Intolerable Love, Page 2

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  When Lisa heard a knock at the door she went to answer it, beating Bruce coming from another room who was still slow on his new leg. As she opened the door she saw that it was Damien and started to smile with delight, her smile froze, half formed when she noticed that bitch Sara standing next to Damien.

  Sara started to talk earnestly, "Lisa I want to apolo—"

  Lisa turned back to Damien, ostentatiously ignoring Sara and completed a showy smile, "Damien, it is wonderful to see YOU. Won't YOU come in?"

  Damien smiled in appreciation of Lisa's delivery of the snub and shook his head, "No Lisa, that is not going to happen.

  "OK then said Lisa as she started to close the door."

  "STOP." shouted Sara, "We were bluffing."

  Lisa reopened the door with a triumphant smile as Sara turned to Damien and said ruefully with pain on her face, "Go on in. I will go home." she looked at Lisa and said, "I really am sorry," then she turned and started back to her car— and Damien waved goodbye at Lisa and Bruce behind her as he followed Sara.

  Sara stopped, looked at Damien by her side and said with a bitter laugh, "They are still your friends, go on in." Damien just smiled pleasantly at her but didn't go anywhere. "Go on." she said and pushed him one step towards the door.

  Damien instantly stepped back to Sara, looked her in the eyes and said with a smile, "I won't always obey you," his voice changed to an emotion charged growl, "but I will ALWAYS be by your side."

  A wave of heat flashed through both Sara and Damien at this declaration that resonated in their souls and they reached for each other as their lips smashed together in fierce passion.

  Lisa saw a soppy little smile on Bruce's face at this display of their friend and ex-friend's happiness and love, all too rare a thing since he lost his leg and realized that she was the one bluffing. If Damien and Sara made Bruce happy then she would tolerate Sara, concealing her very well earned hatred of the bitch who had said unforgivable things. She nestled into Bruce who had put his arm around her and called out to the amorous couple, "OK. You can come in.

  Damien withdrew from the kiss to Sara's dismay before leaning down and scooping Sara up in his arms. He carried her towards the door asking. "Can I please borrow your spare bed for a few minutes.

  Bruce just laughed nodding yes while moving himself and Lisa out of the way. Damien called out over his shoulder, "Hi Bruce." as he carried Lisa towards the bedroom.

  Lisa seethed about the bitch having sex in her house as she prepared afternoon tea, unfairly ignoring the fact that it was initiated by Damien and nothing they hadn't done before.

  When Damien and Sara rejoined them Lisa noticed that Damien was breathing much more heavily than Sara and thought the bitch must've just laid back and, "Made Damien do all the work did you?" Lisa snidely asked Sara to everyone's shock, especially her own.

  "LISA!" Bruce condemned her as Damien burst out in laughter at the completely inappropriate bitchiness of the attack and Sara and Lisa stared at each other in shock.

  Lisa knew she had gone too far and started to apologize but Sara stopped her with a sad, "I have earned that and a lot more," she laughed bitterly to herself, "even if you tolerate my company you won't need to apologize about anything for years." she completed with a peacemaking smile towards Lisa.

  "I am truly sorry for my remark." Lisa replied seriously, rebuffing Sara and causing her to wilt to Lisa's almost concealed satisfaction and Bruce and Damien to clench slightly with regret.

  The process of preparing the tea and coffee provided a welcome excuse to break the tension. Damien helped Lisa as Sara's help probably wouldn't be appreciated.

  There were 3 subjects that were important to the four, Bruce's lost leg, Damien's breakdown? struggles? actions? and Lisa's hatred of Sara and none of them were broached as the four cowards conducted small, but enjoyable for 3 of them talk as they sat around the table until—

  "Well?" Damien asked Bruce.

  "Well what?" a confused Bruce replied.

  "Well what did you say?"

  "What did I say when?"

  "What did you say when you lost your leg?" Damien expanded for the obviously thick Bruce.

  Both Sara and Lisa stiffened at the broaching of something serious.

  With the dignity of an aristocrat and acting out what he was describing Bruce replied, "Well I turned to the Duke and said, "AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!" Bruce comically screamed sending Damien and then himself into paroxysms of laughter as Sara and Lisa rolled their eyes at each other to Sara's satisfaction.

  After Damien managed to stop laughing he said to Bruce, "So the Earl of Uxbridge doesn't have any new competition then?" referring to an event during the Battle of Waterloo when the Earl was hit in the leg by a cannonball he allegedly turned to the nearby Duke of Wellington and calmly commented, "By God, sir, I've lost my leg!", to which Wellington replied "By God, sir, so you have!"

  With a smirk Bruce replied, "I wouldn't go that far. You gave if a pretty good effort," his smirk was engulfed by his anger as he growled, "aiming for the Darwin Award at the same fucking time."

  With 6 angry but caring eyes upon him Damien looked from one face too the next, braced himself to bare his vulnerabilities to those he had betrayed, looked at the ceiling and asked them all in a soft voice, "What do you want to know?"

  "Why didn't you tell me?" demanded Lisa at the same time as Sara asked, "Why didn't you go to Lisa?" They looked at each other in surprise, once again recalling how compatible they were as friends before looking at Damien who got up and started to pace.

  Damien stopped pacing in front of Sara, leaned down and blasted her with emotion, "I was worried about the risk to you. She could not make you safe or make me care less about you. She was under the exact same stress I was. It would have been pathetic to add to her problems when she couldn't help."

