Everyone laughs, even Diane. But my own laugh feels as though it could quite easily turn into a sob. Today’s events have undone me and all I want is to climb into a bath myself and try to soak away the memory of Mick Cosgrove. My left hand has started shaking and I feel like I might be going into some kind of delayed shock. Did that man really grope me? I’ve never been in this situation before… and Mick can’t get away with that type of behaviour. But right now I don’t even want to think about it. I just want to put the whole tawdry episode to one side and get back to normality.
Fourteen
Lying in bed with a cup of tea and the papers on Sunday mornings is our little luxury. So when the doorbell rings at 9.15 a.m. I tell Robert to ignore it.
‘Have you got the financial section?’ I ask.
He flips the pages, making a noisy rustling sound and getting the paper into a terrible mess. This makes me giggle and he pretends to be annoyed. ‘You asked me to look, so I’m looking!’
‘Yes, but now it’s like an explosion at a printing press.’
The doorbell rings again.
‘Mum!’ Eva calls from downstairs. ‘Someone’s at the door! Shall I get it?’
‘No!’ Robert and I yell back.
‘I’ll go.’ He sighs and pushes back the covers.
‘And leave me with this newspaper mess?’ I raise an eyebrow.
‘You can go if you want?’ he replies, tying his dressing gown. ‘I’m happy to stay with the mess.’
‘No. That’s okay.’ I shove the papers onto his side of the bed and sink down into the pillows. ‘Tell whoever it is to bugger off.’
‘Yes, boss.’
Robert leaves the bedroom, closing the door behind him, and I sigh. The spell of our Sunday ritual has been broken. It’s probably someone selling something. Knowing Robert, he won’t come back to bed now. He’ll get sidetracked. And now that he’s gone, my mind is drifting back to what happened on Friday with Cosgrove. It’s like a huge, dark blot on my brain. A cancerous lump that I can’t get rid of. I didn’t mention it to Robert because I’m trying to forget it, but maybe I should…
I’m also worrying about Eva going back to school tomorrow. It would have been sensible of me to have had another meeting with the head to make sure everything goes okay on her return. And I could have called Rebecca to arrange for Eva and Lauren to meet up this weekend. It would have given the girls space to smooth everything over before seeing one another at school again. I push my fingers into my temple. It’s too late now. Hopefully I’m worrying about nothing.
I hear the creak of the front door opening downstairs. Muffled voices. I wish whoever it is had left us alone for half an hour longer. I mean, who the hell calls round before ten o’clock on a Sunday morning?
Thundering footsteps come up the stairs and our bedroom door opens. Robert pops his head in. ‘Sorry, Gem. It’s Mum.’
‘Is she okay?’ Concern replaces my irritation. Diane might not be my favourite person in the world, but she’s family and I wouldn’t want anything bad to befall her.
‘She’s fine, but she wants a word.’
‘With me?Now?’
Robert nods and gives me an apologetic smile. ‘Something to do with the tutor.’
‘Oh. Okay, great.’ I throw back the covers and shrug on my dressing gown. Hopefully she’s found someone. ‘Hang on, I’m coming.’
Diane is in the living room. She’s immaculately turned out as usual in one of her trouser suits, hair coiffed, regulation pearls in her ears and around her neck. The girls are sitting either side of her having two simultaneous conversations.
‘Hi, Diane.’
She looks up and tries to mask her disapproval of the fact I’m not yet dressed. ‘Sorry to have woken you, Gemma. I’ve got a nine-thirty meeting at the club so I thought I’d pop in here on my way. But I can see I’ve disturbed your morning.’
‘No, that’s okay. Girls, can you go and get dressed?’
‘You’renot dressed,’ Eva points out.
‘I’m telling Grandma about my school play,’ Katie says, folding her arms across her chest.
‘Girls.’ Robert says sternly.
