Trust In Love

Realisation

Jennie wasn't the only one doing a lot of soul searching that afternoon.

Tom was, quite literally, in tears. As he sat and listened to DC Wallander update him, his emotions got the better of him.  Luke got up and went through to the kitchen, giving him some space. 

It had been a hard morning.  Waiting. Ever since he'd been told Jennie was involved, he'd been in limbo.  HOW could she do it?  How COULD she do it? The permutations  -  and the angst - were endless.  Each time, he got angrier and angrier.  But, oddly, not at Jennie. No, the rage was directed at himself. For that first split second, as was probably to be expected, he'd assumed she was guilty. The police wouldn't arrest someone innocent. Would they?

But now?  Luke reappeared when he heard Tom hang up and sigh deeply.  Handing Tom a mug of coffee, he sat opposite hoping for the best, expecting the worst.  Tom took a long swallow, gathering himself.  The coffee snaked it's way down, warm and almost comforting.  Almost.

"I cant believe it Luke.  She's so lovely. She's warm and funny and intelligent and caring and...." he looked at his friend "and I was - am - falling for her. How could she be this person? I would know, wouldn't I? Here....?" He tapped his chest above his heart.

Luke nodded and swallowed his own brew, with slightly less comfort. He knew, even if Tom didn't, the storm to come. Now was not the time to remind him of that. Instead he smiled thinly. "Yes, you DO, don't you? You know exactly the kind of woman she is. The kind that you fall in love with." He stood up, mug now empty, coming to stand next to him.  Placing a sympathetic, hand on his shoulder, he gave it a brotherly squeeze.  "We BOTH know this isn't what it seems. She's innocent Tom. You just have to be sure that you're ready for the public fight to prove it."

Tom looked at him, for once head ruling heart. "My reputation you mean?" Luke nodded.  He knew he had to tread carefully.  Tom often had scant regard for his own image, it had taken a while to recover from previous, albeit out with his control, 'situations'.

"I'm sorry but its the cold hard truth. Mud sticks. Even to people not actually playing in it. Can you be that strong? Is she really that important to you?. Already?"

Tom knew Luke wasn't being cruel, he was being a realist. The industry was hard enough without scandal. Was Jennie worth potential career suicide?  He was sure she was, but was she waiting for him to prove it?  Would it be a futile and potentially disastrous gesture?

"Oh God... what do I do?" he put his head in his hands and cried.   Luke took the mug from the table and carried it, together with his own, into the kitchen.  What to tell him?  Tell him to stay away and it might be the end of their friendship, tell him to go to her and it might be the end of his career.  He too said an anguished "Oh God!" as he turned on the water.....

Across town, one person was convinced they knew the truth.  She might not know if the housebreaking was a setup, and frankly?  In the grand scheme of things?  She didn't care.  She DID know she'd been lied to.  And that, was that.  

Susie watched as the street outside went about it's business undisturbed by the war raging within the walls of the bookstore.  A war between Susie the Friend and Susie the Employer.  

Employer Susie wanted to let Jennie go quietly, with minimal fuss. Maybe with a couple of month's salary in compensation. She would need it. No one would employ her now.

Friend Susie wanted to scream and shout and slap the woman who had betrayed everything she believed in. She had lied to her face. There was no way back from that. There wasn't. Was there?  WAS there.  Even as she spoke to herself, the shop was empty,   she began to wonder.