Page 8 of Lora

Chapter Six

Lora

‘Morning, babe,’ I say to Kali as I meet her near the cliff edge on the back of my property. I’ve come out here to talk to her about last night with Justin, but I can see something is troubling her. After the attack the other night the last thing she needs is me dumping all my romantic troubles on her.

‘Morning.’ She tries to smile, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. ‘I’m sorry about everything that’s happened.’

‘Why are you sorry, it’s not your fault you married a sociopath.’ Her smile is a little bigger this time.

‘Are you okay?’ she asks, and I know that this is the moment to tell her. To say actually, I’m really confused about last night with Justin. But the words get stuck in my throat, and I shake my head instead. ‘You can talk to me, Lo.’

‘It’s nothing, I’m just tired. It was a busy day after the spill.’

‘Oh, I heard about that. I can help out today if you like?’ She looks hopeful, like she needs to be doing something, and I feel like I need to not be alone with Justin. I cannot trust myself around the man and I’m so confused at him dismissing me last night after everything.

If it were just sex, why was there all the talk about it being forever?

Kali’s arm tightens around me, pulling my attention back to the here and now.

‘Yeah, we could probably do with some help in the sanctuary today.’ I can’t imagine the state of the pens when we have over twenty birds in them. Plus, Jessop will need walking and Justin and I have a full day in the clinic.

Guilt and regret mingle together in my gut. What if sleeping with Justin has ruined our working relationship? We have to be so in tune when we are dealing with animals. I can’t imagine having to try and find another job on the island because I screwed this one up so badly.

‘What is it?’ Kali asks. ‘You know you can talk to me Lora, about anything, no judgement.’

My head feels heavy. I take a huge gulp of my almost cold coffee and look at my best friend. ‘Justin and I…’ My heart beats faster just at the mention of his name.

‘You slept together,’ Kali finishes for me. Every bit of me feels drained but relieved. ‘It’s about time, Lo. You deserve to have some fun!’ She pauses, looks me over, tries to meet my eyes, ‘unless it wasn’t fun for you?’

‘No, it was fun,’ I say quickly, not wanting her to have the wrong impression about what happened. ‘It was just heavy too. He told me that it would be forever and then he told me to go home and that he would stay with the animals…’

Kali stands, looking at me, waiting for me to elaborate.

‘I just thought after what happened between us, he wouldn’t want me to leave.’

‘I don’t know him well enough but maybe he just wanted you to get a good night’s sleep.’ That’s Kali all over, seeing the best in every situation. ‘You should talk to him. Let him explain.’

I know I should. But the thought of seeing him today has my belly rolling around with nerves and giddiness and a whole load of confusion.

Justin

The night seemed like it would never end once Lora left, and I regretted suggesting she should go home as soon as the door closed behind her.

When the clock ticks around to eight-thirty and she still isn’t here, I begin to feel a little nervous. I know I came on strong last night, but I’ve always lacked the filter that softens my words. I’ve always been direct and to the point. It’s one of the main reasons I work with animals, they understand people without the use of words. They can see the goodness in a person even if the person is grumpy and miserable. The only time in the last two years that I haven’t been miserable is when I’ve been with Lora.

The door in the clinic opens and I hear two female voices, one of whom is Lora, which calms my anxieties about last night down right away.

‘Good morning,’ I say as they make their way through to the back. I look at Lora and then at her friend, Kali.

‘Kali has offered to help with the sanctuary work today,’ Lora says, she is smiling but it’s not her usual smile and a knot tightens in my stomach.

‘That’s great,’ I turn to Kali, ‘thank you.’

She nods and follows us through to the sanctuary where all birds are recuperating well, and Jessop is eager to come out for his morning walk. I try to catch Lora’s attention, but either she doesn’t notice, or ignores me as she shows Kali what to do with the birds and how to clean out the pens.

‘Rhys has managed to isolate the spread of oil,’ I say to no one in particular, hoping to drum up conversation. I feel so far outside of my comfort zone. Polite conversation is not my forte.