Out of Bounds [h.s. au]

Chapter 24

I called Harry later in the afternoon when I'd cooled off. I told him about my conversation with Justine, which inevitably made my temperature rise again. He told me he had somewhat come to the conclusion that Justine had told James about us, but agreed that I should have it out with her once and for all, at least to get the facts and ease my own mind about the whole matter. He offered to go with me, but I insisted this was something I needed to do on my own.

Penny got home around five-thirty, but I didn't really have time to give her all the details. I just told her I was meeting Justine at the coffee shop, and I'd tell her all about it later. Around a quarter 'til, I headed out. When I arrived, I looked around for Justine, but didn't see her yet. I went ahead and ordered myself a vanilla latte and picked a table by the window, shrugging out of my coat. I saw Justine walk in then, waving at me when she spotted me. I almost waved back, but decided that was too friendly for the mood she had put me in. Instead, I gave her a curt nod. I waited for her to get her coffee, chewing on my lower lip.

"Hi," she greeted, sliding into the seat across from me.

I blinked and said nothing.

"I guess I should just continue where I left off, huh?" she asked, looking down at her coffee cup.

"Yes, please," I answered, my jaw set.

Justine took a deep breath and folded her hands. "Well," she began. "Like I said, James had figured out about Harry on his own. I still don't know exactly how, I never asked him. But he asked me if I knew about him, and I told him yes."

I cringed, shutting my eyes tight.

"He seemed so genuinely hurt," Justine remarked.

For a second, I let the image of James being hurt settle into my brain. The thought of him realizing I was having an affair, with a school mate no less, someone I was practically forced to see everyday. For a fleeting moment, I put myself in his shoes and I felt sorry for him. This was a man who had taken care of me in my hour of need. Someone who had given me essentially everything I'd needed. Even before Harry had come along, I had started to pull away. But James had had no idea. As far as he was concerned, everything had been the same between us. I supposed my hanging around Harry had finally brought out some characteristics of mine that he hadn't recognized.

Recalling, however, the look on his face when he'd told me I had nine days to get out of the house, and the night he'd come home drunk and tried to seduce me before getting angry and bringing up my "boyfriend", shook me from my musings. And I refocused my thoughts on the task at hand - getting to the bottom of this.

"Anyway, after that we exchanged a few emails and texts," Justine continued. "And then he invited me to lunch again. I had no idea he was going to pick Mikado's."

"He was checking up on Harry?" I inquired.

"I wasn't really sure at first. I hadn't told James he worked there, but I didn't know if he had gotten that information on his own. At any rate, Harry hadn't been working. I figured he didn't work the lunch shift anyway, what with school and all."

"Correct."

"The next day he phoned me, confessing that he'd heard 'your little boyfriend' - his words," she claimed, using air quotes, "worked there, and I wanted to see what he was dealing with. I told him he shouldn't be dealing with anyone but you. You were his wife, and if he felt like you were being unfaithful, he needed to confront you about it."

I bit my lip and shook my head, turning my face toward the window. James of course had not confronted me. But I wondered what would have unfolded if he had. Would I still be with Harry? Would I still be getting a divorce? Or would I have crumbled and surrendered at James's mercy, begging for his forgiveness? I honestly could not answer any of those questions. I'd like to think I Harry and I would still be together, and the end result would basically be the same, but I couldn't guarantee that.