TIFFIN 3

16

My mind was whirling after Diedre left. Despite Hero kicking her out of his life completely, she still came running.

But again.... she'd said he wouldn't just up and leave. As much as I hated to admit it, in a sense, Diedre did know him a bit better than I did. Perhaps she was onto something.

Not wanting to sit and stew much, I forgot about building what I'd bought from Home Depot. I had all week for that. 

I grabbed ahold of my phone, my finger hovering over Hero's number.

Would he pick up?

Without thinking, I pressed down, hearing it ring incessantly. Not daring to believe it, the sound went silent, letting me know that someone had picked up the phone. 

A set of breathing blew through the reciever, making me go stone cold. 

"Hero?" I asked weakly. "Is... is that you?" 

I was terrified he would end the call until I heard an unfamiliar voice speak.

"You will leave him alone." 

My heart jumped in my chest. I'd never heard this person before, but I definitely knew it was a female.

Her voice was deep and sultry, making me go weak in the knees. 

Had I been right all along?

I didn't have the energy to be angry. A tight feeling hit my throat, making me want to gag. 

"Who are you?" I murmured. 

"Do not trouble yourself with all that," the woman went on silkily, "I am no business of yours. You need to leave Hero alone. He's come to terms with the end of your relationship as should you."

I squeezed my phone, alarms going off in my head. 

"Let me speak to him!" 

The woman simply laughed. 

"Move on, dear. You'll only cause yourself more pain." 

Much to my dismay the call ended.

Like the child that I was, I melted onto the floor, sobbing my heart out. I remained like this for an hour before having the sense to phone someone else. 

After much trepidation, I explained my issues to Emma- despite my horrible attitude towards her- and summoned her over. 

As expected she was a blubbering mess, with my dad by her side though he was wary of my prescence. 

Oh right. He didn't quite like my husband at the moment.

"Are you alright?" She asked timidly as she pulled away from our hug.

I scoffed, my irritation coming back. 

"No, of course I'm not okay." 

Archie took a seat on a nearby chair as Emma continued talking.

"So you said some woman picked up his cell?" 

I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the memory. 

"Yeah, but she sounded much older. More wise. I knew what Diedre said had been a fluke."

Emma glowered. 

"I don't like that woman. You shouldn't have let her in." 

I paced the floor feeling exasperated. 

"What choice did I have? At the time... I thought there was a chance she could help..." 

My mother studied my face, gathering me in her arms. 

"Sweety, listen to me. Maybe he hasn't left you. Perhaps there's a bigger picture here." 

I yanked away, shocked at what she was saying right now. Clearly he was cheating with some bimbo in another state and she was taking his side. 

A burst of fury exploded inside me. 

"No! You don't understand! He's gone! It's over!" 

Archie must have sensed the danger because he grabbed onto his wife, retreating several steps. 

My anger didn't cease; I advanced towards them both, ushering them to the front door.

"You're both idiots! You don't know anything! You don't want to help... I wish I'd never met you!" 

I didn't realize the effect my words had on them until Emma started crying.

Without another look at me, she stormed out of the house, leaving Archie in my wake. 

"You're our daughter and we love you," he said, "but I will not put us in the line of fire."

His sentence was finished with a slam of the door.