‘Oh.’
‘I was in one of the wings. It was in a folio that fell on the floor. It was tucked away like some dirty little secret.’ Cally felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes, hot and stinging.
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yep.’
‘You’redefinitelysure?’
‘Yes!’ Cally fished for her phone. ‘I took a photo of it.’
Eloise squinted, picked up the phone and frowned. She swore. ‘Looks legit.’
‘I know. 'I can't believe he kept this from me. I can't believe he lied to me after everything.'
‘I can't even imagine how you must be feeling right now.'
'It’s quite simple, really. I feel like I'm going crazy, El. Like everything I thought I knew, everything I believed about him and about us was just a lie. A façade.’
‘So, what has he said?’
‘I haven’t said anything.’ Cally replied miserably.
‘What?’ Eloise shook her head. ‘Are you nuts? You haven’t said anything! Why ever not?’
‘I’m going to wait until after the races, and then I’m going to call it off. See how he likes it out of the blue. I’ll break up with him then.’
‘What? Sorry? You’ve just kept quiet?’
‘Yes.’
Eloise swore. ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea. Ridiculous!’
‘Probably not, but I’ve made my mind up. Two can play at his game.’
‘This is so weird. Why would he do that?’ Eloise asked. ‘It doesn’t make sense.’
‘You tell me.’
‘You need to talk to him! There might be more to the story; there might be a reason why he didn't tell you about this before.'
'What possible reason could there be? What excuse could he have for keeping something like this from me, for lying to me about his past?'
Eloise sighed. 'I don't know. Maybe he was ashamed. Maybe he didn't know how to tell you, didn't want to risk losing you over something that happened long before you two even met.'
Cally shook her head. ‘Rubbish.’
Eloise nodded. ‘He should have trusted you, should have been honest with you from the word go, but people make mistakes. It doesn't necessarily mean he doesn't love you.’
'Feels like it from my end. How can I trust him now?'
‘Just talk to him, Cal.’
‘I will once we’ve been to the races. It’s so close now.’
‘You really think that’s a good idea? What, so you’re just going to keep schtum all day?’
‘Yup.’
