When Love Gets in the Way

Chapter Three

James

I pull my attention away from my computer screen and turn to my vibrating phone. I see that it's a call from Becky and swipe it to answer.

"Hey." Her voice is confident and jovial like always and I smile when I hear it.

"How are you?" I ask like I always do. Becky and I have been friends for as long as I can remember. We even dated for a short while a few years back but we couldn't seem to act like anything but friends so we desided to end it and just remain life long companions instead of lovers.

"Great thanks. My dad was impressed by my mock results and finance went pretty well I think. How are you?" She asks.

"Good thanks. My parents were proud of my results and I think there going out later if you want to come over." I tell her. I dont mean that I want them out the house so Becky and I can do inappropriate things. We just get more privacy when there gone since I think they wish that Becky and I were still dating.

"Sorry, I cant. I'm visiting mum tonight." She says the usual sparkle in her voice fading.

Becky's mum died almost two years ago in a car accident and I know that she still finds it hard no matter how much she masks her pain. I glance at the calendar that's hanging above my desk and gasp as I realise that today is the anniversary of her mums death.

"Okay." I say softly feeling terrible for not remembering. "You can call me after if you want to talk." I say. I almost said have a good time but that's the worst thing to say about anything like this.

"Will do." She says her sparkle returning a little. "I'm just about to head out so I'll talk to you later."

"Okay, talk to you later." I say trying to keep the sympathy out of my voice. I hear the beep of the call ending and place my phone back onto my desk.

I chew on my bottom lip as I think back through the day. How did I never notice that she was hurting? She skipped lunch and seemed so distant yet I didn't realise. I really need to work on my friendship skills.

I get up from my desk and make my way down the stairs to tell my parents about Becky. I tell them everything and Becky is like a daughter to them; they'll want to know if she's hurting.

My parents are in the lounging area dressed read to go out. Tonight they have a dinner with my mothers boss, Emma. Both of my parents are medical professionals but both in completely different things. My mother is a midwife while my father works more with blood transfusions.

"Hello James dear, we'll be heading out in a moment. Is something wrong?" My mother asks as she fuses over my like normal.

"Todays the anniversary of Becky's mums death." I tell them my tone low and sad.

"Oh, that poor girl." My mother exclaims a horrifid look on her face.

"We'll have to take her something nice later." My father says and my mother nods in agreement.

"She'll like that." I say with a small smile. Becky loves seeing my parents so them visiting her later will definitely cheer her up. It's not that Becky doesn't like her dad, it's just that he pushes her very hard to make sure she's ready to take over the family business when she's older.

"We have to go now James but make sure to phone us if anything happens okay?" My father says and I nod.

"Of course." I say and they both smile. We hug and then they leave after wishing me a final goodbye.

They always tell me to contact them if theres a problem but I dont know what they're worried about.

Nothing bad can happen in the house.