My Forgotten Mate

The Truth

Helen's Pov

Henry had been trying to speak to me for the past 10 minutes or so but I wasn't giving him any attention whatsoever, I was fully focused on getting my stuff and leaving the house.

"Helen wait", he begged, he followed me to the kitchen where I had rushed to for my clothes and lingerie, I felt so ashamed having let him have his way with me when he still had secrets he was keeping from me.

"Helen, I can tell you everything, just listen to me", he continued pleading, he had made several attempts to hold me but I had shrugged off his hands, I wasn't interested in whatever he had to say, I only had one thing in mind, getting the hell out of his house and heading home, I wanted to cry my eyeballs out and I wouldn't grant him the pleasure of watching me do that.

"Don't you dare touch me", I screamed as he tried to touch me one more time. He was startled by my response and took a step back, he lifted his hands in surrender as he urged me with his gentle brown eyes to calm down and listen to him. Those eyes of his were certainly not going to work this time around, I made sure he could see it on my face.

I still had his sheets wrapped around my body, he was never going to see my nakedness again, I already regretted letting him use me as he did in the first place, it seemed like this had been his plan all along. I clutched my clothes to my chest and made my way toward the bedroom.

"Helen", he called as he attempted to stop me. The fiery gaze I shot him seemed to do the trick as he stepped back once more and allowed me to pass on my way to his bedroom. I got into the room and locked the door behind me as I let the sheets fall to the floor, I couldn't get dressed quickly enough and in the process of it all, the tears had begun to bite at my eyes again. I fought them off as I struggled with my jeans, I stuffed the panties and my bra into my pocket as soon as I got the jeans on as I hurriedly put the crop top on. I reached for the sheets once more and I wiped my eyes with them to ensure that he didn't see me like this.

I opened the door to the bedroom one more time to find him standing outside the door, he still hadn't given up even though I was having none of it. He had that sorry look in his eyes, the same one Michael used to have, I wouldn't let it play me again, I had fallen prey to this one too many times and this was the final time.

"Helen please, if you could just give me a moment to explain, I promise I'd tell you everything", he begged as he followed me towards the door, I was barely listening to him at this point, the words he was saying sounded too familiar, if anything, I was angry with myself, I ought to have been far wiser than this.

I picked up my shoes from where I had kept them close to the door as I opened it and walked outside barefoot, my car keys were already in my pocket and so I had no problems unlocking the car once I got there, he had followed me onto the driveway wearing just his shorts, he couldn't come any closer as he peered around trying to see if anyone was looking.

That hesitation from him was all the time I needed to turn over the car engine and pull the car out of the driveway and onto the road.

"Helen, please!!", he yelled as I stepped on the gas, I would not let myself be deceived again. I could see his sorry figure in the side mirror with his hands on his waist as he watched my speed away. As the distance between us grew, I could feel myself weakening as the memories which he had just triggered came crashing down on me, the deception with which Michael had rewarded me for all the love and care I had shown him.

Lying always came so easily to him, he had an explanation for everything, the late-night calls, the way his female co-workers winked at him, the provocative clothes I always found his secretary wearing whenever I went to visit him at work. He had played me clean and proper for over the three years that we had dated.

As the memories washed over my mind, I could feel the tears and the hurt returning, I thought I had gotten over this but it seemed very much like I was still stuck in the cycle of pain that Michael had stuck me in. It surprised me to a great extent that I wasn't even hurt so much by the "secrets" that Henry had kept from me, I was merely trying to avoid a repeat of what Michael had done to me.

I sped towards my neighbourhood, the journey didn't take as long as it had done when I was coming and it was largely due to the speed with which I travelled presently. I wasn't too far from my apartment when I heard the sirens behind me, a police car was following me.

"s**t", I muttered under my breath, I had lost sense of how fast I was going and it had taken the sound of the sirens to bring me back to the reality of the situation. I eased my foot down on the brakes as I slowed the car down and pulled off the highway silently praying I didn't get into much trouble for this.

I checked the rearview mirror and watched the police officer step out of the vehicle, she was riding alone. I could see her scribbling something down on a notepad which she held in her hand as she walked towards me, I was definitely in trouble.

I rolled down my window glass as I waited for her to reach, I had wiped my face with the back of my hand as hard as I could, it wouldn't work in my favour if she thought I was driving under the influence of alcohol. I looked out the window and flashed the brightest smile that I could muster.

"Good evening officer", I greeted. She had walked up to the side of my car and was peering curiously at me as she tried to understand what was up with me, I could see the investigative look on her face, she didn't look like someone I would get rid of easily.

"Do you know how fast you were going Helen?", she asked as she scribbled some more details on the notepad she held in her hand.

"I'm sorry officer, that's totally on me, I apologise if I caused any.......", I froze mid-sentence, the officer knew my name and I hadn't told her just yet. She seemed to notice my confusion as she had removed the thick dark glasses she had been wearing to reveal a pair of serious blue eyes which brightened as her face stretched into a smile.

I knew this woman, I had met her while house hunting and we had hung out a couple of times, we had never had the chance to discuss her job so I didn't know she was a police officer. I slapped my palm on my face as she laughed at me, deep down I felt so much relief that she was someone I could explain the situation too.

