Rebuilding Harry Ch. 07

When she arrived the next night, Veronica had decided upon a combination of the two. Harry had been pacing the living room nervously with a beer while Trish made the dinner, and had envisioned all sorts of disasters for the evening. He was dressed up a little, without a blazer but with a tie, while Trish was wearing dark colors, a backless blouse and skirt that looked like it would have been a hit at a dinner party or a Superbowl get together. When she walked out of the bedroom, Harry's jaw had dropped as he saw what felt like a ressurection of what she looked like at some of the posher parties back in university, complete with immaculate hair tied back in a loose ponytail and subtle makeup that gave her an air of looking both natural and glamorous. When she dressed like that back then, he always felt a little giddier to have her at his side, and so it was a confusing moment to have her looking like this as he was about to introduce Veronica to her. Trish had looked at what he was wearing for a prolonged moment of appraisal, as if unsure if there was something that should be added, but after a while she just smiled, nodded her head and went to the kitchen to check up on the chicken.

When the doorbell rang, he almost spilled beer all over himself as he rushed to get it before Trish could, even though Trish didn't make a move to leave the kitchen. As he opened the door, he caught his breath. Veronica looked stunning, her maroon skirt and white blouse hanging loosely on her frame but still suggesting the curves underneath. As she smiled at him and stepped into the light, he saw that the blouse was actually a little translucent, and he could make out her figure and even the straps of her bra as she stood before him.

"So?" she asked. "Will this do?"

"You look great," he said nervously. He didn't know why it was important whether she looked good or not, but for some reason it was nice to see that she wasn't going to be outdone by his wife. He supposed it would make things easier. The way he'd envisioned it, Trish and Veronica would try to figure out exactly how his respective relationships with both of them would work, and Veronica would leave, and things would continue as they were or they wouldn't, but there was such a heightened energy to the moment that he couldn't help but be a little relieved that Veronica had shown up so exquisitely, as though he could say to his wife, "How could you blame me?"

"Well..." she said, looking around. "This is your house."

"Yeah," he said, shrugging, before taking another sip of beer.

"Aren't you going to kiss me hello?" she said, scrunching her mouth up into an amused smile, her dark eyes lit up playfully.

"Yeah," he laughed. "Well, to be honest, I wanted to wait until Trish came out so we could just go at it, right in front of her."

"Oh really?" she asked, biting her lip, smiling hard.

"Yup," he said. "I'm all packed, actually. We could do that and then run for our lives."

"Relax," Veronica said, patting him on the arm. "I think if your wife was going to be kill me she wouldn't have gone about it this way." Her hand lingered on his forearm a while, and her now familiar touch was enough for him to forget about the bizarre context of it all, and he leaned in to kiss her.

"It's good to see you," he said.

"Ditto," she said, and walked past him. She kept her shoes on, and it was a little exciting to see she was wearing her high heels into his place, since it added a little something to her strut that seemed almost sultry, and having her looking that way in his own living room made his stomach queasy.

"Harry?" came Trish's voice from the kitchen.

Veronica stopped in her tracks, and looked back at him and smiled, although he read a certain anxiety in her eyes. He swallowed hard, but sucked it up and walked out to escort Veronica to the kitchen, his arm around her waist.

They came around the corner, and Trish was standing there, a funny little apron and oven mitts adding a charming goofiness to her elegance, and when she turned to see them, she smiled widely, straightened herself up and removed the mitts, and said "Hello!" before walking forward to place her hands on Veronica's shoulders to give a friendly peck on the cheek, which Veronica returned awkwardly. "It's really nice to meet you," Trish said while their eyes were locked momentarily, before dropping her head in a slightly humble fashion to head back to the stove.

"It's nice to meet you too," Veronica said, putting her hands behind her back and getting up on her tiptoes in a fidgety moment. She inhaled deeply and added, "It smells wonderful."

"Oh this?" Trish asked. "Just an old chicken recipe. You don't mind wine, do you?"

"Not at all," Veronica said.

"That's good," Trish laughed, "because it's in the sauce. It hadn't even occured to me to ask Harry to check if that was okay..."

