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“Anyway, I told him that I thought there wasn’t any point in starting something, seeing as he lives on the other side of the planet. He seemed a bit upset, but he took it pretty well.”

I stopped to take a mouthful of wine and stuffed some fried rice into my mouth.

“So, what’s the problem then?” Amanda asked, confused. Brad looked at me with an expression of horror on his face.

“Well, uh, it seems that he’s decided that he likes me enough that he’s moved back here.”

Amanda gasped. Brad shook his head. Thomas looked from Amanda to Brad to me .

“Is your life always full of so much drama, Mel?” he asked.

I laughed nervously. “It didn’t used to be,” I replied. “This must just be my year for it.”

I went on to tell them about the note, and about the conversation I’d heard him have with Joel before we’d left for Rome.

“So, I guess I’m even keener now to make sure he doesn’t continue having the wrong impression about us.”

Brad eyed me, brows drawn. “Mel, you should have told him the truth before. He’s come back here for you, because you gave him the wrong impression! You should have made it clearer that it wasn’t going anywhere. Hell, maybe you shouldn’t have jumped into bed with yet another rando.”

“I know that, Brad!” I snapped. “But I can’t go back and change the past, can I?”

“Can I add something here?” Thomas asked. I shrugged, hoping he wasn’t going to ream me out like Brad.

“I kind of think what you’re saying is a bit unfair, Brad. This Ben dude, he didn’t speak to Mel even once to talk to her about his plans to move back … did he, Mel?”

I shook my head, liking this guy more and more.

“I don’t think it’s fair to lay all the blame on Mel. Yeah, she should have probably made it clearer to him to begin with,” he flicked an apologetic glance at me, “but he still had no reason to believe that moving here was any guarantee that Mel would be with him.”

“Thank you, Thomas!” I cried, throwing a hard look at Brad, who refused to meet my eyes.

“So … do I confront him tonight, and tell him the truth, or avoid him and hope he gets the message?”

“Mel, you have to go and tell him tonight,” Amanda said. “Thomas is right, Ben acted on a crazy assumption. But you don’t need this hanging over your head. Get it over and done with and move on.”

She stood. “And I really have to go to work now.”

I stood too and she kissed me on the cheek. “Good luck, Smellie. Let me know how it goes. ”

Amanda held out a hand to Thomas, and I walked them both to the front door.

“Hey, thanks Thomas, for being in my corner tonight,” I said. He smiled briefly at me and ushered Amanda out.

Leaving me alone with a stony-faced Brad.

“So … should I book an Uber to Ben’s house?” I asked, plonking down on the lounge and pulling out my phone. Brad sighed and scraped back from the kitchen table, joining me on the lounge.

“I’m sorry, Mel. I was a bit of an arsehole just now, wasn’t I?” He reached an arm across the back of the lounge, and I leaned against his side.

“I probably deserved it. I mean, in hindsight, you’re right, I should never have slept with him in the first place. But you know me – jump first, check the depth later.”

“You never deserve for men to treat you like you owe them something for sleeping with them, though. And I kind of feel like that’s a bit what’s happened here.”

I shrugged. Possibly.

“I’ll drive you to Ben’s and I’ll wait in the car to bring you home.”

“Well, no time like the present to go and get this unpleasantness out of the way,” I said, falsely bright. My heart was thrumming with nerves.

We made our way through the city, the wipers on Brad’s car a rhythmic squeak.

“You know, Mel. I’ve been thinking about what you said that night … about Grant. I’ve been thinking about it a lot.” Brad murmured.

“Oh?” I managed. I felt too strung out about having to confront Ben to have a D it was not an invitation to move across the world with no notice, no discussion, no anything!

You should have called before you made such a huge decision, you should have talked to me. ”

Ben advanced on me and I backed hastily away, stumbling on the runner for the sliding door that separated the living area from the balcony.

Ben grabbed me by the arms, as if to steady me, but his fingers dug painfully into the soft flesh in the crooks of my elbows.

I gasped, but he didn’t seem to notice that he was hurting me, his eyes blazing angrily into mine.

“I shouldn’t have to talk to you about it! You stayed in my home, you fucked me for Christ’s sake! You accepted my gifts, you were more than happy to let me buy you dinner. You gave me every impression that this would be a long-term thing, if I was back here in Sydney.”

I felt my own anger heating inside me. “You buying me things and taking me out does not mean you own me! And I didn’t keep the stupid dress – it’s probably still hanging in the wardrobe.

“And … fucked you? I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like I’ve been fucked unless there’s some level of pleasure in it for me!”

“You didn’t feel fucked because you can’t feel pleasure unless you’re acting like a filthy whore!” Ben roared.

I froze, any retort caught on the choking lump in my throat.

“Stop making excuses!” Ben warned, “Don’t expect me to just let you go now that I’ve sacrificed so much for you!” He shook me until I could feel my teeth clacking together in my skull.

Adrenaline rushed through me and my voice returned. I screamed. It was enough to stop him shaking me .

“That’s exactly what I expect you to do, you freak! It’s not my fault you’re insane !”

He gaped at me, but his fingers still grasped me, his nails digging into my skin.

I kneed him in the groin. The choking grunt that he made as he released me to clutch at his balls was supremely satisfying.

“Drop dead, you psycho!” I screamed, turning and running as fast as I could back towards the door.

“Don’t think you can come crawling back after this, you ungrateful little slut!” he growled.

“Don’t worry, I won’t!” I slammed the door behind me with as much force as I could muster.

There was no way I was waiting for the lift – I was too full of adrenaline to stand still. I dashed for the stairwell and took them two at a time, leaping around the turns. I burst out the door and flung myself into Brad’s car.

“What the hell happened?” Brad asked, his eyes roving over me as I collapsed back against the seat, gasping for breath. I had no energy to tell him the story.

“Just take me home, please,” I begged breathlessly. Brad started the car and roared back onto the street.