Chapter 2 – The Bearer of Bad News

"Harrison," Tru shouted as she banged on the door shortly before eleven o'clock the following morning. The sound of movement came from inside the flat and she knocked on the door again for good measure.

"Do you know what time it is?" Harrison complained as he opened the door to let his sister in.

"Nearly eleven," answered Tru as she walked into the flat and looked around. The room was typical of her younger brother. Clothes were tossed on the furniture instead of being hung up. There were dirty plates on the table and what looked like a cup of cold coffee on the kitchen counter.

"Eleven?" Harrison looked quickly at the clock before sinking onto the couch.

"What's up?" Tru asked as she picked up an empty pizza box from one of the chairs, deposited it into a waste bin and sat down.

"I've overlaid," Harrison groaned as he rested his head back. "I had an interview for a job this morning at ten."

"A job?" Tru asked, trying not to sound too sceptical. Her brother's track record with jobs was not exactly good.

"A friend of a friend set up an interview for me at a bookies," Harrison explained.

"Well you have plenty of experience of being in them," Tru joked. "Can't you call and say you're running late?"

Harrison shook his head. "Doesn't matter. There'll be other jobs."

"You could try..." Tru knew she was wasting her breath but if it meant she could stall a little longer then she would chat about jobs all morning. Unfortunately Harrison knew her too well.

"So what did you really come round for?" he asked, no trace of the disappointment of missing out on the job evident in his face.

"Don't you ever tidy up around here?" Tru asked, stalling for time again as she cast an aimless wave of her arm around the room.

"Nah." Harrison grinned. "Sooner or later you start cleaning when you're round here." He nodded at the pizza box in the waste bin to demonstrate his point.

"How does Cassie put up with this mess?" Tru asked, in a tone she hoped was suitably casual. "For an interior designer like her, this room must be a nightmare."

"She doesn't mind," Harrison shrugged. "She isn't dating me for my flat," he added with a grin.

"So you're still dating?" Tru asked. She had realised rather belatedly the previous evening that she had not actually asked Cassie if she and Harrison had broken up or not.

"Yeah," Harrison replied with a slight frown. "You know we are. You saw us together just last week."

Tru nodded in agreement. The sense of relief at not having poured hot soup over the woman without good reason was small compared to the nerves she felt at having to tell Harrison about his girlfriend cheating on him.

"So did you see Cassie last night?" Tru asked, hoping for a moment that perhaps Cassie had indeed spoken with her brother before she had arrived and that it would not be necessary for her to break the news.

"No," Harrison answered. "What's wrong? I thought you and Cassie got on great."

"We did," Tru said as she stood up and began to pace the small room.

"Did? What's wrong?" he asked again.

"I..." Tru hesitated. "I don't know how to tell you this...but...well...last night I was at that new French restaurant across town..."

"And?" Harrison asked, frowning in confusion.

"And Cassie was there too," Tru finally managed to blurt out the words.

"You two went out for a meal and didn't invite me?" Harrison asked with a fake hurt expression on his face.

"No" Tru shook her head. "Cassie wasn't with me. I was with Meredith. Cassie was...um...she was...with another man."

Tru sank back down onto the chair and after a moment of silence had passed she finally plucked up the courage to look at her brother and see his reaction.

"She was on a date?" Harrison asked in surprise.

"Yes," Tru nodded. "She's cheating on you."

"Are you sure?" Harrison asked.

"Positive," Tru nodded again. "I'm so sorry Harry. I know you really liked her. I'm so sorry to have to tell you."

Harrison nodded in silence. Tru had never seen him so quiet. Standing up and moving across the room she sat down beside her brother and hugged him to her. She couldn't tell if he was crying or not.

"What are you going to do?" she finally asked when she could bear the silence no longer.

"I'll go talk to her," Harrison whispered. "Maybe we can still sort things out."

"You're sure about that?" Tru hesitated to cause her brother more pain but she had never been the type of person who believed in putting off the inevitable. It was far better to get things over with right away than leave them to get worse.

"I'm sure," Harrison said in a firmer voice. "We have to work things out."

"You think you can get through this?" Tru asked.

"I love her," Harrison answered simply before standing up and turning away. He had just reached the doorway to the bedroom when a thought came to him and he turned back to Tru. "Does Cassie know you saw her there?" he asked.

"Um...yes," Tru answered in a small voice.

"What did you do?" Harrison asked with a sigh.

"Let's just say that she never had a chance to taste the soup."