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“Look, Daniel’s a good man, Audrey.” She places her glass on the table and swivels towards me. My mobile rings in my bag. I let it go to answerphone. “He’d do anything to protect his family, but he really does care about you. He was in pieces when he called earlier.” Clearly, she’s well and truly over him. Either that or this woman is a saint. I can see now why Daniel fell in love with her, why she’s still a big part of his life. The familiar ding of a message goes off in my bag, I ignore it.
“I don’t think it’s working out, Aliki. I –” I falter, twisting a strand of hair around my finger.
Her shoulders sag. “Do you think he’s moving too fast? Is that it?” I stay silent. “I thought that too when I first met him.” Rubbing her lips, she stares ahead. “Daniel’s a proactive, impulsive man. How else do you think we built up our successful business? Sure I had all the contacts but he was the driving force behind it. This afternoon was a one-off. He hardly ever lost his temper during our marriage.” She picks her glass up. “I presume that’s why you’re here…to find out why he flew off the handle. If it’s a regular thing. It isn’t.”
I want to scream at her. I want to shake her by the shoulders and ask her why she divorced him if he’s so bloody perfect. I focus on a yellowing pot plant instead. An image of Daniel’s face, twisted in fury, flashes before me. “But what was it that he didn’t want me to see, Aliki? Is there something I should know?”
Her hand flies up like a buckler. “Audrey, you’ve got to talk to Daniel about that.” So there is! I was right. My phone starts throbbing with a call again. Aliki glances down at my bag. “Someone’s keen to talk to you.” I plunge my hand into my bag irritably, whip out the phone and switch it off without even looking at the screen.
“Please, Aliki.”
“Look.” She exhales heavily, her face softening, “I won’t lie, Connie’s his priority – his life. They’re very close. Anything else he’ll have to tell you himself.” Well, thank you very much, Aliki, for stating the obvious.
“So, there is something else, then?” I probe. She doesn’t answer. Then suddenly it dawns on me. I lean forward, my eyes narrow. “You would tell me if there was another woman involved, wouldn’t you?”
“Please, Audrey.” I can hear the annoyance in her voice. She wants me to stop. “I really can’t help you anymore.” She leaps out of her seat. My cue to leave.
“Thanks for the drink, Aliki.” Cleary, I’m wasting my time here. Aliki isn’t going to spill the beans on Daniel. I drain my glass. “And for your time. Say bye to your mum and Lily for me please.” I get to my feet, she follows me to the door. “Oh, and by the way, that picture I saw at his flat,” I say in Columbo style. “You looked so different in that one compared to the one in there.” I motion at the photograph of them on the sideboard. There’s a long pause before she speaks again.
“People change,” she says briskly, not meeting my gaze. “Time can be cruel to some of us.”
And as the door closes behind me, Daniel’s big, dark secret wraps itself around me like a haunting mist.
From an open car window, Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You blasts into the street as I hurry down the slope, trying to piece the jigsaw together. That old snapshot I saw of a happy family at Daniel’s apartment today wasn’t of him with Aliki and Connie. It was a different family altogether. He must’ve been married before. Somewhere there is another wife and another child. I’ve been played like a Stradivarius. The beep of a car horn startles me. I look around and almost scream when I see Nick’s red VW Passat crawling along the pavement. Oh fucking hell, how did he find me? Has he been following me? I start walking faster, face hot with fury. The horn beeps again.
“Audrey!” The car stops next to me, window half open, engine still running. I narrow my eyes at the driver. It’s Ronan.
29
I walk over and Ronan buzzes down his window. He looks different. He’s shaved off all his hair and now sports a neat ginger goatee. He actually looks pretty cool.
“Ronan, what are you doing here?”
“I just dropped Nick’s new girlfriend off up the road.” Connie, I presume. My face tightens. “They had some kind of bust-up and he stormed off, said he had to see Gerry about something. I walked in right in the thick of it. He just threw his car keys at me and told me to sort it out. Good job I’ve got quick reflexes, eh?” He laughs. I think he’s had his teeth whitened too. “You know what he’s like,” he adds, and I nod, wordless because I fear if I open my mouth to speak I’ll start blubbering on the pavement. “The girl was in floods of tears. He was a bit harsh with her, actually, probably a lover’s tiff.” I grimace in silence. “Anyway, what are you doing in this neck of the woods? Want a ride home?” I’m cold, tired and hungry, and it’s starting to drizzle. I get in.
* * *
We’re on our second bottle of wine and I’m definitely feeling it. My phone rang endlessly the moment we walked through the door so I pulled it out of its socket. Tonight I just want to be left alone to moan, wail, and get sloshed with Ronan.
We’re curled up on my sofa with the TV sound on low. Ronan has spent the last hour pouring his heart out to me. He’s left Catherine, they’ve started divorce proceedings. They tried hard to make it work but couldn’t. It’s getting ugly. He’s been sleeping in the spare room for the last three weeks – he thinks she’s back with her lover, reckons she never let him go.
“She’s even blocked me on Facebook,” he complains, munching on a packet of ready salted crisps. Neither of us has eaten and as I haven’t had time to do a shop this week, crisps, nuts and an out- of-date packet of Twiglets were all I could find in the cupboard.
“Can you honestly believe that?” He shakes his head, “If it wasn’t for the kids, I’d cut all ties. But I don’t want them to suffer. I don’t want them caught up in the crossfire. Do you know what I mean?”
He stuffs several crisps in his mouth at once. I glance at the TV screen. Corrie’s just started, I wonder if he’d mind us watching it. “Leaving them this morning was absolute hell.” I’ll watch it on ITV-Plus later. “To think that I won’t be seeing them every day, won’t be tucking them in bed at night, playing with them in the park.” His thin lips wobble. “I just sat in the airport lounge and couldn’t stop crying, Audrey.”
I grab the remote control and change channels, I don’t want any spoilers. Ronan glances at the flickering screen as he opens the last packet of Quavers. Between us, we’ve devoured half a dozen packets of snacks. My coffee table looks like it belongs in The Maid of Muswell down the road.
“So, anyway,” he says, popping a Quaver into his mouth and offering one to me, “how’re things with you? I heard you got yourself a new beau.” He laughs lightly, “Rich and successful, eh?” He nudges me gently with his elbow, munching. I feel a pang in the pit of my stomach. If only he knew. Funny what can happen in twenty-four hours. This morning I had a wonderful man in my life, I’d rekindled my friendship with my ex, and was even bonding with my partner’s rogue of a daughter; everything was softly falling into place. Now I feel empty, lonely and miserable.
“Actually, it’s not working out, Ronan.” I scramble to the edge of my seat and reach for my wine glass.
“Oh.” His face drops, Quaver in mid-air. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to be flippant. Nick didn’t say.”
“Nick doesn’t know. In fact, I haven’t even told Daniel yet.” I give a little incredulous laugh. “I mean, technically we’re still together but the row we just had was a bit explosive.” I take a large gulp of wine, “There’s no going back from this. I’m going to call him later and end it.”
There’s a brief moment of silence. A car revs up outside, the familiar sound of next-door-but-one’s alarm goes off in the distance, it’s always on the blink. Then Ronan says, “Are you sure that’s what you want? You look pretty damned upset to me.” He narrows his eyes. “This isn’t about Nick, is it?”
