The Wrong Woman

Only a few seconds passed but it felt like an eternity as we gazed at each in confusion followed by a sick look of realisation.

“Felicity?” Campbell countered, placing his hand on her shoulder and she turned to look at him with a fake smile pasted on her face. I swallowed thickly before quickly glancing at Madeline. The sight of her wearing her frilly apron whilst examining the chocolate mousse almost broke my heart. I felt sick. Before I could think of a way to escape the room, Campbell spoke up.

“Harry, this is my partner Felicity.”

I stared at her blankly before I realised she had outstretched her hand. I recovered enough to shake her hand, the formal gesture making my head spin. I had fucked her every way but sideways and now here we were shaking hands like strangers.

“Nice to meet you.” She said smoothly, although I could clearly see the panicked look in her green eyes.

All I could do was nod politely.

“I’m afraid we missed out on dinner.” Campbell said placing his arm around her waist.

“Unless Maddie has any leftovers…”

“I’m not hungry.” Felicity responded quickly. “I-I… please excuse me for a moment.”

“You okay?” Campbell asked with a frown. My eyes zeroed in on the way he lightly touched her arm before they settled on her sombre face.

“I’m fine… I just need a moment.” She glanced at me briefly.

“If you’re smoking, then do it outside.” He said somewhat gruffly before she hurried off.

I watched as she left the kitchen and I wished I could follow her, right out of this house and right out of this situation. The clatter of a bowl and spoon being put before me snapped me out of it though.

“It’s not ready but it tastes pretty good.” Maddie smiled down at me and I stared at her blankly before looking down at the bowl of runny mousse.

“I’m game.” Maddie’s Father said settling down at the table opposite me. “How about you Harry?”

“Sure.” I mumbled. So much for first impressions, I couldn’t even manage to string a full sentence together. My mind was going at a hundred miles per hour as I spooned the liquid chocolate into my mouth.

“What do you think?” Maddie asked watching me closely.

“It’s delicious.” I mumbled even though I could barely taste it. I picked at it for a couple of minutes before looking up. “Maddie, where’s the bathroom again?”

“Down the hall on the left.” Maddie said looking at me strangely. I quickly stood up and made my way out of the kitchen and into the dark house. I looked around as I briskly walked before I finally caught sight of Felicity on the back patio. She saw me and looked as though she were about to bolt. I quickly stepped out onto the patio.

“Harry.” She said her voiced loaded with emotion. I watched as she shakily brought a cigarette to her lips.

“What in the world are you doing here?” She said.

“Maddie… she’s my girlfriend… she’s- “I put my hand on Felicity’s shoulder and was surprised when she shook it off.

“Take your hands off me!” She cried and I couldn’t help but glance around nervously.

“Felicity-“ I began to say and touched her again to calm her down, but she freaked out again, hitting out at me. We fought for a moment, and I tried to subdue her by holding onto her hands but her hand broke away to scratch me across the face.

“What the fuck was that for?” I hissed. “Calm down. We both knew were seeing other people.”

“Not like this… not like this Harry.”

“You think I’m not freaking out too?”

She struggled under my grip until I finally let her go.

“Pull yourself together.” I told her.

“Break up with her.” Felicity said firmly.

“What?”

“Break up with her.” She repeated. “Harry she’s just a kid!”

I looked at her confused before she looked over my shoulder.

“You’d better get inside before they come looking for you.” She said and I blankly nodded my head. I gave up on finding the bathroom and returned to the kitchen where I sat down.

“Everything okay Harry?” Campbell asked peering at me.

“Yes sir.” I replied not meeting his eyes.

Soon after I looked up to see Felicity return to the kitchen looking flushed. I could tell she had been crying and I could only sit there eating that damn mousse, feeling totally powerless.

“Honey, Maddie saved some for you.” Campbell said gesturing to the bowl next to him.

Felicity reluctantly sat down directly opposite me, but could barely look me in the eye. She stared down at her dessert and then began to eat mechanically.

“So Harry, how’s school going for you?”

“School?” I repeated and all I could do was stare at him wide eyed before glancing at Felicity. She gazed back at me not even disguising the look of shock on her face. Felicity thought I was twenty three and it looked like Maddie had lied to her Dad and told him I was eighteen. Fucking awesome. Felicity opened her mouth to speak but I stared her down until she changed her mind.

“Have you got any idea what you want to do after graduation?” Campbell pressed.

“Not really.” I said lamely.

“No?” Campbell asked a frown on his face. ”College maybe?”

“Oh yeah. College.” I nodded even though I had no intention of ever going back to school. I shot a look at Maddie who simply smiled at me encouragingly.

