The Love Affair(Good Wife Better Mistress)

I Need Your Help

Chanel puffs her lips out and frowns in a childish pout. She looks at the stained gauze and the stitches on Conrad's chest. The site is still red and swollen, and a light yellow liquid seeps from the wound. Conrad sighs.

"You have to sterilize it first," Conrad says, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. "I thought you said you knew how to do this."

"I do," Chanel says.

She clumsily pours the sterilizing solution onto a cotton pad and dabs it on his chest. She squeezes the cotton too hard, and the cold liquid soaks the wound and trickles down his chest to his stomach. He flinches and glares up at her.

"Conrad, stop moving around," Chanel says, pressing the cotton even harder. "I'm almost done."

Conrad looks down at his stinging chest and sees that fresh blood has mixed with the sterilizing solution making a strange watery red color. Chanel reaches for another cotton pad, and Conrad grabs her arm.

"You're making it worse," he complains.

"Conrad, just deal with this for another minute," she says. "I trained with the family doctor before coming here. I know what I'm doing. Sometimes these sorts of things are messy as they heal."

"Cha it's already been like twenty minutes, and you shouldn't be making me bleed," Conrad says.

"No, no, it's fine," she insists, wriggling her wrist free from his grip. "Now let me see, the next step is…" She trails off, clearly confused about the next step.

"The next step is applying the ointment," Conrad says with a sigh. "Really, I'd rather just have the doctor do it."

"Oh yes, right, of course," Chanel says.

She blots his chest dry and smears a huge blob of ointment onto the wound. She slowly rubs it in, getting it everywhere. The greasy ointment leaves dark stains on his silk shirt and his groans. He makes eye contact with a bodyguard laughing silently in the corner.

She takes a large wad of gauze and clumsily sticks it to his chest. Then she grabs the medical tape and begins to wrap the gauze. By the time she's done, she's used over half a roll of the tape, and the bandage makes a huge puffy spot under his shirt.

"Now that you've gotten to play doctor, I'll ask one of my men to drive you home," Conrad says. "As you can see, I'm doing just fine out here. You and My Mom can stop worrying about me now."

"Yes, Mr. Meyer is on the steady mend," the guard says. "He has constant attention from his doctor, and the solitude is good for his recovery. Now it would be my personal pleasure to drive you home."

"I'm not going back," Chanel says. "I only just got here, and it took me forever to arrive. I can't believe you're trying to get rid of me, Conrad. Are you hiding something out here? Or maybe someone?"

Quick as a flash, Chanel jumps to her feet and begins searching the room. She pulls books from their shelves, opens drawers, and checks behind the curtains. Her shiny, scarlet coat looks like fire as she runs around the room, leaving everything she touches a mess. She yanked one of his desk drawers open, and Conrad groans.

"What's this, Conrad?" Chanel asks, dangling a dress and bra from her manicured fingers.

Conrad curses under his breath. He wishes he'd put Nicole's clothes in a safer, more private place. He fights the urge to snatch them from Chanel's hands and shrugs casually.

"Who knows how that got there," he says.

"Spare me the crap," Chanel scoffs. "Lady's clothing doesn't just accidentally end up in a desk drawer. So why'd you put it there? Is there a n.a.k.e.d woman hiding nearby, waiting to get her clothes back? Or maybe you're some sort of perv who gets off on sniffing women's clothing?" She looks again at the dress and giggles teasingly, "Or maybe you're the kind of man who likes to play dress-up?"

"Fine. If you insist on staying here, you can," Conrad says. "But, I have the stuff to do, so if you'll excuse me." He waves an open palm toward the study door.

Chanel tosses her hair and ignores the hint. She drops the dress and holds the white lace bra up top her own chest. She shimmies her shoulders and laughs. Seeing Nicole's bra in her best friend's hand makes Conrad wants to scream—it's just wrong.

"I'm not leaving until I get answers," Chanel says.

"Fine then. I'll go," Conrad says, standing up from the sofa.

"Conrad, wait!" Chanel shouts. "I promise to leave you alone if you'll tell me how is Nicole ."

"Why do you want to know?" Conrad asks. "The man has her locked up from you and the world. He's clearly not interested in you being in Nicole's Life."

Chanel's face flushes the same scarlet color as her coat. Her lower lip trembles, and she drops the bra. Conrad rubs his temples and curses himself for being so harsh with her. Crying women make him extremely uncomfortable, and Chanel's crying fits are legendary.

"I know he doesn't want me," she says miserably. "I shouldn't have had an affair with his dad, but I was desperate for Money, and you know I didn't have many options. I don't expect him to forgive me or anything, I just want to be able to visit my best friend and share her joys and sorrows with her."

Conrad sits back down on the sofa and crosses his legs lazily. As far as he's concerned, it'd be better if Chanel stayed missing in action. But if Chanel reappears, it might create drama between the Newman's and the Romano's. I could use that to my advantage, Conrad thinks.

"Okay, fine," he says. "I'll fine I'll help you . You can go home, and I'll let you know when I have news."

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Chanel asks. "I know you're strengthening the mansion's defenses—once I leave, I might not be able to get back. You won't try to help my relationship with Nicole. You'll just stay here playing with women's underwear or whatever it is you do."

"Whatever," Conrad snaps irritably. "Leave or stay, and I don't care."

"Great, I'll let you work in peace now," Chanel says. "I hope you'll do better, or else we'll be spending a long time together."