The Wrong Sister Part 3
Sunday wasn't a good day for me. Hangovers in my thirties had always been brutal, and this one was exacerbated by the feeling of confusion and hurt as I recalled what had happened between me and my brother-in-law. Another secret and sudden tryst had ended with an equally sudden shunning from Will as I had sought to bring him home with me.
It was the suddenness that I couldn't get my head around. The sex had somehow been even more incredible than his wedding, with what felt like an even more intense connection between the two of us. An unspoken understanding I couldn't even begin to describe. I was sure he must have felt something similar between us, that I knew him well enough that he wouldn't just fuck me and leave.
Until he did just that.
I could understand feeling guilty after what we'd done, but to just leave without a word? And, just to confuse me more, to kiss me before running off?
I remained part of the walking dead for most of Sunday, only leaving the house to go to the chemist and get another morning after pill to stop an unwanted pregnancy with Will. For a moment I considered going on birth control, but surely it wouldn't happen again. Especially after how he'd left me in the club.
Gabby and Jo returned from their weekend with their father in the early evening and I get a look of utter disdain from him for my shambolic appearance at the door. It flares anger within me that he'd judge me so, and I mouth a "fuck off" at him as I close the door and become a mother once more, rather than a jilted lover.
The hangover had numbed me I realised, and the dismissive look my ex had given me had kicked my feelings back into life. I considered what had happened in the club bathroom, and how Will had treated me, and I started to feel the anger I should have felt when he had walked away from me. I realised I should have chased after him and demanded answers, even though I knew that with the emotions and alcohol in play that would have been another mistake.
But God I wanted answers.
It was anger that would slowly bubble over the next few days as I stewed on these thoughts. The anger was created of the hurt at how Will had treated me, mixed with the feelings I had foolishly let myself have for him.
The concoction wasn't good for me. And I knew I needed to speak to him and find out why the idea of coming back to my empty house had made him run away from me as fast as he could manage. Even though I could probably guess why he did it, it's not something I want to acknowledge because it means understanding that I'm being selfish.
Long days, the stress of being a single mother and then painfully lonely nights exacerbate the anger I feel with Will. No longer do I whimper his name out into my dark bedroom as I lay in a tangle of sheets in a bed too big for just me. No, I don't whimper his name, but I can't stop thinking about him and how he had felt both times we've shared our bodies with each other.
By the end of the week, and with no contact from him, I am furious. At him. At myself. At the whole situation. Furious enough to do something stupid.
My shift is an early one on Friday, which means when I finish around two in the afternoon I have some time before I have to pick my daughters up from school. The anger has festered, my thoughts full of cackling ghosts telling me that he's laughing at his older sister-in-law for letting him fuck her twice now. How he's laughing with Hannah at how pathetic I am for giving him my body so easily.
Rationally I know it's not the case - I know Will. I like Will. But those memories were distorted with this new, nasty version in my head, and I needed to see the real one to siphon the poison that was beginning to harm me so. And ask him what the fuck he thought he was playing at.
As Hannah is a teacher, and Will works from home as an architect, I knew he'd be alone. He must have some kind of sixth sense, because when I pull up onto his driveway and get out of my car, he's stood on the threshold to his house looking pensive.
And so he fucking should be.
"We need to talk," I growl, striding past him and into his house, kicking off my shoes in his hallway because I know how his wife feels about stains on her pristine carpets. Apparently I respect Hannah enough to not traipse dirt through her house, but not to stop her husband from fucking me in a club bathroom.
Their living room is bright and airy, with bright white walls decorated with gorgeous golden picture frames of the wedded couple. I pause for a moment on my way through the room, looking at the large picture of Will holding Hannah in his arms on their wedding day. Both wear beautiful smiles, and I bitterly think they're as fake as the vows they'd shared. Vows as hollow as I had felt for the past week.
I quickly move into the kitchen and dining area and place my handbag on one of the dining chairs as I wait for Will to appear, pacing with my head down as I hear the slow shuffle of feet in the living room grow louder. I look up as he enters and acknowledge him properly for the first time since I've arrived. And I'm surprised to see that, for once, Will doesn't look great. There are bags under his eyes and a slump to his shoulders, and if I was to take a guess, it would be that he wasn't sleeping well.
For a moment I feel the tiniest pang of guilt, but I quickly bury it under the self-righteous fury I've accumulated and start my tirade.
"What the fuck happened? Eh? Do you want to give me a fucking reason why you just left me on Saturday night?"
Will doesn't look at me, his eyes focused on the kitchen window and his arms tight across his chest. I know he's taking time to reply because I know he's the sort to consider his response to an important question. But I'm not in a patient mood, so when I bark a "Well?" at him, it draws his eyes to mine and I see a flash of frustration in them.
"I'd have thought that was quite clear. I shouldn't have even accepted the offer in the first place. It was a mistake."
"A mistake?!" I almost shout. "A mistake to fuck me twice?"
"No," Will sighs, hand reaching up to rub his face wearily. "No that's not what I meant Izzy. I meant... fuck I don't know what I meant. I mean it was a mistake, wasn't it? You said as much before the club that we shouldn't have done it, and then you asked me back to yours!"