  Sara grasped Damien's hands and shouted with even more emotion, "She is stronger than you. She. Could. Take. it!"

  Lisa's spirit soared at this heartfelt, instinctive appreciation of her by Sara and stared at her wistfully. Damien straightened at this completely new to him possibility, he looked at Bruce and Lisa and asked sceptically, "Really?"

  Bruce nodded as Lisa tore her eyes from Sara and looked at Damien.

  "I was nowhere near my limits… UNTIL YOU LEFT!" Lisa finished with a shout and a grim look at Sara who flinched with guilt. "You could've lived her. I would've HAPPILY, have spent every non working hour supporting you… WE WERE FRIENDS GODAMNIT.

  Damien shrank and looked at them as he took some heavy breaths before shaking his head, squaring his shoulders and saying with strain, "But you could not have helped me. The support of a friend could not make Sara safe. The support of a friend could not make me love her less. You could not have helped." he finished, still adamant his actions were reasonable.

  "Friendship just helps." Sara told him.

  "HOW?" he screamed back at her with his arms held wide.

  Bruce, silent until now just said in a normal voice that was a shocking change, "If its stupid and it works, its not stupid."

  Damien absorbed this truism that he personally believed in and realized what he had done. By trying to cope alone and then dumping Sara in a final spasm of self defense he had foolishly and unnecessarily almost sent himself mad, he hadn't been there to support Bruce when he was crippled, he had wrecked the lifelong friendship of Sara and Lisa and worst of all he had caused devastating agony to the most important woman in the world… Sara.

  Damien was a man's man who had never shed a single tear in front of strangers or even friends. He broke down completely, slumping to the floor in a fetal position as he burst into uncontrollable tears of guilt? release? fear? anguish? and just repeated the word, "Sorry."

  Sara jumped to him, hugged him, cried on him and muttered between sobs, "Damn fool" and, "I love you."

  As Lisa and Bruce started to leave the room Damien reached for Lisa's foot, looked up at her and begged with a thick
voice, "Please forgive her, it is all my fault." Lisa resented the emotional blackmail of either agreeing to forgive Sara or being a bitch by refusing her broken, sobbing friend.

  "Don't answer." said Sara to Lisa then turned to Damien, "I said what I said and Lisa shouldn't be pressured into forgiving it." Lisa once again mourned the loss of her compatible best friend as she shook off Damien's loosened grip and left the room with her husband.

  When Damien and Sara had composed themselves again the four continued the talk. Damien had only one thing on his mind, "What did Sara say?"

  "No Damien." Sara begged of him as she touched his arm and looked forlornly at Lisa, "Just know that it was unforgivable." A grim Lisa gave a short hard nod. Bruce did nothing as he hadn't been told.

  "I bared my soul." Damien replied looking at Sara, "So you can let 2 more people who love you know what was so unforgivable."

  Sara neared tears and said, "He won't love me anymore and you won't respect me."

  Lisa saw the perfect opportunity to cause Sara pain and said distantly, "she said I drove you off because I was jealous you 2 were going to have a baby and I couldn't."

  Sara burst into tears of shame as Bruce clasped Lisa's hand in sympathy and glared angrily at Sara. After blowing through his pursed lips in shock Damien laughed. They all looked at him incredulously while he laughed happily at them.

  "What the fuck are you laughing at?" Bruce demanded of him.

  Damien finished laughing, looked at the other 3 incredulously and said, "That is blindingly simple to apologize for." The other 3 just stared at him. Damien shook his head in sorrow at their stupidity and continued. "It just takes nine months and a womb" he pointed at Sara's belly, "and perhaps eggs."

  Lisa felt an incredible burst of hope and felt Bruce crush her hand in his but knew Damien had not discussed this with Sara, it was a huge thing to ask. What would Sara say? With surging hope and fear Lisa focused her gaze on Sara…

  Who smiled with delight back at her and simply said, "Yes!"

  THE END

  Afterword

  I started writing this because I enjoyed the emotional relationship between Damien and Sara. I was stunned to discover while writing that the relationship between Sara and Lisa became my favorite part.

  Damien is named after a character in Celia S. Friedman's Coldfire trilogy because I was reading that when I started writing.

  Lisa is named after Lisa in Mad About You because I was watching that when I started writing.

  Sara is named after Sara in the movie The Huntsman: Winter's War because I like the love story in it, indeed I edited the love story and uploaded it to youtube.

  I have no idea where the name Bruce came from.

  Sean Eddings.

  About Sean Eddings

  Sean Eddings is a lonely Australian man with an empty life. Occasionally he likes to feel as if he has a better life by imagining the emotions, thoughts, words and interactions of characters in a scene. At least nine times he wrote the scene down.

  Contact Sean Eddings https://seaneddings.wordpress.com/contact/

  Other books by Sean Eddings

  Please visit your favorite ebook retailer to discover other books by Sean Eddings:

  Katrina and Lachlan series

  a Decent Proposal

  Accidental Betrayal

  Magic Transfusion

  Romantic Scene series

  Romantic Scene 1

  Romantic Scene 2

  Romantic Scene 3

  Fanfiction Scene series

  Jean and Scott fanfiction from X-MEN Apocalypse

  Declaration of Love - The Catch fanfiction scene rewrite

  Intolerable Love