The Wrong Woman

“I need to go to work earlier than I thought tonight.” I said to Madeline as soon as I got into the car.

“Oh.” Maddie’s face fell. She had been expecting to spend a couple of hours with me before I left for my gig tonight.

“Yeah.” I said, rubbing the back of my head. “Evan just called and he needs some help… you know I can’t say no to him.”

Maddie smiled and nodded. She knew that I owed Evan a lot for this job, so she didn’t even question me. I found myself smiling at her and caressing her hair.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” I said and she nodded again as she started the car.

Maddie left me in front of my apartment block and I nervously glanced around the street to see it was virtually empty. No Felicity in sight. I walked into my flat and checked the time. It was 4pm, and I needed to be at the bar in three hours. I started pulling my clothes off and entered the bathroom.

The hot water hit my back as the room filled up with steam. Ten minutes later I was drying myself off when I heard a loud knock on the door. I wrapped the towel around my waist and made my way to the door. I didn’t even check to see who it was, I just opened it.

“Hi.” Felicity said with a soft smile. I saw her eyes take in my wet hair and still damp torso as she walked in.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Yes I think so.” She said, and I studied her closely, noticing that she wore little make up, and her face looked strained.

“Are you sure?” I asked, my hand reaching out to touch her arm.

“No.” She said taking a step forward and my arms instinctively lifted to encircle her waist. I
inhaled the scent of her now familiar perfume as I hugged her close.

“Tell me what’s wrong.” I said, wanting to know why this usually vivacious woman was now trembling in my arms.

“No.” I heard her murmur against me chest.

“Then how am I supposed to help you?” I asked and she raised her head to look at me. A faint smile came over her lips as she looked at me.

“You’re sweet.” She said. “But if you want to help me, just let me stay the night.”

“Uh okay.” I replied. “I have to go to work soon. Wanna come?”

She shook her head and moved away from me.

“Do you mind if I stay here?”

“No… make yourself comfortable.” I gestured toward the kitchen. “Are you hungry? Not sure what I have in the fridge… do you want order in?”

Felicity smiled up at me as she made herself comfortable on the couch.

“No, I’m fine.”

Her voice was so soft and sad that I couldn’t help but ask.

“You sure you’re okay?”

Felicity nodded, and I turned to get dressed and ready for work. She was lying on the couch
watching television when I said goodbye.

“I might be late.” I told her. “If you want to sleep… well you know where the bedroom is.”

“I do.” She said with a smirk and we couldn’t help but smile at each other.

As I sang that night I found that I could barely focus. I kept thinking about Felicity and how sad she looked. During my first break I tried calling her, but got no answer. By the time I finished my set, I fobbed off Evan who asked me to hang around for drinks.

“I didn’t see your friend here tonight.” He added with a smile.

“Friend?”

“That woman that you keep leaving with every week?” He said. I must have looked a bit dumbfounded because he now laughed. “I won’t say a word mate. Your secret is safe with me.”

I came home soon after to find my “secret” fast asleep on the couch with the TV on low. She looked so vulnerable that I paused in the doorway to watch her for a moment. I then made my way toward her and nudged her gently.

“Come to bed.” I whispered to her and her eyes fluttered open. She looked disoriented for a moment, but her eyes then focussed on me and she rose from the couch with my help. I gathered her into my arms and carried her to my bedroom and placed her on my bed. Her eyes closed again as I pulled off her jeans and top, leaving her in her bra and panties. I quickly undressed and climbed into bed with her and hugged her close. She slept, and I lay there holding her and thinking how it had been ages since someone had slept in the same bed as me. It felt kind of good to have a warm body next to me and it didn’t take long for me to fall into a deep sleep.

X

I opened my eyes the next morning to find myself looking directly into Felicity’s face. She quickly lowered her eyes and it dawned on me that she had been watching me sleep.

“Morning.” I said huskily.

“Good morning.” Felicity replied and she looked as though she was slightly embarrassed to be caught in the act.

“Sleep well?” I asked.

“Yes I did.” She replied.

She was so close that I couldn’t help but kiss her.

“Good.” I said and then started when a loud knocked sounded at the front door. I froze for a moment, and we both just stared at each other.

“Are you expecting anyone?” She said, self-consciously pulling the sheets up to cover her body.

“Nope.” I said as I reluctantly got out of bed.

I looked down and saw that I was not only wearing my boxer shorts, but also a distinctive bulge. With a shrug I headed to the front door. Whoever was knocking on my door at this early hour deserved a little surprise. The knocking continued as I reached for the doorknob and I found myself muttering a few profanities until I saw who was on the other side.

“What are you doing here?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“I know it’s early… did I wake you?”

“Yeah-“I stopped talking when she pushed past me to walk inside my flat. Oh fuck this is not how I wanted things to turn out. She had only taken a couple of steps but my hand shot out to take her arm.

“Have you had breakfast? Maybe we can go to the café down the road.” I said the first thing that came to my mind.

“You don’t want to hang out here?” She asked.

