Seducing My Assistant by J. S. Cooper, Helen Cooper Page A

that I would never have treated her like that. I never would have left her. I never would have done that to her.
    “So I made up a lie.”
    “Oh?”
    “I pretended I was pregnant.” She made a weird noise and closed her eyes. “I pretended I was pregnant and I told him that I needed him to be there for me and the baby. I told him that he couldn’t do what my dad had done. He had to really be in the kid’s life.”
    “Wow.” I stared at her, not knowing what to say. I was shocked at the lie that she’d told. That was really crazy.
    “And then he found out I was lying.” She said with a sigh. “He found out and of course he was disgusted. I was totally ashamed of myself. As soon as it left my mouth I was ashamed. I knew it was horrible. I knew what I’d done was horrible, but I’d just wanted him back so badly. I tried to apologize to him. I went over to his place. And I caught him in bed with my roommate.” She sighed. “And I lost it.”
    “Oh.” I stared at her for a few seconds and then I heard a knock on the door. It opened slightly and I saw Lacey standing there. I was about to tell Elizabeth that Lacey was standing at the door, but she continued on talking before I could say anything.
    “And then I did something even more terrible.” The words rushed out of her mouth. “I went to a bar. And I got drunk, more drunk than I’d ever been in my life.” She started sobbing as she spoke and I could see Lacey walking towards us, concern all over her face. “And Lacey’s boyfriend at the time, Steven was in the bar. And he said he was going to take me home.” The words tripped out of her mouth clumsily and I could feel myself stilling as Lacey stopped in the middle of the room to listen. I wanted to stop Elizabeth from continuing, but I didn’t know what else to say. “So I got in his car.” She said, almost choking on her words as she cried. “And we had sex. We had sex in the backseat of his car. And as soon as I realized what I’d done, I screamed and jumped out of the car.” She sobbed hysterically. “I couldn’t believe I’d done that. I couldn’t believe it.”
    “You slept with Steven?” Lacey almost screamed as she stood in the middle of the room. “You slept with Steven?”
    “Lacey?” Elizabeth’s eyes flew to the middle of the room. “Lacey.” She jumped up off of the bed and ran over to her friend. “Oh my God, Lacey, I don’t know what to say.”
    “You slept with Steven?” Lacey’s face was pale and she started crying. “You slept with Steven?”
    “Please Lacey, you don’t understand. I’m so sorry.” Elizabeth grabbed onto her friend. “Please Lacey, let me explain.”
    “I can’t right now.” Lacey shook her head. “I just can’t.” She turned around and ran out of the room. Elizabeth made to go after her and I jumped off of the bed.
    “Don’t.” I said softly. “Let her go.”
    “I can’t just let her go.” She turned to look at me, a wildness in her eyes. “I betrayed my best friend. I have to tell her. I have to explain. I have to let her know why, what happened.”
    “Not now.” I shook my head and walked over to her and pulled her into my arms. “She won’t want to hear it now. You might make things worse. Give her some time to process this.”
    “What if she never forgives me?” She gulped. “What if she never talks to me again? I’m a horrible person. Oh my God, what did I do?”
    “Elizabeth.” I grabbed her head and looked into her eyes. “It’s going to be okay. You’re not a horrible person. I promise you that. You made some bad decisions. That happens in life. We’ve all made mistakes. Lacey knows you love her. Lacey knows what you went through. She’ll understand.”
    “I don’t know that she’ll ever forgive me.” She shook her head. “I don’t know if I’d ever be able to forgive me.”
    “Oh Elizabeth,” I kissed her cheek. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say.” I shook my head. I didn’t want to