Choosing Her Lover

*****

And I think, that is that….

Until, at six pm, just as I am about finish for the day, Ben marches in again. “Come on,” he says. “I want you to come with me.”

“Come with you? Where?”

“Up to Mike’s place.”

“What? You want me to go there? What for? I barely know them.”

“Mike’s not at home. He’s working late. I want to catch James and Charlotte in the act, and I want a witness, so the bastard, and the bitch can’t deny it when I confront them.”

“Ben, you can’t do this. And haven’t you forgotten something? James Alexanders is my boss. I could lose my job…”

He stands, arms akimbo. “Fuck you, then. I’m going anyway. If you won’t come with me, I’ll go by myself. I’ll take a camera.”

Jeez…. I’d better go with him. See if I can stop him doing anything too stupid….

“Alright. I’ll come with you. Let me get my stuff and clear up my desk.”

and pick you up at the front in

an answer. First James.… No reply…. Then Charlotte…. No reply…. Francis maybe? Still no reply.

get in. Staring into traffic, my mouth dry, I give it another go: “Ben, this isn’t right. You can’t just barge into someone else’s house to check up on

snorts. “What are you talking about? We’re discussing a man

don’t think

you think it’s okay for my her to make

are amazing, but I can’t enjoy them, my

pull up by a spa hotel, ‘Life and Beauty’. It’s rather beautiful

around the back,” says Ben. “But I don’t want them to see me arrive.

leads me around to the rear and through gardens which are a mixture of well-kept and maintained, and hopelessly overgrown. The whole

restored. Standing over high

pointing, “the

you can’t.” I try to hang back, but he ignores me, walking quietly to the front

Oh, please be locked….

and the

the threshold.

shake my

“I know where you stand, don’t I?” and he