Lightning Bolt

CHAPTER NINETY

CHARACTER INDEX

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

ALPHABECTICAL ORDER

BENSON –

Brighton was big, but not big enough for Benson to disappear completely. I expected to see him round every next corner I took, or the next bar Matt and I walked into. But strangely that day never came.

I did however bump into Jayne, an old colleague from the office I used to work in, a few months after Matt and I got married. She told me of the huge scandal; Benson had been sacked having slept with his boss's wife.

This news didn't shock me. I knew what he was capable off. He was an animal, an animal with no morals, no standards.

Apparently Aimee left him but not before scratching his car, tearing up every piece of clothing he had, and humiliating him outside their house. But this was simply a rumour which had been running around the office like wild fire.

I only hoped and prayed it was true, and Aimee had seen sense and finally left him.

I never did hear from her. My email may never have been read or even opened.

I took what I could from my conversation with Jayne, walking away feeling a slight bout of satisfaction, but my days of dwelling on what happened with Benson were over.

There was only one regret I lived with, and that was not going straight to the police when it had first happened. But then thinking back, I was in no fit state and the past was in the past.

CHLOE –

We took Chloe home from the adoption agency and never looked back.

We loved and cherished her, watching her grow in front of our eyes. We were there to wipe away her tears, to hear her magical laugh, to help heal her cuts and bruises, witnessing her first steps, her first day at school, the first boyfriend, trying always to give her the best advice and to kiss and hug her through all the stages of her life.

Chloe was a beautiful young lady from the inside out. She had light brown hair which flowed down her curvy figure, her tranquil blue eyes set in her round face, her cherry red cheeks spilling from the sides. She was loved by everyone around her, having a calm aura, always positive and happy. Matt and I were in awe of her; we lived and breathed for Chloe being the proudest parents in the world.

When she was a baby we finally moved from the apartment, finding a perfect family home overlooking Brighton seafront.

We spent endless Summers on the beach, taking walks along the South Downs with Chloe rolling down the hills in Summer. When Autumn came wellies were applied to feet, and leaf scrunching was her favourite. And then of course Winter, sledging in the snow, speeding down the white fluffy hills, her face so bright with happiness.

We travelled up to Yorkshire to visit the rest of the family throughout the years, the next generation of children mingling, playing together while us oldies watched on and marvelled at our spouses.

When Chloe was old enough we told her the truth about where she came through; that she was in fact adopted, which she took in her stride, reassuring us that we were her parents and she could never think otherwise.

Later in her years, when she had reached her goal to become a teacher and met her long term boyfriend Lincoln, she decided to search for her biological Mother. Unfortunately her search was cut short when she found her Mother had in fact committed suicide when she was only twenty five.