Do You Remember(53)

As I pull harder, the living room fades away. It goes white, and when the white is gone, I’m back in my brand new living room again.

But even though all the furnishings are different and it’s many years later, I’m seeing the same thing. In the moonlight pouring through the windows, I can make out my husband on top of another woman on our sofa, thrusting into her.

“What’s going on here?” I cry.

“Tess!” It’s the woman who calls out my name as she tries to scramble out from underneath Graham’s body. “I… you were asleep!”

It’s Lucy. My best friend. This is the second time I have caught her with my significant other, except this time she wasn’t pushing him away and slapping him across the face. She was having sex with him. Right on my own couch.

Graham doesn’t seem as frazzled as Lucy. He looks like he probably would have finished off if she hadn’t pushed him away from her. He still has his pants on, albeit at his knees, and he takes his time pulling them up and securing them.

“I’m so sorry!” Lucy has leaped off the couch, smoothing out her skirt. She rakes a shaking hand through her red hair, which is tangled and wild around her face. “This… this isn’t what it looks like.”

Graham lets out a barking laugh. For once, I have to agree with him.

“Okay.” Lucy lowers her eyes. “Yes. It is what it looks like. But you have to understand, I didn’t mean for this to happen. And… I’m so sorry. You have no idea how sorry.”

“I’m sure,” I snap. “My best friend is sleeping with my husband. I’m sure you’ve got a great excuse for that one.”

Lucy’s eyes fill with tears. “There’s no excuse. But you have to know how hard this has been on us. On me. And Graham. And then when we were commiserating, it just… happened.”

“It just happened,” I repeat. “And you were powerless to stop it.”

She wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. “It’s not like that. I was just trying to help by being around for you. We both were. And then…”

She looks over at Graham for support. He rolls his eyes. “Why are you bothering to explain this to her, Lucy? She’ll have forgotten it in the morning anyway.”

She stomps her foot on the ground like a little kid. “That’s not the point! The point is…”

“Yes,” I say through my teeth. “What is the point, Lucy?”

“The point is…” She drops her head. “I’m sorry. I love you, Tess. You know that. I never wanted to hurt you. And…” She looks over at Graham again. “We will never do this again. I swear to you.”

“You kissed Harry too.” I point at the sofa. “I saw you doing it. Right in my own living room.”

Lucy jerks her head up. She didn’t expect me to remember that. “Oh. I… well, yes, but… Tess, he grabbed me. That was completely different.”

Graham snorts again, louder this time. Lucy whips her head around to glare at him. “Will you shut up?”

There’s a smirk on his lips. “What—she’s not going to remember it in the morning, like I said. You may as well ‘fess up that the Boy Scout never really tried to kiss you.”

Her eyes widen. “Shut up, Graham.”

“What are you whining about? You got the raise you wanted, didn’t you? The private corner office?”

I stare at the two of them, my heart pounding. What is he talking about? Is it possible that the scene I had walked in on in my living room all those years ago was all a setup? I shut my eyes for a moment and I can see the bewildered expression on Harry’s face. I never even gave him a chance. I just kept picturing him kissing Lucy, and I couldn’t forgive him.

I have made a horrible mistake.

“Tess.” Lucy flashes me a helpless look. “I don’t know what he’s talking about. I swear to you…”

Graham gets to his feet with a grunt. He ambles over to me and puts his hand on my shoulder. “Come on, Tess. Let’s get you back to bed. You’re probably exhausted.”

He’s right. Even with the adrenaline rush and the anger coursing through my veins, I’m almost too tired to stand. I was already feeling out of it, and the seizure has decimated me. If not for my pounding heart, I would probably collapse into a sleeping pile right on the carpet beneath me. And my bare legs feel cold from some sort of draft in the living room. I shiver.

I allow Graham to lead me away, powerless to stop him. Lucy stays behind, and I wonder if they’re going to finish what they started when Graham comes back downstairs. The crazy part is I don’t even care. Yes, Lucy was sleeping with my husband. But I don’t even know my husband. I don’t love him. It’s like discovering she was sleeping with a stranger.

No, that’s not the part I care about. What I care about is that day I caught her kissing Harry. I can’t stop thinking about the possibility that it might not have been real. If I hadn’t seen him kiss her, I would be married to him right now. Instead of Graham.

Unlike when Graham carried me up the stairs earlier, I’m able to make it up on my own two feet this time. But he keeps his arm on me, ready to catch me if I fall. I suppose that’s worth something.

“Listen, Tess.” Graham watches me as I climb into bed. “I’m sorry you had to see that. But you can understand, can’t you?”