Page 72 of Ask Another Day

‘Don’t Tony. I told you I was done talking for tonight.’

‘I know, but then you came back…’

The confusion in his eyes was a stab to her heart.

‘I came back because the person I needed was busy.’ The words left her lips before she thought about what that would sound like to him.

‘And I’m not that person anymore.’

It was a statement, rather than a question.

‘Please, Tony can we not do this. Not tonight.’

Tony nodded, before turning to clean down the coffee machine. Lucy relaxed a little. But a muffled sob caught her attention. When she looked closely she realised he was hunched over the machine, sobbing.

Tentatively, she moved towards him. ‘Tony?’ she said as she gently touched his back. He stilled under her touch. Then turned and pulled her into a hug. At first, she stiffened, but the muscle memory kicked in and she relaxed in his embrace.

‘It’s really over isn’t it?’ he managed to say once he’d got a hold on his emotions.

‘I’m so sorry, Tony.’

She arrived at the beach, not recalling the journey as she’d been reliving the painful conversation. Other than her short time in Bristol, she’d lived in the Bay all her life, but she realised she’d never been down to the beach in the dead of night. There was something comforting about the darkness and the sound of the water as it splayed ominously onto the rocks that towered around her. She needed all the comfort she could get right now. Lucy had never seen Tony look so hurt. But for all the pain she felt deep in her soul at being the cause of his distress, a tiny part of her breathed a little easier with the spark of belief she was on the cusp of a new chapter in her life.