Chapter 18

Darcy hadn't seen Ted face to face since the day before she'd broken up with him. They had argued that day, and she'd ended it by telephone the following day, unable to face him.

He waved as their eyes met across the traffic and did a speed walk across the road to meet her at the bench opposite the cafe. 'Their cafe' - they called it when they were dating since they met up there so often.

Wearing baggy tracksuit bottoms and his signature vest, he looked as good as he always had—better even. His hair was longer and cut differently, making her wonder if he was seeing someone new. Not that his love life was any of her business.

"Hi." Darcy smiled up at him and stood, following him into the cafe as he held the door for her—a gentleman all of a sudden.

"Get the good table, and I'll order," he said. "Do you want your usual?" 

"I'll have a coffee." Darcy looked at the list, unsure what the difference between a cappuccino and a latte was. She saw a seasonal option of peppermint mocha and decided to go with it. "Peppermint mocha, please."

"You started drinking coffee?" Ted asked when he returned with the drinks. Hers had a little flourish of cream and a sprinkle of dark chocolate curls. Taking a sip, she was shocked by how good it tasted. 

"It's great." She nodded, wiping her top lip. "I wish I'd started drinking it sooner."

Ted smiled and nodded before taking a bite of his pastry. As it crumbled, he tried to catch the flakes on his plate and failed. 

"So... you mentioned in your messages that somebody has been messing with you," Darcy said with a questioning inflexion. 

He nodded. "Yeah. Someone has it in for me big time. At first, it was just harmless little pranks. You know—the usual. Ordering false taxis and takeaways to my address to get me blacklisted and chucking stuff at my windows in the night. That level of messing I can deal with. Then they got a girl to hook up with me and accuse me of raping her."

When Darcy's eyes narrowed in suspicion, he almost jumped from his seat, leaning over the table.

"I swear I didn't do it!" he cried. After looking about at the other tables, he lowered his voice. "I slept with her, but she was the one who was all over me. She initiated it and never said no once. I was drunk, but not so drunk I'd forget raping someone."

"Okay, okay, I believe you." Darcy took a long sip of her drink, thinking. "Who do you think is behind this?"

She didn't want to bring up Josh unless he did. As much as she hated what Josh had done to her—humiliating her and plotting against her—part of her knew she deserved anything he threw at her. Whatever he had or hadn't done to Ted was between them.

'So why did I even come here?' she wondered. Was it to feel less alone in her miserable situation? The saying, 'misery loves company,' was pretty apt. Feelings of worthlessness could be pushed down by forcing someone else to feel even worse. She'd done this to plenty of people in the past, but the new Darcy was different. She would find other ways to cope.

After a moment of quiet introspection, listening to Ted list off their past victims, Darcy came to the conclusion that this was her coping mechanism. She was using Ted as a way to alleviate her own pain. Comparing her suffering to his.

Surprisingly, he didn't mention Josh at all, which was odd considering how badly they had treated him. Surely he hadn’t forgotten about his favourite victim?

"So, I'm guessing someone is messing with you too since you decided to meet me." Ted looked up, raising his brows. "Or did you just want to see me?"

Darcy scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I have been having a few issues. Nothing major. All the girls decided to dump me off and things aren’t exactly going great at college."

"That sucks. I’m sorry to hear that," Ted said. 

"It’s fine. I’ll be fine." Darcy shook her head. "Erm, if you need a character reference for that rape accusation thing, I'll be here for you. I know we didn't leave things on very good terms, but I'll always be there for you if you need me."

Ted smiled. He went to say something and stopped, nodding instead. Darcy could swear she saw the glimmer of tears forming in his eyes before he laughed and finished the last of his pastry. "You ain't a bad person. I know you think you are, but it's not true at all."

It was Darcy's turn to become emotional. She shrugged off the compliment, though it meant a lot coming from the ex she'd hurt so badly. Neither of them had cheated, but the relationship had been strained because of lack of trust, jealousy issues and reoccurring arguments that eventually became too much.  

Despite them loving each other, they had to face up to the fact that they didn't make each other happy. Not really. 

"Right. My mum wants me to go to dinner with her, so I best get going," Darcy said. "But keep in touch and let me know if you find out who is doing all of this."

"Right." Ted nodded and stood. He moved from his side of the table and pulled her in for an unexpected hug. It felt good, being in his arms. The familiar smell and feel of his body transported her back to the old days, and though it might be comfortable to go back, she no longer loved him. The spark was gone.

"Speak to you soon," Darcy said and waved before hurrying off to meet her mother at the Italian place she loved. She was leaving again soon, so wanted to make time to have quality time before getting back on another flight. Darcy already knew this quality time would consist of mining her for information about her dad, being condescending to the waiters and making passive-aggressive comments about her food choices. Despite all that, she looked forward to it. They had some great desserts, and Darcy was determined to treat herself today, regardless of her mother's disapproving looks.

After tonight, mother would leave, and she would be all alone again.

‘At least I have Chester.’