JULIE
I must have dozed off, because the next thing I knew, sunlight was streaming into the bedroom through a gap in the curtains and it was morning.
Disoriented, I sat up and looked around the room to get my bearings; the reassuring sight of Junior sleeping soundly in his cot brought back memories of the previous night – Kenneth had come over, we had had dinner and I had brought Junior to bed, while he went to wash the dishes. Where was he now?
Getting up quietly so as not to wake Junior, I left the room to go and investigate. The aroma of freshly brewing coffee hit me as soon as I got into the corridor and I followed it to the kitchen, where I found Kenneth taking a pot of coffee off the stove.
“Good morning; you’re right in time for coffee,” he said brightly, like it was the most normal thing in the world for him to be standing in my kitchen in the morning.
“Good morning; what happened?” I asked, though what I really meant was ‘what are you doing here?’
“You fell asleep when you took Junior to bed, and knowing how tired you were, I didn’t have the heart to wake you to lock up; so, I grabbed a blanket and pillow from the next room and crashed on the couch,” he explained with a shrug.
I knew I should be touched and grateful, but the thought of him seeing me asleep and us spending the night under the same roof left me uncomfortable and feeling like my space had been invaded.
However, of course I couldn’t say that; so, I settled for: “That must have been uncomfortable; you should have woken me.”
“No; you needed the rest, and besides, the couch was surprisingly comfy,” he said. “So, a cup of coffee?”
If there was ever a time I needed a ‘pick-me-up’, it was now.
“Thank you; coffee sounds wonderful,” I nodded gratefully.
DIANE
I could not wait to tell Tracy about what I had seen on my way to the boutique; these sorts of scenarios were her forte, and although she had disapproved of my previous actions in relation to David’s whore, I was certain she would agree with me that this new bit of information was priceless and needed to be exploited.
The question was how.
“Wow! This is the second morning in a row you’ve come in looking like the cat that ate the canary; David really must be doing something right in the bedroom to have you bouncing about like a teenager in love,” she teased me when I walked in.
“Well, I won’t argue about him doing something right in the bedroom, because he definitely is, but that’s not what’s gotten me so excited today,” I laughed.
“Then what? Go on, tell all,” she urged impatiently.
“His whore is cheating on him! Can you believe that?”
“What!”
I quickly brought her up to speed, explaining how I had taken the side roads to avoid traffic, concluding with what I had seen.
“Are you sure it was her?”
“Of course I’m sure!”
“Fine, but how do you know she’s sleeping with this guy?” she continued skeptically.
“You should have seen them! Trust me; she’s definitely sleeping with him.”
“Alright, let’s assume you’re right, and she is in fact sleeping with him; what are you going to do about it? Think about it, you can hardly walk up to David and tell him what you saw, because one, he’ll probably think you’re just making it up to make her look bad and won’t believe you, and two, he’ll wonder what you were doing driving past her apartment block after everything that happened, and think you’re stalking her.”
“I know, but I can’t do nothing about it! I’ve got to find some way to tell him. What if that baby isn’t even his? After all, this guy was carrying him and they were both clearly comfortable with each other, which means the baby knows him. For all I know, that whore could be milking David for money to take care of another man’s kid!”
“Hmm, well, that’s a possibility,” she conceded thoughtfully. “However, you don’t know for a fact that that’s what she’s doing; so, before you even think of going to David with this, first, you need to have more than ‘I saw your girlfriend with some guy’. Find out who he is, if he’s actually the kid’s father, and then go to David.”
I knew she was right; I needed more before I went to David.
DAVID
Just like I had the day before, I worked quickly, keeping an eye on the time and ensuring that I was ready to leave at five on the dot.
I could tell my secretary was surprised by my apparent eagerness to leave, for I had the reputation of being a bit of a workaholic, and had never been one to leave the office as soon as the official work-day ended.
She was, however, professional enough not to remark on it, instead smiling up at me politely and wishing me a nice evening.
Julie was feeding Junior in the living room while watching TV when I walked into the apartment.
“Hi,” I greeted her quietly, not wanting to distract Junior from his feeding.
“Hi,” she answered coldly, barely sparing me more than a brief glance.
I noticed there was no scent of food coming from the kitchen this time.
“You’re looking better today; I take it you managed to get some rest,” I remarked, hoping to break the ice.
“Yes, I did,” she answered stiffly. “No thanks to you.”
I sighed as I sat down; she obviously was not going to make this easy.
“I deposited some money on the account for Junior this morning,” I tried another tact.
“I got the notification on my phone – thank you,” she replied dryly, then turned her attention back to the TV.
She next spoke to me when Junior finished feeding: “I’m going to prepare his bath water; do you want to hold him while I do so?”
“Sure,” I nodded brightly, grateful for even this most basic communication, as she was the one who had initiated it. It was pitiful.
She handed him over, then went off to our bathroom, returning in less than ten minutes.
“It’s time for his bath,” she announced coldly, as she stretched out her hands for him.
She did not ask if I wanted to stay and wait for him to finish that, or if I wanted a cup of coffee, or glass of juice as I waited, and the message was clear – I was not forgiven yet.
As she headed back to the bathroom with Junior, I stood up and headed for the front door; she did not even glance back once as I left the apartment.
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