Page 24 of The Most Dearest
“What?” he snapped.
“Juliet gave me a message for you.”
“Oh, I can’t wait. Do enlighten me,” he replied nastily.
“She said that the hospital pharmacist Dom mentioned something about your name coming up at a guild meeting?” Harrison was desperate to be a senior member of the Pharmacists Guild. At the moment, he was an associate member, but given he was no longer employed as a pharmacist, I don’t know how long that would be the case.
“What did he say?” Miranda was right. This man was a gullible fool.
“I don’t know. Something about Walmart and car parks. Maybe he knows about your new job.”
Harrison paled. He knew that in this fictional conversation, Dom was not talking about his new job. He was talking about his little Walmart trysts.
“Oh, and Seamus has a message for you too.”
“What?” His tone was now weary.
“He said to fuck off and stay gone. And something about a dumpster fire. I don’t really remember that part.”
“Great. Thanks for sharing that.” By this time, Emma was wringing her hands and checking the time on her phone.
“Harrison, I have to go! Brian’s on my case all the time since you left and I don’t want to give him any reason to completely clean house!”
Grumbling, shoulders slumped, Harrison left the house with Emma haranguing him about his lack of support for her career. Poor kid.
Chapter 24: Damon – Developmental stages
And where the offense is, let the great axe fall.
Hamlet, William Shakespeare
I stretched out on Cordy’s sofa. What had begun as an act of revenge fraud was now the best relationship I’d had in my life. The fake dating had given us the perfect soft trial. We fit together well. She was adventurous and extroverted, and I was more serious. I wasn't an introvert exactly, but Cordy was more extroverted than I was. We'd had sex for the first time two weeks ago and hadn't slowed down. We spent a lot of time at my house, wanting to avoid Harrison as much as possible. Every now and then, we spent the night at Cordy's so Harrison couldn't claim that she'd legally left. Cordy was becoming frustrated, and I could tell she was tempted to just throw it all in and declare defeat. I was supportive of whatever she wanted to do. If this was affecting her negatively, then I'd support her walking away. I still considered beating him to make him cough up her share, but Juliet said he was the type to press charges. I had a clean record and no desire to let that asshole wreck it.
It was a standard lazy Thursday night when Harrison came home later than usual. He was still wearing his blue Walmart vest. Cordy and I were lying on the sofa cuddling and watching a hockey game.
Harrison looked pale and pinched. I finally understood what people meant when they said "long face." His face literally looked long, like it had elongated with misery. He didn't say a word, but it was odd for him to just sit there like that. Usually,we avoided each other. Emma didn't avoid us anymore, but she hadn't been around for the past few days.
“Okay, I'll bite. What is wrong Harrison?” Cordy said in an exasperated tone that implied she was barely tolerating him.
“Emma left me,” he said, sobbing on the last word. “She met someone else.”
“I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm really not Harrison. You're big on statistics. Do you know how poor the success rate is for relationships that begin from infidelity? You should have run the numbers before fucking another woman.”
“She left me for fucking Stefan,” he choked out.
“Stefan? The guy with the small hands?” I asked, confused.
“No, he saidIhad small hands. His hands are normal,” Harrison clarified angrily through his tears. “No, I mean, my hands are normal. He just said they weren't, but they are. Fuck all of this!” He stood, throwing his small hands in the air.
“Well, he is only 19. A way more appropriate match for her,” Cordy pointed out sensibly.
“'m not fucking old, Cordelia,” he bellowed. “She'll come back. He's a laborer for fuck's sake.”
Cordelia laughed. “Keep telling yourself that. She's gone. G.O.N.E. The girl saw the light. Teenagers grow out of stages all the time. I read only yesterday that teens are prone to impulsive love but that it burns out quickly. Don’t you remember your teens, Harrison? Gosh, I fell in and out of love all the time when I was that young.”
Harrison huffed.
“Cordelia, I will give you five thousand dollars to be gone from this house by the weekend.”
