The Affair

Chapter 25.1 - Unravel

Thursday, August 4, 2022, 1:40pm

In the days that followed, some semblance of normalcy at his home was restored with his wife being back in the house. By Monday evening, June had bought herself a new mattress and had it delivered to their home, replacing the old, soiled one in their bedroom. It was no surprise to William that June had banished him from her new bed, thus relegating him to the guest bedroom on the other side of the upstairs hallway. Additionally, she had made the comment that she had paid the delivery crew an extra $100 to take the old mattress away and burn it. As absurd as it was, William found it amusing and wondered if the crew had actually followed through with the request.

Though June was back at home, his daughter was still away in San Antonio having a fun time hanging out with her cousins before the school year began. He missed her dearly, but was grateful that June allowed him to speak with her over the phone and relieved that she was oblivious to her parent's troubles. Despite June's cold, indifferent disposition towards him, the nights at home with his wife were oddly comforting.

Each evening that followed, she made him leave the confines of his study to sit at the dinner table with her and eat what she had prepared that evening, where they would then speak about their days with no mention of Fallon or the affair. On Wednesday evening, they even sat on the couch together to watch a movie before June had gone to bed and he back to work in his study. They did not hug, nor kiss, and June did not respond to each one of his 'I love you's before bed, but they were talking and it at least felt like they were healing.

Meanwhile, life at work had become somewhat awkward and uncomfortable. Now that June was back home, and knew that Fallon was still around her husband during work hours, she demanded that William leave work immediately at 5:00pm and thus be home before 5:30pm, which meant he had to decline each one of Fallon's invitations to stay the night with her at her apartment. He did not mention to Fallon that June was back and tried his best to go about his day as they normally would to not arouse any suspicion. Despite his efforts, Fallon had felt that he was being unusually distant with her and it made her grow worried that something was wrong.

It is now Thursday at the office. Needing Fallon out of the office, he sends her into the tunnels of downtown to pick up a random jacket he was having dry cleaned. He knows the walk well, and approximates he would have 25 minutes before she returns. Not wasting time, he calls Amy and Colin into his office.

"Hey you two, go ahead and have a seat," William says, pointing out the two chairs in front of his desk.

Not knowing what the purpose of their meeting was about, Colin and Amy look to each other and exchange a nonchalant shoulder shrug before taking their seats. With his focus still on work, William finishes typing a few sentences on his computer before pulling away to address Colin and Amy seated in front of his desk.

"Thanks for meeting with me, guys. I'll do my best to keep this as brief as possible..." he begins, leaning forward in his chair with his elbows perched upon his desk. "I have something very important to ask you two... and I need your word that you will keep it to yourselves and from the other support staff. Can we agree on this?"

Colin and Amy share an awkward glance, curious and slightly nervous about William's request. Feeling as if they really did not have much choice on the matter, they both nod their heads in agreement.

"Okay..." he continues with a conflicted brow, "How are you two doing with the McCallen Offshore work? Colin, I know you and Tera only have a few cases right now, that's fine... Just give me your thoughts about your current workload." He then leans back into his chair, giving the floor to both Colin and Amy to respond to his question.