Trusting a Stranger by Kimberley Brown

that she knew what he meant.
    â€˜Pearl became an addict?’ she asked.
    â€˜It wasn’t her fault. Tomasi is a very wealthy man. Perhaps if I tell you a bit more of her life story, you’ll understand more clearly,’ Ethan said.
    Hayley nodded.
    â€˜Pearl was involved in a relationship with a successful lawyer. They were planning on getting married. But Tomasi wanted to show me what he was capable of.’
    â€˜He made her get addicted?’ Hayley asked.
    She was still staring at the screen. Ethan moved to the side of the room. His hand was shaking as he poured himself a drink. From here it looked like Pearl was staring back at Hayley, too. He took a deep mouthful of the whisky.
    â€˜How can someone do that?’ Hayley asked.
    He passed her a drink too. ‘Crack cocaine isn’t like other drugs,’ he said. ‘It’s instantly addictive. Pearl’s fiancé turned out to be addicted both to drugs and to a high-living lifestyle. Tomasi was able to find this out without too much trouble. And once he knew that, he was able to pay Pearl’s fiancé…’ His voice faded.
    Hayley was holding her glass near in her lap but she hadn’t taken a sip. Her face was turned towards Ethan, her mouth open in a horrified ‘O’.
    â€˜Pay him to do what?’ she prompted.
    â€˜Pay him to introduce Pearl to drugs,’ Ethan said, his eyes closed. It was a crushing story to tell, and never got any easier. ‘Once she tried the drug, it wasn’t long before her life was ruined.’
    â€˜Is she still with this man?’
    Ethan shook his head. ‘The relationship fell apart too. It was bound to. Eventually Pearl discovered that her fiancé had sold her health to Tomasi. But she wasn’t able to discover how to get her health back.’
    â€˜How awful.’
    â€˜People aren’t always kind about it. After all, Pearl did have some complicity in taking the drugs…’
    â€˜Some women will do anything for the man they love,’ Hayley said. ‘Especially if her fiancé presented it like it was no big deal. Like it was just something as harmless as a drink.’
    â€˜That’s pretty much what Pearl said he said.’ Ethan sat beside Hayley on the sofa. He was impressed by Hayley’s rapid comprehension of the situation, and also by the compassion that she showed.
    â€˜Is she all right now?’
    â€˜I hope she is.’
    â€˜You don’t know?’
    Ethan gazed down at his fingers. The truth was that this was something he felt guilty about, too. After all, just as Pearl was his only sibling, so he was hers. But she had made it very clear that she wanted to be left to her own resources. And she was an adult woman with the right to make her own choices about things like that.’
    â€˜I paid for her to go to rehab. She left half way through saying she’d prefer to do the rest on her own.’
    â€˜Do you think it helped?’
    â€˜I don’t know. She’s been in rehab before.’
    â€˜It didn’t work?’
    â€˜She didn’t really want to be there. She escaped. I had to go pick her up from hospital a couple of weeks after she disappeared. She’d taken an overdose. That time, she went back into rehab. She might be making progress. I don’t know.’
    â€˜How awful for her. For you too. And your parents can’t help?’
    â€˜They died in a car accident when I was a teenager. It was Pearl who looked after me then. She’s three years older than me.’
    He turned away from her for a moment, frightened to let too much of his pain show. Hayley was all but a stranger. He wanted to warn her about Tomasi, but he did not necessarily want to make her see how badly affected he was by all of this.
    â€˜I’ve never heard anything like it,’ Hayley said. ‘Do you think she’ll recover eventually?’
    â€˜The truth is, I don’t know if she will