Shattered Hearts

Chapter 28

John entered the bar, making a beeline for Louis, his feet squelching on the sticky floor. He thanked God that Darlene was finally letting him off the leash, at least a little.

"The things I have to do to go out for a few beers," he joked as he joined Lous. "Adultery is so not worth it." Louis laughed half-heartedly and he quickly moved on. "So how did it go with Charlotte, are you guys together now? I mean properly together."

Louis looked away, a slight frown on his face. "Sort of, more so than we were but...I dunno, just when I'm getting somewhere she backs off."

"Isn't that the story of your life with her?" he joked and Louis's frown deepened. "Look tread carefully, you don't really know her."

"I've known her all my life," Louis said sounding defensive.

John shook his head. "Not for the past six years you haven't, and that's probably been the most important time in both your lives." Louis didn't know what Charlotte had been through and nobody knew what he'd been through, that was a well-kept secret.

"So what are you saying?" Louis caught his eye, his gaze was penetrating. "You're obviously hinting at more than you're letting on."

John sighed, indicating to the bartender to line up a drink. "You keep remembering the girl you used to know, and I get it. I did the same with Rosalind. But you might not like who Charlotte is now, and by the time you wake up to that, you'll be in too deep."

"Woah you're giving me relationship advice." Louis lit a cigarette looking away from him. "I don't think I'm gonna suddenly dislike her, she hasn't changed that much."

John sighed, he hated talking about all this relationship stuff, he was so not the expert. "Look Charlotte's probably done things over the years that might make you feel differently about her." Things you can't handle.

"Like what has she done?" Louis demanded, a frown on his face.

"Well her marriage was difficult..."

"Are you saying she's lying about it?"

"No, not at all," he said quickly. "'I've met her husband plenty of times and he's a jerk. And I thought that before she lost the baby."

"Right so what aren't you telling me?" Louis asked irritably.

John took his time lighting a cigarette as he contemplated how much to say. "The end of her marriage was pretty messy." To say the least. "Anyway, one day she was arguing with McKenna outside of their house and he pushed her. She fell down the steps -  there's only three or four so he must have hit her pretty hard cos she was knocked out cold. By the time she came round she was in hospital miscarrying the baby and McKenna was by her side playing the doting husband." He scowled, sickened by the events.

Louis was silent for a moment. "Yeah Charlotte said she fell, and that Nick said it was an accident."

"Well he would say that, wouldn't he." He fought down his indignation. "The police got involved and everything. They should have pressed charges."

"Why didn't they?"

"Lack of evidence. Charlotte was concussed, and Nick was coaxing her with her statement."

Louis looked at him opened mouthed. "And the police went along with that?"

"She was doped up on tranquillizers and confirming his version of events." He shrugged helplessly. "So she was patched up and sent home with him." He squirmed: he and Darlene had long speculated about Charlotte's marriage, and Darlene especially had felt something was seriously not right after the accident.