For rest of the week Alesha was nowhere to be seen, James wouldn't tell him, even though he clearly knew. George took over the Vaughan vs Harrington Case with James. and they both stayed absurdly quiet when Alesha's name was mentioned in front of Matt.
Ronnie was the one to tell him that she'd taken an impromptu holiday, but she was otherwise fine.
Matt didn't know what to do or what to think. He wasn't even sure how she felt, she never even said.
Ronnie tried to console him with sympathetic anecdotes,but it was of small comfort to him .
He was quickly realizing how silly he was being trying to cling to his anti-commitment persona. He could have atleast asked her out on a date properly and see how it went from there.
What was he playing at? no wonder she left, he had basically told her flat out that he didn't want to be with her,that for some reason she just wasn't good enough. so to save her last bit of pride she buggered off.
The next week she still wasn't there, Matt barely ate or slept. why wasn't she answering her cell? He desperately needed to apologize and to take it all back and tell her how much he realized he needed her in his life.
He was almost robotic, he did his share of the workload during the day without much feeling but mostly Ronnie propped him up after hours. No amount of alchohol or work seemed to take his mind off of the gaping hole in his life where Alesha occupied.
Each night when he couldn't sleep, he'd go over conversations they had and wonder how the hell did he miss it? he'd loved her all along. every smile,every giggle all of a sudden it all made sense. he wanted her back in his life, he needed her back in his life. He knew what he'd have to do when she finally did come back.
Alesha was so grateful for George and James' understanding. James was her rock throughout this tumultous time.
The 2 weeks holiday was more than enough to help her deal. she stayed in Wales at the bed and breakfast of one ofUni friends parents. and just allowed herself to wallow in self pity until she couldn't take it anymore and dealt with the issues at hand.
So what if he didn't want her? it wasn't the end of the world. She lived fine without him before, she'd do fine even more so now. it was just one silly kiss. she overreacted, he was right, it was just a huge mistake. wasn't the word monumental, he used?
She chastized herself over and over again for her impulsive reaction, but she didn't regret it. atleast he didn't see her cry. she was grateful for that.
and when she actually started to believe that things could go back to how they were, she knew it was time to go back to her real life. She'd hidden out long enough.
She called James to let him know she would be back to work on Monday bright and early.
He was excited to hear from her, and although he was still a bit worried about her, he knew that if anyone could carry on and grow from this experience, it would be Alesha.