Patchwork Paradise(10)

The waiter interrupted us again, but this time Thomas thanked him absentmindedly and stirred his coffee. “Did Cleo drag you out of bed?”

I threw my hands in the air. “Literally. There were threats.” He laughed, and I shrugged. “She looked pretty bad last time I saw her.”

“You noticed that, huh?”

I looked at him, latching on to this chance to talk about anything but me. “You saw it too? What’s going on?”

He stuffed some of his thick brown hair behind his ear and drank his coffee. “I don’t know what I should tell you,” he said. “I don’t want to talk behind their backs, but there’s been some trouble with Imran.”

“What?” I leaned forward and pushed my empty cup aside. “What kind of trouble? Is he okay? He’s not sick, is he?” Shit, I really had been completely self-involved.

“No, nothing like that. Ah man, I shouldn’t be gossiping about this.”

“You’re not gossiping. Cleo would’ve told me, but she obviously thinks I need to be handled with care right now.” I rolled my eyes.

“Well, she was convinced Imran had cheated on her with another nurse.”

“No!” I gasped. “That little shit. I’m going to rip his balls off and—”

“Okay, whoa, no. He said he didn’t, she didn’t believe him, they broke up for a little bit, but they sorted it all out. Apparently he didn’t cheat.” To my utter astonishment, Thomas went puce to the roots of his hair.

“But that’s not all.”

“Um. No.” He spun his coffee cup around and around and wouldn’t look at me. “We, uh—” Thomas glanced at me and then looked toward the Groenplaats as if he was hoping he could go save another girl from harassment to get out of this conversation.

“Jesus, you’re killing me here. Spit it out already!”

“We slept together,” he whispered.

“You and Imran?” I squeaked.

“No.” He laughed once, covering his face with his hands.

My mouth fell open. “You and Cleo?”

He nodded.

“Shit.” I sat back, reached for my cup, realized it was empty, and drank from his instead. I gagged. “Oh my God, how many sugars did you put in here?”

He winced and let his hands fall away. “I was too nervous to pay attention.”

“Nervous? Why?”

“I don’t know, Ollie. I was afraid I wouldn’t know what to say to you, that I wouldn’t be able to be the friend you need right now. But what was I worried about? Five minutes and I’m spilling my darkest secret.”

“Yeah, we’re coming back to the friend bit in a minute. I can’t believe you slept with Cleo.” I hissed that last part under my breath, and he flinched.

“I know, okay? Believe me, I’ve been beating myself up about it for a long time. I . . . I was lonely, and she was angry, and— I know she’s been your friend forever, Ollie, but that girl is seriously messed up emotionally.”

“Cleo? No, she’s not! I mean, she’s a character, sure. But she’s got a heart of gold and she’d never hurt anyone on purpose.”

“I know that, but she’s also incredibly insecure and . . . you know what? That’s not up to me to talk about. But yeah, Imran found out, and they’re fighting. I don’t think they’ll break up, but you can imagine things have been . . .” He shrugged.

“Ah shit.” I tilted my head to the sky. While I was caught up in my own grief, Thomas had been all alone. And in their own ways, Cleo and Imran must’ve been too.

“And for the record, the only friends I need right now are you, Cleo, and Imran. This doesn’t have to be . . .” Weird, I almost said. But of course it would be weird. A huge chunk of me—of us—was gone. And this thing between the three of them would make things even weirder. Shit. What if we were falling apart? What if I lost them all?

A shiver ran down my spine. One half of me wanted to be left alone, and the other half was terrified my friends would do exactly that.

“Sure,” he softly said. He bumped my knee with his and pulled away.

I stared into nothing. I needed to fix this somehow, but smoothing over quarrels had always been Sam’s strength. “Can you take Monday off from work?” I asked him.

He blinked at me. “Next week? I guess. Summer holidays are pretty quiet at work.”

“Okay.” I picked up my phone and texted Cleo and Imran in one thread and said aloud, “Pack a bag with swim trunks and some hiking gear. We’re going on a long weekend trip.”

“Don’t you have to go back to work?”

I gave him my best sad face. “I’m still mourning. I can take an extra day unpaid.”

A slow smile began to light his face. “Welcome back, Ollie,” he whispered as he gave me a one-armed hug. “I’ve missed you.”

Warmth spread through my body. I realized how deprived of touch I’d been for the past month, after over a decade of having Sam’s arms around me whenever I craved them.

“I’m not completely back yet,” I admitted as I surreptitiously buried my nose in his shoulder. I missed the feel and smell of a guy so badly, I wanted to close my eyes and take a little nap in that circle of safety.