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“She doesn’t want to talk to you,” Marianne said “You’d better leave”
Jack grunted with frustration Davina wouldn’t look at hilared in his direction And then he said those words every woman loves to hear: “We’ll talk more later when you’ve calmed down”
The door clicked quietly shut behind hi everyone to stare at it for a beat, then they descended on Davina and she ed in a huge group hug
Sharp tears of regret and disappointment trailed down her cheeks But roup to look at the door Yep Betrayed and strangely alone And before she could become completely morose, Marianne announced it was time for a cup of tea
Davina’s day was black like tar It clung to her, dragging her doith each long minute she had to endure
With the help of her college students and a van she borrowed from her father’s church – this time with permission – she returned the equiploss could help her deal with the shas, facing up to her stupidity She couldn’t even blareat idea to s without permission She was the one so driven to succeed that she’d roped Derek into her sche the price – public humiliation, professional failure and a future that ended in a cul-de-sac
She kept her head down as she unloaded the van for the last ti to burst into tears In public Just what she didn’t need One of the adult students squeezed her hand as they shut the van doors
“Why don’t you let us finish up?” she said to Davina “You wait here We can e without you”
“I shouldn’t,” Davina said but her eyes welled up
“No, you should,” Melanie said She turned to the other students “We’re taking this, guys Davina ait here”
“Good idea,” Eric said
Davina let herself be gently pushed into the passenger side of the van It was cowardly, letting the else, she was a coward Although her eyes felt full to overfloith tears of self-pity, none of them fell Instead Davina sat in silence She didn’tto do and nothing to think about An iht before flashed into her ht itto him
“Let’s get you back home,” Melanie said as they climbed into the van
Home She didn’t even have that Without the income from her job, she couldn’t afford the rent on the house She expected Jack would be ecstatic about that – he’d et rid of her Guess he got what he wanted on every front
She let the black tar suck her down No job No house No future And she felt like a dirty rag used by a man and discarded As they pulled out into traffic, Davina was oblivious to her surroundings There was tooto do now? She couldn’t see past the pain of another failure No, not another failure The last failure This was it The point where she gave up As she thought the words her chest ached