A Second Chance (9 page)

‘Listen, Laura
.
’
She prayed
she could
find the right words to help just a tiny bit. ‘I know it sounds ominous and scary, but lots of women get it, and most are just fine. They have drugs now that weren’t available even a few years ago and treatments that are very successful. You can beat it, I know it
.
’

‘I know
.
Y
ou
’
re right
.
’
Laura
composed herself almost completely, only the slight shaking of her voice giving away her agitation. ‘
I
t
just caught me by surprise, you know. I never expected something like this to happen to
me,
especially not now, when I
’
m not even thirty
.
’

‘I understand
.
’
D
id
she really? She
felt
guilty, aware of her inability to put herself completely into her friend’s shoes. One had to live it to truly understand it, she thought as she tried to come up with some sensitive way to find out more.

‘Jade, I
’
m so terribly sorry, but I don’t think I
’
ll be able to come for your wedding
.
’ Laura
’s
voice
sounded
stronger now. ‘I have a few appointments with my surgeon and oncologist before the procedure to remove the lump
,
and I have to be around in case something changes with the date
.
’

‘
There
is no wedding
.
’
S
uddenly
her own bad news didn’t seem that tragic,
Laura’s
disease putting everything into perspective. ‘
We
broke up, Brian and I.’

‘
Oh my God, Jade, I
’m
so sorry
.
’
F
or
a moment
Laura
seemed to forget her own misfortune, her thoughts concentrated on Jade and
her fiancé. ‘What happened?’

‘Well, we realized it wouldn’t work out
.
’
T
hat
sounded really lame. This was Laura, her
childhood’s
best friend and confidante, a person
who
knew her better than anyone else. Surely she wouldn’t be satisfied with
such a
vague explanation
of
why
they had
chosen
to end a relationship that
had
lasted almost a decade
.

‘Brian met someone else
.
’
Her
cheeks
color
ed
as a wave of humiliation
wash
ed
over her with the strength of a tsunami.

‘
O
h
no
.
’ Laura was
shocked;
Jade
could tell by the little gasp she wasn’t able to stifle in time. ‘I am so sorry
.
’

‘So am I
.
’ Jade sighed, only to shake off her desolation as she asked
,
‘So when do you have your
surgery,
Laura?
Tell me all about it, I want to know it all
.
’

‘In three weeks. They put me on the list with just a few people ahead of me.
If
they cancel for
any
reason, I
’ll be
ready to
go
earlier. But I
’m
terrified, Jade. My mom wants to come and stay with me, but I told her to stay put in New Zealand for a while. She
’s
working there on
the
s
pring
fashion show
,
and I would hate to make her fly down here and fuss over me. So I cheated and told her I would have to wait a bit longer, so she doesn’t feel too guilty
.
’

This
was typical Laura
;
a
lways
thinking about everyone else and trying to make as little fuss about herself as possible. She would be lying in
the
hospital pretend
ing
things were fine, just so her family could go on with their lives uninterrupted
.

‘Liam is just about to wrap one of his more important projects in Hong Kong
,
and I just can’t share
this
with him until he
’
s done. You know him
.
’ Laura
was
sounding a bit more like her former self. ‘He would dump everything and jump on the next plane, which would be horrible. He’ll be done soon
,
and we can talk about it then. I begged
M
om
not to tell him anything
,
and hopefully she won’t give it away.’

The idea came to
Jade
almost instantly, as she listened to her friend’s voice. She heard
the
fear and sadness
Laura
tried to hide as she chatted on, happy to have someone to talk to about the nightmare that
had
cast a shadow over her life. And
Jade
knew exactly what she would do
. Not
even the thought of
running into
Liam
could
stop her. Whatever she might have felt for him was in the past
,
and it didn’t really matter. Not now, when her best friend was sick and alone, reaching out to her and asking for help.

‘Listen up, Laura
,
’
s
he
s
aid
urgently, her brain kicking into
high
speed
. ‘I would love to come and see you, if it
’
s ok with you. I could use some breathing space now
,
and this would be a perfect escape for me. We could hang out a bit
,
so you have less time to worry about all that stuff. What do you say?’

