Chapter 11: He Takes Her Out
Leslie took much longer than usual to reach Stuart's house; she stopped several times to calm herself down, almost turning back after one occasion. However, she did eventually reach the Warren household, timidly shuffling up to the front door and barely pressing the front doorbell, half hoping it wouldn't actually ring. Her body shivered as she waited for Coleen to answer the door, but the relatively mild temperature had nothing to do with it.
'Fuck... fuck... fuck... what have I done?' she thought to herself, wondering why she couldn't have just been happy? Why did she have to have an affair? If she had to... why not just with a co-worker, a friend of friend, a stranger from a bar, any of the normal options that bored housewives go for. Fuck, you even heard of the occasional 'cool' mum, who fucked a son's best friend at a party or something. Even a daughter's boyfriend would be better than the kid that bullied her son.
She saw a female figure on the other side of the frosted glass lean in to open the door and for a moment she thought she was going to faint. Greeting her on the other side of the threshold was a square-jawed woman in her 40s, with cropped dyed-blonde hair and a stocky frame. Coleen's stare was cold and uninviting; it made her feel more vulnerable now, than when she had been tied naked to her teenage boyfriend's desk.
"Kitchen," ordered Coleen.
Leslie wasn't sure if she was supposed to say anything, so she remained silent as she walked through the hall and into the Warren's kitchen. Her heels clicked as she followed Coleen, and made her wish she had thought to change out of them at home; she was conscious that last time Coleen had seen her, she had been wearing only these heels. Stuart was sitting at the small kitchen table, looking rather sheepish.
"Go to your room," ordered his mother, and Stuart obediently marched himself out of the kitchen, making no attempt to look at either middle-aged woman.
Leslie assumed that considering the circumstances, Stuart was particularly compliant with his mother today, but she imagined that Coleen had a way of making most people follow her wishes. She heard Stuart run up the stairs and it really hit her, this woman, who was younger than her by more than a couple of years, was actually Stuart's mother. She was about to be sat down and told off by her teenage boyfriend's mum; even if she had had this experience from her own teenage years, she didn't think they'd have trained her for this. She didn't think there were many women who had an idea what to do in this situation. Maybe one of those teachers who sleeps with her students would be able to give her advice, she facetiously thought to herself.
Leslie sat down at the table and Coleen joined her, taking the seat just vacated by her son, directly opposite Leslie. Leslie noticed her hands trembling, so she cupped them in front of her, in a vain effort to appear more collected. Coleen's expression seemed to soften and, unexpectedly, she fetched Leslie a glass of water, thudding it down on the table next to her.
"So, you're the mother of one of the kids at Stuart's school. Lewis?"
"Yup," rasped Leslie, then sipped from the glass of water, realising how dry her mouth was.
"But my kid picks on your kid," stated Coleen, without any trace of emotion.
"Um... yeah."
"But you're still... fucking... my son," she continued, emphasising the word 'fucking'.
"I don't know what you want me to say," Leslie replied, in a pleading tone.
"Is this some sort of revenge thing? Is there a game here? You lure him in and then convince him to do something stupid? Or is there some sort of seedy deal where you pimp yourself out and Stuart is supposed to leave your son alone?"
"No, none of those things, I promise I just like him!" proclaimed Leslie, urging Coleen to believe her.
"Do you know what he's studying at school?"
"What? You mean Stuart?" asked Leslie, taken aback by the unexpected question.
"Yes."
"Um... History, English and Economics."
"Do you know what grades he got?"
"I... don't get why you're asking this," responded Leslie, genuinely confused.
"Just answer... do you know or not?"
"He got an A, a B and a C, and that got him an interview at Manchester," she said, rushing to say the words, hoping she had passed whatever strange test this was.
"How do you know that?"
"He told me. I helped him study, I was there when he opened his exam results."
"So... it's true? You're really really the reason he's actually trying at school? You're the reason my baby boy hasn't talked about enlisting in weeks?"
"I... think so..."