“You’d better start thinking about it… graduation will be here before you know it.”

I picked at my dessert for a moment hoping he’d change the subject. A few minutes of awkward silence followed before Maddie began to chatter on about something. Every now and then Felicity’s sad eyes would meet mine and we just looked at each other as if to say

“What the fuck are we doing here?” Half an hour more of this was all I could take before I spoke up.

“I think I’d better get going… I-I have the early shift tomorrow.” I lied.

“Early shift?” Campbell asked curiously.

“Supermarket… I work there part time.”

“Oh.”

It was an unimpressed sound and I responded by scraping back my chair.

“I’ll drive you home.” Maddie instantly stood up.

“No you won’t young lady.” Campbell said firmly. “This kitchen is a mess. I’ll drive Harry home.”

“I can drive Harry home.” Felicity spoke up. My head snapped her way and I watched as she studiously ignored me. “I need to drop off some files at Callie’s house anyway. She called me earlier to tell me she needed them for Monday.”

“Why is that girl so disorganised?” Campbell grumbled.

“It’s not her fault… it just came up today.”

“Well then you’d better drop Harry off on the way.”

A part of me wanted to have time alone with Felicity. The other part noticed the thunderous look on her face and was not looking forward to the fallout. But how was this all my fault anyway? I had no clue who she was… how was I supposed to know I was dating her boyfriend’s daughter? I reluctantly stood up and bid everyone good night. Under Campbell’s watchful eye I gave Maddie a quick hug.

“Thanks for dinner tonight.”

“Are you sure you have to leave this early?” She asked.

“Yeah, got to work tomorrow remember?”

She gave me a doubtful look but did not push the issue. Before long I was walking out onto the winding driveway with Felicity silently walking by my side.

“I don’t believe this.” She said under her breath.

“Don’t say a fucking word.” I muttered to her. I glanced over my shoulder to see Maddie still standing at the door, blowing me a playful kiss. I gave a small wave before we reached Felicity’s car.

The car was cold and seemed to match the tension between us. Felicity took a deep breath before pulling out onto the winding driveway and through the large open gates. She drove in stony silence and I didn’t even question her when I realised she wasn’t even driving me home. We ended up at a deserted car park that faced the beach where she haphazardly parked.

“Did you know?” She asked quietly.

“Know what?” I asked slightly out of breath.

“Did you know who I was?”

“No… I still don’t.” I said. “I mean, how the fuck was I supposed to know who you were? I met you at the bar remember?”

“I need to get some air.” Felicity suddenly said as she wrenched the car door open and stepped out into the car park. I followed her but she didn’t stop there, walking right out onto the sand.

“Felicity!” I called and she suddenly spun around to face me.

“How old are you?” She demanded. “Are you only eighteen?”

“No.” I said. “I’m twenty.”

“Twenty.” She repeated. “You’re only twenty.”

“I thought if I told you then you would’ve stopped seeing me.” I said honestly.

“Twenty years old.” She kept repeating. “I don’t believe this.”

“You thought I was twenty three. What’s the difference between twenty or twenty three?”

“The difference is I hate being lied to Harry.”

“We've all been lying.” I muttered.

“I’m going to be sick.” She said, her eyes welling with tears.

“Listen, pull yourself together.” I said trying to make my voice heard above the sound of the crashing waves of the ocean. “Do you want to be with him?”

“Yes.” She said so quietly that I had to read her lips. I placed my hands on her arms to steady her, and she made no move to push me away like before.

“Well I want to be with Maddie too.” I said. My eyes searched her face for some kind of reaction but she just gazed at me with her wide hazel eyes.

“We can do this.” I said, trying to convince myself as well as her. “They don’t need to know about us.”

“So this is it then?” She said softly.

“Yeah I guess.” I said taking a deep breath. We stood there just staring at each other before I closed the gap between us. I couldn’t help it. I kissed her lips and she easily melted in my embrace. My hands caressed her curvy body as I savoured our last kiss. It lasted longer than I expected, and I found myself getting carried away until I felt Felicity push me away.

“Okay.” She said. “We can do this.”

She nodded to herself before she turned to leave.

“I’d better get you home.”

The ride to my house was silent and all I could do was stare out the window, even when she pulled up outside my door.

“I don’t want anybody to get hurt Harry.” Felicity’s voice broke into my thoughts.

“Neither do I.” I replied. “And they won’t.”

I squeezed her hand reassuringly before I stepped out of the car. Once I reached my door I looked back and caught a flash of her face looking back at me before she abruptly drove away.

Notes

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