A Dangerous Affair

A Dangerous Affair Chapter 39

By the time Stephanie and Tom had arrived at Stephanie’s house, both of them were chilled to the bone as their wet clothes clung to them uncomfortably. Stephanie unlocked the door and ran upstairs, briefly searching in her wardrobe to pull out some fresh clothes before locking herself in the bathroom, where she took a quick hot shower. Tom paced the landing outside the bathroom and knocked on the door at intervals, asking if he could come in and share Stephanie’s shower.

“I’ll be out in two seconds. Then you can have a quick shower, but then we need to get back to work Tom. Remember work? It’s what we should be doing round about now. Brick will skin us alive if he finds out we’ve been back here!” she shouted.

“Yeah, yeah but that’s why it would be quicker if you let me in there now,” he reasoned, stripping off his freezing wet shirt and hanging it on the banister at the top of the stairs.

“Too late,” she said, opening the door after having showered and changed into dry clothes. “It’s all yours but hurry up!” she urged.

He saluted her and entered the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Stephanie shook her head in exasperation and then noticed the wet shirt on the banister, dripping onto the floor. She took hold of it and went into the spare room to hang it on the radiator to dry. Looking around the room,she recalled the state of Tom’s bedroom in his apartment and observed that her spare room resembled much the same. Clothes were strewn over the floor and bed in a similar manner and so she moved around the room, plucking up odd garments to tidy away.

When she had retrieved more than she could carry, she kicked his bag out of the centre of the room and bent down to place the garments into it. She threw the clothes into the bag, but just before they covered the contents, her eyes homed in on something sticking out of a side pocket. She froze, unable to believe her eyes, but also not wanting to confirm what she had seen for fear that it was true. She backed away from the bag and onto the landing, where she paused for a moment before walking back downstairs and into the kitchen. She sat down on one of the kitchen chairs, staring out of the window. She had been so stupid. She had to stop and think. Everything had happened so fast that she had somehow in the process lost control of the situation. She sat, playing the events of the last week through her head, until Tom joined her in the kitchen.

“Okay, I got ready in record time just for you. Let’s go then,” Tom said at the kitchen door.

Stephanie turned to him. “Sit down Tom, we need to talk.”

He suddenly felt uncomfortable from the tone of her voice and the look on her face.

He sat next to her at the table. “What’s up?”

She looked him directly in the eyes, making him feel even more uncomfortable. “I need you to be straight with me now Tom. What are you hiding from me?”

He didn’t understand the question. As far as he was concerned, she was hiding more than him. “What are you talking about ‘hiding from you?’ All I’ve tried to do is keep you safe. Why would you say that?” he replied defensively.

“Try the gun in your bag Tom. The gun that you brought into my house! Why and how would you get your hands on a gun like that?” she accused.

All the colour drained from his face as he listened to her. He paused to think before he spoke. “I took it to the airfield when I knew that Henry had you. I just wanted to protect us both.”

“Fine, I understand that, but you don’t just pick up a gun from the corner shop. Why did you have it in the first place?”

He sighed and looked to the ceiling, wondering how to explain it to her. “Steph, do you trust me?” he asked, focusing on her.