Illicit Affairs

 It was dark, the midnight rain had started, drizzling a little on the broken cobblestone pathway. He fixed his jacket, keeping the hood of it over his head. If anyone saw him now… He shook his head, there was no time to worry about that now, if anyone found out, he would just tell then he was out for a run or something. Besides, no one ever took this road. Too dark for a midnight run. He could see the parking lot directly in front of him now. But this wasn’t right. He could always stop. He should stop. Before she found out. It was mid November now, and he knew Betty was probably at her parent’s house, sipping on a half cold coffee, staring at some girl’s silhouette in the fog of the freezing gray November. 

   He could see her now, her blond hair falling in a wavy curtain down her face, her curled curtain bangs swept aside next to her eyes. He knew she was using nude lipstick, her favorite, with a darker shade lining the sides of her perfect, full lips. Her cheeks rosy red and her light, diamond blue eyes were lined with a sharp brown, her perfect porcelain skin somehow glowing in the dim light of the parking lot.

   Well, she was so much prettier than Betty in a blond hair, blue eyed way, like a barbie doll coming to life. She hugged him, and he buried his nose in her hair, taking in the green apple scent of her perfume, as if it was the last time that he would get to inhale that smell of hers. 

   “Babe, you’re beautiful tonight,” he hated what he was about to do, about to let go. This whirlwind, rollercoaster of a romance was born from just a single, longing glance at the start of June. She brought him to the beautiful, sunlit rooms of her beach house. Until Betty started noticing. Now, it was going to end with clandestine meetings in parking lots.

   “Thank you so much. Hey, I got you this,” Augustine whispered in the dark, giving him her scarf and pulling out a brand new box of expensive perfume, “no offense, but you need this. Cologne makes you more attractive. I’m not saying that you’re not already attractive though! It’s just, you know, beneficial for both you and my nose receptors”

   He laughed, taking it and putting it into his bag, “Thank you…” His voice trailed off with uncertainty, hating what was going to come.

   “Is something wrong?” She tilted her head upwards, as if asking for a kiss.

   He looked away, not meeting her eyes, and avoiding her lips, “I-I’m sorry.”

   She sounded confused, and laughed a little, “For smelling bad? Don’t worry. It happens to anyone. Hygiene isn’t necessarily a priority for everyone. I’ll still love you if you don’t wear my perfume. Just a teensy little bit less than I would if you did end up using this perfume, okay?. ” When he didn’t respond, she sighed, knowing this was much, much more than smelling bad, “For what?”

   His voice dropped into a whisper, barely audible in the screaming of the wind and the beating of his heart, “I was cheating on my girlfriend with you… I-I told myself at first that this was not going to escalate even more, that this was going to be a summer fling, something experimental… I told myself eventually you would pull away and go back to safer things, but…But you didn’t. And now…My girlfriend, Betty, she-she suspects something. Between us. I-I need to end it here. Now. I-I’m so sorry…” He couldn’t look at her.

   “W-What? Why didn’t you tell me? We could’ve figured something o-” She realised what she was saying, “So you’re telling me that I was just a fling? So you’re telling me now that our 5 months together was just a lie, an experiment, a rush of adrenaline?  WOW. You’re such a liar! What the hell James?”

   “Babe please forgive me, we’re both kids…” His voice was pleading, desperate.

   “There is no we. And DON’T CALL ME THAT! I’m not a kid, and I’m NOT your baby! It’s like you came and took all of my clothes, just to leave me here naked, alone, safe but stranded! And now what are you gonna tell Betty? That you messed up? It’s like you showed me all of your impressionist paintings of heaven, just for me to learn that they were all fake! You showed me colors I would never be able to see with anyone else. You taught me a language I can’t speak with anyone else. Remember all the passed notes? Our secret code. Now you just had to ruin it!”

   “I-” James was interrupted by Augustine.

   “Shut up, James. You’re not going to change anything!” Her voice cracked, “You know, I’ve always been jealous of Betty. Popular girl, friends with everyone. That pretty Filipina-American mixed race princess with the gorgeous skin and the prettiest long, chocolate brown hair I’ve ever seen. And she’s got the perfect smile and voice and body, and the way she does her makeup is something I would never be able to do. And she’s such a homewrecker, a slut, but how could I ever hate her? She’s nice to me, taught me math and English when I was struggling. She’s such an angel, but I can’t help but wish she was dead! She’s what, 2 years older than me! You’re all going to college next year, and I’m gonna be stuck here for another year! I hate both you and Betty, I don’t ever want you to talk to me again!”

   She turned away in tears, running away from the parking lot, her red scarf still in his hands, and for some reason, that hand-knitted, soft red cloth was blood on his hands. He told the truth to her one single time, but before that, he had lied, and lied, and lied, a million little times.