Page 154 of A Night with Damien Spur

‘Frances.’

‘Just a second.’ He returned to the kitchen. ‘It’s Frances. Do I let her in?’

‘No, it’s okay, I’ll go.’

Let her wait, said the Voice.Turningup unannounced. What a nerve.

Frances stood on the threshold like a soldier. Chin up, arms by her side, legs astride.

She gave Damien a tense smile.

‘Hi,’ she said.

‘Hello, Frances, this is a surprise,’ Damien replied.

‘I really need to talk to you,’ she said. For a moment she looked past him at the handsome young man standing by the entrance of the kitchen.

He gazed back. A blush rose from her neck to her cheeks. Something had clicked.

Oh God! This is sick!the Voice boomed in his head.She said she was pregnant with your child! Forget Oedipus. What kind of Greek mess is this going to be? Son falls in love with Dad’s pregnant girlfriend. That makes your potential offspringTheo’s half-brother. You’d better put a stop to this before it starts. Ask her NOW. In front of Theo.Clear the decks, one way or the other.

‘Frances, are you pregnant?’ Damien said.

‘No,’ she said.

‘I’ll check the pasta,’ Theo said.

When they were alone, Frances looked at Damien and said in a quiet voice, ‘I lied. I thought that if I said that I might be pregnant you would keep on seeing me.’

‘And how long did you expect to keep that up?’

‘I guess till I pretended to have a miscarriage. Say I’d fallen down the stairs.’ She gave a huge sigh and started to cry.

‘Unbelievable! This is better than anything I could have written,’ he said. ‘What an incredible story. You and Laura tied together by your porkies. Such a great joke!’ He chuckled.

And then he roared with laughter. Wave after wave rising from his core.

‘You can’t imagine how relieved I am that you came clean,’ he said wiping the tears of joy from his eyes.

You bet!said the Voice.

‘I’m glad you think it’s funny,’ Frances said. ‘So I guess that’s it for us?’

Can you believe it? She’s still pushing her luck,said the Voice.

‘Romantically, yes. But who knows, with your gift for fantasy, one day we might collaborate on a screenplay together.’

‘Really?’

‘Please, Frances, enough.’

‘Okay, okay…’ She paused.

She certainly can roll with the punches. Now what?the Voice said.

‘So who’s the guy?’ Frances asked.

She gave him a sweet little smile.

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