Fast Fiction: And You Are?
...'Hm, so what next? Were you thinking of coming home?'...
But will Emma be welcomed back into the family nest? Richard Mallinson tells of infidelity.
'Hullo . . . and you are?’ asked Rod Stratton.
'Emma,' she said.
'Ah, let me introduce you to, er. . .'
'Cyril,' I said, shaking her hand.
'Help yourself to drinks,' Stratton said, moving away.
'I didn't expect to see you here,' we both almost said.
Next day I saw her in the public library.
'Are you reading a lot these days?' I asked.
'Yes, I don't have much else to do.'
She chose a novel, had it stamped and went out. I followed.
'Yes, I packed,' she said as we sat on a bench in the park. 'Then I wrote the note, called a taxi, left the house and went to the flat.'
'Just like that?'
'Yes, just like that. Rod was paying the rent, after all.'
'But he pretended not to know you last night.'
'Of course. It's all been very hush-hush but it's over now.'
'Hm, so what next? Were you thinking of coming home?'
She turned to me and smiled.
'Well, that's one possibility,' she said and I think she was quite put out when I said, 'Oh, no, it bloody well isn't.'
