Look Back at Me (Fleckney Fields Series, Book 1)

Early Bird

1/2 :)

Love,

K. xx

***

Viola laughed shyly. "Perhaps," she said and took a sip of her tea.

"Perhaps?! Vivi, you've gone mental! Last time almost killed you!" Yola shook her raised index finger from side to side in her usual dramatic gesture. "No, no, you're clearly forgetting what it was like last time - and I'm here to remind you, Vivi!"

Viola cringed. There was a lot to remind her of, to think of it - and of course Yola wouldn't hold back. Tact simply wasn't among Yolanda's many merits.

"Should we talk about your ED? The hospitalisation, the nervous breakdown, the fact that you didn't bleed for three years afterwards?" Yola was raising her voice. "I never liked your second husband, but at least he left you in a better shape than he'd found you. Vivi, I watched Rhys Holyoake suck life out of you for five years, three of which you didn't sleep or eat, tending to his broken heart! And don't give me the sappy story of how he lost his parents! We all lost people! I buried my parents, my brother, and two husbands! But I didn't leech on those close to me and turn them into walking corpses. And then after the divorce, you decided to swap one debilitating habit, called Rhys Holyoake, for another, and threw yourself into school and work, and ended up with anorexia induced heart problems! And do I need to remind you of the psychological effects of being married to a man like him?! Your low self-esteem, your body image issues, and your complete inability to verbalise your emotional needs!"

Yola made a low angry noise in her throat and slammed her palm into the table.

"Are you done?" Viola asked in a calm voice.

Yolanda glared at her.

"You drive me insane, Vivi!" she growled. "How am I supposed to have a row or to argue with someone like you?!" Yola grumbled and plucked a piece of roti. She twirled it in her fingers and huffed air out. "Tell me it's none of my business! And that you know better! And - everyone's favourite - that he's changed! Or maybe tell me it's just sex, because he's a bloody human equivalent of the Impossible Cake!"

Viola smiled at Yola softly and shook her head. "How long have we known each other, Yola?"

"Sixteen glorious years," Yola grumbled. She threw Viola a dark look and sighed. "Yeah, yeah, you don't argue or defend yourself. You're too dignified and compassionate for it. Bugger that!" She threw the bread back on her plate and wiped her hands. "I'm just worried for you, Vivi. And I can't stand the tosser! Here, I said it! He's everything I hate in men! He's so white, male, and heterosexual that if he develops any sort of a progressive outlook, shows any empathy, or buys into sex positivity, the universe will implode!"

Viola snorted.

"Vivi, you're the cleverest person I've met in my life - when it doesn't concern your personal life," Yola said and leaned to Viola over the table. "First, you sacrifice everything for one bloke. Then you marry a fanatic for whom any woman would be the second choice after his medical crusade. And then you lock yourself away and decide you want to be a village doctor. In a village where your ex-husband rules the coop, so there's no way anyone would try to nob you. Which you desperately need, Vivi! When was the last time you had a nice satisfying bonk?"

"You know I won't answer this question," Viola said.

"I know! You won't answer any questions! You're Viola Holyoake!" Yolanda made her 'tssssss' noise and rolled her eyes. "You don't lose your shit, and you don't explain your choices to anyone."

Viola chuckled and gave Yola an affectionate look over. With surprise, she realised that, unlike all the previous wonderful sixteen years that they'd been friends, the woman's meddling and questioning and loudly discussing Viola's private life in public hardly bothered Viola.