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friendship and had hardly considered the consequences. She knew the next part. Travis would come back from work and pop in to see her in a couple of days or so. Things between them would be awkward because of her behavior and it wouldn’t be long before he stopped coming around altogether.
    And it was her fault.
    Lee mentally kicked herself for her stupidity as she stepped under the warm shower. She knew Travis was working nightshift, but because of her own work hours, they often spent afternoons and early evenings together. He’d cook for her, either at her place if it was something quick, or he’d bring dinner over and they’d eat together. They’d been perfectly happy with that arrangement. It had worked well for them.
    Now it would be different.
    By Monday she still hadn’t heard from Travis and went to work feeling terrible. She’d finally remembered that he was on the nightshift and realized that was where he was rushing off to. She knew he’d come home, having seen his lights on both days. He hadn’t come to see her, and she didn’t feel that she should go over to him, not wanting to force him into an awkward situation of having to make excuses to get rid of her. For a brief moment of sanity, she’d wondered if he’d been okay, if all was right with him , but then quickly reverted to her doom and gloom scenario.
    During the course of the day, she considered phoning him, but thought better of it, knowing he must surely be sleeping to cope with the long nightshift. When she got home, again she peered over the fence to see if his lights were on. They were, but still no sign of him. A short while later, she heard his car driving away.
    By Tuesday she was convinced that he was ignoring her.
    By Wednesday, she berated herself for her lack of self-control.
    By Thursday, she was telling herself that she hated him and he’d used her.
    By Friday, she knew that she had to see him to get it all out in the open.
    Friday afternoon and she was building up a good head of steam. So what if he didn’t want to be friends with her any more. So what if he’d only used her. So what if he thought she was a nasty cheap slut now. The least he could have done was come over and tell her to her face. It would have been the decent thing to do.
    Dropping her laptop and handbag on the table, she changed into comfortable shoes and stepped out of her kitchen door. She marched around the pool area and unlatched the inter-leading gate. She needed to confront him and get it over with, for once and for all. She’d apologize for her part in leading him on, but he could most certainly have come over to see her. Enough was enough!
    Tapping her knuckles lightly on kitchen door, she waited for him to open up for her. When the door finally opened, she was shocked to see another woman standing there.
    “Yes?” came the cool enquiry from the tall blonde within.
    “Hi, is Travis in?”
    The smile on the other woman’s face was less than friendly. The raised eyebrow made Lee feel like she was intruding on something.
    “Trav? No. No, he’s not here at the moment. He’s gone to pick up some stuff for our dinner.” Again her smile was cold, reminding Lee of some kind of cold, vicious reptile. Something that would have no problem eating it’s young. “I can tell him you were here if you like. If you tell me your name.”
    “Lee. Could you tell him Lee came around please?”
    “Of course.” Lee didn’t believe her, but turned and walked away, back to her own home. Travis didn’t appear at all that night.
    The following morning, Lee was sitting yawning, staring vacantly at the half-filled coffee mug on the table in front of her when she heard a tapping on the kitchen door. She looked up, squinting into the early morning light and through the glass panels she could see it was her one-time friend and neighbor, Travis. He looked awful.
    She slid her feet back into her slippers and walked to the door to let him in. Without saying anything, he