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Kath waited until the end of the afternoon before she
asked the question.
"Who was the girl in the restaurant?"
James kept his eyes on his computer screen and tried
to sound innocent and distracted. "What girl?"
"The one you were talking to when I arrived, before
you noticed me."
James pretended to think. "I wasn't talking to
anyone."
Kath gazed at him, like a patient mother. "Let
me see. She was short, petite, she had blond hair below
the shoulder, she was about 25 but it's hard to be sure
because her back was to me most of the time, she wore
blue jeans and an orange fleece. Still got amnesia?"
"Kath, I wasn't talking to anyone. That place
was teaming with people and you were on the other side
of the room."
"And you looked guilty as hell as soon as you
spotted me. Now, tell the truth."
James sighed. It was time to tell her the truth.
"She was the girl who knocked me over yesterday
and then took me to the hospital. She had a job a block
away and she noticed me in the street. It was pure coincidence.
She's a student. She doesn't seem to have much money
so I took her to lunch. It's that simple. I didn't want
you to know because I didn't want you to tell Debs.
You know how she is. There's no need to upset her."
"Truth?"
"Hey, total truth. Come on, I have lunch with
you, don't I?"
"Debbie's met me."
"If she met Sue that would be OK?"
"So her name's Sue?"
James hadn't meant to let the name slip. Somehow it
felt safer when Sue was anonymous.
"If you hurt Debbie you know I'll never forgive
you."
"Kath! Why do you think I'm going to hurt Deb?
This is crazy. Her first husband made her ultra-sensitive
and I pay the price. I buy someone lunch and all of
a sudden I'm cheating?
No!"
He grabbed his coat from the hook on the back of the
door.
"I have to keep secrets. I don't have any choice.
Then I get caught out and I come out the villain. Do
you think that's fair? Well, FYI, I'm going out for
a cup of coffee. I'll be in next door, by myself. Come
and watch through the window if you want."
He stormed out.
He was too angry to wait for the elevator. He raced
down the stairs, ignoring the jolts of pain in his arm.
In the deli he ordered decaf and a slice of lemon pie
that really needed more lemon, and sat on a stool in
the window watching the world go about its business.
By the time he'd finished he was beginning to calm down.
He regretted yelling at Kath. She was a great friend.
His life with Debbie was very happy indeed but often
it felt like walking on eggshells. Her first marriage
had been bad, and that kind of thing was hard to get
over. In James she had found the most faithful of men,
but the background of suspicion still showed through.
Debbie was capable and supportive, kind and gentle,
funny, sexy and adventurous. Those last two worked particularly
well in combination. Debbie was all the things he'd
hoped for and one or two he'd never expected.
Her first marriage had run smoothly for three years
until she discovered that her husband, a man of more
charm than substance, enjoyed a series of affairs. She
was aware of some of them. God knows how many others
he'd concealed. He claimed to stay late at the office,
but really he was with a receptionist. He'd traveled
a lot, with a sales executive called Samantha. Debbie
met her once. She thought Samantha had a fat ass but
evidently Peter found her appealing. At the tennis club
he'd arranged private sessions with a coach called Cindy
who showed her crotch. In their apartment block he'd
seduced a frustrated neighbor. And everybody, everybody,
knew what was happening except Debbie.
The shame was unbearable. On the night she left him
he announced that he was moving in with two attendants
he met on a flight to Europe. Now wasn't that just perfect?
No one else, not the biggest rat any of her friends
had dated in college, had organized a love nest like
that.
And why did it have to be that particular airline?
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