Coleen stood up and walked around the table, and Leslie flinched before scrambling to her feet. She didn't make it far before Coleen flung her arms around Leslie, and to her shock, she found Coleen was crying. The embrace lasted around a minute before Coleen released Leslie.
Still gripping Leslie by the upper arms, Coleen looked her in the eyes, her voice a little shaky, "I found an application form in the bin the day after he got his results. It was completely filled out."
"What? Really? I had no idea," replied Leslie, feeling a little annoyed at Stuart, "I mean no idea he'd actually gone as far as filling up the form."
"No, me neither," said Coleen, "I don't even care about him going to university, I mean, I do care, obviously, but I mean, I just want him to do something that won't put him in care, like his brother, or even worse."
"I don't want that either."
"I know, you really don't do you?" asked Coleen, giving Leslie another hug.
She squeezed Coleen back and began to cry herself; tears of relief. Coleen sat Leslie down and patted her on the back, showing her warmth totally contradicting the harsh stern Coleen Leslie had seen just minutes earlier.
She let Leslie calm down before speaking again, "My neighbour told me she'd seen a woman arriving at house every now and again, and thought she'd let me know in case... well, she thought Joe could be cheating."
Leslie listened, realising that the 'woman' must have been her.
Coleen continue, "At that time, I hadn't told her that Joe and I were separated, so we both thought it was really suspicious about some woman turning up to my house. I got a call from her this morning and rushed home from work. She'd told me the woman looked 'late 30s, maybe 40s' so I just didn't believe you'd be... be... sleeping with Stuart, or if you were, I didn't really think you'd actually be in your 40s.
"When I kicked you out, I thought you were out to hurt my son somehow. I thought this much be some sort of ploy or game to get something out of him. When Stuart told me who you were, and how you met, I just didn't believe it. He told me you helped him, encouraged him, snuck off from your family to study with him, and I just thought he was lying.
"I don't understand how you could genuinely have feeling for my son, when he bullies yours. I don't think I could feel anything but hate for a kid who hurts my family, and I'm not going to mince my words with you, it does concern me, but if you've looked after my little boy, and you've found a way to help him see he's better than just cannon fodder for these politicians and their games in the Middle East then maybe, just for now, I'll trust you."
Just as speechless as she was when she first walked in, Leslie managed a 'thanks', before staring at Coleen in silence. Coleen stared back; she was wearing a trace of a smile, but she could tell she was being inspected for any trace of deceit.
"If you want to keep seeing my boy, there are two conditions," explained Coleen.
"OK, I'm listening."
"Firstly, you don't break his heart, or do anything to hurt him. You screw with him, and this whole thing hits you like a ton of bricks. Whenever whatever this is over, you end it well, or you take no for an answer if it's done."
Leslie, feeling less panicked by this new situation, wasn't sure she appreciated being threatened, but she then though to herself, feeling guilty, that normal mums were usually protective of their kids and Leslie was the abnormal one in this situation.
"Second, if you need to see him, you do it here, not sneaking around in cars, and especially not where he has to jump out of windows to escape getting caught."
Leslie was about to protest that she didn't make him do that, but she quickly felt that was not an important point to make right now.
"I don't want to hear or see anything funny, but I think I've seen enough to know what you two have been doing. I don't like lying and I don't like liars, but I'll keep your cover if I have to, for Stuart's sake."
Leslie took around a minute to completely absorb the situation. She wasn't outed. She didn't have to stop seeing Lewis. Hell, she could even sneak around less. She had escaped, somehow, and was better off for it.
"I'm... can I... go upstairs and see Stuart?" she asked, feeling exceptionally awkward at having to ask permission.
"I'm going back to work. Remember my rules," replied Coleen and Leslie nodded.
Coleen then went in for another hug, but this one was a lot less emotional, more a gesture between two friends, in some ways it felt stranger than their earlier embraces.
"I'll see you later," said Coleen, as if everything that had happened today was just business-as-usual.