Page 33 of The Truth About You and Me
The couple scrape by, sides of legs and dangling hands grating past my knees: the rush of excitement and hope from the woman. The truth about his circumstances. I stand, anger pulsing through me. Therearetimes where this curse comes in handy. The absolutesnake.
‘Harry?!’ I exclaim. The guy spins around, confusion on his face. ‘I thought that was you! Howareyou?’ He frowns, looks around, panic etched around his eyes. ‘And how’s your lovely wife, not long now; she’s due any day, isn’t she?’
‘Wife?’ the woman asks, her hurt expression swiftly turning to anger. ‘Wife?’ she repeats and storms off. Harry looks at me with confusion then glares as he chases after her.
‘You OK?’ Jack asks gently as I sit down.
I nod, but I’m shaking.
‘What a tool,’ Jack adds and I laugh despite my mouth being dry, the aftershock of the couple’s thoughts throbbing sharply in my right temple.
We watch the rest of the film, but I’m distracted, my headache blooming.
I want to tell him the truth.
But I don’t want to lose him.
* * *
Outside the air is cool, the night sky clear. I dig my hands into the pockets of my skirt as we walk out of Flicks.
‘So what did you think?’ I ask, pulling on my gloves and zipping up my coat against the sea air. ‘It’s not my favourite Nora Ephron but…’
‘It was good.’ Jack walks beside me as we descend the steps onto the road.
‘But?’ I ask, smirking up at him.
‘But…’ He pulls up the collar of his coat. ‘I mean, he was a bit of a twat, wasn’t he? Keeping his identity a secret?’
‘Oh I don’t know. He had his reasons, didn’t he?’
‘Maybe. I still think he should have been straight with her.’
I hesitate on the path. His words ringing in my ears.
‘Jack, I?—’
‘Do you want to go somewhere else?’ He cocks an eyebrow. ‘Let’s go get something to eat? Something that isn’t ninety per cent air.’
This is my chance, my chance to tell him.
‘I know a place…’ he continues. ‘It’ll be just the two of us. Sorry, that sounded a bit murdery didn’t it?’
I shake my head. ‘It’s fine. I guess if you were going to murder me, you would have done it while we were locked in the cinema.’
‘Fancy a drive?’
* * *
The car is quiet. I’ve never been in an electric one before, and the sound is low and calming. He reaches over and flicks on the radio, selecting a local music station with long confident hands, hands that could be the undoing of me in more ways than one. He turns the volume down low.
‘So that guy, huh?’ he asks. ‘How do you know him?’
‘Oh… I used to clean for them.’ The lie swells on my tongue.
‘I hope he gets what’s coming to him.’
‘Me too.’
