Chapter 2
I have a tin of kidney beans to thank for that last bombshell. Or rather, a lack of kidney beans. I texted Rich to ask him to buy some, only to hear his phone on the console table.
My text sat unread with seven others from ‘Steve Mechanic’ and, naively, I opened one to check that Rich wasn’t having a problem with his bike. From his photos, ‘Steve Mechanic’ bears an uncanny resemblance to our former receptionist Lucy. Also, I have no idea how Steve gets engine grease out of the outfits he likes to wear. You can’t hot wash a white lace negligée.
I throw the phone onto the floor, not caring that it lands face down. Numb from shock and anger, I repack my suitcase, removing my pretty holiday clothes and filling it instead with work outfits. I add more toiletries, including the twelve-pack of Durex I picked up yesterday in Boots. If Rich is going to sleep around, he sure as hell won’t be doing it using condoms bought withmyAdvantage points.
Once I’ve closed my suitcase, there’s nothing left to do except pour myself a glass of wine and wait in the kitchen for Rich.
Fifteen minutes later, I hear his key in the lock.
‘Oh, something smells delicious,’ he calls from the hall. He stops at the kitchen door when he sees me. ‘Nella?’
‘You forgot your phone.’
A flicker of anxiety flashes across his face.
‘Sorry,’ he says. ‘Did you need something?’
‘Nothing important. Just, you know, for you not to be sleeping with Lucy Harewood.’
He blinks a couple of times and frowns, like he doesn’t know what I’m talking about. But I see the mental calculation. He’s trying to decide if he can brazen this out or whether I really know something.
I decide to lend him a hand. ‘She left some damning evidence on your phone. Unless her autocorrect had a field day with “I need your enormous clock inside my puppy.” Somehow, I don’t think I need to call the RSPCA.’
He slumps against the counter. ‘I can explain.’
No one’s rooting harder than me for Rich to come up with an explanation thatdoesn’tinvolve shagging another woman, but the seconds tick by without him saying anything.
‘Go on, then.’ I’m torn between impatience and hope, but impatience is rapidly winning.
‘It just happened.’
‘Itjust happened?’ I can’t believe my ears. ‘And what, you were an innocent bystander?’
I down what’s left of my wine, then put the empty glass in the sink.
He doesn’t attempt to justify himself or to approach me; wisely, he stays by the oven, his gaze flicking to where my hands are balled into fists.
‘When?’ It’s suddenly the most important question.
‘Does it matter?’
‘Of course it fucking matters!’
He pauses. ‘After her leaving party.’
My stomach drops.
I skipped her send-off at the Golden Eagle because I had to go into university the next day to defend my thesis – the final step before I was awarded my PhD. I was at home sweating over one of the most important meetings of my life while Rich and his not-so-enormous cock were sweating over someoneelse. I was awake and still frantically going through my notes when herolled home at 3 a.m. stinking of booze. He must have stunk of something else, too, but I was too preoccupied to notice.
He takes a step towards me. ‘You’re the most important thing in my life.’
‘And you express that by sleeping with another woman? Lucky me.’
‘I love you, and I made a mistake. Both of those things can be true.’
‘Don’t play stupid bloody word games. And don’t try to sound rational. No, both of those thingscan’tbe true. And I can’t believe you’ve got the gall to use that as a defence.’
