Morgan searched through the kitchen cupboard for something to eat. There wasn’t much by the way of food, just a few tins of instant macaroni. Great she thought. A feast fit for a king.
She stopped as she heard the front door unlocking.
“Adam?” she asked running to the door.
She threw her arms around him as soon as she saw him.
“Your back early.” She said.
Adam looked down and ran his hands through his hair.
“Adam? What's wrong?” she asked fear starting to niggle at her.
“It’s Melody. She er sent me here to ask if you wanted to come for a post Christmas Diner.”
Morgan was taken aback. Why would Melody want her round? They hated each other. Surely in the month she had been gone she hadn’t changed that much.
“I am not really hungry, but tell her thanks.” Said Morgan
Adam pointed to the tin in her hand. “Not hungry?”
“Well... Ok so I am, but why? Why invite me? I can’t sit there with her, not after last night.”
“I know. Tell me about it, but she wouldn’t drop it I had to come and ask you. She said she would come here if you didn’t come.”
Morgan took a deep breath. “I’ll come for half an hour, and then fake a head ache or something.”
“Thanks.” He said pulling her into his arms.
The aroma of hot turkey and gravy drifted out as Adam opened the door for Morgan. Her stomach rumbled as her senses came alive. She could almost taste the food.
“You cooked?” asked Adam as he walked in.
Melody smiled sweetly at him. “No, I cheated sorry. I knew my mum would have some spare, so I drove to her house and pinched some.”
Morgan watched Melody as she made sure that all the cutlery was in its correct place and the napkins were all positioned the same.
“Sit down both of you.” She said motioning them with her free hand.
Adam made his way towards the table as Melody walked up to him. She looked over at Morgan and smiled as she put her arms around Adams neck and kissed him lightly. “Missed you.” She said to him.
Morgan looked away as Melody tried to parade her relationship with Adam under her nose. This was a mistake, she shouldn’t have come. What on earth had she been thinking agreeing to this?
Adam gently pushed Melody away giving her a less than pleased look as he pulled a chair out for Morgan.
Morgan wished that she could just run out and go home, but she didn’t instead she sat and forced her self to thank Melody for the food.
They sat and ate for a while, no one really talking apart from idle chit chat. Melody wasn’t really paying attention. She was only doing this to see how much of a threat Morgan was, but then if she had her way, which she would eventually then Morgan wouldn’t be a threat at all.
“So. Where have you been?” asked Melody between mouthfuls of roast potato.
“Melody!” Adam snapped giving her a stern look. He knew Morgan wasn’t one for telling people things; she would come round in her own time and tell him where she had vanished to.
“Oh come on Adam. Like you don’t want to know.”
Morgan cleared her throat and wiped her mouth with a napkin. “It’s alright Adam. Honestly I was surprised you hadn’t asked properly yourself.”
Melody gave a sarcastic laugh. “Adam just thinks about himself, that’s why he never asked. He’s a man. So come on. Where have you been all this time? Or is it some secret? Or maybe even you have been staying with your dead father.”
He hadn’t brought Morgan to the apartment to be humiliated like this. “Enough” he shouted at Melody. “That was totally uncalled for.”
"It’s alright Adam." said Morgan quietly. "You really want to know where I have been?" she asked turning her attention to Melody.
Melody nodded and smiled, waiting for Morgan’s explanation and hoping that she would make her self look stupid in front of Adam.
"I was in the hospital."
"Hospital?" asked Adam shocked. "I checked there, why didn’t they tell me you were there?"
"Because they didn’t know who I was. I was out of it for a month."
Melody tuted in the background and Adam turned angrily towards her. "No wonder you think you have seen your father, drugs make you see things." she said sarcastically.
"You've seen your dad?" asked Adam. He was confused, so much had happened to Morgan and he didn’t know anything about it. He couldn’t work out how Melody knew or why she hadn’t said something.
Morgan saw the look in his eyes, as if he wasn’t sure who or what to believe. If she had been in his shoes she probably would have felt the same, but that didn’t stop the look on his face hurting her so much.
She held her breath to stop her self from crying; she could feel the heat rising in her cheeks and knew that her eyes were probably going red from the effort.
"This was a bad idea." she said trying to not choke on her words. "I'll see you later."
