‘Sorry, but you’re not.’ That was the man at the neighbouring table. Maura saw his headphones were hooked around his neck; he’d probably heard everything.
‘No,’ she admitted, because there didn’t seem to be any point in denying it.
Giulia’s eyes narrowed as she surveyed Liam. ‘Is this man responsible for upsetting you?’
‘Yes.’ The young man’s glower intensified.
Liam straightened up in his seat. ‘Hang on a minute, that’s not true.’
The other man folded his arms. ‘She wasn’t crying before you got here.’
Maura dabbed at her face with her hands. ‘It’s not Liam’s fault. I’ve had some bad news, that’s all.’
‘I know,’ the stranger said. ‘And his delivery of that news was terrible.’
Liam subsided, shoulders slumping as he glanced at Maura. ‘Probably. I didn’t want to be the one to tell you, but like I said, I thought you needed to know.’
Part of her wished he hadn’t told her; an hour earlier she’d been… nothappy, perhaps, but happily unaware. And now the rug had been yanked from beneath her feet and she felt as though she had broken on impact with the floor. In some far-off corner of her consciousness, she understood that this crash had been necessary, that in time she would be able to put herself back together, but right at that moment all she felt was pain. ‘Thanks.’ She didn’t manage to imbue the word with much gratitude, but Liam seemed to take it at face value.
He pushed his chair back and got to his feet. ‘You’ve got my number,’ he said, nodding at her phone. ‘Message me when you’ve had time to process this. If there’s anything you want to know.’
To be perfectly honest, she couldn’t imagine wanting to ask him anything. But even in her distress, she couldn’t be so brutal. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
Liam ran a hand through his hair. ‘What are you going to do?’
Mechanically, she reached for her bag. ‘I’m going to the bathroom.’
‘After that,’ he said, with patience she wouldn’t have suspected he possessed.
Her head dipped. ‘I don’t know.’
Clearing her throat, Giulia took a step towards them. ‘We’re closing now,’ she told Liam, her frown no less severe than it had been a few minutes earlier. ‘You need to settle your bill.’
Liam acknowledged the instruction with a nod. ‘Okay,’ he said, and glanced at Maura. ‘Will you be all right?’
Would she? Maura wondered, and found she couldn’t offer him any reassurance. ‘I don’t know. But I—’ She made an effort to pull herself together. ‘I’d rather you went.’
He hesitated for a moment, then stood. ‘Sure, I understand. Take care, Maura.’
She said nothing as he left, kept her gaze trained on the dregs of cold coffee in the bottom of her cup, heard the bell jingle on the door and willed herself not to cry. After another minute, she rose and made for the bathroom, where she ran the cold tap to let the water run across her wrists. The chill barely registered. She splashed some on her face, noting her puffy eyelids and chalky skin with detached indifference. Her eyes had a glassy sheen, brought on by the threat of further tears, and her nose was red. She looked how she felt – a mess – but that was hardly a surprise when her life had been uprooted and tossed skyward with hurricane force. Some women exuded a fragile beauty in such circumstances. Maura had to concede she was not one of them.
‘You want me to call someone?’ Giulia asked when she finally emerged to an empty café and made her way to the counter. ‘I don’t like to think of you leaving on your own.’
‘No,’ Maura said quickly, because she could only think of Kirsty and facing her sister was the last thing she wanted. ‘I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.’
‘But I am worried,’ Giulia said, frowning. ‘You’ve had a terrible shock and you’re clearly very upset. At least let me find you a taxi.’
A wave of shame engulfed Maura as she realised the other woman knew all about the grenade Liam had tossed her way. ‘No, thank you. I don’t want to go home yet. I need to walk a bit, try to clear my head.’
It looked for a moment as thought the barista might argue, but she sighed instead and pushed a white box tied with ribbon across the counter towards Maura. ‘These are on the house. You’re going to need them.’
Her compassion almost sent more tears cascading down Maura’s cheeks but she dug deep for her self-control and managed a very wobbly, watery smile. ‘Thank you. How much do I owe you for the coffee?’
‘Nothing,’ Guilia said. ‘The young man at the table beside you paid for it when he left. He said he hopes it shows not all men are arseholes.’
Just my bloody boyfriend, Maura thought bitterly, but the small, unexpected generosity smoothed the edges of her distress. ‘That was kind of him,’ she said, blinking hard to retain what little composure she had left. ‘Will – will you say thank you, if you see him again?’
‘Already done,’ Giulia said. ‘But he’s a regular, so I’ll be sure to pass on your thanks the next time he comes in.’ She paused, eyeing Maura with sympathy. ‘What will you do?’