"It's fine," Veronica said, looking back at Harry and smiling. "It sounds delicious."

Harry had felt invisible for that moment, and had been content to be so, as he watched the sight of Veronica and his wife so close together. The emotions within him were so inexplicable, even more so than the time Trish had stopped by the office the day it all came out. That day felt like it was a hundred years ago now in the present situation, and each breath he took tickled its way up and down his throat at the thought of Trish and Veronica being so close together, so cordial even though the circumstances here were those that would have inspired anger amongst any other group of reasonable people.

"Well, good, I'm glad," Trish said, "Now shoo. Everything else aside, this is still my kitchen." She laughed heartily and waved them out into the den. "Maybe you should offer her something to drink?" she called after them as they made their way to the sofa, with Harry not sure if the mood was more jovial or nervous. He looked at Veronica expectantly.

"Vodka? Bourbon?" he asked.

"Ice water," Veronica said. "I need something to put these flames out."

"You're nervous too, huh," Harry asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Veronica asked, raising her eyebrows anxiously. "Your wife is beautiful."

Harry smiled, and walked towards her, stopping just close enough so that he could lean in and whisper, "Say the word, and we're out of here."

Veronica looked up at him, and got up on her tiptoes, her eyes locked on him as she smiled, licked her lips and said "Are you kidding? I'm not leaving yet. This is just too much fun." She then caught his chin in her teeth and snarled, "Now get me my water."

"Hey, whoa," he said, pulling away. "If you're the boss at your house, don't I get to be the boss at mine?"

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" she said, slipping her hands around his waist. "You've neverbeenthe boss."

"Right," he said. "You're fired."

She pursed her lips, looked off to the side, and then shrugged slowly, before saying, "Okay."

"Just kidding," he said. "You're rehired."

She repeated the exact same motion, and then said, "Okay."

"Ice water?" he said.

"Yes please," she said, smiling, and he shook his head as he went back to the kitchen. Trish was standing there, with three plates out on the counter. She looked at him as he entered with wide eyes.

"Oh Harry," she said. "She's even prettier in person. I can't believe I ever let you hire someone like that."

"Let me?" he laughed. "You hadn't paid attention to my work in years." He was immediately a little remorseful about those words, since he didn't want to sound spiteful, but Trish just smiled at him.

"Well, you can bet I'm paying attention now," she said, before going back to arranging the vegetables on the plates.

He went through the motions of getting Veronica's ice water as quickly as he could, as Trish finished preparing their three plates. When he left the kitchen behind him, he saw from the corner of his eye that Trish had opened the refrigerator door to pull out a bottle of sparkling wine that she must have bought just for the occasion. Walking through the dining room, he saw that their best silverware and glasses were out, and that the three missing plates in the china cabinet must have had her chicken sitting on them right now.

He arrived in the den to see Veronica looking at the photographs of he and his wife together. She said nothing as she took the glass of water from him, and just continued to look at the pictures with a strange expression. Just as she finished the last of the water, Trish's voice called out that dinner was ready.

***

Dinner went smoothly enough, if a little awkwardly. He and Trish sat on opposite ends of the table, while Veronica sat between them. Conversation was limited to Harry's office and the work he and Veronica did together, with no mention of the affair through the entire main course. Harry had tried to steer conversation away to safer topics, complimenting his wife's cooking and bringing up the odd reference to something that he and Veronica needed to see to back at work, and he noticed that Trish stared at them very intently, with a certain warm look in her eyes when they talked briefly about work. Harry quickly apologized for leaving her out of the discussion, but Trish smiled and said it was alright.

The dinner was delicious, and it was painful to watch each mouthful that Trish and Veronica brought to their lips, the way that they both looked so beautiful even while eating, and at the same time looked so natural, as though they'd been having dinners together for months. Veronica even asked about the way Trish had prepared the wild rice, and Trish had obliged with such non-chalance about it that Harry had to sit back and marvel about the surreality of it all. There was a gradual shift in the way the two women were, though. He noticed that at the beginning of the meal, even as they courteously looked at each other while talking, both had directed their attention at him in minute ways, with Trish's body constantly facing him and Veronica pivoting when she wanted to speak to him. Then, after the first glass of wine, things loosened up a little, and during the recipe discussion they were both talking to each other as if they were friends, and before long the two were trading jokes about Harry, during which he kept silent, breaking it only to laugh along. Still, the subject matter stayed totally safe even as the three had finished their plates, at which point Trish asked if anybody wanted coffee with their dessert.

