Perfect Illusion

Chapter 17: Confronted

"Sorry, am I interrupting something? I'll come back-" He moved a step back towards the door, as if motioning to leave.

"No, no, not at all." Elliot got to his feet quickly, giving Connie a reassuring smile before letting go of her hand. "I was just on my way out to get a coffee, can I tempt anyone?" Both declined politely with a shake of their heads. "Suit yourselves, I'll see you in theatre later Mr Strachan."

"Of course." He smiled at the older man before closing the door behind him.

"What is it, Mr Strachan?" She'd somewhat steadied her shaking voice in the time Elliot had talked her down from her breaking point and more or less brought her anxiety back down to zero. Part of her wished she'd had him as a father growing up and perhaps her life would have turned out differently.

"Actually, I came to confess something before it comes to your attention." He smiled that cheeky smile of his. "I might have accidentally, in the heat of the moment told Mr Hope-"

"The sex of the babies?" She swivelled in her chair to face him, her eyebrow raising with a small smirk on her lips as she studied his dropping expression. "Elliot congratulated me on the fact, leaving me to conclude that since you're the only person I've divulged this information to, you must have been the singing bird."

"I'm sorry, I just get carried away-" His thought out apology was short-lived as a knock at the door saw an end to his sentence. The person knocking opened the door almost as soon as they'd knocked.

"I'm sorry, I was hoping to speak to Connie." The husky voice ricocheted through the room morbidly. It was Susan.

Sam had left rather reluctantly, unsure of how well they'd get along when left on their own. Nevertheless, he'd been given a nod of approval from Connie before he exited. There was an incredibly frosty silence following his departure, made even more awkward when Connie remained sat coldly as Susan stood gingerly with her back to the closed door.

"About before." She started, an iciness to her voice despite her apologetic words. "I didn't intend for you to-"

"It wasn't you." Connie interrupted softly but still reciprocated the same hostile energy. "Low blood sugar, I skipped breakfast this morning."

"Still, I didn't mean to explode the way I did." She cleared her throat, glancing down at her feet in-between words. "I won't beat around the bush, I can tell you don't want me in here any more than I actually want to be here but there are some things I need to ask you. Things that are unpleasant but by all means I think you owe me this much at least."

"There's nothing I can say or tell you that'll result in you leaving here any happier, Susan." There was a slight growl in her response, not wishing to be sat here doing this right now.

"Did he love you?" Her question was brisk and more or less came out of nowhere, like she wasn't even listening to anything Connie had just said. "I mean, it's obvious you felt strongly about him. Was it a mutual feeling?"

"Susan-"

"Please!" She barked desperately but quickly recoiled upon remembering their previous encounter. Closing her eyes slowly, she continued but in a far more controlled manner. "Please, I just - I need to know." There was a gloss over her eyes, tears threatening to fall but hanging tightly in the balance. To Connie's surprise, she moved further into the room before seating herself delicately on the sofa situated against the back wall of the office. Sat directly in front of her now, there was no avoiding her gaze. Connie's reluctance to speak only invited her to continue talking. "I need to know if the man I'm grieving for even loved me." She sniffed lightly. "We'd been together since we were sixteen, high school sweethearts." She monitored Connie's reaction to each and every word she uttered, she was still holding tight on an answer. "I always wondered what I'd done to deserve him, he was kind, caring, handsome." She smiled longingly but it faded quickly. "Deep down I knew he was having an affair, a part of me wanted to confront him but I knew that'd cause a rift and I couldn't face losing him, even if it meant lying to myself." Connie could do nothing but watch on silently as this woman decided to pour her heart out, to her husband's mistress of all people. "So I just pretended like everything was normal and pushed the thought out of my head." Her eyes finally flickered up from her fidgeting hands to Connie's sympathetic and guilt-ridden face. "He was going to leave me, wasn't he?" Her eyes were begging for a response. "I have nothing else to lose, please."