Rob sat in the sun with his legs stretched out listening to music as he enjoyed his cup of espresso. The Garden Place Coffee Shop was one of his favourite haunts in Melbourne. The city was full of cafes and eateries. Whatever your taste buds desired you could find it in the biggest multicultural metropolis in Australia. Rob dragged in a breath of autumn air and smiled. He couldn't believe he'd been living in the city for over three years.

Leaving the air force was the best thing to have happened in his life. He'd found his place in teaching. He lived and breathed it. On his work placements he'd connected with the students on a level he never thought possible. Even though, as a high school student, he'd coached hockey, teaching gave him a chance to reach children through a variety of different subjects instead of just sports.

As he smiled again he looked up at the sky. He had a lot of decisions to make. Being in his final year at university he had to choose where he wanted to live and work. There was a strong draw to move back to Rockhampton to be closer to his family. His parents had decided to settle there and so his father had never applied for anymore transfers. Rob suspected it was because they hadn't wanted to take Linc away from the city he loved. At the thought of Linc, Rob grinned again. It was funny how fate took control of a person's life. Linc was no longer a kid, but a tall lean eighteen year old that'd just started as an apprentice builder alongside Drew. The two had become so close that Rob couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

A young woman caught his smile as she walked past him. She smiled in return, took two steps, stopped abruptly, paused, and then stepped back so she stood in front of him with a shocked expression on her face.

Rob yanked out his earphones and gave her a querying look.

"You're Rob aren't you?" the girl said.

"Ah... yes. My name is Rob." He tried to place her. Maybe she was at the same Uni as he was or perhaps he'd met her at a party and slept with her. There'd been a fair bit of that in the first couple of years since breaking up with Becky but he'd settled down on that score and thrown himself into his studies because he had never been with another girl that could keep him connected like Becky had.

The girl laughed. "You don't remember me, do you?"

"No." Rob lifted the side of his mouth and scratched the back of his head. "Sorry. I don't."

"I'm Demi." When he still looked confused she added, "Becky's friend. We lived next door to each other in our first year of Uni. You came and dropped her off with her things and we met outside the door of the unit."

"Yes!" Rob sat up straighter in his chair. He nodded and flashed her a smile. "How are you? Are you still there? I mean at Uni. With Becky?"

"No." Demi glanced at the vacant seat at Rob's table, and then pointed at it. "May I?"

"Yeah. Of course." Rob shuffled in his seat and turned so he'd face her. "Can I get you a coffee?"

"That'd be lovely. Thank you."

*****

As Rob placed the cup in front of her he sat and said, "So your four years aren't finish yet, are they? Have you transferred to another university?"

"I dropped out." Demi lifted her shoulders and gave him an indifferent look. "It was such a hard course and so I changed to teaching."

"No way!" Rob grinned. "Me too." He laughed as she lifted her palms and shook her head in question. "I dropped out of the air force. Well... got kicked out. Long story so now I'm in my final year of teaching at La Trobe. Where are you studying?"

"Back in Adelaide." She paused in thought and said, "I still see Becky."

Rob gave her a blank look. He didn't know what to say so after a moment of silence he said, "How is she?"

"Good." Demi lifted her cup and took a sip of her coffee. She waited to see if he'd say something more. When he didn't she put her cup on the table and looked straight at him saying, "I know it's none of my business but you really fucked up there."

His jaw dropped. What to say? "She played up on me. Dumped me over a text message so not sure what you want me to say." Past history plagued his mind. He'd lied, yes, but she'd done the breaking up because there was another guy. Words Linc had said jumped to the forefront of his memory. She'd never do that. She was lying to set you free.

"Well..." Demi raised her eyebrows and cocked her head. "We both know that's not true."

"I'm not following." Rob's heart raced. He didn't understand why, but he felt like he was being swallowed by a big black hole.

"That's what she wanted you to believe," Demi said with conviction. "Becky would never have played up on you. She loved you too much and you broke her heart."

