I went to the hospital to visit my friend and nearly fainted when I saw who was sharing her ward.
“Val, love, you gave me such a fright!” I rushed in, clutching a bag of grapes and apples. “When your daughter rang saying youd had a heart scare, I nearly keeled over myself!”
Valerie was propped up by the window, still pale but smiling.
“Oh, Sarah, bless you for coming!” She reached for my hand. “I was going spare with boredom in here.”
I set the fruit down and glanced around. The ward had four beds, but only two were occupied. On the next bed lay a woman with long silver hair tied in a neat plait, her back to us.
“Whos your neighbour?” I whispered, perching on the chair.
“Margaret, they brought her in yesterday,” Valerie murmured. “Keeps to herselfjust reads or scrolls on her phone. They say her blood pressures as dodgy as my heart.”
Just then, the woman turnedand my stomach dropped. Those hazel eyes, the sharp cheekbones unchanged by time, the mole on her left cheek
“Margaret?” My voice cracked. “Margaret Carter?”
She went still, then slowly sat up, staring at me.
“Sarah Bennett?” Her voice, just like thirty years ago. “Good Lord, it cant be”
Valerie gaped between us. “You two know each other?”
“Oh, we know each other,” I said, never taking my eyes off Margaret. “Very well indeed.”
An awkward silence fell. Margaret studied her hands; I kept staring, half-convinced shed vanish.
“Someone explain!” Valerie demanded. “Sarah, you look like youve seen a ghost!”
“Nearly did,” I said quietly. “Margaret and I havent spoken in decades.”
“Thirty-two years,” Margaret added softly.
“Blimey!” Valerie struggled upright. “School friends, then?”
“Not exactly friends,” I sat stiffly, like I might bolt any second. “We had shared interests once.”
Margaret finally met my eyes. “Hows Andrew these days?”
My knuckles whitened. “My husband died eight years ago. Heart attack.”
“Oh, Sarah, I didnt know.” Her gaze fell. “Im so sorry.”
“Water under the bridge,” I waved it off. “Lifes like that.”
Valeries eyes darted between us. “Out with it, then! I feel like Im watching telly with the sound off!”
Margaret and I exchanged a glanceneither of us wanted to start.
“We worked together,” I finally said. “At St. Marys Secondary. I taught English, Margaret taughtwhat was it again?”
“History. And civics.”
“There you go, Valcolleagues. Though not for long.”
“Two years,” Margaret agreed.
“Fell out over work, then?” Valerie pressed.
“Over a man,” I said bluntly. “Classic, really.”
Margaret flinched.
“Sarah, dont”
“Why not? Val wont drop it. Besides, its ancient history now.”
“I suppose,” Margaret whispered.
“Go on!” Valerie begged. “Ill burst otherwise!”
I leaned back, staring at the rain-streaked window.
“I was twenty-four. Fresh out of uni, teaching my first year. Young, daft, and besotted with the deputy headAndrew Taylor. Handsome, clever, ten years older. Married, of course.”
“Oh dear,” Valerie winced.
“Exactly. Secret meetings, him moaning about his cold wife, the usual rubbish married men spin. Then Margaret joined the staffpretty, witty, bright-eyed. Next thing I know, Andrews spinning her the same yarn.”
Margaret stared at her lap.
“It wasnt like that”
“Wasnt it?” I turned sharply. “You knew about us! I told you everything! We were friends!”
“We were,” she admitted. “I never meant to It just happened.”
“Just happened?” I laughed bitterly. “You stole him, plain and simple.”
Valerie watched like it was Wimbledon.
“I didnt steal anyone,” Margaret said firmly. “He told me you two were just passing time. That you understood it wasnt serious.”
I barked a harsh laugh. “The snake! Told me you were some silly girl throwing yourself at him! Played us both!”
Margaret paled. “He said that?”
“Word for word! And we fell for it! Fought over him while he sat back grinning!”
“Girls,” Valerie cut in, “should you be getting this worked up? Your blood pressure”
“Were fine,” I waved her off. “Actually, its good weve talked. Clears the air.”
I sat back down, studying Margaret. “What happened after I quit?”
“We lasted three months,” she said quietly. “Then his wife got suspicious. Meetings stopped. By summer, hed divorced her.”
“Divorced?” I blinked. “I didnt know that.”
“Married the PE teacher from St. Johns a month later. Turns out theyd been carrying on for ages.”
“Well, well.” I shook my head. “So there were three of us. Maybe more.”
“Likely more,” Margaret agreed. “I felt such a fool. And so ashamed about what Id done to you”
“Ashamed? We were both his victims!”
“But I believed him! Believed you didnt care! Yet Id seen how you looked at him, how youd wilt when he brushed you off I knew you loved him!”
My throat tightened. “I did. First proper love.”
“Me too,” she whispered. “First and fiercest. God, we were idiots.”
“Idiots,” I agreed. “Young ones. He exploited that.”
Valerie sniffled. “Oh, you poor loves! Wrecked a friendship over that that rotter!”
“Easy to say now,” I sighed. “Back then, I thought Margaret betrayed me. That friends didnt do that.”
“And I thought if you werent serious, it wasnt wrong,” Margaret said. “He pursued me. I thought he truly fancied me more.”
“Fancied you,” I nodded. “Till the next shiny thing came along.”
Silence fell. Rain pattered softly outside.
“Did you marry?” I asked eventually.
“Eventually,” Margaret smiled. “Three years later. Good mansteady. Lasted twenty-eight years.”
“Lasted?”
“Passed two years back. Cancer.” She dabbed her eyes. “Solid as they come.”
“Im sorry,” I touched her arm.
“No way youd know,” she covered my hand with hers. “We werent exactly in touch.”
“Kids?”
“Son and daughter. Grown nowthree grandkids. You?”
“Two boys. Four grandkids. Andrew was a decent father, credit where its due.”
“So you married him?” Margaret looked stunned.
“Eventually. Four years after. Ran into him at a teaching conference. Had the nerve to act like wed never met!”
“And you?”
“Played along,” I chuckled. “He was twice-divorced by thenditched the PE teacher too. Said hed grown up, seen the error of his ways Like a fool, I fell again.”
“Happy?”
“Bits of both. Hed lost his looks, mellowed with age. Maybe just tired of playing the field.”
“Ever cheat?”
“Early on,” I admitted. “But I wasnt that naive girl anymore. Put my foot down. Last fifteen years? Faithful, Id bet.”
“So, happiness?”
“Of a sort,” I smiled. “Not the fairy tale, but real. You?”
“Real too. My William was nothing like Andrew. Quiet, dependable. Engineer. Zero romance, all reliability.”
“Better that way,” I nodded. “Romance fades. Life doesnt.”
Valerie, silent till now, suddenly burst into tears.
“Oh, you two!” she wailed. “All those wasted years! You couldve been godmothers to each others kids, shared Christmases All over that cad!”
Margaret and I exchanged a glance.
“Shes right,” I said. “We lost so much. And for what? A man who played us both.”
“I spent years ashamed,” Margaret admitted. “Too scared to face you.”
“I thought you hated me for marrying him.”
“Rubbish!” Valerie hiccuped. “You were both swindled!”
“Swindled or not, we had twenty-four years,” I said. “Raised good kids. Not all bad.”
“Not at all,” Margaret agreed. “Just wish wed talked properly back then.”
“We were babies,” I sighed. “And he stoked the firetold me you were chasing him, told you I was some obsessed”
“Same here!” Margaret gasped. “Said you wouldnt leave him alone!”
“The absolute snake!” Valerie seethed.
“Just
