Save Her, Abigail Osborne [ebook reader for surface pro txt] 📗

Something clicked in Flora’s mind. ‘That’s why you gave me the money to hide.’

Sophie nodded. ‘Greg was getting suspicious. I had to find somewhere safe to keep it in case I had no choice but to leave.’

‘You were going to leave?’ Flora’s throat filled with tears and there was a sharp pain in her heart.

‘I wanted to.’ Sophie looked her in the eyes. ‘But I just couldn’t leave you.’

44

The pain Flora’s eyes mirrored the pain lancing Sophie’s own heart. A lone tear fell from Flora’s eyes, quickly followed by another as realisation dawned. She took Sophie’s hand and squeezed it, and Sophie knew that Flora had understood the magnitude of it: that the only reason that Sophie had not left her abusive husband was because of her love for her best friend. Flora seemed to be struggling for words. But what could you say when you realised that your friend had been enduring violence and mental torture because she loved you and wouldn’t leave you?

‘You stayed… because of me.’

‘How could I leave you? We’ve been best friends since we were four years old. Could you honestly say that if you were in the same situation, you would have left me?’ Sophie held her breath. Despite all their years together she was still insecure about their friendship, always feeling that Flora would one day stop needing her, stop wanting her. Her own mother had never wanted her, which made it hard to believe someone like Flora would want her. Your relatives were supposed to love you no matter what, friends did not have the same obligation. If her own mother could not love her, then what was there to say Flora would always be there? After all, they were not bound by blood.

Flora looked at her with such sadness in her eyes. ‘No. There is no way.’ She wrapped her arms around her, pulling her close.

Sophie inhaled the delicate scent of Flora’s jasmine perfume. She breathed in the love and reassurance like it was air.

‘What are we going to do, Sophie?’ whispered Flora.

‘There’s nothing we can do. Not unless you run away with me.’ Sophie chuckled and Flora pulled away as if she’d been stung.

‘Leave? With you?’ She looked aghast.

‘Hey, hey. Don’t worry! I would never ask you to leave Sam and everything you’ve worked for.’ She took Flora’s hand, gently rubbing the back of it with her thumb. ‘I’m sure I’ll find another way. I’m very smart, don’t you know.’ She smiled broadly at Flora, intending to reassure her.

But Flora was looking away into the distance. ‘Running doesn’t sound so bad, to be honest. With everything that’s been happening. Someone trying to drown me. The worms. A fresh start away from this madness sounds amazing.’

Sophie laughed. ‘Yeah right. Like you could ever leave Sam.’

Flora looked at her, stern faced. ‘Stop laughing, Sophie. This is really serious. Do you seriously expect me to just carry on as normal knowing that next door you are being beaten black and blue? We have to do something.’

Sophie breathed hard, annoyed that Flora still was not grasping the reality of the situation. ‘I’ve told you. Greg does not want me to leave. He has enough money to ensure that doesn’t happen. He has the support of his father and god knows how many millions of pounds behind him.’

Sophie could see the cogs turning in Flora’s mind, desperately seeking a way out of this problem. She may as well have shot Sophie in the heart. If this was the other way around, Sophie would have dropped anyone and anything to keep Flora safe. But Flora was not prepared to leave her life, that much was evident from the way she was wracking her brains for a solution when the only solution was obvious.

Sophie faked a yawn. ‘Listen, I’ve had a long day at work and I’m exhausted. I just want to get into bed and sleep.’

‘I can’t just leave. We haven’t sorted this out. We need a plan,’ said Flora.

‘I’ve told you. The only way I can get out of this is to leave. But that’s not going to happen.’

Flora looked stricken. Sophie stood up and turned pulling Flora to her feet. ‘Flora, I will be fine. It’s not like it happens all the time. I’m made of strong stuff. I’ve survived this long. Plus I’ll be fast asleep before Greg gets home and he doesn’t even sleep in this room.’ She tried to lead Flora out of the room, but she would not budge. ‘Come on. I just want to sleep. You don’t need to worry. I’m like his play toy. I don’t think he’d ever try to kill me.’ She laughed callously.

Flora still wouldn’t move. She was looking at Sophie with a strange expression on her face. ‘If I can’t think of anything else to do, I’ll leave with you.’ Flora’s voice was quiet, so quiet Sophie thought she might have imagined it. But the determined expression on Flora’s face confirmed she had heard correctly.

‘Don’t be daft. You’d never leave Sam. You’re just emotional and not thinking straight.’ Sophie turned towards the door, intending to open it so Flora would go. She just wanted to be alone.

‘I will, Sophie. To save you from Greg. If it really is the only way, I will leave Sam and go with you.’

Sophie turned and stared at her open-mouthed. Tears sprang into her eyes, an unusual experience for someone who had only cried a handful of times in their life. ‘Are you serious?’ A kernel of hope flaring within her.

‘Yes.’

45

Flora faced yet another night with no sleep. She didn’t know why she even bothered trying. She had left Sophie’s house miserable and sickened. The distress of the threatening note in her bag paled into insignificance in the face of Sophie’s pain. Everything that had happened to her was child’s play compared to what Sophie had been suffering. Images of the cigarette burns in the shape of a G on Sophie’s stomach filled her