Chapter 11

"Grace? It's Jack…you need to pick up the phone right now! Grace! Are you there? Please pick up! I've just seen Karen and Will and…oh god, just pick up…please? Grace? Ok, you're obviously out with some 'gay guy you think is straight' right now but you need to ring me as soon as you get this message. I'm on my way home now. It's just…call me if I don't see you first, ok? This is urgent! Karen and Will…they were…I'll tell you when I talk to you…ok, bye."

Will froze as he played back the message for the third. Jack had seen them. Jack had seen them. He didn't know what to do. Any minute now, Jack would come bursting in through the door and wake Grace up and…god, he couldn't even think about what would unfold. God, how could he have been so stupid? They had been so careful all week and now…now it was his fault that they got caught. Why did he choose that garden? He knew that Jack had numerous boyfriends living round there! He couldn't let this happen to Karen. He had to stop him.

Will deleted the message and removed the tape from the machine and stuffed it in his pocket just to make sure Grace would never hear it, then he flung open the door and raced down the stairs which he figured would be faster than waiting for the elevator. Just as he reached the lobby of the building, he saw a cab pull up outside and Jack jumped out, flinging money at the driver and running inside. Both men stopped as they saw each other, knowing exactly what the other was there to do.

"Please, Jack…" Will began, gasping for air. "Please."

"I'm sorry; I don't know what you're talking about." Jack said very matter-of-factly.

"Yes you do. I know you saw…us. I heard the message upstairs."

"Oh, I see you're referring to the incident I just witness about 10 minutes ago?"

"Jack, please…don't play games with me."

"I don't think you're in any position to tell me what to do here, Will!" Jack walked towards him slowly. "Karen is my best friend! And you…you're…you're…well, gay, for one thing! I mean, what the hell was that? And don't you dare tell me Karen just wanted to french you for the fun of it because we both know that she only does that with me!"

"Jack...I don't know what to say. It just…happened…" Will said desperately.

"Just happened? Oh, don't give me that bullshit, Will! You didn't just fall onto her! That was a kiss! A real kiss! The kind…the kind Karen doesn't have with me." He said the last part quietly with his head bowed.

"Jack, I'm sorry you had to find out this way. We meant to tell you, to tell you both but…we couldn't."

"You couldn't? We're you best friends and you both couldn't find the time in your sordid little affair to tell us? How long has this been going on anyway? Weeks, months, what?"

"Just a week, or so. I don't know how to explain it anymore than it just…happened. One minute we were ready to kill each other, the next…we were falling in love." Will tried to explain but he knew Jack wouldn't understand. He could see him slowly moving towards the elevator. Will needed to keep Jack talking long enough to convince him not to tell Grace.

"Falling in love? I don't understand this! Will, you're gay, remember? I helped you come out! And Karen…Karen loves Stan…and me! So if she should be having an affair with anyone it should be…me."

"I know how you must be feeling about this, Jack…"

"No, you don't know! How can you possibly know?" he shouted. By this point they were starting to gather quite a crowd and the doorman as making his way inside to break it up. Will realised his time was running out, Jack was not convince at all that he shouldn't tell Grace. He needed to see Karen.

"Look, Jack, let's go and see Karen. You can talk to her about it; after all, you are her poodle." He tried to smile but Jack's stony face quickly stopped him dead.

"I'd rather just go upstairs and talk to Grace about this, if you don't mind." And he turned his back on Will and got in the elevator.

"No! Jack, no! You can't! Please, I'm begging you!" he pleaded with Jack. "Nobody can know about this! Not even Grace." He was desperate.

"Why not? She deserves to know!"

"Can you imagine what will happen if this gets out? Stan will divorce Karen and she'll be penniless. I'll loose my job for having an affair with a client and for loosing the biggest client the firm's ever had. Grace will not speak to Karen or me ever again. Everything will just…fall apart."

Jack took this in but still didn't fully understand. "So if it will cause so much damage, why are you doing it?"

Will only had one answer for this question and if it didn't work, he knew nothing would. "Because I love her, Jack. I love Karen. And whatever is said and done, it all comes down to that. I love her."

Again, Jack slowly took this in. Will could see he was beginning to soften.

"What about Karen, does she love you too?"

"Yes. She does." He said simply.

"But it still doesn't change the fact that you lied to Grace and me. And you would have carried on lying if I hadn't found out! If everything you say is true, that you love each other, and yet all this stuff will happen if it comes out, how do you have a future?"

"We don't know. Stan comes back from his business trip tomorrow so tonight was, essentially, our last night together." Will's eyes started to fill up at the mere thought of it. Jack watched him closely and stepped out of the elevator. "But I…I don't know what to do. I should tell Grace but…" he sighed. "I need to talk to Karen."

Will looked up, "Ok, we'll get a cab over there now."

"No, I mean…I need to see her by myself."

"Oh, of course, I understand."

Jack walked over to the door but turned back before he went out.

"Anything you want me to tell her except that she can do a lot better?"

Will smiled. He could see Jack was really trying to come to terms with it, for Karen's sake.

"Just tell her I love her."