"I thought you'd finally begun to grow a full set of vertebrae, you know Joseph" Jac Naylor retaliated fiercely, furious at herself for revealing any sign of weakness in her eyes. "Running away from your problems is nothing but cowardice; I thought you were smart enough to realise that. What will you do when your son is born eh? Leave Faye 'psycho' Morton to bring him up herself? Like that will do the poor kid any good. I have no sympathy whatsoever for parents that abandon their children... you should know that Joseph, of all bloody people"
The ire that had been bubbling up inside her all night was finally surfacing, and Joseph Byrne was on the receiving end of it; there was nothing he could say or do to console her. This time, he had caused the hurt. Not the other way around.
"Oh shut up Jac, like you care about childcare issues. You don't have a shred of compassion for Faye or our baby, just admit it" Joseph retorted defensively, aggressively; keen to show to her that he wasn't the spineless man she once knew him to be. "Anyway, it has been decided between Faye and I that I will take our away son with me, happy now?"
"Oh yes, that makes everything better. Fan-bloody-tastic". The venom in her response even startled Jac. Slumping into one of the chairs in front of her, she turned away from him despondently and silence ensued for what seemed like a lifetime. "And what about us, eh? Do I mean nothing to you?...After everything that's happened between us?" she finally whispered, barely audible.
This knocked him for six. With his heart thumping erratically, his hands, shoved deep inside his pockets, shaking uncontrollably and a cold sweat erupting across his brow, Joseph Byrne swivelled towards his surprisingly fragile nemesis; his arch enemy; his past lover...his best friend. He knew what he was about to say would hurt her, like he had never hurt her before. It would even hurt him. However, Joseph needed closure and this was the only way of achieving it. He opened his mouth, yet, after a few seconds of gawping, closed it again. Then, after taking a long, deep breath, gathering all of the courage he could find within himself, he opened his mouth for the second time and a string of toxic words cascaded from his lips.
"Nothing has changed, I've told you before. You manipulate. You scheme. Your ruthless ambition ruins the lives of anybody that gets in your way. You're tainted, Jac. You mean absolutely nothing to me."
Nothing.
Lies. The woman sat in front of him was his whole world, but he couldn't let her know that. He wouldn't. That would change things, everything. With all the inner strength he could muster, Joseph Byrne turned to the door reluctantly and departed, leaving Jac helplessly sat there on her own, tears welling up in both of their eyes.
If you don't suffer, you don't feel alive.