Best Friends

Written for https://lifeafter50forwomen.com/author/sadje19/

It had been fifteen years since they saw each other last.

A school reunion, fun right, but sitting across people she hardly knew, and food was the only thing joining them together. Some of her friends, looked well for their age. Hardly any grey hair. True, hers was out of a bottle.

They talked about families, their jobs, and Poppy didn’t know what to say. Going through her divorce was traumatic enough the first-time round. She didn’t want to relive it.

‘So, what have you been up to?’ Stella said, while they were waiting for the pudding.

Her expression softened when Poppy looked down.

‘Do you want to go outside, need a breath of fresh air,’ Stella said, taking hold of her hand.

Leaning against the wall, it felt like they were eighteen again, smoking outside college. She coughed a little, and it wasn’t all that healthy. Stella always did have a habit of bringing out her rebellious side.

‘It’s no shame to be divorced.’

‘The trouble is my parents don’t know the half of it. They still think it was my fault we broke up.’

‘How so?’

‘Just that he was controlling me, all the time. I couldn’t go on with the marriage.’

‘You need to be honest, don’t let that control carry on. You need to talk to your parents. I tell you what, I’ll go with you. Was it just control? Was there more?’

Poppy nodded, there were too many accidents. Now she wasn’t willing to be silent anymore. Her parents needed to know the truth.