Page 84 of Fling

‘Oh look who’s suddenly ready to grow up. I want to know the name of this trollop! Oh God, do I know her? Oh sweet baby Jesus, please don’t tell me I know this home-wrecking tart!’

‘Tara, for the love of God, I didn’t cheat on you!’

‘Prove it. Give me your phone. If you’re not cheating on me, then give me your phone!’ Tara said, holding out her hand.

Colin was reluctant to hand over his phone to Tara but then he realized he had deleted Fling. The app that had all the evidence of his affair was gone. Thank God he had made the decision to wipe all traces of Claire. He might just come out of this fight alive after all.

‘OK, fine!’ Colin said, taking out his phone. ‘You won’t find any evidence of me having an affair because I’m not having an affair. I have nothing to hide.’

Tara snatched the phone out of Colin’s hand. She looked through Colin’s apps to see what she could find. Colin held his breath but felt confident that there was nothing incriminating. He hadn’t screenshotted Claire’s nudes or any of their erotically charged conversations.

He was clean.

‘OH MY GOD!’ Tara screamed. Her scream was otherworldly. He felt like he was hearing a banshee prophesizing his own death.

‘What’s wrong?’ Colin asked, not knowing what she had found.

Tara faced Colin’s phone towards him. That’s when he saw what she had seen.

The mother of all misinterpretations. The final nail in his coffin.

Celine: I got The Brazilian for you. And don’t worry, I won’t say a thing to Tara

Colin wanted to die there and then. He hadn’t a hope of explaining this one.

‘CELINE?’ Tara roared. ‘YOU’RE CHEATING ON ME WITH CELINE?’

‘Tara, please. It’s not what it looks like!’ Colin said, begging her to see reason.

‘Well, it looks like Celine texted my husband to tell him she got a Brazilian bikini wax a few hours before he booked a hotel room and pretended to be working late!’ Tara said, all in one breath.

‘I know this looks bad! But you’re jumping to the wrong conclusion,’ Colin tried desperately to explain. But he knew it was no use. She was already drunk with rage.

‘Do you think I was born yesterday? Of all the women to cheat on me with. CELINE?’ She was completely unhinged.

‘Tara, I’m not sleeping with Celine! You’re being crazy!’

‘DON’T YOU DARE GASLIGHT ME!’ Tara screamed. ‘I won’t be made a fool of. This is a betrayal of biblical proportions!’

‘Oh don’t be so melodramatic, Tara!’ Colin snapped. He knew the moment he said it, he had made a fatal error.

‘Melodramatic? Oh, I’ll show you melodramatic!’ Tara said, walking past Colin and into the hall. She grabbed Colin’s nine-iron out of his golf bag and stormed out the back door of the house.

‘TARA, STOP!’ Colin yelled, chasing after her. When he got outside, he could see Tara holding the golf club in the sky above the motorcycle he had finally repaired.

She looked like an ancient goddess of war.

‘Not the Triumph, Tara!’ Colin said helplessly reaching out his hand.

Tara brought the golf club down and whacked the bike’s engine.

‘Tara, stop this madness right now!’ Colin demanded.

‘Oh I’m sorry, did my back hurt your knife?’ she asked. She took another almighty swing and smashed the bike’s headlight.

‘Tara, please listen! Celine wasn’t talking about a bikini wax! The Brazilian is the IVF doctor that Celine knows. Dr Guillermo-something. You can look him up, I swear I’m not lying. I asked Celine to help us get on his waiting list. I thought maybe you were too proud to ask for help so I did it for you,’ Colin said desperately.

Tara continued to hold the golf club above her head as she tried to process what Colin had just said. She put down the nine-iron for a moment while she thought. Then the look in her eyes changed, indicating she had made up her mind about how she felt.

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