Last Chances

Alastown

I get in the drivers seat and sit with my legs crossed on the seat with the radio on.  

I wonder what he needs to tell me it sounded quite serious. I keep replaying the sentence in my mind for the next 10 minutes. 15 minutes have passed and I finally see him coming out the service station. He gets in the passenger seat. He smiles at me as he gets in and hands me a bag with food in it.

"I got you a chicken tikka roll with lettuce, cucumber, green pepper and mayonnaise, Rebecca told me it was your favourite. 

"Yeah it is, thanks" I reply giggling.

"About a year ago, I cheated on Helen with her best friend Leah but they weren't best friends at the time but we did all go about school together. Im not going to lie to you I have cheated more than once but that time Helen found out. We were all in the same friendship group. Helen was one of the prettiest and nicest people I knew but her personality never matched. She got jealous very easily and was extremely clingy. I could tell her anything and she wouldn't tell anybody. On our 1 year anniversary last year I had to tell her about Leah, I thought she would break up with me but she didn't. She was upset but she didn't break up with me... because she was pregnant. 

"So she was pregnant with your baby?" I question 

"Yes" he answers slowly 

Unsure of what to say next I look out the window the opposite direction as to where he was, something I do when I feel embarrassed or uncomfortable.

"That is when she changed dramatically, she was petrified of what people would think about her, and I had just cheated on her with her friend.... You have to understand that I am not like that anymore." his voice shakes, I can tell he is nervous.

I turn to face him "I know I trust you"

"You trust me" he looks confused. 

"If I didn't I wouldn't be sitting here right now with you". 

A small smile forms on his face.

"Do you trust me?" I ask.

"If I didn't I wouldn't have told you all of this"he says 

A smile forms on my face. 

I see Rebecca walking out of the service station towards the car but something makes me think back to the conversation that we had just had.

"So you are a father?" I question Peter.

His smile instantly fades , and slowly he runs his fingers through his hair.

"No" he says after a seconds pause.

"Did Helen get rid of it?"I ask.

He shakes his head. "No... She has a miscarriage" 

"Oh my god!" I breathe not realising I said it out loud.

"Yeah, It was certainly a shock for both of us". 

"Is that why you stayed with her all this time?" I ask out of curiosity.

"Yeah, this would have happened even if you weren't in the picture, I was unhappy with Helen. After the miscarriage Helen turned into someone that I hated more and more everyday, everything she said irritated me. She became too popular for her own good, like fame gets to famous people. I fell out of love. I started hating every minute I spent with her, and so I started cheating on her again. I didn't want to be like that and sleep around the place not even remembering the girls name the next day. I wanted a proper girlfriend a normal relationship for once. Then you come along and I have never felt this good in a while." He ends with a smile which makes me smile.