She turned and ran out of their flat as quick as she could. More snow had fallen outside and she slipped as she ran out onto the street. Adam was behind her, she hadn’t noticed him following her down the stairs. All she had wanted to do was get home.
"Morgan." he said crouching down to help her up.
She turned to look at him. Tears and snow melted together on her face. "Don’t Adam." she said. "Just let me go home."
"But Morgan I want to understand."
"There is nothing to understand. Go back upstairs to your girlfriend."
She got up, brushing the wet snow from her clothes. Some of it had soaked through making her skin was cold. She didn’t care, she just wanted to go home and get away from them both. Adam would think she was mad now and as long as he was with Melody she could never have him.
Adam stayed watching her, he didn’t know whether to help her or not. His heart felt like it was breaking as he heard the sobs. “Morgan please.” He said hoping she wouldn’t push him away.
Melody stood behind Adam her face glowing in the misery she had caused.
“Just leave me alone, both of you.” Morgan shouted as she turned and ran.
The flat seemed even dingier than normal when Morgan walked in. It felt gloomy and cold, just like her. She stripped her jacket off and walked straight to the bathroom, leaving the flat in darkness.
Orange light filtered through the slats in the blind of her bathroom as the sun began to set outside, lighting up the snow that had settled on the window ledge and casting strange shapes into the room. She shivered as she removed her wet clothes, there was no heating in the flat apart from a small fire in the lounge and that didn’t keep the rest of the place warm.
The water from the shower began to heat up and the steam rolled out of the base crawling along the floor and clinging damply to her bare skin. She stepped under the gushing water and allowed it to pummel against her face. She covered her eyes with the palms of her hands, refusing to let any more tears fall and forcing her sobs back down deep into her self. Melody was not going to win this; she was not going to cry.
The thought of Adam coming back to the flat was the one thing that had kept her going, even when the world outside seemed to be enjoying themselves and she was locked in the prison of her home alone. She had kept hoping Adam would come back, but Melody had taken that dream from her now. She had nothing left.
She turned under the water and let the heat pound against her tense shoulders hoping it would wash away all the pain and hurt that was buried so deep inside. Everyone she had ever loved had gone and it had all been hear fault. Her father, her mother and now Adam.
Trying to steady herself she reached out and touched the cold tiles. Her body shook as she let go of her emotions and let the sobs run from her body. Her head felt hot as the force of her crying beat against her.
Angrily she took a deep breath and tried to steady her breathing. Her head was in turmoil, she wanted to cry and let it out, but she wanted to hold it back and not give in. ‘just breath’ she said to her self under the water.
Breathing hard she glanced around the empty bathroom. The freezing water pouring out of the shower sent ice cold chills down her back making her shut it off. She wrapped a towel around self and held it close in her arms. “I am stronger than this.” She said to her self. “I can do this.”
She opened the door to go to her bedroom and almost slammed it shut again. Adam stood leaning against the wall.
“What are you doing here?” she asked her voice shaking and muffled from all the crying.
“I came to see if you were alright.”
“I’m fine. You can go now.”
“Morgan.”
“Don’t Morgan me. Go home.”
Adam took a step towards her and she stepped back. “Don’t. Just go.”
He didn’t answer; he just stopped not knowing what to say.
“I told you to go,” she said again. “Just leave. Please.”
“I don’t want to leave.”
“You have no choice go back to your girlfriend. I don’t want you to ever come back.”
“Morgan, don’t do this.”
“Do what? You did it. You chose this life; the minute I wasn’t here you shacked up with her. You made your choice now I am making mine.”
“How will you live if I go?”
“I’ll find a job.” She shouted at him. She just wanted him to leave. It hurt so much to have him standing right there in front of her knowing he wasn’t hers. “I can manage I don’t need your help. Besides you have another home to pay for.”
“Melody’s father pays for that.” He said without thinking. He cringed as he wished he had bitten his lip.
“Get out.” She screamed at him. She was crying again, but she was angry, she wanted him gone.
Adam fought back his own tears. All he wanted to do was hold her in his arms and wipe away all the pain and hurt. The look on her face as she screamed for him to leave was enough to tear right through him and break his heart. If being away from her meant that he wouldn’t hurt her anymore, and then maybe it was for the best.
After all doesn’t the song go 'if you love someone set them free?'
