Page 82 of Fling

‘Yeah, I am. Rory messed up an audit for a client so I’m here trying to fix it.’

‘Oh, so you’re at the office now?’ she said, giving him just enough rope to hang himself.

‘Yeah, yeah, it’s gonna be a long one. I could be here all night,’ he said unconvincingly.

‘I’m actually in town at the minute. I’ll swing by your office and bring you a coffee.’

‘NO! No, honestly, I just got a coffee so no need. Thanks for offering though!’ Colin said, his voice cracking.

There was a long pause on the call.

‘I’ll see you at home,’ Colin said, eager to hang up.

‘Oh . . . you most certainly will,’ Tara said, ending the call.

Tara was on the verge of breathing fire. She had given him a chance to explain, but now everything was clear. The lies, the hotel room, the two champagne glasses, there was no way to misinterpret the situation.

Her husband was cheating on her with another woman.

Sure, she was on the brink of cheating on him, but her actions seemed more innocent by comparison. She was merely meeting a man for a drink, but here was Colin, meeting some woman in a hotel room for what could only be sex. Who was the woman? Was she some random sex worker? Or worse, was it a woman that Tara knew? Was he planning on running off with her?

She felt dizzy with all the questions that raced through her mind. She composed herself and looked at her watch. 7.55 p.m. She had been so blindsided by this chance occurrence that she forgot she had a date in less than five minutes. But she knew she couldn’t meet Jack now. She still wanted to, out of spite, but her entire confidence had shattered. Just a few minutes prior, she had felt unstoppable.

Now, she was at an all-time low.

Her husband no longer wanted her, it seemed, and it felt like a rejection of her as a wife, as a lover, as a woman. The knife in her back cut deep, to the core of her very being. And because of that rejection, she had to reject Jack, at least for now. Even though all she wanted was to be held by him, to be taken by him, to be worshipped by him, she knew it was not his duty to stitch up her wound.

She left the hotel and hailed a taxi. She decided she would text Jack in the cab explaining she couldn’t meet. She only prayed he would understand. There was only one thing Tara could focus on right now. When Colin returned home, she would be ready.

Ready for war.

Chapter 27

Colin looked around the room he had just prepared. The champagne was chilling, the lights were dimmed and the thermostat was set to the perfect temperature. He had even sprinkled some rose petals on the bed for that final touch. Everything was perfect.

And yet, suddenly it all felt wrong. Tara’s call had made the situation far too real. He was lying to his wife while in a hotel room he had booked for another woman. It made him sick to his stomach. The guilt was too much.

He decided that booking the room was a mistake. Rory had gotten into his head and convinced him a bold move was the right approach. But if he felt this guilty before such a move, going through with it would surely leave him riddled with guilt for the rest of his life. It would be a step too far.

He had arranged to meet Claire for a drink. And that was what he intended to do. A drink was not an affair, he reminded himself for the millionth time. He would meet her to see if what they both felt was truly real and figure things out from there.

Colin checked the time on his phone and saw that it was 7.58 p.m. He stood up and looked at himself in the mirror. He was ready. As Colin reached for the door handle, he heard a beep from a notification on his phone. He took it out of his pocket to see the notification was from Fling. He opened the app to see a message from Claire waiting.

Claire: Jack. I’m so sorry. I’ve just got some devastating news.

I can’t meet you tonight.

Please don’t hate me x

Colin stared at the message, reading it over and over. He didn’t believe her. He knew she hadn’t received any devastating news. If she had, why would she wait until one minute before their date to tell him? She was simply standing him up again, another cold rejection. He never should have given her a second chance. Now, he was a fool once again. But this was the last time, he vowed. He didn’t want to hear her fictional excuses. He didn’t want to hear from her at all.

Colin closed Fling and deleted the app from his phone.

He opened the bottle of champagne and brushed away all the rose petals before sitting on the bed. He suddenly felt so embarrassed for putting them there in the first place. But it was also a tremendous relief. The sickness in his stomach was gone. The crushing guilt was letting up.

He thought about how Tara had called him to ask if she could bring him a coffee while he was working late. And yet he was here, on the verge of jeopardizing everything he had built with her. He had been so intoxicated by Claire’s siren call that he had almost wrecked his ship on her rocky coast. And all along, she was leading him on for her own sick amusement. Although Claire had hurt him once again, he could only blame himself.

He may have lusted after Claire but it was Tara he loved. He felt an overwhelming desire to collapse into her emerald eyes. She was the one he had chosen since day one, and even though the currents of life had dragged them apart, he needed to swim back to her shore. Tara was his rock. His home. And that’s exactly where he wanted to be. He took a swig of champagne and said goodbye to his double life.

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