Revenge

I drop a plate on the floor as William asks my husband if he has seen Jess lately. My husband sounds a little odd, and I can't quite hear his reply.

"You know Dar, I never saw you marrying Sylvia, I always saw you getting married to Jess, still what do I know me old mate."

I jump as the kitchen door swings open, and there stands William.

"Your old man has gone to pack his bag for the flight."

I take a deep breath, and nervously I look him in the eye.

"I want you to leave now you've had your fun. Whatever we did back then you've been more than compensated, you sick bastard."

"I can do that Sylvia, but first I need to show Darren what his wife gets up to at work."

I watch the screen on his phone. William is licking his lips in an exaggerated fashion. As the phone goes down his chest and the back of my head comes into view.

"Yeah Janis used my phone to record you blowing me, so lets see what Darren thinks shall we?"

I grab his arm as he turns away. He pulls out of my grip.

He spins the phone back round and there I am bent over Mr Nash's desk, as he fucks me with his trousers round his ankles.

"Sorry, but I managed to film you and Nash too, twice actually on two different days. Janis asked me if I could set up a camera in her husband's office, she thought he was cheating, but she didn't know who with."

The door opens and Darren walks in carrying his case.

"Hey mate, I got something to show you."

I fumble behind me reaching for the sink to steady myself.

I watch my husband looking at the screen.

"You know, I guess we have all changed, what do you think Sylvia?"

I can feel my chest starting to cave in, as William turns his phone round.

"Shame about the quality, but they are the old school photos they printed in the newspaper. God look how fat I was back then, hey, you looked real good Sylvia in your school uniform. Sorry I'm making you blush."

He turns the phone back to him and seems to be flicking across the screen.

"I'm going to bed."

I rush off and leave them.

I get a kiss on the forehead the next morning at 6 am.

"I've made you a coffee, don't get up."

I smile and then remember who is in the next room.

"What about him?" I ask.

"Sylvia, I've been thinking, maybe we owe him, it's only for a couple of days, and seeing as how he seems not to be bothered about the childish stuff that went on, a few days would make me feel better about, things."

"Darren, we need to talk."

"I haven't got time, the taxi is here."

I hear the toilet flush, and pull the bed clothes up as my husband opens the bedroom door. I hear William wishing Darren a safe journey, as the bedroom door closes.

I'm up and out of the house at 7 am. Just to get away from William. I end up phoning Jess, and Carol, who aren't pleased to be woken up so early. We meet at 8 in a coffee shop.

"So why the panic?" Carol asks as she sits down.

"Have either of you seen William Todd?"

"Willy Wanker? No not for years," Jess says.

"Oh he works where you do." Carol says with a chuckle, "what's he like now, still gross?"

I stare at them in puzzlement. Neither of their faces showed any flicker of dread or concern when I mentioned his name.

"Look, if that's all this is about I'm going home, I've left mum looking after Mark."

"Who is Mark's father?" I ask.

"It was a one night stand, I told you. God is this about Darren and me, still? Mark isn't his."

I watch Jess stand up and leave in a huff.

"I don't believe you, you can't let it go about her and Darren, Christ it was years ago."

"Carol wait, when you phoned me that time and told me someone had told your partner about you going with someone else, well a man, was it, William?"

She looks deep in my eyes.

"No...if you must know, it was the fucking landlord where we were living, Kerri told me a few months later. Why bring all this up now?"

I tell her Darren has let William move in for a few days, I don't mention anything about what has happened between William and me. I tell her about Martin getting beaten up and it being down to William, who had been locked up.

"Sylvia are you on something? I'm sure Willy Wanker hasn't been inside, he worked in Torquay for a few years, Tammy told me she said she saw him about frequently, and Martin was beaten up by debt collectors, although now you've made me wonder."

I shake my head totally mixed up.

"Anyway Darren has obviously told you why he is letting William stay, hasn't he?"

I shake my head.

Her brow furrows. Finally I get her to tell me.

"Do you remember what happened November the 5th Guy Fawkes Night? We were out that night at the after school club, when we heard about William's house burning down.

"I remember that," I mumble.

"Yeah luckily no one was inside, William's mum and dad was out. Someone aimed a rocket through the letterbox."

"Stop right there, Darren wouldn't do that."

She raises her eyebrows.

"Darren told me he did it, with another boy, which I guess could be Martin although Darren never said. Darren was shitting himself waiting for the police to call, but they never did. Darren told me William was just getting home that night. William pushed open the gate and got knocked off his feet, by Darren and the other boy. All William told anyone was it was dark, and when he came to his senses, he saw two boys running away but he didn't know who they were."

"So why is he doing this to us now, why hasn't he ever told the police?"

"I don't know, I have to go I'll be late for work"

"Carol, there's something else, isn't there, something you're not telling me?"

She gets up and pushes the chair back in under the table.

"I've told you more than enough, ask your husband if you want to know anything else," she whispers and goes to walk out the café, and then she stops and comes back.

"Please tell me?"

"Look we all had fun with him, and that stupid obsession you had with him back then got beyond a joke."

"We all messed him about."

She pulls out the chair and sits down again.

"Sylvia, he had a soft spot for you, and you teased him beyond anything the rest of us did."

"I didn't!" I half screech, which has some of the customers in the café looking round.

