Twenty-five minutes later and the lead runners, all seasoned athletes with tans that reflected theirpenchant for being outside, had already sprinted through, making it look all too easy. Lisa remembered her run along the promenade and knew it was anything but. As the time continued to tick by, the children were losing interest in everyone going past who wasn’t their mummy.
‘Do you think she’s all right?’ Megan was getting concerned.
‘You know she was hoping to be under forty-five minutes.There’s still plenty of time for her to make it through before then,’ Pete reassured her.
Lisa looked at Callum, who was staring at her stomach. ‘Are you OK, Callum?’
‘Yes, I just wondered, when a baby is born, does some air … no, wait … how did the baby get in your tummy?’
Pete sniggered.
Megan looked at Lisa, eyes wide.
‘Did you eat it?’ Callum continued.
‘Nathan putit in there,’ Alice confirmed knowingly while Megan nudged her.
Callum tilted his head, rubbing his hand through his auburn hair. ‘How?’
Lisa looked at the children, her cheeks turning pinker than those of the runners who continued to jog past. ‘Ask your daddy, I think he’d like to tell you.’
Lisa smiled at Pete, who hesitated before pointing along the promenade.
‘Look, I thinkI see Mummy.’
They all looked, straining their necks to see over and around the oncoming group of runners in their way. Lisa was about to mock Pete for attempting to avoid the question when she spotted Felicity.
‘Hi, Lisa.’
Annoyed that she was being spoken to just when Felicity was in sight, Lisa turned to see Sam and Alex at her side.
‘Sam, hi. I’m just looking for my friend.She’s about to come by.’ Lisa addressed the children as she looked back at Felicity. ‘Get your banners ready, everyone, she’s coming!’ Lisa felt a rush of excitement.
‘Great, we couldn’t resist popping over to have a look. It was hard to see properly from the flat, even from the top floor.’
Lisa decided not to rise to the bait and to focus on Felicity. Nathan was at work, spending themorning at an old people’s home, talking about fire safety. Sam was surely just trying to wind her up.
Felicity felt as if she was running on fumes with her energy level well and truly depleted. Along the route she had felt sick several times and had to dig deep into her reserves to keep going. She was unable to speak, her breathing was ragged, and her muscles had moved beyond burning to numb,but she was almost there! The end was in sight. The crowds, who she had felt embarrassed in front of at first, were now keeping her going with their shouts and cheers of encouragement. She was a bright red, sweaty mess, and she was pretty sure she had dried snot on her face, but she didn’t care; she could see the finish line! Felicity spotted the faces of her family and their brilliant bannersjust a few metres from the end and knew she had to press on; walking across the finish was not an option. Her feet were no longer keeping time to a sensible running gait, and her throat and lungs were burning from the exertion, but the only thing that mattered was reaching that line. Remembering a technique shared by a runner at the 2K mark, she imagined throwing out a hook and reeling the finishingline towards her.
‘Go, Mummy! Go, Mummy!’
Felicity looked at Lisa and her family as she passed them. Even Megan, who was usually the least vocal, was cheering her on. Feeling exhausted but elated, she stepped across the finishing line and jogged herself out to a halt, laughing, crying and attempting to breathe.
After they had all congratulated Felicity, and she had got her medal forrunning the race, they found a cup of tea for the adults and ice creams for the children. Lisa told Felicity how proud she was of her and how happy she was she was achieving her goal.
‘I thought I might miss you crossing the line when Sam came and started—’
‘Samantha Jones, that’s it.’ Felicity smiled, seemingly pleased with the declaration that meant nothing to Lisa.
‘That’s what?’
‘That’s who was standing next to you. Samantha Jones. From school. You remember, she was a couple of years below us.’
Lisa felt like she was missing something. ‘I don’t remember her from school; I know her because—’
‘You must remember her from school. She had a big crush on Nathan. In actual fact she was one of the ones who tried to, ah hum, “comfort” him after you split up.’ Lookingat Lisa’s face, Felicity took a breath, stopping herself from rambling further, before finishing, ‘Of course he didn’t go there; remember, I told you that.’
Didn’t he?Lisa wondered why she hadn’t remembered Sam from school. But then, of course, Flick and Nathan had been her world. She didn’t have time for others. But that didn’t explain why Sam herself hadn’t pointed the connection out, orwhy Nathan hadn’t said.Why would they keep that from me?
