Deceptive Bends

I was sitting at my laptop in the kitchen when she came back. She looked hot and sweaty, her hair slightly mussed, as if she had carelessly run her hand through her strawberry blond hair because she had no brush. Her blouse was damp under her armpits and down through her cleavage. Her shortish skirt looked a little crumpled, not her usual style at all, she had always been very precise in her outfits, no creases, no stains, no marks. Everything neatly pressed, held in place, hair and makeup perfectly applied. Tonight, well, this morning she looked crumpled, like she'd rushed back from wherever without time to tweak and tease her makeup and hair back into shape. She obviously hadn't expected me to still be awake and downstairs; it was as if she'd timed it to find me in bed, asleep, her bedside lamp lit so she could easily navigate the bedroom and en-suite. But I was neither asleep or upstairs; I was here in the kitchen with my laptop perched in front of me.

"Oh! I thought you'd be in bed by now. I did say don't wait up for me, silly boy."

She sounded almost apologetic, or maybe a little rattled.

"You sound a little rattled, everything okay?"

"Yes, fine, just tired and I guessed so would you be too."

I glanced at the clock, twelve thirty, late for her, even on a girls' night out.

"Bit later tonight, everything alright."

"Yes, fine, fine, it was a good evening." She looked tense, almost afraid.

"You seem tense, almost as if you're frightened. Are you sure everything's okay?"

Her smile was brittle; she was wound up, tighter than a spring. She couldn't meet my eyes; her gaze flitted here and there around the kitchen.

"How were the girls? All okay, living the vida loca?"

She smiled, a little too many teeth showing though, so false and I knew she was going to lie again.

"Yes, all great, all bumbling along merrily, fine, fine, fine." She was sweating again; I saw her hand tremble slightly, the hitch in her breath. She made for the sink and, taking a glass from the cupboard above the sink, managed to pour a glass of water, without trembling too much. Holding the tap mechanism a little too tightly, though, as if it would hold her up

"Good, hey, was Clare there?"

"Mmmhuh!" She managed to emit a positive noise through the water she was drinking, nodding her head slightly.

"So Clare was there? And Izzy and Kate and Suzy?"

Putting the empty glass down, she nodded, then wiped the back of her hand across her mouth. "All there and in fine form." She was definitely not sure what was happening. She had no plan B, which was very careless of her.

She looked panicked; I looked at her steadily,

"You look worried, are you sure everything is okay?"

"Yes, yes, yes, damn you, everything is fine just fine. Now, can we just leave it, please? I'm tired."

"Hmm, I was wondering why you seem so worried. I mean, did something happen to your car. I was very concerned as your phone was switched off and then, twenty minutes after you left, Kate phoned with Suzy; they were at Izzy's waiting for Clare to arrive?"

She looked up and her face flushed.

"Yeah, I knew I was going to be late, but I couldn't phone as I was driving and I switched my phone off since we still don't have hands-free in the car." She glared at me. So this is my problem, yeah, it's my fault, because you didn't have hands-free in the car you bought with your bonus. Without consulting me or giving me a heads up. Just turned up in a Z4 and bragged about how you made the big money now.

"Well, this is strange, because Kate wanted to speak to you, and I said you were on your way. She seemed confused as you'd cried off again, like last week and the week before. So tell me truthfully, where were you tonight?"

The startled deer in the headlights look, the mouth opening, the big eyes bugged out.

"You seem to not know what to say, so let me take a guess: you were with Roger the fucker from work you've been screwing for the last month. At the First Class Inn in Conningsby. You were having him fuck the arse off you, while I sat at home, not knowing that my wife was cheating on me, but worried sick you might have been in an accident. So I checked the news feeds: no major accidents, nothing at the local hospital, the police had nothing. So where were you? Well, you put your phone on to come home and I still had "find my phone" turned on. Boom, suddenly there you were in the hotel car park. All neatly showing on the map in real-time. I phoned and surprise surprise, Mr and Mrs Roger Adams had a room booked. I just put two and two together, but I'd like you to confirm that this is about right? You were fucking good old Roger big bollocks tonight. Lost track of time and had to rush home? No time for a shower or to tidy up, so have you still got his cum leaking into your knickers, babe? Do I need to check how wet your crotch is, as his sperm slowly drips out of you?"

She sank down onto the floor back to the units, her mouth open, hands hitting the floor, her legs open, her red bikini knickers soiled in the crotch, the wet patch now running back towards her arse. Her hands lifted to her face. I stood and walked past her. I went upstairs and retrieved the four bags and holdall I'd packed for her. They held her clothes, her jewellery, her potions, lotions and bottles, hair spray, body spray, oils and emollients, every piece of body care she needed. I used her spare key to open her car; I carefully stacked each case and the holdall into the boot space. Walking back in, I took both her coats from the coat rack and laid them on top of her cases. I didn't lock the car; I just dropped the keys into the triangle of her skirt, as she began to close her legs to stand.

"I packed everything, so you can go now. I'll see a solicitor tomorrow to get things organized. I'll send the papers to your workplace, it'll just be a plain brown envelope, nothing out of the ordinary. I'd be grateful if you read it and sign and return it to the solicitor. I suggest you get one too, especially if you decide to contest it. I'll leave it to you to talk to your parents. They'll need to know. Thank you for the last eighteen years; it's been a blast, up to now. But it's over and done. Goodbye, Julia. Have a nice rest of your life. I helped her up and took her to the car.

"I guess you rented the room for the day, so you'll have a bed for tonight. Perhaps Roge will still be there asleep. I'm sure he'll love having you back in his bed, unless of course his wife's expecting him back tonight. You might want to take a few days off after you get the papers. You know to get things straightened out."

I left her sitting in her car, locked up and went to bed. I slept well, considering I never heard her leave, but her car wasn't there in the morning.