"There's dessert?" Harry asked.

"Oh yes!" Trish said. "It's nothing special, just mousse." She looked at Veronica and repeated the question. "Coffee?"

Veronica lifted her wine glass and said, "I'm fine with this."

Trish looked over at him, and he said, "I guess I'm fine too."

"Good," Trish said, and stood up to get their plates, getting Veronica's first, Trish's free hand touching her on the shoulder as she removed it. Veronica turned her head back to smile, and it was definitely a sight to see, Trish standing behind Veronica, the plunging neckline of her backless blouse almost touching the back of Veronica's head. In an instant it was over, and his wife was walking towards him to get his plate, and when their eyes met he saw that Trish had seemed really pleased about the way the meal had gone, the hint of the smile that had never left her red lips the entire meal still there as she took his plate, the forearm of the hand holding Veronica's brushing him on the shoulder.

"It was a delicious meal," Veronica said as Trish returned to her seat to pick up the last plate before going to the kitchen.

"My pleasure," Trish said. "Maybe we can do this again sometime?"

Harry, who was in the middle of a sip of his drink, almost snorted it up.

"See?" Trish laughed, walking back out with a couple of bowls of mousse. "Harry thinks it's a good idea too."

"Oh, he does, does he?" Veronica said, turning at him and grinning.

He coughed a couple of times after setting down his drink. "Why not?" he said, wondering if the night could get any weirder. Quickly, he realized that of course the night was going to get weirder, since they hadn't even spoken about what it was Veronica had been invited there to discuss, although the look in Trish's eyes as she returned from the kitchen with the third bowl of mousse and another bottle of wine seemed to say it was coming up. She opened the wine and walked around to pour everyone a fresh glass, and this time when Veronica lifted her glass to receive hers, Trish placed her hand on Veronica's to steady the glass.

Harry watched the momentary contact with a little anxiety, before he took a deep breath and decided that he ought to just concentrate on the dessert and let things happen as they would. As if he needed to see the two of them just now to confirm it, he realized that whatever was going to happen needed to be sorted out between Trish and Veronica. He was just there for show. They probably could have had this discussion in the food court of a local mall or something. It made him wonder -- did Trish set up this elaborate scene to try to impress Veronica about his home life? Was Veronica here to try to make it clear she wouldn't be intimidated? Were they going to put the decision to him to choose? In a way, he was beginning to hope they wouldn't, because what had seemed like a clear decision only a half-hour earlier was quickly becoming muddied after the wine. They were both just so beautiful, that he had a feeling he'd have "what if" sentiments no matter which way this whole thing went. Deep down, he was wishing that the two of them would be willing to let his double life continue. He wouldn't want to trade in his relationship with Veronica for anything, but there was something about the way Trish had turned around in the last day that made him nostalgic for the marriage they had in the beginning. As he worked through the mousse he turned those thoughts around in his brain, until Veronica finally broke the stalemate.

"So," she said, setting down her spoon over her half-eaten dessert, "why exactly is it that you two have invited me here?"

Harry raised his eyebrows to look at her. He was pretty sure that he'd told her this was Trish's idea first and foremost, so he figured maybe she was trying to put on an act for Trish's sake, but with their intimacy it was safe to say his wife wouldn't have expected him to be anything but candid with Veronica.

"Well," Trish said, "there's this matter of what you and my husband have been up to." She wasn't looking either of them in the eye, focusing instead on the center of the table, and continuing to eat the mousse, albeit slowly, and with the hint of a smile on her face.

"I see," Veronica said. "Yes, Harry mentioned that you'd figured out about our affair." She leaned forward a little and looked Trish and added, "And I wanted to say I'm really sorry if this has been a bother for you. I was under the impression that you and Harry were no longer intimate in that way."

