Chapter 4

If it hadn't been obvious before, it was now; Abigail and Mike were an item. There were a few raised eyebrows, but on the whole, the verdict was 'good for them' and 'Abigail obviously has something going for her'. They spent every moment together that they could; at Uni, or at one or other of their homes, but most of the time they were working or talking, though not entirely without some cuddling and kissing.

The key to any successful relationship is communication, but Abigail and Mike were both young and both found talking about intimacy was embarrassing. In previous relationships, Mike had been sexually active. In fact, that was the principal 'raison d'etre' of the relationships he had sought and cultivated prior to meeting Abigail. Now, however, he was in a relationship that began on an intellectual plane, and although their emotions were involved, it remained largely on an intellectual plane.

That's not to say he didn't find her attractive; quite the opposite; but rather that the relationship had become so important to him ... the friendship had become so important to him ... he was nervous of damaging what they had by moving any further.

Abigail was in a rather different position. While she was personally quite happy with the kissing and cuddling, she was very aware that some, perhaps many, other girls of her age had gone a great deal further and she was quite certain that Mike had, prior to dating her. She began to wonder whether the reason he wasn't going further was that she wasn't attractive enough. Given her history, it was not an unreasonable fear.

She could have asked; Mike could have reassured her, but neither wanted to recognise the 'elephant' in the room of their relationship.

Sherise had brooded on her humiliation (short-lived and quickly forgotten by all but herself) and had not lost any of the consequent anger. She'd made plans. Plans which, if Abigail and Mike had talked would not have worked. Plans which if Abigail had not been innocent and lacking in confidence, would not have worked. Plans which if Mike had not been a little naïve and forgiving, would not have worked.

There were only a few days of the semester left when she began her move. She'd 'persuaded' a couple of her friends to approach Abigail (singly). They were supposed to ask Abigail what Mike was like in bed and that is, more or less, what they did. Abigail was not forthcoming with them but that was not the point; her insecurities about herself and her relationship with Mike were enhanced. Having raised doubts in Abigail's mind, the other prong of the attack was simple. She approached Mike as he was waiting in the cafeteria for Abigail and apologised very sweetly, with her sincerest expression, for her behaviour.

"Actually," said Mike, "it's Abby you need to apologise to."

"Oh, yes, and I will ... but I do need to apologise to you too, after all, I did dump you rather unceremoniously."

Mike just shrugged, "but that's how I met Abby, so I don't count it a loss."

He didn't notice the frown that flitted across Sherise's face before she responded with a smile, "but we can still be friends, can't we?"

"Well, I suppose so..."

Sherise, who had been watching the door, saw Abigail enter, and she bent down and kissed Mike hard on the lips. Shock paralysed him for several seconds before he could pull back, and anyway he hadn't got anywhere to go. She stood straight, gave him a fluttering fingers wave, and left.

Think how it looked to Abigail; all she saw was Sherise talking to Mike and smiling, then bending her blonde head to him to kiss him. She couldn't see Mike's expression, or his shock, but she could see Sherise's smile and little flirty wave.

It hit her like a ten-tonne truck; she was devastated. She turned and left as quickly as she could. Blindly rushing out of the building, tripping on the steps up to the road, it's a miracle she wasn't knocked down as she ran across to the Millennium Gallery and into the Winter Garden.

Mike hadn't seen Abigail enter; however suspicious he may have been of Sherise and her motives, he didn't know what she was up to and didn't work it out until much later. When Abigail didn't appear for lunch, he tried to call her ... but the call was rejected. He tried again, and it went straight to voicemail.

"Abby ... please call me?"

Sherise had timed it perfectly. A few days earlier and Mike and Abigail would have been forced into some proximity by their course schedules and Abigail would have realised on her own that there was nothing 'going on' between Mike and Sherise. As it was, she shut herself away; her response to her parents' concern for her was;

"I don't want to talk about it."

When Mike called at the house, "I don't want to see him." When he called, "I don't want to talk to him."

Abigail's mother asked him if he knew what was wrong; he just held his hands up, but when he thought back he remembered the incident with Sherise.

"I wonder..." he said, "I was in the cafeteria, waiting for Abby ... my ex-girlfriend came up, talked to me for a few minutes and then bent down and kissed me ... I wonder if Abby saw that ... I didn't see her ... but, honestly ... I made no approach to Sherise. I'm not interested in Sherise ... I ... just ... miss ... Abigail."

He looked so woebegone, her mother's heart went out to him.

"Give her some space, and perhaps she'll give you a chance to explain."

"I hope so ... I really hope so."

Mike's mother was concerned. He wasn't sleeping well, and it was showing. He looked drawn with dark shadows under his eyes.

Now, Abigail missed her judo session after the ... incident, and it was a week later she was back at the dojo. Her 'sensei' saw her come in and begin to warm up and when she'd finished that called her to the mat for 'randori'. He picked up very rapidly that she was not 'herself' – he'd expected that from her appearance when she arrived. But she was both aggressive and ragged in her execution. After she'd hit the mat twice, he gestured her off the tatami.

"Focus!"

She looked at him and the misery in her expression was extreme.

"Focus! You're looking at the surface, not what's really going on. If you had been, you'd have seen both those throws coming. Now, I don't know what's going on with you, but I suspect you need to look beyond the surface of that, too. You're doing no good here; go straighten yourself out. I don't want to see you back here until you're ready to focus."