She really wanted to see Laura.
She realized it
while
waiting for her to answer, her whole body humming with impatience to start packing for the trip. She was busy with projects and deadlines that needed to be met as soon as possible, but
they
paled
in comparison to
seeing Laura and cheering her up when she needed it most.
Let Brian and Veronica handle all the responsibilities for a while
, a rebellious
little
voice in her head whispered insistently
.
Imagine
the chaos in the office if she left and delegated
all her
work to them
!

An escape was exactly what she needed
,
some space to think about her life and plans for the future. Everything she
had worked
toward in the
p
ast
few years
had
involved Brian
,
and she knew it would take some time and effort to
erase him from her thoughts as she looked
ahead
.
There was also
the horror of having to explain herself to all her relatives and friends who would demand some answers
when they began receiving the
returned
wedding gifts. Brian might have promised to take care of explanations
,
but she was well aware of the fact they would want to hear her side of the story,
n
one
theless
.

‘Jade, that sounds wonderful.’ Laura’s voice
had
changed, her optimism
apparently
restored. ‘I would love to see you
;
it
’
s been too long since we were together. I miss you a lot, you know
.
So
,
if you don’t mind listening to my
whining
, come as soon as possible.
Too bad Liam isn’t here, though. He was mentioning just recently what a pity it was that you guys
had
lost touch over the years
.
’

Thank goodness
he wouldn’t be there
.
She
seriously doubted he even remembered her name after twelve years
apart
,
l
e
t
alone miss
ed
her in any way
.
H
is
life
was
filled with exciting people on
a
daily basis, she
told herself
, eager to extinguish the unexpected heat spreading throughout her body at the thought of seeing him again. Why would he want to see her? Last time they were together she had practically thrown herself at him, her teenage eagerness embarrassing and awkward. He
had
kissed her
,
though, a stubborn
little
voice insisted as she fought the temptation
to justify her actions. He
had
kissed her in a way that proved he didn’t find her all that awkward and annoying
;
her cheeks
burn
ed
as she recalled the passion of
that
kiss.

She would not
,
and could not
,
go down that road again. She wasn’t sixteen anymore
,
and a lot
had
happened in the
p
ast
twelve years. She was successful and
self
-
confident, building her career and juggling her
responsibilities
without a glitch. And she
had been
engaged
.
E
ven
though it
hadn’t worked
out, the message was clear: she was over Liam and
was
not about to humiliate herself again, however gorgeous he might be.

S
he finished her conversation with Laura and
hung up the phone but
remained seated on the bed, her arms around her legs
,
her chin resting against her knees. Her thoughts went to Laura
,
and fear
gr
ip
p
ed
her as she imagined what
Laura
must have been going t
h
rough all by herself.
She knew Laura
well
enough to read between the lines
.
S
he was exactly like her brother in her need to bottle up her emotions without allowing anyone to catch even a glimpse of the real
girl
hidden behind the smile. Through all the years of their friendship
,
Jade had been
the
extr
o
verted
one, sharing with Laura all her little hopes and
failures
. Laura was always the quiet
one, listening and giving advice but rarely opening up about her own problems.

Jade understood her need to stay in control. After all
,
it must have been difficult to live her life with
vacations at her aunt’s home
while her mother was working and
an
ever-changing
list of stepdads.
Her
dad
had
disappeared from the picture about two months after his daughter’s birth, his sporadic visits
halting completely
when she was four. Jade knew how much it bothered
Laura
to be abandoned and discarded like that, even though
she
barely mentioned her father to anyone.

She
had
show
n
Jade a few yellowed photographs of him, mostly from the time when Liam was a baby. Laura’s mom
look
ed
beautiful in her
tight
dress
,
her long hair held back with a silk scarf
as she held
Liam, chubby and smiling, his grin as infectious and charming as ever.
T
heir father
stood
next to them, his eyes squinting against the sun as a
small
smile played around his lips.
He gave
the impression that he was uncomfortable in these shots, eager to escape and disappear
,
to blend
into the background. Which was exactly what he
had done
, a few years later. He
had
left his wife and children, travelling to Kathmandu and teaching English in the local school. Laura told her how hurt her mother had been, his surprising request for a divorce shaking her belief in love and trust.
Apparently,
he couldn’t put up with her busy schedule as she tried to build her career
;
her independence and ease
in meeting
new people
bother
ed
him more than he was willing to
admit
.