivelled between them like she was watching tennis.
“I didnt steal him,” Margaret said, firmer now. “He told me what you had wasnt seriousthat it was just”
“Just what?” Emma snapped.
“That it was just a bit of fun. That you both knew it wouldnt last.”
Emma let out a harsh laugh.
“That lying sod! So he told you it was nothing with me, and told me you were some silly girl throwing yourself at married men!”
Margaret went even paler.
“He said that?”
“Word for word! And we both fell for it! Fell out over him while he sat back enjoying the show!”
“Girls,” Valerie cut in nervously, “maybe dont get so worked up? Your blood pressure”
“Dont fuss, Val,” Emma waved her off. “Honestly, its good were talking. Truths out now.”
She sat back and studied Margaret.
“What happened after I left the school?”
“He saw me for about three more months,” Margaret said quietly. “Then said his wife was suspicious and we had to be careful. Meetings got fewer then stopped. By the end of term, I heard hed divorced.”
“Divorced?” Emma blinked. “I didnt know that.”
“Divorced and married the PE teacher from the next school a month later. Turned out hed been seeing her for half a year already.”
“Well, well,” Emma shook her head. “So there were three of us. Maybe more.”
“Maybe more,” Margaret agreed. “I felt such a fool afterwards. And so ashamed of what happened between us”
“Ashamed of what?” Emma leaned forward. “We were both played by that that womaniser!”
“But I believed him! Believed you didnt care for him! Yet Id seen how you looked at him, how upset you got when he was cold with you in front of others I knew you loved him!”
Emma was silent for a long moment.
“I did. Very much. First time Id ever loved like that.”
“So did I,” Margaret confessed. “My first love too. And I thought he felt the same God, we were such fools.”
“Fools,” Emma agreed. “And young. He took advantage.”
Valerie sniffled.
“Oh, girls, this is too awful! To lose such a friendship over that that absolute rotter!”
“Friendships one thing, loves another,” Emma sighed. “Back then, I thought Margaret had betrayed me. That a friend wouldnt do that.”
“And I thought if you didnt really care for him, I wasnt doing wrong,” Margaret said. “And he pursued meI thought that meant something.”
“It did,” Emma nodded. “The new always seems shinier. Till the PE teacher came along and outshone you.”
A quiet fell over them. Outside, a light autumn rain tapped against the window.
“Did you marry after?” Emma asked.
“I did,” Margaret nodded. “Three years later. A good mansteady, honest. We had twenty-eight years together.”
“Had?”
“Passed two years ago. Cancer.” Margaret dabbed her eyes with a tissue. “Simple man, but rock solid.”
“Im sorry,” Emma reached over and touched her shoulder.
“How would you know?” Margaret covered Emmas hand with hers. “We hadnt spoken in decades.”
“Children?”
“A son and daughter. Grown now, three grandkids. You?”
“Two boys. Four grandkids. Andrew was a good father, credit where its due.”
“So you did marry him?” Margaret looked surprised.
“Eventually. Four years after everything. I was at another school by thenwe bumped into each other at a teaching conference. Had the nerve to introduce himself like wed never met!”
“What did you do?”
“What could I do?” Emma laughed. “Played along. He was twice divorced by thenditched the PE teacher