"Remember the day before we broke up for Easter? You had him lay on the floor in the store cupboard, between your legs looking up your skirt. You enjoyed it, as in a sexual way, you got hot and your face flushed."

"I, I didn't."

"You couldn't fool me or Jess; you actually let him kiss your toes too. No one else would let him."

"He had to pay for that anyway."

"Don't make it out to be about anything else other than some sort of excitement you got from it."

I'm heading back home, trying to discount what Carol said as something which we both remember differently. Right now I fully intending to have a few strong words with William, and then kick him out. I push open the door and there he is sat on the couch, next to my mum!

He jumps up and says something about making me a cup of tea. The kitchen door closes.

"Sylvia you didn't tell you had a lodger. I'm really embarrassed, he told me his name and I didn't recognise it."

I calm myself, "He wasn't really in our circle of friends."

"He works with you he tells me."

"Yeah, Darren asked him to stay for a day or two."

"He tells me you were the first girl he kissed," she lowers her voice and says, "I guess he was better looking back then. Sylvia, I don't think you should be letting him hang your, underwear. I came round the back when I couldn't make anyone hear, and he was stood at your washing line, pegging your clothes up."

The door swings open and William comes in with a cup of tea. He smiles at me, and then sits next to mum again.

"I was telling your mum, about the fun we had back in school. All the boys fancied Sylvia."

"Not all the boys, William," I mumble.

"Oh come on they used to fight over you, well the way you looked back then you certainly raised a few pulses. I'm surprised your mum let you go to school in such a short skirt, all the time."

"Well it wasn't too bad," my mum says a little flustered.

"No I suppose not, but Sylvia and a few others used to roll their waist band up."

"What, Sylvia those skirts were bad enough, I can't believe you would do such a thing."

In a few seconds my mum had gone from defending me to, well not.

"We used to call her the leggy, well I'd better not say the other thing, but it rhymes with heart, but it is nice we can laugh about it now."

Mum stands up and says she has to go. I follow her out into the hall. She spins round and glares at me.

"Did they really call you a leggy tart at school?" she whispers with that angry look on her face I've only seen occasionally in the past.

"No, they didn't mum."

"Sylvia, I can tell by your face you're lying, and get rid of that horrid creature, I can't imagine what Darren thinks."

I'm staring at the back of the front door.

"What else did you tell her?" I hiss as I hear my mum going up the path.

"Relax, I haven't told her we fucked."

"Why can't you just leave me alone?"

He chuckles, "That's what I used to say to you and you're friends at school."

His words rip through me like a knife, it's true, but I can't let him bully me anymore.

"You've humiliated me in front of my mother. You've had your fun, now just leave me alone."

"Okay," he says, "but maybe I should pay your mum and dad a visit, and tell them what a fucking cunt you were to me, and all that flashing you did at school, what do you reckon Sylvia?"

"You wouldn't dare," I say with a noticeable tremble in my voice.

"You really want to test me? Hell, imagine them watching your head bobbing on my cock," he grins holding his phone up.

I can hear myself gag on the video.

"Turn it off!" I yell.

He does, and then just stares at me for a moment.

"I'll leave you alone for the rest of the day. In that time I suggest you think about how unpleasant I can make things for you. When I come back, you had better have had a change of attitude."

I drop into the chair feeling defeated.

"William, you lied to me about Jess and Carol. You didn't do those things you said they told me."

I watch his face for a reaction. I'm hoping I have shocked him. There is a faint twitch in his eye.

"And you weren't ever locked up. You've had your fun and scared me, you've, fu, had sex with me. I honestly didn't know about Martin and Darren letting off the firework that destroyed your home. I'm so, so, sorry about it. I don't even know if I can forgive Darren myself."

"Will you divorce him?"

"Honestly?"

He nods.

"I doubt it, but I'm not making excuses, and I don't want to go over, all the thoughts I've had about him and what he did. It was just a prank and a horrible one, I'm sure they didn't expect to burn the house down."

"Are you sorry for the way you treated me?"

I look up at him feeling the tears roll down my cheeks.

"I told you I was. I know words don't mean much, and yes I had forgotten or rather pushed it out of my mind. We work at the same place, if you want me to leave I will."

He shakes his head, "I don't want you to leave, but I've got to get my revenge on Darren now."

"You've fucked his wife, if that's not enough, tell the police."

The door opens, and in walks Darren looking tired and sombre.

"I thought you were in Sweden?"

He ignores me, and looks at William.

"It is done. I have to report again on Monday, and then they'll decide what to do."

My eyes flick between the two of them.

"Good," William says and leaves the room.

"I confessed, I went to the police, and told them everything about the fire at William's house. When you went to bed last night, well he gave me the option to tell the police everything, or carry on living with it, knowing one day he would tell them."

I hear the front door open. I'm up on my feet and racing after William. I pull the door shut as I go out onto the path.

"Does he know about?" I can't say anymore.

"No, that was just about you and me. Sylvia, you won't see me again, I'm not going back to work. The way I see it is you've got two options, you either go to the police and tell them what I did to you, or you don't, and either way I don't fucking care."

I'm staring at him feeling like I'm in limbo.

"One last thing, you should ask Darren if he's the father of Jess's kid."

"He isn't she told me, and Carol said he wasn't."

He nods, "I really hope he isn't, and maybe that's the truth, but you know Carol and Jess were always tight back then."

I watch him walk up the road, until he turns the corner out of sight.

The End.