It broke my heart to hear Henry was in so much trouble, but it was a problem of his own making. I knew that if I just gave in and skipped back to Detroit, nothing would change. Id be alone, while Henry would effectively have a free pass to behave however he wanted. "I don't want to come back to Detroit," I said in a small voice, "I was lonely and bored there while you were out with your friends."
"I need you here, with me."
"You need a fixer Henry, not a girlfriend," I reminded him. It sounded as though he just wanted me back in order to make the rumours stop.
"I need you."
"I'm staying in London. I'll wait for you here."
"Saraaahh," he whined, "It'll be ages. I miss you. I want you here. I don't know what else I can say."
"That you'd ditch the crossfit crowd?" It was his last chance.
"Why? There's nothing wrong with them. We're tight. They're a great bunch of people. You should give them a chance."
I suppressed a sob. "This girl you're seeing, allegedly, she's part of that crowd isn't she?"
"Well, yes, but it wasn't her fault."
"Her family have been posting on social networks that you're her 'A' list boyfriend, and that they're certain you'll marry her."
Silence.
"No way," he breathed, "You must be mistaken. They're nice people, even invited me round for a family dinner last week."
"Pale wood dining table and you sat at the head next to Marisa, is that correct?"
"How the hell did you know?"
"It was posted yesterday. They claimed you joined them for thanksgiving as their prospective son-in-law."
More silence.
"Oh god Sarah, I had no idea." He sounded genuinely horrified.
"So as far as your fans and charity are concerned, the ambassador for a wildlife charity is marrying into a family of sadistic hunters. Are you really trying to tell me you had no idea about this? Did nobody call you and tell you?"
"I've been avoiding Alan, not taking his calls, or anyone elses. I've just been working out and filming. I did wonder why Amy asked me if I checked IMDB though. Nobody at the gym said anything."
"Well they won't will they? You're their free publicity. They'll have every young girl for a ten mile radius signing up, plus of course all the young men following behind. This was a huge coup for them and you walked right into it." I was angry at his naivety.
"I'm sorry you had to see all that, read all those lies."
I reflected for a moment. "Henry, why did those people believe you were seeing their daughter? Invite you to their home, brag about you? Did you lead this girl on knowing I'd see it all?"
Silence
"Well?" I demanded.
More silence. I was right and I knew it.
"We were just friends. Maybe her family saw things differently."
"Did you sleep with her?" To me, it was the defining difference whether someone was 'just a friend' or something more. It would account for her family thinking he was serious about her.
Silence. My heart sank.
