The perfect woman - My best friend's mom (GirlxGirl)

Twenty - In secret

I walked the steps up to the front door, took a deep breath, and rang the doorbell.

It was the Saturday after April had come and picked me up. After we had talked, she drove us back to Peak. She rested her hand on my leg all the way home and glanced over at me every few minutes, smiling. She stopped a small distance away from my dad's house, and before I got out of the car, that same, soft hand had stroked a hair out of my face, and then she had kissed me goodnight on the cheek. The next day, Jasmine had asked me at school to hang out on Saturday, and after messaging April, I had agreed. (My phone still hadn't worked in the morning but my old phone was working good enough, so I would use that one until I could buy a new one.)

Now, I stood outside the Baker's front door with an anxious lump in my throat, but still excited to see April again. The door opened to reveal an excited-looking Jasmine, who hugged me and dragged me inside. She immediately started talking about Marcus, school, and anything else she hadn't told me about the past few days. I took off my shoes and jacket, and Jasmine led the way to her room. As I passed the kitchen door, I turned my head to look inside, as I always did. This time, unlike before, April was facing my way as I passed by, meeting my eyes with a lustful gaze.

We stayed in Jasmine's room, talking and re-organising her closet until we both got hungry and decided to get a snack. As we walked down to the kitchen, I scanned around to see where Jasmine's brothers and father were, and Jasmine told me that they were out on a father-son day and would be home sometime late tonight. As we came into the kitchen, I had hoped to see April there but was disappointed. I realised that she probably didn't spend all of her time in the kitchen, even though it seemed like she did sometimes. After slicing an apple and grabbing the peanut butter jar, we headed back up to Jasmine's room.

"We should watch a movie," Jasmine said as we were climbing the stairs.

"Sure, absolutely," I replied. As we reached the top of the stairs, I saw that the door furthest down to the right stood slightly ajar. "I'll be there in a second, I just have to go to the bathroom first. You can choose the movie," I added and then turned right towards the bathroom.

"Sure," Jasmine said and turned left towards their home cinema.

I opened the door to the bathroom and walked in, and when I heard the door behind Jasmine close, I quickly got back into the hallway and closed the bathroom door. Then, I walked quietly across the hall and pushed the ajar door open.

April was laying on the bed, reading a book. She had her reading glasses on, which she took off as soon as she saw me.

"Hey," I said as I had closed the door behind me.

"Hey," she answered, closing the book and putting it and the glasses on her nightstand. She looked very calm, not at all surprised to see me: it was almost like she had expected it.

I walked to the bed and April sat up, snaking her arms around my legs. We locked eyes, studying each other's faces before I bent down and gently kissed her.

"I've missed you," I whispered.

"I've missed you too," she whispered back and rejoined our lips. She tugged the arms behind me, pulling me towards her, which made me almost lose my balance. I gave her a playfully annoyed look, but she looked around innocently, denying whatever I was accusing her of. 

"I have to get back to Jasmine, but I just wanted to see you," I said and pecked her lips.

"I'm glad you did," April smiled and picked up her book and glasses. As I was about to open the door, I turned back around and said,

"Personally, I think you look very sexy in your glasses," winked, and then left.

Totally unsure of how long it had been, I hurried to the cinema, hoping Jasmine hadn't gotten suspicious. I felt heat rising in my cheeks and anxiety build in my chest as I opened the door.

"Spiderman?"

Jasmine was sitting in one of the big armchairs, with the lights out, her eyes fixed on the computer in her lap as she typed and flipped between websites. I agreed without any objections to her suggestion and sat down in the armchair next to her, glad that she couldn't see my face in the dark room.

"Great," she said, closed the laptop and started the movie.

* * *

"Dinner's ready!"

We had just finished the movie and walked out of the cinema room when Jasmine's mom's voice echoed from downstairs.

"I'll be down in a sec, just need to pee first," Jasmine said before hurrying down the hall to the bathroom.

I made my way to the kitchen and was greeted with a big smile from April, standing by the sink having washed up dirty dishes. She was wearing the same outfit as before - a beige, long sleeved, knitted sweater and black yoga pants with blue and pink butterflies on them - topped by a black and white apron.

"She'll be down in a sec," I told her. We were alone in the kitchen and the air between us was charged, drawing us closer together. April's arms found my waist and I leaned in to kiss her, when we heard the front door open, followed by voices and footsteps. April withdrew her arms and I jumped two steps back. Jasmine came down the stairs and spoke in a surprised voice,

"You're home early!?"

A deep, man's voice answered her, giving me chills down my neck and back.

"They're predicting a snow storm this evening; they even put out a warning on the radio, recommending everyone to not be on the roads tonight, so we decided to call it early."

"But dad promised we'd go bowling next weekend instead," a boy spoke,

"And that we'd get ice-cream and pizza for compensation," his brother added.

"You've got great timing," Jasmine said, "mom's just finished dinner."

The four of them walked into the kitchen, Jasmine first, followed by Peter and Stewart running past their sister to the table. Lastly, Henry appeared in the doorway, bigger and even more stern-looking than usual, making me physically shiver. I made my way to the table with the others, and sat down beside Jasmine. April put the last dish on the table as Henry sat down opposite Jasmine, leaving the last open seat for April the one opposite me.

"This is delicious, as always," Henry said to his wife after having tasted the food.

"Thank you," April smiled back at him, which sent a sharp pain to my chest. I watched as Henry moved his free hand to lay on April's thigh, and, had I just imagined it, or had April flinched as he did so? I looked at her, but she sat still, showing no signs of discomfort. I searched for her eye, but she didn't look at me. It was like I wasn't even there.

The dinner continued in that same fashion, like our car-ride and our kisses hadn't happened. At some point, April had put her hand on top of the one Henry was resting on her thigh. When they had finished eating, Peter and Stewart left the table, put their dishes in the dishwasher and ran up to their room to play. Henry took out his phone to check what he had missed during dinner, and April started clearing the table. Jasmine and I put our dishes away and then left the kitchen. I went to the downstairs bathroom, which I now actually needed to use.

As I was finished and walked out of the bathroom, I saw Henry rise from the table in the kitchen and walk around the island towards April. I stopped in my steps in the hallway, and watched. He said something to her that I couldn't hear, and then leaned in to kiss her. I saw her stiffen, but she didn't turn away, and she returned his kiss. Another sharp pain stung in my chest, but I knew I couldn't do anything about it. After all, she was his wife, not mine. When he broke the kiss, he leaned close to her ear and whispered something, and I saw the hand that he had been resting on the small of her back move down, and then, he left the kitchen. I backed into the shadows of the hallway as he walked upstairs, so that he couldn't see me, and then moved towards the kitchen. April stood still for a second after he had left, but then, she went back to the dishes. Something about their interaction didn't sit right with me, but I brushed it off and told myself that I was probably just imagining it, and then, I climbed the stairs.