Trish looked up and met Veronica's gaze, and nodded her head appreciatively, before looking at Harry and saying, "I understand why he did it. Truth be told, I cheated on him a while ago too. It was a joyless experience."

Harry kept eating at his mousse, wondering what he'd have to say for himself once the conversation came to him.

"I'm sorry to hear that, I think," Veronica said.

"I'm not," Trish said. "It was something I let happen, and afterwards I really didn't like what it was I'd done to Harry, even though I was sure he didn't know about it at the time. It was a shallow thing, all in all." With this, she glanced over at Harry, and slyly lifted her eyebrow. "Unlike what it is you and my husband have."

Veronica looked down and smiled, before looking over at Harry. "Well, it's a pretty special man you're married to over there."

"Yes," Trish said. "He sure is."

Harry glanced back and forth between the two of them as their beautiful gazes locked on him -- Veronica, with her heart-shaped face deep within her wavy hair, and her large eyes and full, red lips, and Trish, with her slightly sharper features, her curly hair and a stare almost like an amused vampire right then. He let his eyes fall upon their bodies, glancing from Veronica's shorter voluptuous figure, hidden behind that thin blouse, over to Trish's larger, athletic form, her loose-fitting top revealing her toned shoulders and defined neck. He realized that he was practically leering over the sight of the two of them, and he quickly dipped his head and went back to his mousse.

"And..." Trish continued, "I think we wanted you here to figure out exactly who gets to keep him."

Veronica nodded, before placing her elbows on the table, and leaning her chin atop her folded hands thoughtfully. "When I first saw Harry, I was intrigued by him, his strange combination of goodness and mischief. But this was before I found out he was married. The more I got to know him, the more I found myself wanting him, and it was a little bit of an ache in me, knowing he was taken, so I tried distracting myself with an attractive guy who just didn't do it for me in the end. When I found out that your marriage was, well, the way it was, I couldn't help myself. I suppose I'd be a little ashamed if he hadn't given me such pleasure. And, of course, the whole time I was convinced I wasn't really home-wrecking, so I let myself go along with it. I was really sorry when I found out that you still felt strongly for him, partly because I felt bad if I'd hurt you."

Trish smiled kindly at Veronica. "That's alright. I deserved every bit of it. I didn't treat Harry well, and I can't blame him for cheating if I did it. Really, to be honest, the only leverage I have over you is our marriage. I know you're the one in control here."

Veronica chuckled. "It doesn't feel like I'm in control."

"Oh, but you are," Trish said. "You should have seen the way you two made love in that video. The last time Harry and I were like that, it was years ago. I know you have his heart now."

"And yet..." Veronica said, tilting her head towards him, "he never actually tried to divorce you." Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Veronica cut him off. "I didn't expect you to," she said quickly. "I just put it out there as something to think about, that you stayed with Trish even after she cheated on you, that you stayed with her even after you and I started, and that you were just as happy as I was to let it stay that way."

"Um..." Harry began, and then shook his head. "I don't really know what to say." He looked at Trish intently and said, "You wouldn't be an easy woman to walk away from." Her eyes went down as she smiled at the compliment. "I guess I just figured that it didn't really make a difference between you and I, if Veronica was in my life."

"I understand," Trish said, before pushing her unfinished mousse away to take another sip of wine. "I really do. Like I said, I'm not mad." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to steady herself, before turning her head to Veronica, opening her eyes slowly. "It's just, watching you and Harry awakened something in me that I hadn't felt about him in a while. At first I thought it was jealousy, but it was more than that. It was a combination of things - how beautiful you two looked together, how I could feel your desire when you looked at him... And Jesus, Harry, the gym's been doing wonders for you."

"Oh thanks," he said sarcastically, before laughing.

"That's not what I meant!" Trish laughed, embarrassed. "It's just... well, you looked different. It was like you weren't my husband, and since I've been taking that for granted for so long... It just took me back to where you and I were when we were in university, the way I felt when I first saw you." She looked at Veronica. "And really, I have you to thank for it. It's such a wonderful feeling, but it's also a little bittersweet, to think that I'm only feeling this again when I'm on the verge of losing him to someone younger and prettier."