"I... I..." Rob grappled for words. "I saw her. With a guy. Holding hands." The moment had never left him and no matter what others said he was never convinced they hadn't been together, so he rushed out the words, "It was the Easter long weekend. Three weeks after she dumped me over text and blocked me from contacting her. I drove there like a madman and saw her walking to the library with a guy. He had dreadlocks. They held hands."

"He always did that." Demi laughed but quickly stopped when she saw his confused face. "Looks like I need to tell you a story," she said with sincerity as she leaned her forearms on the table and focused on him.

"Please do." Rob's sunny day had suddenly filled with grey clouds.

"That guy was Kane. And yes he was keen on Becky but at the time they were just friends. Becky used to tell me that every time they crossed the road, Kane would take her by the hand as if she was a kid who needed guidance. She thought it was funny."

"So..?" Rob shook his head. "They weren't dating? He's not the guy she fooled around with?"

"Rob!" Demi said sternly. "Becky never fooled around on you." She gave him a minute to take that information in, and then added, "And yes, eventually she did date Kane for a bit. And yes, they had a relationship but it didn't work out." She leaned back in her chair and waved her hand in the air saying, "But all of that is irrelevant and has nothing to do with you and Becky's breakup. All of that happened afterwards."

"I don't understand. Why would she tell me she had an affair?"

Again Demi cocked her head and gave him a despairing look. "To set you free, dumb arse."

"I don't understand." Rob gripped his head. Linc's words flashed again. "I just wanted to go to Melbourne. I know I lied and it backfired on me more than you could know but twice now people have said to set me free. What the fuck does that even mean?"

Demi could see how distressed he was so she reached over and took one of his hands. "She said you lied to her and that you'd never done that before so it meant there was another girl who you must have been interested in. She didn't want to hold you back. She wanted you to live your life but knew you'd never break up with her because you wouldn't want to hurt her." Demi paused and patted the back of his hand. She let it go and leaned back. "So she did the breaking up because she said she didn't want to be a charity."

"A charity?" Rob's mouth gaped. "Becky was never a charity."

"She told me her life story." Demi shrugged. "I guess she thought she'd been a charity enough." She gave him a gentle smile. "But she didn't play up on you. You need to understand that whatever you saw was innocent. Kane and Becky didn't start dating properly until two months after Becky cut you off." She pushed her chair back and stood. "Anyway I have to go. Thanks for the coffee."

As she made to walk away Rob clutched her hand. "Are they still dating?"

"No." Demi chuckled and shook her head. "I guess you weren't listening properly when I said it didn't work out." She paused and added, "It ended pretty quickly after it began but that's Becky's story to tell. Not mine."

Rob let go of Demi's hand and swallow the lump in his throat. "Thank you for telling me."

"All good." She smiled. "It was nice to see you again." She took a step, stopped and turned to face him once more. "Just so you know. She's single. Has been since she broke it off with Kane."

"Thanks." Rob nodded and gave her a smile. He sat staring into space rolling everything she'd said around in his head. He never asked about Becky when he spoke to Linc or his parents because every time he thought about her a dull ache seeped into his senses and would stay there for days. His family seemed to understand this so had stopped mentioning her early on. Rob wondered if Becky ever asked about him. She had avoided the first Christmas the year they'd broken up so he had avoided the second, which she had gone home for and the third neither of them had gone home. Rob knew Linc travelled to visit with Becky and she had occasionally gone back to Rockhampton out of the blue but she had always stayed with Drew and Trin in her old home.

"Enough." Rob blew out his breath and pushed himself onto his feet. It was all water under the bridge now. He took a lungful of air, looked up at the sunny sky to try and find the euphoria he'd felt forty minutes earlier but somehow it had disappeared. Becky's image flashed in his head. Becky smiling. Becky laughing. Becky in his arms. Becky...

I'm so glad to hear that Demi and Becky are still friends. ♥ 

Photo belongs to istock.