Chapter 18 - that sinking feeling

Adam’s mind began to wander to all sorts of dark places as he spent evenings alone. What was Holly up to? How was she fattening up so quickly? Was someone else feeding her? Someone from the ‘Feed Fest’ weekend? Anyone could easily have caught her eye and slipped her his number.

But the worst and most concerning sign of all came one day, as Adam bumped into Holly’s mother in town. “Hello Adam!” she chirped up, smiling. “How are you?”

Adam didn’t know where to look. Holly’s mother barely even offered him a grunt usually. “Fine,” he mumbled back suspiciously, looking around to see whether some sort of prank was being played on him.

“I must say…” the woman smiled with a smug, self-satisfied look on her face, making Adam want to throw a cream pie at her, “…I’m so glad that Holly is moving on!”

Moving on? Adam thought, taking in the words. Holly was moving on? On from where? On from him?

“Holly was always meant for so much better…” she spat out. "Finally, my girl's got a man behind her with a bit of money; taking her places. She's going to make something of herself at long last; no longer dragged down in the dirt!"

Anger coursed through Adam’s veins. How dare she speak about him like this! A flurry of swear words trickled onto his tongue, but he swallowed them back down. “I’m glad to hear it,” he offered, with a sarcastic smile, turning away and striding off.

“I know what’s going on,” Adam finally blurted out when Holly got home. She only just put her car key down when he ambushed her at the front door. “I know you’re keeping secrets from me. Your mom told me all about it. I know everything.”

Holly sighed and looked down at the floor. She shook her head. “I knew my mom would rub it in everyone’s faces as soon as she could,” she sighed. “I’m so sorry Adam. I didn't want things to come out like this.”

Adam swallowed hard. He’d tried his best to convince himself that this wasn’t really happening, but it really was! “It’s Bill, isn’t it?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Holly nodded sombrely. "...It’s Bill.”