Chapter 24- Hidden motives
It read:
POST-MORTEM:
Name: Gregory Luke Jameson
Height: 164cm
Cause of death- Drowning (lungs filled with fluid)
It went on into the deathly details, which I could not stomach. The paper slipped away from my clutches. Why had he sent me this? I didn't understand why Tom would want me to look at this, to relive his death all over again.
"Maddy?" Ana's shrill voice pierced through my defences as she shook my shoulder roughly. I stared at her with unmistakable dread, the emotion seeming to take hold of me so that I couldn't process anything properly.
"What does it say?" She demanded, her dark eyes wide with concern. I couldn't bring myself to reply and bent down silently to pick it up off the floor. I held it in my hands, the weight of what Tom was trying to tell me pushing down on me. I handed it to her, her small hands reaching for it with a heavy sense of foreboding.
I watched the reaction flit across her face, trying to discern what I was missing.
"Why has he given you this?" She breathed and my heart sunk slightly when it became clear she had no new insight to help me with.
"I don't know Ana, I just don't know" I replied in a monotone. I couldn't even summon up the energy to bite her head off like I had so admittedly done hours before. Seeing it written like that, in such cold, emotionless terms had made it seem detached from me, like he had been a stranger, an unknown who I had never come across. Never fallen for.
"Why did he give you this?" She whispered, confused.
"My thought exactly" I answered, feeling as if I had a massive head ache.
"Didn't he think how much it would hurt you to look at this?" She gritted her teeth angrily. I looked into her eyes:
"No. He doesn't know about me and Greg, Ana" I mumbled, avoiding her eyes and folding the contents of the envelope. I got up from the bed, with my back facing her.
"For goodness sake Maddy" She groaned in exasperation. I grimaced. Holding the envelope other my heart for a moment, I stowed it away in my top drawer, failing to banish its contents from my mind.
"You can't keep it a secret forever, the longer you leave it...." She assured me.
"The worst it will be. I know Ana! Everything is just about getting back to normal, I can't ruin it for them" I exclaimed. Couldn't she see it was not that simple. I looked at how happy Mel had been since her and Dom had sorted themselves out: not whole, but not broken either and I recognised how selfish it would be for me to ruin it.
"But Maddy, you can't protect her from everything" She whispered sadly.
"I know: but that won't stop me trying" I replied in the same tone.
"You know I would never tell them, but you can't wait forever Mad" She said.
"I need to find the right time to tell them" I objected, gesturing in frustration with my hands. Ana shook her head at me.
"Imagine if it were you Maddy: if Mel had slept with Marcus and then he had died. Then for months she hadn't told you, but had told me and Dean and made them keep it a secret from her. What would you do?" She demanded.
"She isn't a saint in all this! She never told me about Dom. We told each other everything Ana- you know that and not once did she even give me a hint to what was wrong" I retorted hotly.
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Fake Tales
Romansa"I don't know what kind of girl you think I am Greg" I mumbled. I was not the kind of girl who slept with guys on a whim. I wanted him, but not enough to abandon all reason. He took a step toward me, ignored my narrowed eyes and wrapped his arms ar...