It took her a while to stop laughing before she began to speak again.

"Ok, what's the problem, Helen? , you were burning some serious rubber there. Mind telling me why you were going that fast?", she queried, she no longer had the serious officer gait about her, she was asking as an acquaintance.

"Boy trouble Patrice", I whimpered as I let a tear slide down my cheeks, I wasn't going to tell her anymore though, we weren't that close, at least not yet. I turned my face to her to discourage her from asking any further questions. It seemed she understood because she didn't ask any more questions, she just stood there looking sorry for me and after a quiet moment had passed, she spoke again.

"I'm sorry about that honey, I reckon you need some ice cream and your favourite movie. I'll leave you to it, drive safe though", she added as she leaned off my car window, she was one of those people who knew their boundaries and respected them. She nodded at me as she turned away from the car and started walking back towards her vehicle.

I let out a sigh of relief, it would have been an entirely different story if I had been stopped by some other officer, I was thankful she had been the one who stopped me.

The rest of the ride home was incident free and as I stepped out of the car, I took extra care to stuff the lingerie in my pocket further down, I didn't need anybody nosing into my business any more than I could handle today, my day had been ruined enough.

I was in the stairwell when I remembered that I didn't have my phone on me, I must have left it at Henry's house in my haste to leave.

"Dear God", I lamented as I lifted a hand to my head, my day was fast turning from bad to worse, there was certainly no way I was going back to his house, not after leaving the way I did. I grudgingly continued my ascent up the stairs, more downcast than I had been when I entered the stairwell, this was certainly not how I had envisaged my day to be.

I had just stepped onto my floor and looked towards my door when I spotted him, it looked like he had been there for a while given the fact that he was sitting on the floor with his head in his hands, he cut a very frustrated figure. Seeing him like that stirred up pity in me for him but suddenly, all the anger I had felt in the morning came rushing back, I couldn't forget the fact that he had lied, and kept things from me, I couldn't.

"What do you want?", I asked as I walked towards him, he lifted his head as I approached and looked at me, he jumped to his feet when I got close enough and straightened his clothes. Reaching into his pocket, he removed my phone and stretched his hand to give it to me.

"I think you forgot your phone while you were leaving, you were in such a hurry and you....."

"Thank you", I said coldly as I snatched the phone from him and went straight to my door, I reached above the door frame and removed my keys and as I slid the key into the keyhole to open my door, he began to plead once again.

"Please Helen, if you could just stop for one second, I promise I'd tell you everything, I swear it"

I opened my door and walked through it, slamming it shut behind me. I could hear the dull thud of his muscular hands as they landed on the shut door in frustration. I walked over to my bed as fast as I could and crawled into it, I pulled the duvet over my body and covered my entire body as I let the tears pour, my mouth fell open as I wept but no sound came from it, I needed to talk to someone, anyone but him.

Marie! I needed to call Marie, she was the only one I could think of that could comfort me, she knew everything that had happened between me and Michael, every little detail, she would know how I'm feeling right now and the best way to console me. I picked up my phone as the tears poured and began to call her on video.

"Yaaaaay, she remembered me!!!", came Marie's cheerful voice from the other end of the line. I had to force myself to chuckle in between sobs, she was a very cheerful person and seeing her so happy made me want to smile.

"What's wrong 'len?", she asked, her cheerful tone disappearing as soon as she noticed that I was crying, I wiped my eyes with the back of my hands as I struggled to keep the tears from pouring any further.

"What did he do 'len?", she pressed further, I could see she was getting agitated, Marie always protected me, she had nearly torn Michael's throat out when we finally caught him in the act with undeniable proof after he had lied to us for so long, the thought of his naked secretary and her black thong hanging on one of the bed posts in his apartment would never leave my memory.

I spent the next few minutes narrating what had happened to Marie, she listened attentively, speaking only when she saw that I was crying too much.

"What do you think Marie?", I asked in between sobs, I didn't have any reason for acting the way I had with Henry, especially when I knew he could have a very good explanation for what had happened, I had acted purely on instinct.

"Where is he now 'len?", Marie asked.

"He's standing right outside my door, I don't want to let him anywhere near me Marie", I complained, I knew she was going to ask that I hear him out, it was clear that I had been traumatised by my experience with Michael but another thing was clear as well, Henry was hiding something, something I'd had to hear about from the strange man in his house earlier today.

"I know you don't 'len but we've talked about this, you need to hear what he has to say, sweetheart, there could be a very good reason for what happened", Marie pleaded. She had brought both her hands together on the screen to make a plea sign for me to see. It was very difficult to refuse Marie when she was like this, and as much as I hated to admit it, she did make a very good point.

She kept at it until I had no option but to accept her terms.

"Ok Marie, I'm going", I groaned lazily as I ended the call. I stared distastefully towards the door as I got off the bed, I hoped deep within me that he had given up and gone but upon opening the door, I realized that he never intended to go anywhere.

"Bunny, I know you don't want me here but please just give me a moment to explain", he began.

"I want the truth Henry, everything now!!", I responded in an ice-cold voice, it was either that or he'd never see me again.