Page 86 of Glow
Scott straightened up when he saw Prin.
“I didn’t know if you’d come.”
“You can thank your friend Barry for that,” Prin said.
He took a seat on the bench opposite Scott. He made sure he remained out of Scott’s reach.
“Prin. I don’t know what to say.”
“So I’ve wasted a trip down here?”
Prin knew he was being hard-hearted and he wasn’t even sure where this was coming from. It wasn’t his usual way. A rage had lodged in his chest that he couldn’t get rid of. He didn’t want to say things he might regret. However, Scott’s tears were winding him up. It was Prin whose life had collapsed around his ears.
“I don’t blame you for being angry. I need you to know that none of it was on purpose. Please tell me you believe that.”
Prin had no idea what to believe.
“Fuck,” he said, burying his face in his hands. “What a mess. Now everyone knows we’ve been seeing each other too.”
He removed his hands and stared at Scott who was pale.
“I don’t care about that,” Scott replied.
Was it an impossibility for Scott Fitzgerald to see anything from another person’s point of view?
“I know you don’t,” Prin said, battling to keep his voice under control. “But I do. Richard will take every opportunity to humiliate me now, thanks to you. That’s bad enough. Now they’ll know that I fell for your charms too.”
Scott reared back as if Prin had slapped him. “What does that mean?”
“Matteus was only the first,” Prin said. “I’ll be known as the guy who was caught in your honeytrap. What a fucking idiot I am.”
“Is that what you think? That I slept with you to get more information on Elliott?”
Prin sat back, resting his head against someone’s jacket they’d left hung up. He was trying desperately to clear his mind.
“I don’t know what to believe,” Prin said, eventually. “It’s all a bit convenient though, isn’t it?”
Scott got to his feet. “You are taking this too far now. I realise you’re panicking but don’t you dare accuse me of faking anything. Fucking hell, Prin. This paranoia of yours is getting really boring.”
“What?”
“You heard me. I’ve done everything in my power to show you that I care about you.”
“By practically getting me the sack?”
Scott’s eyes were aflame. “You know what? You might have a point. Maybe people do look at us and think it’s a mismatch?—”
There it was. Scott had been lying all this time when he’d told Prin it was in his mind. He stood too and faced him.
“At last you speak to the truth.”
“Wait.”
“No,” Prin said. “I don’t want to hear another word from you. Just leave me alone, Scott.”
With tears in his eyes, Scott stared at him.
“Can I at least finish what I was going to say?”
