Hi all. I’m gonna make this quick cos I have a lot to do today. Seeing as many of you were asking what the fight between my characters Nick and Jonathan (which you can read here and here) was about, I thought I’d be kind and share with you the reason.
This scene is from my current WIP, Teaching Mr Leavis, and it takes place at my MC Rebecca’s flat. Her colleague Nick – the one who was in the fight – has come over to tell Rebecca why he and Jonathan Leavis came to blows. Nick has just choked on some water (yes really!) and he’s going through a tough time so Rebecca doesn’t want to be too hard on him.
I’m going to keep my maths simple as it fits the amount I want to share. So here’s ten paragraphs for the month. Enjoy!
‘You don’t have to tell me about what happened to cause the fight between you and Jonathan,’ she said. ‘Maybe you should just relax now. It is Monday evening after all.’
He shook his head. ‘I do need to tell you, I want to.’ There was a long pause. ‘I first met Abigail three years ago at a party. Abigail is Jonathan’s younger sister. We hit it off from the word go and very soon we were inseparable. I did care about her, honestly I did. I loved her. We did everything together; I was planning to ask her to marry me. Then…’
‘Then what?’ Rebecca asked, her voice low as if by talking too loudly Nick would stop telling the story.
‘Abigail got sick. She had a nervous breakdown. None of us could help her; her family couldn’t cope, so she was hospitalised.’ He spoke haltingly and as he paused he swallowed, running a hand through his already unkempt hair. Rebecca waited.
‘She was in hospital for many months. It got to the point where we all thought, Jonathan included, that she wasn’t going to recover. Then about eighteen months ago she showed signs of improvement. We thought, we all thought, we’d got our Abigail back. But she was different.’ Nick’s voice caught in his throat. ‘She was a harder person in some ways, yet at the same time fragile, almost brittle like she was going to physically break if you spoke too harshly to her.’
‘So what happened?’ Rebecca asked, reaching without a thought for Nick’s hand. He took it in his own and squeezed it.
‘Abigail and I were together again for a while, but as I said she wasn’t the same person. I wanted; I desperately wanted to make a go of it. But she became volatile extremely easily – I could be having a perfectly normal conversation with her, and then suddenly she’d switch and take offence and be aggressive for no apparent reason.’ Nick leaned across to the coffee table and had a sip of water, this time managing not to choke.
Rebecca’s thoughts returned to the night at the club. ‘I suppose Jonathan was calling you a coward at the club because you were refusing to carry on your relationship with Abigail?’
Nick nodded, his face pale and his jaw tight. ‘Jonathan thought I was letting her down, being unchivalrous. He’s very up on chivalry.’ Nick gave a hollow laugh. Jonathan chivalrous, Rebecca thought. I’ve yet to see it. ‘But I had to end things with Abigail,’ Nick went on, ‘I couldn’t cope with her. I know that sounds awful, I know Jonathan thinks I betrayed her and him, the whole family, but I couldn’t pretend. I’m not someone who can just grin and bear it; I’m not that sort of person.’
Rebecca let Nick’s words hang in the air, leaving her hand in his. She felt a sense of deep pity for him, for Abigail, even for Jonathan. It was an impossible situation they’d found themselves in, with no easy way out.
Thanks for reading. 🙂 If you would like to take part in WIPpet Wednesday, it’s easy. All you have to do is share a piece of your writing on your blog – old or new, it doesn’t matter. All we ask is that it (preferably) relates in some way to the date. Then add you name to this linky. And don’t forget to check out the other WIPpeteers’ offerings too.
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Elaine Jeremiah 
I like this new development…lots of room for tension and conflict. I have a feeling Rebecca’s loyalties are going to be tested. Great snippet 🙂
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Thanks Mel. Yes, hearing this doesn’t make things easier for Rebecca – that’s for sure! 🙂
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I really like this backstory, and I really sympathise with Nick. Sometimes in a crappy situation you just have to look out for yourself. I’m intrigued as to how this will affect Rebecca’s relationships with both of them.
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Thanks Emily. Glad you could relate to how Nick is feeling. And you’re right – sometimes we have to make the decision to put ourselves first, as hard as it can be. I’ve had to do that and it’s not easy, but sometimes it has to be done.
Rebecca’s relationship with both of them will change, but perhaps not in the way you might expect!
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The back story is great. It’ll help you a lot when you’re editing/revising this. It adds a whole new two or three layers to the story itself, and that’s what makes it the most interesting. Great job!
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Aw thanks Adrian, it’s good to have your support! 🙂 Yes I feel with this story there’re definitely more aspects to it than just romance. It’s fun creating all these back stories and developing the characters. Glad you appreciated the excerpt. 🙂
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This is really interesting. As with so many real-life situations, there’s no clear right and wrong, good guy/bad guy thing.
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Exactly – real life is shades of grey and I’m so glad that you can see that in my writing! Thanks for the comment. 🙂
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Nick’s feelings are very honest and relatable. I’m glad you included this backstory.
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Thank you Linda. It’s great to have your thoughts. I’m glad you could relate to Nick and how he’s feeling. I’ve been in similar situations myself and it’s not easy, but sometime’s you’ve just gotta put yourself first.
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Oooh… Makes sense. It goes the other way pretty often, too. With the family getting fed up and the partner-de-jour blaming them for not being more supportive. Nicely done. 🙂
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Thank you ReGi. Yes, I’m sure situations like that can occur at any angle if you see what I mean. It’s not easy on anyone when a family member is ill etc.
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Wow. I definitely wasn’t expecting that at all. This does add a whole new layer to things and maybe helps explain why Jonathan behaves the way he does. A very interesting back story.
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Aw thanks Amy. I actually came up with the idea for the fight before the reason for it, so I had to give it some thought. Glad you appreciated it. 🙂
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Great new complications, Elaine! I can sympathize with all of them in this tangle, and that’s a great place to get your reader to.
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Thanks a lot Ruth. It’s good to create a few complications for my characters, for sure. 🙂
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Wow. Powerful stuff. I look forward to reading more!
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Thanks Denise! Great to have your thoughts. 🙂
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So much potential for growth and conflict in this bit. I hate the reason for it, but I love the way it’s going to shape the rest of the story…
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Thanks Shan. I’ve kind of finished this story now, but it needs a LOT of editing and I feel that a lot of the time I haven’t developed potentially good story lines enough or used all the secondary characters as much as I could have. So there’s definitely a LONG way to go before it’s properly finished!
BTW looking forward to ‘hear’ what you have to say about ROTH! 😉
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