Free Sunrise for Two by Merlot Montana Page B

overstepped her careful
boundaries. “Unfortunately yes.” she said quietly, “although I'm
not sure why.”
    Mike remembered the way
he looked and decided he could hazard a guess. “I’m pretty sure he
likes you.” he told her honestly, knowing that all the men in their
little department were a tiny bit in love with her.
    “ I wish I
could be sure. He was so weird the first time he saw my chair and
today when he brought me back to the office.” she closed her eyes
remembering the words that were too painful to say.
    “ I don’t
think people understand how much the not walking stuff bothers
you.” Mike said carefully.
    “ You can't be
serious.” She replied, her dark eyes holding his.
    “ No I am.
You're cool and funny and very beautiful. People think you're okay
with it.”
    “ Not being
able to walk is never something you're okay with.”
    “ I'm sorry, I
guess I know that about you, but he hasn't known you as long as I
have.”
    “ You knew
that from the start honey.” she said affectionately and added
awkwardly “Not walking is the least of my worries actually. It's
the practicalities of the intimate stuff that I’m really worrying
about.” Mike took a deep mouthful of wine and thought about what he
wanted to say. That any man lucky enough to kiss her, lucky enough
to help her out of her clothes, lucky enough to chart her erogenous
zones and hear the sounds that she would make, would be wanting to
look after her and would make sure they both had fun. In the end he
said it and she thanked him and smiled at Julia with a combination
of relief and curiosity when she burst quite dramatically into the
front room.
    “ What
happened?” Julia asked breathing hard from her short burst of
exercise.
    “ What on
earth do you mean?” Harry asked her.
    “ You're on
the news, mostly the local, but a bit in the national as
well.”
    Harry felt the flush
starting in her throat and took another mouthful of wine. “Am I
standing or is Chris carrying me?”
    “ You're
standing by your mother looking miserable and beautiful.” Julia
paused for a moment and added carefully, “Why was he carrying you
honey?”
    “ Because I
lost my balance.” Harry said, almost too quietly to hear, and felt
the tears starting to slide down her cheeks. Julia sat down beside
her and she buried her face in her shoulder, and muffled her sobs
in her friend’s gentle arms.
    “ Choose us a
box set.” Julia told Mike and he nodded gratefully. He listened
while Harry told the story and watched the moment when Julia made
her laugh. The moment when Julia navigated her away from the
stinging fact that one of her biggest fears had been realised in
such a public setting.
    “ Do you think
mother destroyed all the pictures?” Harry asked, finally finishing
the piece of pizza she had been looking at for much of the
evening.
    “ And all the
photographers.” Julia said cheerfully. “Now why don't you get
comfortable? You look exhausted.” She helped Harry slide back into
the support of the deep cushions then added carefully, “Where is
Chris now?”
    “ I don't
know.” Harry said, and Julia looked at her with the patience borne
of long years of experience.
    “ He told
everyone in IT that I had fallen.” Harry said finally, feeling the
tears sliding down her face again. Julia poured some more wine into
her glass. She knew that this was too raw to discuss. She touched
Harry's hand and they turned their attention to the comfortably
predictable plot lines until Harry fell asleep.
    “ Will she be
ok?” Mike asked softly, and Julia smiled at him.
    “ She's always
ok. It's one of the things I love about her; she gets hurt, but she
always picks herself up again.” She tore the last piece of pizza in
half and handed him the portion with more topping. “I'm supposed to
be on diet.” she said awkwardly.
    “ Why? I think
you look great.” She found herself telling him about the
insensitive paramedic, and the fact that her parents had