Denial

Chapter One

Robert

Sitting in his expensive car, accompanied by the almost inaudible murmur of the radio, Robert studied the young mechanic as he strolled along the street towards David's shop. Taking in the familiar bundle of messy brown curls, he asked himself for what seemed like the infinitive time why he was attracted to a surly, off-hand grease-monkey like Aaron. He was married to a stunning woman, who was highly advantaged given her limitless wealth, and the prospect of having all that snatched away from him if she ever were to uncover the truth was simply too horrific to even consider.

But deep deep down, as he stared at Aaron's hunky frame, dressed in his filthy overalls, Robert knew exactly why he craved his presence so desperately. The lad was gorgeous; square shoulders, six pack, bright sapphire specs and a growing chin of manly stubble. In stereotypical homosexuality impressions, Aaron couldn't look less gay if he tried. His voice had no hint of campness or femininity, and was more gruff than anything, whilst his signature inherited violent streak and talent for trouble furthered his masculine character. All of these things attracted Robert. He knew he needed to be circumspect, as having an affair so close to home would cause endless dilemmas for him, yet maybe that was what he liked about the secret relationship; the danger and deceit. Though he adored Chrissie White, she just wasn't the same as Aaron, and as much as he hated the idea of hurting her, the sneaking around, the late-night texts, the secret exchange of looks in public that only he and Aaron understood, for some unknown reason, excited him. The stirring in his loins as Aaron sauntered into David's shop confirmed this. Unable to observe Aaron's following actions, Robert started the car engine and drove no more than twenty metres along the side of the road, parking so that he now had a clear view through the left-hand-side window of the shop. From what he could see, Aaron was the only customer in the shop, besides Doug, who was stood at the till nattering away to the shopkeeper's wife Alicia, about the times when he, himself, used to work there. Robert observed Aaron's facial expressions as he pondered over which sandwich to buy, and then wandered over to stand behind Doug in what was seemingly a rather minute queue, although Doug and Alicia appeared too engrossed in conversation to realise. After what surely couldn't have been any less than five minutes, Aaron's well-known impatience got the better of him.

"It really is great that you've got such a good bond with the customers, Alicia, but some of us haven't got the luxury of being able to stand and chat for half an hour," He snapped, barging past a stunned Doug and slamming down his cheese sandwich on the counter. Alicia frowned, but Doug appeared more guilty as oppose to irritated.

"Sorry, Aaron, I didn't see you there," He apologised, shuffling further to the side.

"Yeah, well I'm not," Alicia grouched, initially annoyed at the young mechanic's manner with her elderly ally, however when she caught sight of his morbid expression, her face dropped. Robert knew that Aaron was struggling to cope at the moment, due to a whole spiral of different ingredients. As if the whole deceit of the affair itself wasn't enough, Aaron's mother's best friend, who also happened to be Robert's sister-in-law, had recently died, as an unintentional consequence of Aaron's actions. He summoned Katie to the farm that she had purchased mere days before her death, intent on starting a whole new life with her husband Andy. Lovesick Aaron's plan had been for Katie to catch him and Robert together, forcing Robert to come clean about the affair, but it only partly worked. Though she certainly caught, and photographed, the pair, Robert wasn't sure Aaron knew just how far he would be willing to go to keep the truth from his wife. He never meant for it to end the way it did, in fact he had only meant to scare her into keeping quiet, though when his verbal abuse failed, he began an act of mild violence, which included nothing more than pushing and shaking, however Robert pushed her a little too hard, which sent her tumbling down the dilapidated posts of the unstable building. To add to the stress of this, he and his mum were constantly at each others' throats since she discovered their secret relationship by striding into Aaron's bedroom whilst they were enclosed in a passionate embrace. Chas had then informed Aaron's surrogate father Paddy, meaning that there was always the risk of a revelation, though Robert was confident he had earned their silence by swearing to stay away from Aaron and donating a large sum of money to Paddy's business which he had recently lost due to the fact an older member of his staff had gotten herself into gambling, leaving her in a great deal of debt, which later led her to steal from them. To be honest, it wasn't Paddy who was the problem. As much as he disliked him for backing Chas, Robert respected Paddy. He was a tall, chubby, middle-aged vet, with circular spectacles and a bald head. He wasn't cunning or nasty, he didn't hold grudges or judge people on their past mistakes, and most importantly, unlike Chas, he never acted out of spite. Robert knew that Paddy adored Aaron to the bone and wanted nothing more than for him to be happy and safe, which is precisely why he wasn't a threat; because if Paddy told anyone about the affair, it wouldn't just be Robert's name being turned to mud. Something else Robert was confident of is that Paddy couldn't hurt a fly, even if he wanted to, meaning that he wouldn't have the courage to stick his ore in, in the first place. Chas, on the other hand, was completely different. She detested every part of Robert, due to the warped vendetta her deceased best friend had had against him, and the affair was just a bonus. It was clear that if it hadn't been for Aaron's threat that if she breathed a word, he would move out and they wouldn't speak again, Robert would be homeless, bankrupt and divorced by now.

"Are you alright, love?" Alicia enquired, in a less harsh tone. Aaron looked up at her, his deep blue eyes scarcely visible through the dark grey bags formed on the thin layers of skin underneath. He sighed, looking uncharacteristically remorseful. His response was not immediate, and he instead spent the following thirty seconds rubbing his temples with his index finger, before answering, "Yeah. Yeah I'm fine, just tired," Then he snatched the sandwich and strode out of the shop without giving either of them chance to answer, and what is worse, without paying. Although Robert was curious as to Alicia and Doug's reactions to Aaron's performance, he was unable to force his eyes away from the mechanic, as he continued along the path leading towards Dingle & Dingle Automotives, still rubbing his head as if it was helping to lighten his headache. As he suddenly realised that Aaron had technically shoplifted, Robert couldn't stop himself from leaping from his car and darting towards the shop. He walked in to find Alicia and Doug engaged in a more disheartening conversation which Robert could only guess had something to do with his lover. They both looked up at his presence.

"Morning," Doug grunted in an obviously forced attempt at cheerful.

"Morning," Robert mumbled in response, whilst fumbling in the top pocket of his jeans. After instantaneously finding two twenty pences and a tuppence, he retrieved the large golden two pound coin and handed it over to a bewildered Alicia. "I noticed Aaron left without paying," He answered to their expressions. "He won't have done it purposely, his head's all over the place at the minute,"

Confused, but considerably grateful, Alicia accepted the brass and fumbled in the counter for the change, whilst Doug responded with what Robert convinced himself was a compliment, "You know, I would never have expected you to grow up to become such a warm-hearted man, Robert, but I underestimated you," Robert nodded with a weak smile, before swiftly leaving the shop before Doug had the chance to steer him into some uninteresting lecture on ways to make your garden look fabulous. There was a fragment of a moment outside the shop within which Robert contemplated the option to retreat to the garage to make an attempt at cheering Aaron up, in a way which he knew would put a smile, not only on Aaron's face, but his as well, or whether to merely drive back home to his wife. But as the unmistakable cackle of Aaron's nearby mother filled the air, Robert snapped back to reality, remembering the vow he had made both to himself and the others involved. Sighing in slight dismay, he slipped back into his car, and with one last regretful look of longing towards the direction Aaron had taken, he powered the engine and drove off, away from the village centre and up to Home Farm.