[[[all of my flaws]]][[[part ii]]]

6.

I barely slept that night, as Emma lie peacefully next to me, so beautiful with her blond hair messy and her elven face, unaware of what was going on. I tossed and turned and before I knew it, it was 7.15. Lily would be here soon. I'd have to say something to Lily, even if she didn't want to speak about it. We were married and I hadn't seen her in almost four years. What were we going to do? Just pretend it never happened? Because it had and she had been a massive part of my life, even if it was only for two months.

'Do I have to get up?' Emma said sleepily as I got myself dressed in the dark. I hadn't meant to wake her.

'No sweet, you stay right there.' I leant across the bed and kissed her sleepy head. 'I'll see you in a few days. I love you.'

'Yeah.' She mumbled and dropped right back to sleep. I laughed to myself. She must've been exhausted. She worked away as much as I did and our schedules rarely had us in the same place. She'd flown in from America that night and passed out beside me at two in the morning. In a way, it was the best kind of relationship, as we did the same job and we each understood what it took to make it work. Sometimes I wished she didn't work as much. Her band were bigger in America than mine would ever be, but that was something we were working towards. Maybe if we managed to make it big over there, we could actually see each other for longer than a few hours a week.

I took my rucksack with enough clothes for a week, threw in my phone and left the bedroom. There was no time for a cup of tea or a shower. We'd be checking into a hotel when we got to Bristol so I'd just get myself sorted then. I did grab a cereal bar from the cupboard before leaving the flat and taking the lift to the ground floor, just in time to see a black people carrier pull up outside the apartment buildings doors. I slid open the door, threw my bag in first then climbed in. Kyle was in the back, fast asleep, and Lily was sat in the front with the driver. My heart momentarily stopped. So it hadn't all been a nightmare.

'Morning.' I said cheerfully as I could muster at this time of the day on barely any sleep. I noticed she didn't seem overly awake either. She'd never been a morning person. I berated myself for remembering such a stupid detail. Or had she been troubled all night as I had?

'Morning.' She smiled back politely. I followed her eyes as she looked up at the building I'd exited. I'd forgotten she must've known where I'd lived. After all, she'd lived here too. It was a painful ten minutes to Woody's place, in complete silence. I daren't broach the subject again, not until she did, and not with Kyle, though seemingly asleep, in the car. What else did we talk about? The weather? My mind was blank.

'Morning guys.' Woody announced, throwing his bag in the van and following it. I was grateful for his company. But he began speaking to Lily about home, their parents, their younger sister. All the things I already knew, but Lily didn't. I felt a little sad that she'd never gone to see them. She'd always put it off and changed the subject when I'd spoken about it. I could barely believe that in the four years I'd known Woody, I'd never made the connection to their relationship. She'd even told me her brother was a drummer and I knew her last name was Wood. I knew she'd grown up in Plymouth, though she'd never told me, from when I'd sourced her birth certificate. And now looking at the pair of them together, I could even see the resemblance.