Across Acheron

Session 7

Her eyes searched mine, probably looking for the courage that wasn't there. I moved my eyes down to her arm, pretending to tend to her wounds.

Finally, after period of unnerving silence, she asked, "What do you need to know?"

"Cillian told me that you had an affair with our father. Is that true?"

The woman pursed her lips. That was obviously something she didn't want to discuss. I was about to tell her to forget about it, but then she spoke.

"We met on the job," she started, her eyes growing dazed. "He was a state lawyer and I was a prosecutor. I was having a pretty bad day after the trial, so I went to the bathroom to cry. Everyone ignored me, but him.

"He asked me out for a drink. I knew he was being harmless, maybe overly friendly, but I took up his offer anyway. I wasn't into dating older men, see, and I made sure to make that clear. He laughed it off and told me he had a wife and two boys and didn't need a third. He asked me out for one drink, but we ended up having two, then three, until we lost count. By midnight, I was already in his arms."

She watched me hesitantly, as if waiting for a reaction. I smiled and shook my head. "So you two were under the influence? That's all?"

Her head weighed down with guilt. "That wasn't the last time we saw each other. We met up a few times after that, had some fun then forgot about it by the time I put my pants back on. It worked only for a little while." She sighed. "Look, I'm sorry--"

"I don't remember him," I spoke up, cutting her off. "I don't remember you, or my mother, or Cillian. Hell, I don't even know myself. But one thing I do know is that no matter what you did, you don't deserve this. Cillian may think otherwise, though."

She moved her arm away from me. "He says I killed her," she whispered. "I mean, your father always said that it would kill her if she found out, but I never took him seriously. I never thought that she'd actually--"

She stopped short, putting a hand to her lips as if she might vomit. I moved away from her to give her some space, but she soon shook her head as if to say it wasn't needed. "I deserve this; I know that now. But it doesn't mean I want it."

I cleared my throat nervously. "We don't have to talk about it anymore if you don't want to. I get that it must be hard for you--"

"No, I get that you need this. So do I," she said. "Continue on, please."

"Did you ever go back to the house? Even after you never heard from him again?"

"I wanted to be done with it; it was obvious your father did too. So I never bothered him; I even went to another law firm. I only came back to East Eldon that night to visit a friend at the club. I saw the van and some small part of me hoped it was your father. I didn't know...God, I'm so foolish!"

I scratched the back of my neck awkwardly, intent on changing the subject. "My dad...do you know how he died?"

The woman shook her head. "The day Cillian found out was the last time I saw him. I figured that because of his son, he decided to cut ties with me for good. It was only when I came here that one of my old co-workers told me he passed. In fact, I'm starting to feel like Cillian had something to do with it."

I perked up. "Cillian did?"

"He was livid. He came barging into the office while I was talking to your father. He was crying and kept repeating 'I'll kill you, I'll kill you'. It was obvious that he was feeling too weak to commit murder, though. Your father told me to stay calm and wait for him so that he could take Cillian back home. You guys didn't live far--not this far--so it was a pretty easy walk. If I had known I would've followed. I should have, but I was so scared and--"