What Did I Tell You?

Chapter 10

That day, Tarja asked Alissa to drive her over to Sharon's house so she could see how Sharon was doing. She now remembered everything,about Sharon's relationship with Floor, their breakup, Sharon's drinking problem, etc. and she wanted to make sure Sharon was still doing well. However, when Alissa knocked on the door, the woman who opened it looked sad and tired, unlike the way she had looked when she visited Tarja in the hospital.

"Sharon, what's wrong?" Tarja asked, almost losing hold of her crutches and falling down, being saved only by Alissa's steadying hands.

"Nothing. Come inside," Sharon said, opening the door wider to allow them in. Alissa helped Tarja inside and over to the couch. The three of them sat down and Tarja said,

"Alright, Sharon, what's going on? You look upset."

"First of all, you tell me why you're here," Sharon said. "I mean, it's not that I don't like having you here, I do, but I just want to know why you came."

"I came to see how you're doing," Tarja said.

"Well, I was doing better after you visited. And then..." She seemed unable to finish.

"And then what?" Tarja asked gently.

"I..." Sharon began, but stopped again. She seemed uncomfortable, like she didn't want to talk about it.

"Here, I'll step out for a minute," Alissa said, getting up and going into the kitchen.

"Okay, now can you tell me?" Tarja asked.

"Well...when I heard you were in the hospital, I came right away. And Floor and Alissa were there, and I guess they'd already seen you, because Floor was sort of crying and hugging herself. I think she was scared. So I went and put my arms around her, and you know what?"

"What?" Tarja asked.

"She let me hold her. She actually leaned her head on my shoulder and hugged me. It was like we knew we needed each other, and we just pushed our problems aside. It felt so good." Sharon sighed, and Tarja saw a look of pain and sadness in her eyes.

"Well, that's great, Sharon. I'm really happy for you. So what's wrong? You don't look happy," she said. Sharon sighed.

"Well, after that, we started to grow close again, and I started to hope that maybe we could rebuild our relationship. But...but now I think she has a girlfriend." Sharon's eyes filled with tears. "Tarja..." Tarja reached out and put her arms around the other woman.

"Shh, Sharon, it's okay. I don't think she has a girlfriend. She didn't tell me she did. Don't give up on her. There's still a chance for you two to get back together."

"How do you know? You don't even remember why we split up," Sharon said in a choked voice.

"Yes, I do. You accidentally cheated on Floor while you were drunk," Tarja said gently. Sharon looked surprised, and Tarja added, "I got my memory back."

"That's great, Tari," Sharon said flatly. "I'm happy for you. I wish I could act excited. But I'm hurting...so much." She hid her face in her hands. "I'm sorry, Tarja, I didn't mean to get you involved in my problems again."

"It's okay," Tarja said, stroking her messy curls. "I want to be here for you." Alissa peaked into the room, and Tarja motioned to her to come over to the couch. Alissa sat down and put her arm around Sharon. Tarja did the same, and so they both sat there, hugging Sharon while she cried. Finally, Sharon raised her head and wiped her red-rimmed eyes.

"You guys are so nice," she whispered. "I'm really sorry to bother you."

"Hey, it's okay," Alissa said. "We're your friends. What are we for, if not to comfort you when you're sad?" Sharon sniffled.

"That's so sweet, Liss. But...I feel really bad, and really guilty, cause Tarja was trying to help me get my life back together, and it worked, for a while. I didn't drink at all for nine days...and then I found out that Floor loves someone else, and all that sort of just went out the window."

"Have you been drinking again?" Tarja asked as gently as she could. Sharon looked down at her lap, ashamed, and slowly nodded.

"I had a lot last night. I was just feeling so depressed and all...and you know, there was a bottle of wine in the pantry that I'd been saving for something, I don't know what, but I just uncorked it...and I emptied the whole thing. It was a big bottle, too. I felt like crud this morning, and I regretted it, but...I just felt so awful last night. I'm sorry, Tarja." Big tears slid down Sharon's cheeks from beneath her closed eyelids, making her lashes wet and dripping onto her shirt. Tarja gently embraced her from one side, and Alissa from the other. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I'm sorry..." Sharon repeated, over and over, sobbing into Tarja's shoulder. Tarja stroked her hair.

"Shh, it's okay. We're not mad at you. It takes time to get over this sort of thing. You will eventually. And Floor does love you. Sharon, she loves you with all her heart. And I'll bet, if you called her right now, she'd want to talk to you for hours. Give it a try," she said. "Just pick up the phone and call. Or I'll dial the number and you can talk to her."

"I can't, Tarja. She loves Simone, not me," Sharon sniffled. Tarja sighed.

"I don't think that's true."

"I'm telling you, it is. I'm almost positive. I've seen them together. They act like they're a couple," Sharon insisted. "I can't call her, Tarja. It'll just hurt me to talk to her."

"Oh, Sharon. You don't actually know that she and Simone are-"

"They are! It's pretty obvious they like each other!" Sharon snapped.

"Still, I would call her. Just talk to her, Sharon. Please?" Tarja pleaded. Sharon sighed.

"Well...maybe I will. Just to ask her. But I'm sure they're a thing."

"You don't know for sure until you've talked to one of them," Tarja said. She kissed Sharon's forehead, which seemed to make Alissa a little jealous. Tarja gave the bluenette's hand a squeeze, then said to Sharon, "Alright, let's get you something to eat."

"You are too nice to me," Sharon said, getting up from the couch and following the other two into the kitchen. Tarja smiled and squeezed her hand.

"It's what friends do."