The Phone Call

Jayne had to find a way to get out of the house without questions being asked. She had to present things innocently as if nothing was amiss. Fish and Chips. She could offer to go and get to the fish shop and nobody would think anything was going on. Her Dad thought it was a great idea as it would save them having to cook.
Jayne went to the telephone box by the parade of shops. She hoped nobody she knew saw her. They would make a fuss. She was rarely in her home town these days so people from church or school would want to talk to her. Did she have enough money? She was looking forward to talking to Rick. Despite being happy to see her Dad after months apart, she was missing her boyfriend.
"Hello" said Rick, "I'm glad you've phoned".
"I should hope so" Jayne laughed casually.
"No. Listen. I need to know how to get CDs into your new player."
Jayne could not explain how she knew but in that instant she did, feeling absolutely certain that Rick was cheating on her. Although she had doubts about him before, she had silenced them time and time again. Now, here was the moment when the penny dropped and clanked into her conciousness loud and clear.
"We don't have any CDs", she stammered.
"I've got somebody here and while you are on the phone, you may as well know that I am moving out this week"
Even as Jayne felt tears welling up, she could not help reflecting that he was certainly not dressing things up or trying to make her feel better.
"Who is she?"
"That does not matter"
"Who is she?" louder this time.
"It's Tracey the typist"
As black humour kicked in, Jayne heard herself saying, "She sounds like something out of Happy bloody Families!"
"That's not helpful"
Not helpful. It was not "helpful" that the love of her life was leaving her. It was not "helpful" that only the week before they had walked hand in hand, drunk cocktails and planned their wedding in minute detail. It was certainly not "helpful" that as her Dad did not approve of Rick, that she had lied and said they had split up and that she had moved to a new city alone.
Amazingly, the conversation ended with Jayne explaining to Rick how to work the CD player. It appeared Tracey the Typist had brought some CDs round and they wanted to play them. Far be it for Jayne to get in the way of their tryst.
And then Jayne went home with fish and chips twice and said, "Dad, I'm in a bit of a mess ..."