The Wrong Woman

I reached for the phone about half a dozen times to call Maddie but stopped myself in time.

Yes I had been stupid, but I was still angry. It was the third day of no contact as I trudged into the office. Felicity looked up from her work but I barely acknowledged her. I wasn’t in the mood for small talk, so I didn’t even hear her at first.

“You okay?” I finally heard her say.

“Huh? Yeah I’m fine.” I almost stuttered. “So what do you want me to do?”

She paused for a moment as though she wanted to say something but seemed to change her mind.

“Data entry.” She said and I slowly nodded.

“Okaay.”

Felicity handed over a file and I logged into my computer. Before long I was typing away, my mind solely on the figures in front of me.

“Do you want a cup of tea?” The sound of Felicity’s voice broke my concentration.

“Yeah that would be nice.” I said. I had been working for an hour in silence and I kind of wanted a break. I leant back in my chair and watched her make the tea on a small counter at the end of the room and before long she placed a steaming hot mug in front of me.

“You seem a bit upset.” She said.

“Maddie and I are not talking.” I replied, pressing my finger onto the hot mug until I winced in pain.

“Oh?” Felicity looked surprised and I looked up to see her watching me closely. “You two have a fight?”

“One sided fight.” I corrected her. “I kind of yelled at her. Even threw my phone.”

I saw Felicity suppress a smile.

“Are you laughing at me? I asked.

“No… well maybe a little.”

“Thanks.” I retorted sarcastically, but I couldn’t help but smile too.

“I’m sure you’ll sort it out.” Felicity said.

“I wish someone would sort me out.” I said and almost burned my tongue after taking a big swig of tea.

Felicity regarded me for a few moments with wide eyes before I explained.

“We’ve never… you know…”

“What?”

“We’ve never fucked.” I said bluntly. “And it’s been driving me crazy.”

I watched as she almost choked on her tea.

“Don’t you think that’s a good thing? I mean you’ve only known her for a few months.”

“I fucked you the first night I met you.” I reminded her and she primly pursed her lips at me.

“Yes, but she’s just a kid.”

“She’s not much younger than me.” I grumbled.

Felicity sighed as we quietly drank our tea.

“I just think you should take it easy on her… “

“I have been!” I interjected. “Now you know why I was horny as fuck when I met you.”

Felicity’s eyes nervously averted to the door as though she were afraid someone would walk in at any moment.

“So now you know my excuse… what was your excuse?” I asked. It was a cheeky question but I was honestly curious. Why did she cheat on Campbell?

“I’m still trying to figure that one out.” She replied shooting me an unimpressed look.

“Bullshit. You know.” I said with a grin. “You fucking know. You kept coming back time and time again… or have you already forgotten?”

“Harry…”

“Okay, okay… I’ll leave you alone. Something to think about though…”

She abruptly stood up and walked over to the counter and stood there with her back turned to me with her head down and her shoulders slightly slumped. I heard a small whimper, and by then I was by her side.

“Hey.” I said, placing my hand on her shoulder. I made her turn to face me and I was surprised to see her eyes were full of tears.

“I don’t know why I did it.” She sniffled.

“Don’t cry.” I said, the tip of my thumb running over her cheek. “I was only kidding around.”

“I love Campbell,” She continued. “It’s just that he… he can be very hard to be with sometimes.”

“You don’t have to explain.”

“I didn’t plan on doing what I did with you… it just happened.”

“I never planned on it either.” I replied honestly.

“I guess I never expected to like you so much.”

I smiled at her and squeezed her shoulders.

“I like you too.” I told her. She gazed at me with sad eyes before taking a step backward.

“We’d better get back to work before someone walks in.” She said quietly.

“You sure you’re okay?” I asked as I made my way back to the desk.

Felicity nodded.

“I’m fine.” She said.

Two minutes later, she left the room and I did not see her until it was time for me to go.

X

I could see the look of nervousness as Maddie approached me. I leant against her car and watched her with what I hoped was a reassuring smile. She hugged her text books to her chest as she slowly came to a stop.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you.” I began. “I was totally out of line and I shouldn’t have done it.”

She stood there and just looked at me and I could detect a look of relief on her face.

“Forgive me?”

Her face broke into a smile and she stepped forward into my embrace.

“I just want you to trust me.” She murmured against my chest. “I love you…not him.”

