Daily Flash Fiction Challenge

         It was dark, and his back was turned. “You hear about Christine?”
         “Yes.”
         “Did you know the victim? Well, I mean?” I flicked on the overhead and saw my mistake. Dick’s fleshy face, bruised and swollen, was turned to face me. “Sorry, the light was bad…”
         “Sure.” He looked at me, narrowed his little eyes. “What happened, you’re asking?”
         Embarrassed, I hesitated. “Yes.”
         “I want to get my version out. Christine’s talking, rape and all that. Christine’s a little crazy, you know.” He circled his finger about his ear. “Her mother told me when Christine rejected my ‘overtures,’ she called them.”
         “Why’d she tell you?”
         “Well, I think the mother was worried about Christine’s prospects, hoped I wouldn’t be too discouraged. She talked to me several times when she found out about me. I’d learned Christine was single, tried to get her to work with me, anything… unsuccessfully. Then, when Christine made a mess, she needed my help. She knew I’d talked to Boss. She did better at work later.”
         “You went out finally?”
         “You can call it that. I was desperate, I guess. We both had too much… She claims I made her drink, arranged for us to be alone together. All premeditated, of course. It seemed consensual to me. Maybe I thought wrong. She became violent later.” He shrugged his flabby shoulders. “Christine says I undermined her, used her mental health issues to manipulate her an unwanted relationship, so on. I’m evil. I’m also a fat loser.”
         The awkward conversation had ebbed. “I hope everything’s straightened out.” I turned to leave.
         “I hope so too. I could go to prison, lose my job because of that crazy bitch. Oh, I wanted the room dark, my head hurts.”
         “Sorry.” Flicking off the overhead, I left Dick in the dark.