As she sped down the road, she felt the adrenaline rushing through her body. An uncomfortable feeling that she tried to shake but — the more she tried to get rid of it — the more she kept seeing Shaun with another woman.
Why would he do this to her? They had been getting on great recently. They hardly ever argued and — if they did — it was never anything serious and often ‘fixed’ within a couple of hours at most. What had she done to drive him into the arms of another woman?
She felt her eyes start to well up.
“Don’t be a fucking idiot,” she told herself.
With one hand on the wheel, she used the back of the other to wipe her eyes dry. Her mind not posing the question as to whether she would find it in her heart to forgive him if there was anyone else involved. Part of her wanted to say ‘not a chance’ but another part — was it the bigger part? — told her that she would. Of course she would. She loved him.
That bastard part of her brain spoke up again, “But what if he doesn’t love you?”
There it was again — that sickness in the pit of her belly once more. The same feeling she’d felt when she first thought of him as dead and then — again — thought of him as cheating on her. A horrible feeling hinting that her world was soon to be coming crashing down around her and there was nothing she could do about it.
Just turn around, she thought to herself.
The thought was loud and clear in her head but she ignored it, pressing her foot down harder on the accelerator. If he was cheating on her, she had to know.
“You’re being stupid,” she said to her rear-view mirror. “He was busy yesterday. That’s why he didn’t reply. He didn’t reply to your text messages and that’s why he was sorry. Stop reading so much into this,” she finished.
What she said made sense and — yet — she still found herself speeding to his house.
Nearly there now. Only a few more turnings away…
III
Frankie’s car bumped up onto the pavement as she pulled up outside his house. His own vehicle was parked in the driveway; a good sign that she hadn’t yet missed him. She switched the engine off and opened the door; her heart in the back of her throat as her nerves continued to play with her mind.
She hadn’t made it halfway up the drive — heading towards the house — when the door suddenly opened and Shaun came running out wearing nothing but blue jeans splattered in the odd globule of paint.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, panic in his voice.
“I came to see you. I was worried,” said Frankie. She didn’t say what she was worried about — the fact she needed to see if he had been cheating on her.
“Worried about me? I’m fine. I’m just running late for work…” he said. He put his arm around her and started walking her back towards her car. Looking down, as they walked, she noticed he didn’t have any shoes on. When they got to her car, Shaun leaned forward and opened the door for her. “We’ll talk later, okay?” He tried to usher her back into her car.
Frankie froze.
This wasn’t like Shaun. He didn’t care about running late for work. There had been times when they had been in bed together and he knew they were both running late for work yet, every time Frankie had tried to get up, he had pulled her back — keeping her there longer.
“Can I at least have a drink of water?” Frankie asked him. Any excuse to get into the house so she could have a look into his room; a desperation to see if he was hiding anything within there. As soon as she’d asked the question — and saw the look on his face — she knew he was hiding something. She changed the subject, “Why did you tell me you were sorry?” she asked.
“What? When?”
“You sent a text to me last night. You told me you loved me and then you sent a text saying that you were sorry. Why are you sorry?”
Shaun looked over his shoulder, back towards the house, and then turned his attention back to Frankie, “Look — I’m sorry — I’m really late. I have to go.”
“You’re lying!”
“I’m not…”
“What aren’t you telling me?” Frankie was getting desperate. She knew he was up to no good. If he didn’t love her, or if he was seeing someone else… She just wanted to know. If this was the end of their relationship she felt she deserved to know at least, instead of being kept in the dark about it. “Are you seeing someone else?”
“What? No. I’m not!”
His face flushed. Frankie’s eyes welled up once more as she started to realise her worst fears were starting to come true; her man, this guy she loved, was most likely seeing someone else.
“Where were you yesterday?” Frankie pushed for an answer.
“Please — can we talk about this later?”
“Answer me! Where were you?”
No one had answered her Facebook status yesterday so — unless they were hiding it too — not even his friends had known where he was.
“I was busy,” he said. “I was working.”
“All through the night?” She pushed him again, “Who were you with?”
“Please. Just go. You can’t be here!” he said.
“What are you talking about?”
“We’re done. We’re over,” he suddenly snapped.
“What?” Frankie burst into tears. She had suspected something was wrong but she hadn’t expected him to be so cold about it. One minute he was trying to hide it, still saying he loved her and then the next — it was over. Just like that. She didn’t move. She just stood there, in shock.
“I’m sorry,” he said again. A tear spilled from his eye too. “Please — you have to go.”
Frankie just stood there a moment unsure of what to say. Her mind felt split into a million bits. Part of her wanted to slap him in the face, part of her wanted to rant and rave at him and then there was another part which just wanted to keep standing there — crying.
“So that’s it?” she said eventually.
“Yes. Just go. We’re done,” he said — another tear spilling from his eye.
Frankie went to say something but realised there was little point. She didn’t even know what was going to come from her mouth; whether she was going to start shouting at him or even begging. She turned to the car and climbed in — slamming the door shut. She slid the key into the ignition and fired the engine up before giving Shaun a final look.
He mouthed, I love you, to her.
Frankie couldn’t help but feel confused. One minute he was telling her to go and the next — he was standing there mouthing that. She wound down her window to see if he’d say it out loud — as opposed to just mouthing it to her. She looked up at him, desperation in her eyes to hear him say the words — even if it were to be for the last time.
She froze.
There, standing in the doorway of his home, was a woman who looked a few years older than both Shaun and Frankie. She was wearing nothing but one of his tee-shirts.
“Who the fuck is that?” Frankie hissed.
“Please. You need to go. Now!”
Frankie went to open the car door but Shaun kept it shut, pushing his body against it.
“Let me out of the fucking car!” Frankie screamed. Her tears now tears of anger instead of heartache and sadness.
“I can’t do that. Just go already. Take the hint and fuck off!” he yelled at her.
Frankie crawled across to the passenger side of the car and climbed out via that door. She ran around the front of the car and was blocked from going further by Shaun wrapping his arms around her. The woman — the stranger — in the doorway was laughing at her, revelling in the pain she was causing.