The trouble with Debbie

chapter 16

The next morning, Debbie was woken up by the warm sun shining through the window. She felt sad that she hadn't woken up with Keiron. She had gotten used to feeling him next to her. She stretched out in the bed and reached for her phone.

Just one text, "Good morning. I hope you slept better than I did. I missed you." Keiron had sent it at 5am.

She got up and had a shower, got dressed and sat in the garden with a strong black coffee.

She looked at her phone, she wanted to text Keiron back. Maybe it was best to just leave him. She definitely needed some space right now. A few hours of moping around later, she drove to her mother's house.

Her mother was sitting in her conservatory reading a book and drinking wine.

"well hello child," her mother looked at her over the rim of her glasses and smiled, "this is a nice surprise."

Debbie sat opposite her mum and smiled back, "wanted to see you."

Her mother immediately put her book down, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Debbie lied.

"okay," her mother stood up, "lunch?"

She walked to the kitchen and Debbie followed, sitting down at the huge island while her mother poured her a drink.

Her mother opened the fridge and took out a pre made tray of hors d'oeuvres. Debbie laughed.

"what's funny?" her mother asked.

"I love that you just have a massive tray of hors d'oeuvres in the fridge," Debbie replied through giggles, "who are you?"

"you obviously have no class Deborah," her mother smiled, "a lady always has appropriate snacks in the fridge for guests."

They ate and spoke and drank and laughed. Debbie always felt better when she saw her mother.

"so, who is he?" her mother asked her as she handed her a strong black coffee, "and don't insult me by lying."

"mum," Debbie covered her face, "please. Let's not..."

"whatever he did, forgive him." her mother cut in.

"that's terrible advice," Debbie rolled her eyes, "what if he hit me?"

"he didn't," her mother smirked, "the fact that you're moping about because of him means he upset you but not so much that there's no hope. Life is short. If you really like him, talk to him and work it out. At least hear what he has to say."

Debbie sat in silence. She definitely wasn't going to tell her mother about Matt. But maybe Keiron did deserve a chance to talk.

"alright mum," Debbie got up, "I'm gonna head home. I'll call you in the week. I love you, you crazy old bag!"

"less of the old please," her mother kissed her head, "I love you baby girl. Drive safe and stop smoking."

Debbie smiled and drove home.

After a shower, she laid in bed and watched tv. An hour or so later, her phone buzzed on the side table. It was Keiron. She took a long breath and answered.

"Hello." she spoke quietly.

"Hey beautiful," he replied, "are you okay?" Debbie almost instantly melted. She really did miss him.

"Yes thank you," she replied, "you?"

"Not at all," Keiron answered, "I miss you. And my house is cold."

Debbie laughed.

"can we talk?" Keiron asked, "I owe you an explanation."

"Okay." Debbie wanted to know what the problem was with his creepy brother.

"Can I come over?" Keiron waited for the answer.

"Yes,"Debbie told him, " I guess that's okay."

Less than 30 minutes later, Keiron was at the door. Debbie let him in and they sat on the sofa.

"Drink or anything?" Debbie offered.

"No thank you," he smiled, "I'm good for now."

"Okay, so, what's on your mind?" Debbie sat back in the sofa.

"Before I moved to Texas with Tamara," Keiron began, "she'd already cheated on me once before. I came home from a night out earlier than expected and she was in bed with my brother."

"Oh my goodness," Debbie covered her mouth, "I'm sorry."

"I didn't even know what to say," Keiron continued, "I just lost my s**t. Went crazy. Next thing I know, I'm fighting with Ron on the front lawn. Tamara promised it was just a one off, she said he was pressuring her and she didn't know any other way to get him off her case. He's a creep so I believed her, but once we were in texas, she told me she slept with him a few times before that. He'd always flirted with my girlfriends and because he was a few years older, he thought he had more experience than me."

"Bloody hell," Debbie touched his , "so, I can understand why you got so wound up."

"There's no excuse for how I spoke to you," Keiron looked down, "I was so unkind. You didn't deserve that at all. I know I've f****d s**t up between us but I don't want to lose your friendship."

Debbie smiled at him, "I really appreciate you opening up to me. You definitely haven't lost my friendship. I think I just need some time on my own."

Keiron touched her face, "I understand. Thanks for hearing me out. I do really like you and I miss you. My new bed is nice but it's not as nice as waking up with you in your bed."

"I missed waking up with you this morning." Debbie grinned.

"I better go," Keiron got up, "can I call you.."

"You don't have to ask," she replied, "just call when you want."

"Okay, cool." Keiron hugged her. She followed him to the door and watched as he unlocked a car.

"Check you out!" she nodded to the shiny new car on her driveway.

"Yeah," Keiron opened the driver's door, "I was fed up of paying uber to take me every where."

"Fair enough." Debbie laughed.

"Goodnight Debbie."

"Goodnight Keiron."

That night, Debbie slept much better.

The next morning, Klara sat in her kitchen. She didn't argue with Debbie very often but that was still too much. She hated how things had gone and she hated that she almost hooked her up with a total creep.

"You okay?" Tony gave her a cup of tea.

"Why didn't you tell me Ronny was such a d**k?" she asked, "six of my friends have told me that he slimed all over them at the dinner."

"Honestly, I didn't know," Tony shrugged, "I knew he was really into the women but I didn't know he was a pratt. All he ever did was talk about how 'amazing and beautiful' Debbie was and that he 'wished he could have a girlfriend like her' so I just thought they'd be good together."

"But you knew he slept with Keirons girlfriend?" klara raised an eyebrow at her husband.

"Well," Tony cleared his throat, "but I mean, Tammy was, you know? She put it about quite a bit..."

"So?!" Klara fumed, "thats not the point. He's his brother! That should be off limits, no matter what! Goodness me! To think I tried to hook him up with my own cousin!"

"Well luckily that didn't happen." Tony hugged his wife.

"Yeah," she sighed, "but I ruined whatever she had going on with Keiron."

"They're adults," Tony smiled, "if they wanna work it out, they will."