“I know.” I murmured back as I smoothed her hair.

And I kind of did. What Maddie did not know was that fifteen minutes earlier I had been spying on them both during one of her tutorial lessons. I watched them from the corner of the window as Tomlinson stood at the blackboard and instructed her.

They couldn’t see me. If Maddie tilted her head slightly to the right she might have caught a glimpse of me, but she seemed too focussed on the blackboard and then on the book before her.

Tomlinson didn’t even glance my way. He was too busy droning on about algebra or whatever the hell he was teaching. He sat down at his desk and shuffled his papers around. I was just about to walk off and find Maddie’s car when I saw his eyes flit over to Maddie. He openly stared at her and I glanced over to see short skirt and bare legs on display. Maddie was completely unaware of the way he was watching, she was too busy chewing on her pen and trying to figure out a Math problem. I stood there and watched the bastard staring at her for the next five minutes or so. All this time, I had doubted Maddie, when I really should be looking out for him. He was the real threat.

“Want to come over for dinner? My Dad’s going to be there… but he’s going out afterwards.”

I paused for a moment and thought about Felicity. It was kind of weird having to keep facing her in all these situations, but there was nothing much I could do about it. Not unless I wanted to break up with Maddie.

“Okay, let’s go. I’ll follow you in my car.”

We drove to her house and I followed her up to the front door. I stood behind her as she unlocked the door and pulled down her skirt.

“What are you doing?” She asked puzzled.

“Your skirt’s too short, you know that?” I said. Maybe she didn’t realise it, but someone had to tell her. An image of Tomlinson eyeing her flashed through my mind and I felt a jolt of anger.

We entered the house and she dumped her books and bag on the floor. I couldn’t help but wrap my arms around her and hug her close from behind. It had only been a few days since I had kissed her, but it felt like months. I kissed the side of her neck and felt her squirm.

“That tickles.” She said.

I nipped at her again and pressed myself against her.

“Harry, my Dad’s here.” She giggled. She untangled herself from my embrace and made her way to the kitchen. I could smell something delicious in the air and wondered why I hadn’t noticed it in the first place. I walked in to see Felicity standing over the stove and we both froze for a moment, as though we hadn’t expected to see each other.

“Right on time.” She said, smiling at Maddie. “I was just about to serve dinner.”

“Is Dad here?” Maddie asked, peeking into the saucepan.

“Yes… he’s upstairs. He’ll be down any moment.” Felicity glanced at me briefly as she said this, before returning to the stove. I stood in the doorway awkwardly, only to feel someone bump into me.

“Harry.” A gruff voice sounded and I turned to see Campbell brush past me. “What in the world are you cooking, I could smell it from upstairs.”

“Just pasta sauce.” Felicity said looking a little embarrassed.

“Well it smells amazing.” Campbell responded. “Harry are you staying for dinner?”

“Uh-“ I said.

“Yes Daddy. Harry’s going to help me with my algebra tonight.”

Felicity and I both looked at Maddie in disbelief who smiled back broadly. Campbell was too busy trying to get past Felicity to taste her pasta sauce to notice. It wasn’t long before Felicity began to serve the spaghetti. I took a bite and closed my eyes. Who knew spaghetti and sauce could be so good. I felt like asking her a thousand questions. What the fuck did she put in it, being the first one, but I found myself staying quiet.

“This is heaven.” Campbell said. “Why haven’t you made this before?”

Felicity smiled in response and glanced at me. I could only smile back in agreement.

Conversation began to flow between Campbell and Maddie, and I just sat there and stuffed my face. Campbell began to go on about how the year was going so quickly and soon he was going to have to organise a party. I was wondering whether I was going to get seconds when he added.

“Special birthday coming up…”

I glanced up with interest and looked over at Maddie who seemed to look uncomfortable.

“We’re going to have to start organising the party soon.” Campbell continued. “Maybe Felicity can help.”

“A party?” I spoke up for the first time. “For what?”

“Madeline’s birthday.” Campbell said,

I looked at him confused. I had met Maddie only months earlier and she had distinctly told me that she had just turned eighteen. How could it be her birthday?

“Maddie’s birthday?” I repeated. Maddie opened her mouth to say something but seemed to change her mind.

“Yes.” Campbell said. “It’s not every day my daughter has her sweet sixteen.”

Notes