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Freya looked at the phone. There was an obvious way to find out who her dad had been talking to. She picked up the phone and dialled one four seven one, hoping the service would give her the last number and it hadn’t been withheld so she could speak to this woman called Wendy and find out exactly what was going on. Freya hesitated when the computerised voice on the end of the line reeled off the number of the last caller, ending with the option to press one to return the call. Freya hung up.
‘What’s going on?’
Freya jumped at the sound of Theo’s voice. She didn’t hear him walk down the stairs. He must have been on the way to the kitchen when he’d noticed her in the lounge. ‘What do you mean?’ Freya said defensively, feeling like a small child caught doing something she wasn’t supposed to.
He scratched his head. His mop of blonde hair was sticking out. Like her, he was still in his pyjamas. He yawned. ‘I thought you were making me a cup of coffee?’
‘Yes, I was.’ She didn’t feel inclined to tell him about the conversation she’d just overheard between her dad and some woman called Wendy.
Theo stared at her. ‘Is the kettle switched on?’
‘Er, no.’
‘So, what have you been doing all this time?’
Freya glared at him. ‘What is with you?’ She felt like she was getting the third degree.
‘What do you mean – what is withme? What’s withyouthis morning?’
‘Nothing!’ Freya stalked over. She had her mum’s mobile phone in her hand.
He noticed the phone. ‘Did you just call someone?’
‘For god’s sake Theo, what’s with all the questions?’
‘Well, did you?’
‘So what if I did?’ Freya shot back, annoyed with all the questions. She knew what this was about; it was written all over Theo’s face as he scrutinised her – he thought she was keeping something from him.
He followed her into the kitchen.
She got two mugs out of the kitchen cupboards, and a large jar of coffee.
‘You were speaking to that guy, weren’t you?’
Freya flicked the kettle on and turned around to face him. ‘What guy?’
‘The new guy at your work, at the museum.’
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake.’ Freya frowned, realising she sounded just like her mum. Was he jealous of a colleague? And how did he even know about the new guy?
‘Are you talking about Tarek?’
‘Oh, so now you’re on first name terms.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean? Of course we know each other’s first names. We work together. How do you know about him, anyway?’
‘I thought I’d surprise you with lunch.’
Freya shrugged. ‘So, why didn’t you?’ He’d done it before. He knew what time she had her lunch break, so he’d walk into town, buy a couple of sandwiches or filled baguettes, grab a couple of coffees to go, and surprise her at the museum entrance when she walked out.
‘I saw you with him.’
Freya stared at him. So, he’d turned up to surprise her with lunch, and seen them together. ‘I didn’t see you.’
‘I’d just walked round the corner when I saw you walking down the steps of the museum with him. I … I followed you.’
‘You followed me?’ She said in surprise. ‘They asked me to take him to lunch. He’s just arrived and I’m showing him the ropes. It’s not like I wanted to.’
