**Diary Entry October 12th**
I walked into the hospital to visit my friend and nearly fainted when I saw who was sharing her room.
“Emma, darling, you gave me such a fright!” I hurried into the ward, clutching a bag of fruit. “When your daughter called to say you’d had a heart scare, I almost passed out myself!”
Emma lay by the window, pale but smiling.
“Oh, Lucy, thank goodness you came!” She reached for my hand. “Its been dreadfully dull hereI thought Id go mad with boredom.”
I set the bag on the nightstand and glanced around. The room had four beds, but only two were occupied. On the next bed lay a woman with long silver hair tied neatly in a plait, her back turned to us.
“Whos your neighbour?” I whispered, sitting beside Emma.
“Margaret, they brought her in yesterday. Quiet sortbarely speaks. Just reads or watches something on her phone,” Emma murmured. “They say her blood pressures as unpredictable as my heart.”
Just then, the woman turned, and my heart stopped. Those familiar hazel eyes, the delicate features unchanged by time, the mole on her left cheek
“Margaret?” I breathed, disbelief tightening my chest. “Margaret Hartley?”
She froze, then slowly sat up, staring at me.
“Lucy Bennett?” Her voice carried the same lilt it had thirty years ago. “Good Lord, it cant be…”
Emma looked between us, baffled. “Do you two know each other?”
“We do,” I said flatly, unable to tear my gaze from Margaret. “Very well.”
An awkward silence settled. Margaret studied her hands while I stared, half-convinced shed vanish.
“Someone explain whats going on!” Emma burst out. “Lucy, you look like youve seen a ghost!”
“Almost,” I muttered. “Margaret and I havent spoken in a very long time.”
“Thirty-two years,” Margaret added softly.
“Blimey!” Emma propped herself up. “School friends, then?”
“Not exactly friends,” I said stiffly, perching on the chair like I might bolt. “We had shared interests once.”
Margaret finally met my eyes. “Hows Thomas?”
My fingers clenched until my knuckles whitened. “My husband died eight years ago. Heart attack.”
“Im sorry,” she whispered. “I didnt know.”
“Its fine.” I waved her off. “Life goes on.”
Emmas curiosity was palpable. “Out with it, then! How do you know each other?”
Margaret and I exchanged a glanceboth reluctant to dig up the past.
“We worked together,” I said at last. “At St. Marys Secondary. I taught English, and Margaretwhat was it again?”
“History,” she supplied. “And sociology.”
“See, Emma? Colleagues. Though not for long.”
“Not long,” Margaret agreed. “Just two years.”
“Did you fall out over work?” Emma pressed.
“Over a man,” I admitted bluntly. “The oldest story in the book.”
Margaret flinched as if struck. “Lucy, dont”
“Why not?” I turned to her. “Emma wont drop it. Might as well lay it bare. Its water under the bridge now, isnt it?”
“I suppose,” Margaret conceded.
“Well?” Emma demanded. “Im dying of curiosity here!”
I leaned back, gazing out the window. “I was twenty-four. Fresh out of uni, teaching at St. Marys. Naïve, impressionable, and utterly smitten with Thomas Whitmorethe deputy head. Handsome, clever, a decade older. Married, of course.”
“Oh dear,” Emma muttered.
“Exactly,” I said wryly. “We had an affair. Secret, naturally. He spun the usual talesloveless marriage, misunderstood soul. Then Margaret joined the staff. Young, bright, witty. Thomas decided one mistress wasnt enough.”
Margaret winced. “It wasnt like that”
“Wasnt it?” I rounded on her. “You knew about us! I confided in you! We were friends!”
“We were,” she admitted quietly. “I never meant to It just happened.”
“Happened?” I laughed bitterly. “You happened to steal him?”
Emmas eyes darted between us like a tennis match.
“I didnt steal anyone,” Margaret said firmly. “He told me what you had was casual. That you understood it wouldnt last.”
My breath hitched. “He said what?”
“That it was just a bit of fun. That you werent serious.”
I barked a hollow laugh. “The lying sod! To you, I was a fling. To me, you were some starry-eyed girl throwing yourself at a married man!”
Margaret paled. “He said that?”
“Word for word! And we both fell for it! Let him pit us against each other while he sat back, smug as you please!”
“Girls,” Emma cut in nervously, “should you be getting so worked up? Your blood pressure”
“Its fine,” I said, waving her off. “Actually, its good weve aired this.” I turned back to Margaret. “What happened after I left?”
“We met for three more months. Then he said his wife was suspicious. The meetings dwindled stopped altogether. By summer, I heard hed divorced.”
“Divorced?” I stared. “I didnt know that.”
“Divorced and remarried within monthsto a PE teacher from another school. Turned out theyd been carrying on for half a year.”
“Well,” I sighed. “There were three of us, then. Probably more.”
“Probably.” Margarets voice was thick. “I felt such a fool. And so ashamed of how Id treated you.”
“Ashamed? We were both his victims!”
“But I believed him! Believed you didnt carewhen Id seen how you looked at him, how crushed you were when hed brush you off I knew you loved him.”
I swallowed hard. “I did. Properly, for the first time.”
“So did I,” she whispered. “First love. I thought he felt the same.”
“Fools, the pair of us,” I said. “Young and easily played.”
Emma sniffled. “Oh, you poor dears! All those years lost over that that rotter!”
“Plenty of those about,” I said dryly. “We just didnt see it then.”
Margaret nodded. “Now we do. So do we keep living with that knowledge separately?”
I studied her. “What are you suggesting?”
“That we start talking. If youre willing. Ive missed you all these years. Remember how close we were? The plans we made”
“I remember,” I smiled faintly. “You wanted to do your PhD. I dreamed of grand romance.”
“Never got the PhD. Did you find your grand romance?”
“Not with him,” I admitted. “With Thomas, it was passion. Real love came laterwith my husband, my children.”
“Same,” Margaret said. “Quiet, steady love with William. No fireworks, just depth.”
“Well, there you go!” Emma beamed. “Everything worked out. And you meeting now? Fate!”
“Maybe,” I conceded. “Margaret, lets talk properly. Weve years left, God willing. Grandchildren to boast about, stories to sharelike old times.”
“Id like that,” she said, eyes bright. “No more menjust grandchildren and gossip!”
“And health,” Emma chimed in. “At our age, thats prime conversation!”
We all laughed. Outside, the rain had stopped, weak sunlight breaking through.
“You know,” I mused, “in a way, we were lucky to fall out over Thomas.”
“How so?”
“Had we made up then, we mightve taken turns marrying him!” I grinned. “Me first, you second”
“And the PE teacher third!” Margaret giggled.
“Exactly! Dodged a bullet, really.”
“Better as it is,” Emma declared. “You both found decent men. And now youve got each other back!”
“We have,” I agreed. “Thank you, Emma. If not for your heart scare, wed never have met again.”
“Then it was worth it!” she declared. “My little cardiac event did some good!”
“Minor heart scare,” I corrected. “Dont make a habit of it. We need you in one piece!”
“We?” Emma raised a brow.
“We,” Margaret confirmed. “The three of us nowif youll have two former rivals as friends.”
“Absolutely!” Emma clapped. “And Ill finally see what real female friendship looks like!”
“Real friendship,” I said softly, “is forgiving the unforgivableespecially when you realise you were both deceived.”
“And admitting your mistakes,” Margaret added. “I shouldve talked to you, not trusted him.”
“And I shouldve knownif hed lie to one
