June soon turned into July. David threw himself into work, taking details and overnights when he was cleared for full duty and didn't have the kids. The other coppers didn't know the nitty gritty, but they knew he was quiet and brooding, working all the time, no mention of her, so they soon put it together.
Photos ran in the papers and online of her on a run with two protection officers that he didn't recognize, including her giving the paparazzi the finger. That turned into speculation that they were done after they weren't seen together anywhere for weeks and then months. Gradually, the crowd at headquarters dwindled and finally disappeared all together.
He ignored Tom, not wanting any ties to Eleanor at all. It was difficult as her face was everywhere; it seemed like she was at an event every day. Royal Ascot, Trooping the Colour, the Queen's Birthday, the christening of Harry and Megan's baby. Then, the paparazzi pics of her stumbling out of clubs and pubs started and he never went online after that.
He had told Vicki the whole story and she had said he was an idiot and it was obvious that Eleanor was freaked out about the press and what had happened to her mum. She told him to ring her to talk, quit his job, whatever Eleanor wanted so they could be together.
"You deserve to be happy, Dave." Vicki said. He was staying there, sleeping in Charlie's room, unable to face his shitty flat. He knew it was only a matter of time before Kenneth got tired of him, if he hadn't already. The lucky part of it was that doctor Kenneth worked as much as David did, so they mostly missed each other.
Vicki pressed on, pointing out that Eleanor got on with the kids, she was agreeable and easy to be with, they loved each other and on and on. David pointed out that it wasn't his bloody idea that they split in the first place.
"I told her we would get through." He said, rubbing his face. "That the press were so...so intense because of the newness and once they realized we were boring, it would die down."
"I would think she'd be used to it." Vicki said.
David shrugged. "You or I would think It's pretty crazy, but until they got wind of me, it was nothing different from other people I've protected. After, it was insane."
He knew things would be easier when Eleanor was on holiday for the month of August. That was like a punch in the gut, though, because they had been planning a summer trip with Charlie and Ella. Maybe he could take them somewhere and get out of town, have some fun with them and not have to see her face everywhere. Even the money in his wallet reminded him of her; her Gran's face staring up at him every time he bought something.
He knew he needed to forget about her, but he couldn't. He knew time would make it easier, but it was still hard. It helped that he saw the kids so much, that he worked so much, kept his mind occupied. He thought of her mostly at night when he wasn't focused on anything; when it was quiet and he was in bed, staring up at the bottom of Charlie's bunk above him. He wondered if she was miserable without him, without their friendship.
He almost called her once, to plead with her, to tell her what he hadn't been able to those months ago. He would quit, they could buy a place, fill it with little ginger haired kids, but he just deleted her number instead. If she didn't want to be with him, he wasn't going to beg. She would eventually fade from his mind and he would eventually be able to move on. It took him a year of therapy to stop having nightmares about Julia, her bloody face and destroyed body lying on that stage. A year plus of talking about war and bombs and PTSD. This was nothing.
