Chapter 13

Will glanced at the clock next to him. 04:30. He tried to sleep but he couldn't. He had waited till 3 for Grace to come in but she hadn't. He checked the staircase three times but she was nowhere to be seen. Her cell was laying on the coffee table so he couldn't ring her. Now he knew how she had felt all those nights when he hadn't come home till the early hours of the morning after seeing Karen. All he could see before him was the look on her face as he yelled at her and left her alone.

Karen couldn't sleep either. She and Jack had just stayed up talking for hours until finally, when the clock chimed 3:30, he went home. Karen smiled slightly for the first time that night, pleased that something had finally been resolved. She and Jack were ok again and that is what meant most to her in the world. But as Karen watched the hands of the clock move round, she felt sick as she thought about what lay ahead of her. The night had been so perfect and she could have stayed on that rug with Will forever. But Karen realised it was time to face reality and quick because Stan would be coming home in less than 6 hours and she couldn't keep living in a dream world. Before she knew what she was doing, she picked up the phone and dialled Will's number, something that had become so familiar to her over the last week but now…now it felt...different.

Will jumped up as the phone rang, falling over the step up to the kitchen in his hast to answer it.

"Hello? Grace? Gracie? Is that you?"

"Will? It's Karen."

"Oh…I thought you were Grace." He was happy to hear Karen's voice but his mind wandered straight back to Grace.

"Why, what's going on, honey? Oh god, does she know?" Karen started to panic, her breathing becoming fast and shallow.

"No, no, it's just…well, we had an argument and I said some stupid things, things I didn't mean, and I just left her and she hasn't come back home. It's been hours, Karen. Where is she?" he asked, even though he knew Karen would have no idea.

"Ok, you need to find her, Will. Have you rung her cell?"

"She left it here."

"Has she got her wallet?"

"Yeah, she took that with her, she was going out to get ice-cream or something before we argued." Will took a deep breath. "What's happened to me, Kare? This whole thing is tearing me apart. All the secrets and lies…they're turning me into someone that I don't know…that I don't want to become."

Karen knew exactly what he was talking about. "I know, honey."

"I wish…god, I just wish sometimes that we could just leave…we could go just away and be together without any of this shit to mess it up."

"But we can't, Will. And that's why we're in this situation. Look, Stan's back tomorrow and…well…" Karen couldn't believe she was about to say this. She bit her lip to try and stop her mouth trembling but it was no use. "…maybe we should just take a break for a while. I mean, let's face it, Will, as soon as Stan gets back it's going to be about a million times harder for us to see each other. We'll have to sneak around even more and it's not fair on either of us, let alone Stan, Jack and Grace." She realised Will hadn't said anything. "Don't you agree?"

Will was stunned. He couldn't believe what Karen had just said. Take a break? He wanted to protest. He wanted to shout and scream that she was wrong, that it could work because they loved each other and she was giving up too easily. That they could get through it, their love was enough. But, deep down, he knew thatit wasn't.

"You're right." He whispered after a silence that seemed to last an eternity. "I can't believe we're doing this, but you're right." he suddenly felt light-headed and steadied himself on the counter behind him. "I love you, Karen. Remember that…please." he pleaded with her, tears running down his face.

"I know you do, honey. I love you too. More than anything in the world." Karen started to sob, unable to control her emotions anymore. They were both silent with the exception of Karen's gentle sobbing and Will's heavy breathing.

"I meant what I said tonight, Karen. We can't be together now but...someday, ok? This isn't the end. I won't let it finish this way."

"I know, honey. Now, go on." She said, trying to wipe the tears from her face. "Go find Grace. I'll see you later." and she hung up the phone, incapable of saying another word.

Will stood still for a minute, not quite believing what had just happened. Had he really just lost her? And so quickly? Had he given in that easily? What had happened to the lawyer in him, the part of him that never let anything go without a fight?

Karen too was motionless except for the tears rolling down her cheeks. She started to tremble and sank to her knees, dropping the phone as she did. Did she really do the right thing? Was it too late to say she was wrong, that they could make it work? Karen picked up the phone as if to dial Will's number again but knew that she had been right. Slowly, she picked herself up off the floor and dragged her body over to her bed. As she walked, she saw an almost full bottle of vodka standing in her bedside cabinet so she leaned down and picked it up as she crawled into bed, taking the first swig before she had even pulled back the covers.

Will's mind was a swirling mass of confusion. He was left utterly heartbroken at Karen's phone call and wanted to do nothing more than to call her back and tell her that he would do anything, absolutely anything if it meant that they could be together, even for just one last day. But Karen's last words told him what he must do. "Go find Grace."

He grabbed his coat and Grace's cell (just in case she, or anyone else, tried to ring it) and ran out of the door. He didn't know where he was going but he just knew he had to find her.