“Nah, I’ve got nothing in the fridge… I feel like some pancakes.” I led her toward the front door. “Give me a minute to get changed and I’ll meet you down there.”

“Okay, okay.” Maddie said looking slightly puzzled as I shut the door on her. I checked the spyhole to make sure she had walked away before returning to my bedroom to find Felicity scrolling through her phone.

“Who was it?” She asked.

“Nobody.” I said shortly, pulling on my jeans.

“It sounded like a girl.”

“Yeah it was a girl.” I gruffly admitted not meeting her gaze.

“Was it your girlfriend?” Felicity suddenly asked, and I found myself turning to frown at her.

“So what if it was?” I said.

“I didn’t know you had a girlfriend.” She said and I couldn’t figure out whether her tone was accusing or if she was just making conversation. I was annoyed enough to think it was the former.

“Well you never fucking asked.” I retorted. “You’re the one who said we didn’t have to know anything about each other.”

“It is what it is…” She said softly.

“Damn straight.” I said. “I have to go and meet up with her now… do you mind hanging around here for a while before you go?”

I didn’t want her leaving straight away and “accidentally” bumping into me and Maddie.

“No.”

She looked surprised at my sudden change in mood and I couldn’t help but feel like an asshole; but this close call had left me on edge.

“Okay then.” I said but I didn’t make a move. I looked down at her lying there tangled in my sheets and I could feel my expression soften.

“I’ll call you okay?” I said and she nodded. I winked at her as I left the room, pulling on my T-shirt as I strode across the living room and out the door.

I found Maddie sitting at the café with a plate of pancakes before her.

“Surprise!” She grinned up at me.

“Thanks Baby.” I kissed her on the lips as I sat next to her.

“Your flat wasn’t that messy.” She said and I turned to her quizzically.

“Huh?” I couldn’t manage to say anything else with my mouth full of pancakes.

“I’m saying I don’t know why you pushed me out of your flat so quickly… it wasn’t that messy.” She repeated as she popped a strawberry in her mouth.

Maddie knew how I always stressed about keeping my flat tidy. When I first brought her to the flat I had been nervous she’d look down on me, especially after hearing about her mansion of a house, complete with swimming pool. It made me self-conscious sometimes, although she had never really made me feel like that.

“I just felt like getting out of the flat.” I said. “I was about to leave when you knocked on the door.”

Maddie seemed to accept my excuse and we sat in silence for a while as we ate. I happened to glance at her and see her blue eyes widen as she looked over my shoulder.

“What?” I asked. “What is it?”

“Mr. Tomlinson.” Maddie breathed and I could tell that he must have been the last person she expected to see on a weekend. I looked over my shoulder to see Maddie’s teacher from school. He caught my gaze and then glanced at Maddie before approaching our table.

“Hello Madeline.”

“H-hi Mr. Tomlinson.” She said nervously and I couldn’t help but glance from him to her with curiosity. He didn’t even acknowledge my presence, his gaze solely focused on Maddie. The guy must have been at least twenty five years old. Didn’t he have anything better to do than hassle students on a weekend?

“How have you been going with the algebra revision I gave you?” He asked.

“I um…I’ve been having a little trouble with it.” Maddie admitted.

“Well maybe we should consider some after school tutoring hmm?” He suggested.

I purposefully knocked my fork over and it fell to the floor with a loud clatter, forcing Mr. Tomlinson to turn his attention to me. His eyes met my insolent gaze and he looked me up and down as though he were sizing me up. He then turned back to Maddie as though I was just a mere annoyance.

“Come see me after school on Monday and we’ll discuss it.” He said.

“Okay.” Maddie responded in a small voice.

“Enjoy your weekend.” Tomlinson said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. He then walked away before anyone could answer.

“What a fucking tool.” I muttered as he walked to the front counter and placed his order.

“I don’t have a clue about algebra.” Maddie wailed. “Can you help me with it?”

“Don’t look at me, I’ve got no idea.” I told her.

“He’s going to make me stay back after school every day.” She moaned.

“So tell him no.” I shrugged.

“I can’t. He’ll tell my parents… “She said. “But I don’t want to stay back… he makes me so nervous.”

“Why?” I asked suspiciously.

“He just does.” Maddie said.

She fell silent and I could tell she was watching him at the counter. I saw her eyes lower and I assumed he must have caught her staring. She turned pink and began to pick at her food.

“So what are we doing today?” I asked in a bid to distract her.

“I don’t know. What do you want to do?” She said quietly.

“Whatever you want.” I told her wanting to make her happy.

“Want to come over to my house for a swim?” She blurted.

“What?” I said. “You want me to come over?”

“Yeah.” But her voice suddenly sounded uncertain.

“Maybe you should ask your Daddy first.” I said.

“Okay I might just do that.” She shot back and I raised my eyebrow. I wasn’t used to feisty
Maddie. “When are you free for dinner?”

“What? You’re going to invite me for dinner now too?” I asked.

“Yeah, why not?”

Oh fuck.

Notes