The Wrong Woman

“What?” Felicity said turning pale.

“He’s right there.” I said. “No, don’t look! He’s looking right at us”

“You had your hand on me.” Felicity said looking panicked.

“Chill out.” I said. “It’s not like I had my tongue down your throat.”

But despite my cool exterior, I was unnerved. What was he doing here? Why did he always seem to turn up when I least expected? I snuck a look to see his attention had been diverted; his girlfriend was now by his side, and they were now deep in conversation. Jenna suddenly interrupted my line of vision and then ended up blocking my view as she returned with the drinks.

I left them alone soon after, to set up onstage and get ready for my gig. Felicity and Jenna sat at a table toward the front and to my annoyance Eleanor and Louis sat at the back. I kept my eyes down as I strummed my guitar and tried to hide my disappointment at this turn of events. I had hoped to spend a little time with Felicity tonight- even just a chat would have been nice. But between Jenna and Louis, it didn’t look like anything of the sort was going to happen.

I only looked at Louis once or twice throughout my set and both times he looked bored. I didn’t know if it was because of my performance or because of Eleanor, who seemed to be dominating their conversation. Either way, he looked like he would rather be somewhere else and kept checking his phone.

Felicity kept her eyes firmly on me, never once turning back to look at Louis.

By the time I reached halfway through my set and I was on a break, Felicity apologetically told me she had to leave. She had not looked happy since Louis had turned up and I could tell she was eager to leave without having to bump into him.

“I’ll see you at work.” Felicity said.

“I’m probably coming over on the weekend... to see Maddie.” I told her, briefly glancing at Jenna. Felicity merely nodded quickly and after awkwardly returning my friendly hug, she left.
I reluctantly finished the rest of my set, relieved to see that Louis was nowhere in sight. I sat down at the bar, when the bar manager Evan sat down beside me.

“You okay?” He asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“You’ve looked a bit off tonight… just checking to see if everything is okay.”

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” I muttered, not realising that what I had been feeling on the inside must have been obvious to everyone else.

“I still think you should have one of these.” Evan said kindly. He ordered me a scotch and placed it in front of me. Before I could thank him, he was being whisked away by one of his employees and I was left alone. But not for long. As I sat there and swirled the scotch in my glass, thinking what a bust this night had turned out to be, I heard the unmistakable voice of Louis Tomlinson behind me.

“We’ve got to stop bumping into each other.” He said lightly.

I grunted in response and stared at my tumbler, not even bothering to look at him.

“I didn’t know you worked here.” He said.

“That’s funny, because you always seem to track me down.” I grumbled.

“Why so defensive? Not trying to hide something are you?” His tone was pleasant, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out he was trying to get a rise out of me.

“Me? I could say the same about you.” I shot back and I watched him stiffen in response. It didn’t stop him from taking a seat on the bar stool next to me though.

“I saw you with Maddie’s stepmother.” He said.

“You know better than I do that her name’s Felicity. And she’s not Maddie’s stepmother, she’s Campbell’s girlfriend.” I said evenly. I was not going to let him think he had anything over me. I had to play it cool. Yes, I only had placed my hand on her arm, but had he caught the sexual tension between us? I know I had felt it, but I don’t know how obvious it had been to everyone else.

“Where’s Campbell then?” Louis craned his neck as if to look around the bar. I shrugged my shoulders and he looked momentarily amused. “That’s nice of Felicity to come see you sing.”

I raised the glass to my lips because if I didn’t have a mouthful of alcohol in my mouth, I knew I’d say something I regretted.

“You both looked pretty friendly.” Louis continued. “I bet Maddie would love to know how nice and friendly you both are.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I said, trying not to sound defensive.

“I think you do.” Louis persisted.

“Well then.” I said taking a deep breath. “I bet Campbell would love to know how you’ve been tutoring his daughter free of charge and outside of school hours, for how many months now?”

I paused for a moment to gauge his reaction and was glad to see how easy he was to read. I caught him tensing up slightly as he waited for my next missive.

“I’m sure he’d love to know why you’re giving up your free time to tutor a young girl.” I said. “And I bet he would love to know how you just happen to know his girlfriend…”

I tried not to smile when I saw his jaw tighten, but I think I failed. He was so easy to wind up, that I found myself almost enjoying it. And I wasn’t about to stop there.

“You know his girlfriend, right?” I questioned him innocently. “You guys dated a long time ago, or something?”

Louis regarded me silently, not even bothering to answer my question.

“I wonder what Maddie would think.” I went on. “That would kind of put her off… knowing you once dated her potential stepmother.”

“So what if I dated Felicity?” Louis shrugged. “That was four years ago. What you’re doing is much more interesting than whatever happened between me and Felicity.”

“What? You never got past first base?” I joked, but Louis just stared at me blankly.

“Looks like you have.” Louis said finally.

“Prove it.” I said. “Prove it.”

Louis and I stared at each other in a tense silence that lasted for what seemed forever.

“You have nothing on me. I’d be a bit more worried about Campbell finding out about you and Maddie… and you and Felicity. Maybe if he did, you wouldn’t get to see Maddie anymore.” I then paused again. “But wait. You’re not tutoring Maddie anymore, are you? What happened Louis? Did you scare her off like you did Felicity?”

“She’ll be back.” Louis said. “And when she does, there won’t be a damn thing you can do about it.”

“Your obsession with teenage girls is kind of scary.” I said shaking my head. He opened his mouth to respond, but changed his mind when his girlfriend suddenly appeared at his side. Without another word, he placed his arm around her and led her away. I shook my head and then drained my glass.

I didn’t think Louis was going to run to Maddie and tell her anything.

And I felt as though Louis also knew I wasn’t about to run to Maddie and tell her about his connection with Felicity.

My gut feeling told me we were both going keep our mouths shut.

For now.

Notes