Second Lanark

Forgiveness - Part 36

I had vowed I wasn't calling anyone back until school resumed on Monday. I wanted a couple more days to bask in ignorance before I had to face whatever was coming. People slowly trickled back onto the residential floor the next day. Late in the day, there was a knock on the door. I jumped off the bed where Rob and I had been enjoying some quality couple time and hastily adjusted my clothes. I whipped open the door. Tricia dropped her bags, squealing and enveloping me into a hug.

"Roomie!" she cried, laughing. "Ahhhh, I missed you so much."

"Yeah, you're back!" I said, hoping my voice sounded more enthusiastic than I felt. I'd been hoping for a little bit more boyfriend time before I had to split my attention.

"Is Rob in there?" Tricia asked, peering around my shoulder into the dark room.

"He is," I said, smiling.

Tricia's green eyes searched my face with a small, wicked grin. "You two had a good night?"

I laughed and gave her shoulder a playful push. "Yes," I said, feeling heat creeping into my face. Picking up one of her bags, I flipped on the overhead light as I entered the room, hoping that Rob had managed to collect himself as well. I glanced over at him, and he was sitting on the edge of the bed squinting at the bright overhead light.

"Shall I put the kettle on?" Rob asked, rubbing his face.

Tricia looked over her shoulder and grinned. "I might have missed you, too, you know. Maybe – a little. God, I'd love a good cuppa," Tricia said, starting to put her stuff away.

"There are a couple messages for you on the answering machine. I saved them," I said, dropping the rest of her stuff on her bed and crossing the room to sit on mine.

Rob plugged in the kettle and set to work making some tea. He picked up the mug that Lark had made me and looked it over thoughtfully. "You hear from Lark atoll?" Rob asked, looking at Tricia as he got the cups ready.

Tricia paused in the middle of unpacking and sighed. "Yeah, she called me – a couple times – to apologize and cry on the phone about how she still wanted to be friends. I guess she and Cal are done-done and she said she thinks it's better this way, and she overreacted, and she shouldn't have called Liz a bitch and can we all just be friends." Tricia rattled it all off in a bored voice.

"Oh," I said. Lark hadn't called me or tried to contact me at all over the holidays.

"I suggested that she call you," Tricia said, reading my mind. "But she said she thought she owed you an apology in person."

"Right," I said, as though that made perfect sense. It did make sense, but I also wondered whether Lark was just trying to say what she thought Tricia wanted to hear. She was good at that. "What do you think?" I asked, fiddling with the blanket on my bed.

"You know I've always liked Lark," Tricia said, shrugging. "But she was out of control before she left." She eyed the phone suspiciously. "Any word about your team?"

"A couple messages," I admitted. "I'm avoiding calling anyone back until Monday."

"Most people probably aren't around until Monday anyway. Who do you think blew the whistle?" Tricia asked, taking her tea from Rob, who had been mostly silent. He glanced over at me, and our eyes connected. He knew what I thought, but I had no intention of telling Tricia just yet.

"It could have been anyone," I said, taking my cup from Rob and smiling at the melting ice cube. He leaned down and gave me a quick kiss.

"Ugh. Are you two going to be even more insufferable now?" Tricia asked, setting down her tea and collapsing onto her bed.