A Poisonous Echo
1 – Monday 20th May
He had wiped her out with the ‘fast erase’. He couldn’t
believe he had been so stupid…
Swearing furiously under his breath, he pressed a few
more switches: nothing! Perhaps there had been nothing
to wipe. No way! Although she might not have rung, there
were other people in his world! There were usually a few
callers over weekends. His anger with himself, the
wretched answering machine and most of all with Joyce
– who had no right to treat him like this – boiled over. He
grabbed the ‘phone violently from its cradle and dialled,
hoping she was still at home.
She had been in a strange mood when they left the
office together on Saturday. She had cornered him...
forcing him to admit that there was no way he’d ever
leave his wife or risk losing the children. He could have
gone further. He could have admitted that he never had
considered such drastic action. Showing compassion,
however, he spared her the truth. He would definitely let
things cool between them from now on, but dared not risk
allowing the liaison to end with an all-out fight; she had
the power to wreck his life! He would persuade her that
what they had was worth hanging on to, and then
gradually ease away from her clutches. They might
eventually be able to remain good friends.
He felt aggrieved, it wasn’t as if he’d set out to cheat
on his marriage but, once started, the affair drifted on
casually for years, until he’d come to accept Joyce as a
permanent, undemanding feature. Her flat being only a
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