Chapter 25

Paul crashed into his bed. He was exhausted and that especially from the activity he performed recently at the restaurant. He lay still for some time before turning around with his back now on the bed.

He put his hand in his pocket and brought out a souvenir he took from Diane a few minutes ago. He examined it for a while before placing it at an arm's length away from him but still on the bed.

He didn’t know exactly why he did what he did. He had seen such things in movies and maybe he had read books that depicted such actions, but he did it and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it.

She seemed excited when I did that though, he thought to himself.

Naughty was not a word he would have used to describe Diane at face value but what you see isn’t always what you get he told himself. The same applied to him also. If someone had told him that he would have sex with a girl, he barely knew and who works for him in the toilet of a restaurant he would have laughed at such a person. But here he was.

It was at that moment that he thought about Helen.

“Fuck me!” he said as he closed his eyes and scratched his head with both hands.

He had come to like Helen in the few days they had spent together. And now, he wasn’t so sure what to do. He had never been in a situation like this, and it worried him. He also wondered how he was supposed to face Diane tomorrow.

“What have I done?” he said, groaning.

He needed someone to talk to right now even if they wouldn’t talk back. He had enjoyed the company of Lana, his neighbor's cat, some weeks ago, but his neighbor had come for her immediately when he arrived.

Just then, his phone rang. He brought it out of his pocket and stared at the name it displayed for some time. It was Helen.

He let it ring a couple of times and cleared his throat before picking the call.

“Hey,” Helen said.

“Hey, where have you been?”

“That doesn’t sound like the 'I love you' I was expecting,” Helen said and giggled.

Paul didn’t reply.

“Okay, I’m sorry. Things were happening so fast here, I had to rush to the hospital with my dad this morning. They called and said that my mom had some issues and we needed to be there. We found out that she went into a coma for no apparent reason but was fine by the time we got there. At my dad's request, I went to get something for her. All that happened and some people I knew were also there and my battery died. It was a crazy day.”

She was almost out of breath by the time she was done talking.

“I’m sorry about all that and about your mom,” Paul said. “How’s she feeling now?”

“Better,” Helen said. “I was able to charge my phone when I got home and saw your messages and missed calls. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Paul said. “So, you’ll be there for some time?”

“I guess so,” she said. “How was work today?”

“Fine, but stressful,” Paul said.

“Of course, it was stressful,” Helen said. “Did you get any closer to what you have to do?”

“Not yet,” he lied.

He didn’t want to talk about anything that would bring Diane into their conversation. At least, not at the time.

"Have you told your brother about your plans?"

"Not yet. Wanted to settle in first. I think I'll do that tomorrow," he said.

"Okay," she replied. "Have you eaten?"

"Yeah, I got something at a restaurant on my way home. What about you?"

"My dad ordered something for us on our way home. We came back with my mom. She's doing okay. The order came in almost as soon as we settled at home."

"That's great," he said.

"I've missed you."

Paul wondered how true that was. You don't go a whole day without calling someone you claim to miss. He wondered if all the story about her mom being sick was true, if she had gone to meet another guy and had used the story about her mom as a cover. He also knew that he had these thoughts because of his actions some hours earlier. He needed something to justify them.

"Don't you miss me?" she asked when it was taking time for Paul to answer.

"I do," Paul said. "Can't wait to have you back soon."

He wasn't sure how true that last statement was. He thought he could do without her for some time. That he needed some time to figure things out.

"I also can't wait to be back," she said. "By the way, did you see your dad today?"

"Yeah," Paul replied.

"How did that go?" Helen asked "A dick will always be a dick," Paul sneered. "He behaved as though there was no other choice I could have made and that I made the right decision coming back. So confident. Not sure I would even want to look into his eyes when I cut those wings."

"Are you having second thoughts?"

"Maybe," Paul said.

"Do you want to end up in prison?" Helen asked.

"Well, if you put it like that, then it would seem I have no choice."

"No, you don't. Kick him out or go to prison and I'm sure the latter isn't an option."

"It isn't," Paul said.

"So, you know what you have to do."

"Okay. Thanks for the words of advice, ma'am," Paul joked.

"Anytime," Helen said, giggling.

"Goodnight. We'll talk later," Paul said.

"Yeah. Goodnight."