The Woman Next Door

by Natasha Boydell

  ‘Does it matter?’

  ‘Well, yeah.’

  ‘Morrisons?’

  ‘I love that place. Let’s go.’

  Bemused, she nodded and went to get her bag. They made their way down the stairs and out onto the street together. This is weird, she thought. What’s going on here? Is this just an opportunity for Jack to stock up on milk and bread or is he trying to prove that we can still be friends? For the entire ten-minute walk to the supermarket she waited for him to say something but he didn’t. With each step they took, her nerves multiplied. Finally they got there and she grabbed a basket, marching over to the toiletries aisle to get some tampons and feeling mortified when he followed her.

  ‘I was drunk, Ange, you’re right,’ he said as she reached self-consciously for some Tampax. He didn’t bat an eyelid. ‘But the reason I got so drunk was because I hated the idea of you and Harry getting together. As soon as you walked in, he asked if you were single, so I knew he was keen, and it made me realise that I was being stupid for hiding how I feel about you. I meant what I said and I mean it now too. I’d rather put myself out there than risk losing you again.’

  ‘But you have a girlfriend,’ Angie reminded him, still clutching the tampons.

  ‘Not anymore. I broke up with her this morning.’

  Angie stared at him in wonder. ‘Is this really happening, Jack?’

  ‘Only if you want it too.’

  She took in his beautiful, sincere face and right there, surrounded by sanitary towels and pantyliners, she reached up and kissed him for the first time. ‘I do.’

  They finally broke away, grinning at each other, after someone shouted at them to get a room. She was flushed with pleasure. ‘Shall we get out of here?’ she asked.

  ‘Actually, I really need some fish fingers,’ Jack began, before seeing Angie’s face. He gently took her basket from her and put it down on the floor.

  ‘Come on,’ he said. ‘The fish fingers can wait.’

  They were married three years later. It was quite an affair – all their old university mates used it as an excuse for a reunion and the party went on until six in the morning. Angie had never smiled so much in her life. She looked around the room at their friends, old and new, her mother’s proud face barely visible from under the huge hat she’d bought especially for the occasion, and Jack’s large, jovial family who had welcomed her with such warmth, and she felt that she would never, ever be this happy again. Dreams really do come true, she thought.

  When the party finally ended, they made their way up the stairs, hand in hand, to their hotel room and crawled into bed together. Angie, drunk on champagne and love for Jack, turned to him in the darkness. She was finally ready to share the thing that she’d kept a secret for so many years, even from herself. She stroked his arm lightly and whispered, ‘I’ve loved you from the very minute I met you, Jack, back when we were eighteen years old. I’ve always loved you.’

  She waited in anticipation for his response, his surprise when he realised how long ago he’d won her heart, his realisation that she’d been his for so many years, but there was nothing but his steady breathing. He was fast asleep.

  4

  Sophie, Alan, Tom and Katie stood huddled together in the garden, their backs turned against the bitterly cold wind, and observed the carnage.

  ‘Wow,’ Tom said.

  ‘Wow indeed,’ Alan agreed.

  A storm had wreaked havoc across the country. Trees had been ripped down, roof tiles hurled to the ground and garden trampolines thrown onto railway tracks. Reports of power cuts and floods dominated the news headlines. Overnight, the storm had destroyed part of the battered fence in their back garden, taking down three panels and leaving a gaping hole, where they could now clearly see into the neighbours’ garden.

  ‘I told you that fence was an accident waiting to happen,’ Alan said. ‘It’s been looking like the Leaning Tower of Pisa for years.’

  ‘Whose is it though?’ Sophie asked, wrapping her coat tightly around herself and folding her arms across it. ‘Ours or theirs?’

  ‘I’ll have to double-check the deeds but I’m pretty sure it’s theirs.’

  As they stood, pondering the broken fence, Sophie saw two curious little faces appear from the other side. The younger two Taylor children. She gave them a little wave and shortly afterwards Jack and Angie arrived, wearing their dressing gowns.

  ‘Hi, neighbours,’ Sophie shouted at them over the wind. ‘We may have a problem.’

  The Taylor family had been living next door to them for about nine months, although Sophie barely saw them except for the odd hello when they were putting the bins out. The only reason she even knew their surname was because she occasionally took a parcel for them. She had tried to start a conversation with Angie a couple of times but she was always in a rush. She wasn’t exactly what Sophie would call the chatty type. The children went to breakfast and after-school clubs every day, so Sophie never bumped into them on the school run either.

  But it didn’t stop her forming opinions about them. Angie was obviously one of those high-flying women who probably looked down her nose at people like Sophie, with her oversized jumpers and lack of career. She always looked so groomed and polished whenever Sophie saw her. She was perfectly polite but Sophie found her a bit unapproachable, superior even.

  Jack was a bit friendlier. He always gave her a wide smile and a wave whenever he saw her and he’d brought round a bottle of wine to apologise for the noise during their building works. She suspected that he was one of those men who survived on his good looks and charm alone. She doubted there was much substance underneath.

  She had no idea about the children. She had asked Tom and Katie once if they played with them at school, but they were in different classes and they had barely known who they were.

  Now the children gazed at each other from across the garden, caught up in the excitement of the early morning drama but not sure yet whether it meant anything interesting for them or not.

  ‘Is it ours or yours?’ Angie asked, looking at the fence.

  ‘We don’t know for sure,’ Sophie replied. ‘We think it’s yours, but we need to check.’

  Jack and Alan started lifting the panels and debris together and stacking them to one side. Meanwhile the older two Taylor children had emerged to see what all the fuss was about.

  ‘We’ll get it fixed ASAP if it’s ours,’ Angie said. ‘Although we can’t be the only people this has happened to after the storm, so it might take a while to get someone to come out.’

  ‘There’s no rush, don’t worry,’ Sophie said as she looked behind her and noticed that Tom and Katie had disappeared.

  ‘Where are the kids?’ she asked Alan, assuming that they had got bored, or cold, and gone back inside to have breakfast.

  ‘They’re over here,’ Angie replied, gesturing behind her. Sophie took a couple of steps forward so that she could see into next door’s garden and spotted her children playing on the neighbour’s climbing frame as if it was a public playground.

  ‘Oh gosh, I’m sorry, I was so busy gawping at the fence I didn’t even see them sneak off,’ Sophie exclaimed. ‘Tom! Katie! Come back here!’

  ‘Don’t worry about it,’ Angie said. ‘It’s fine.’

  Sophie watched anxiously as Ellie and Freddy joined Tom and Katie on the climbing frame. She was embarrassed by her children’s boldness although Angie didn’t seem perturbed.

  ‘We’d better get the kids inside, Soph,’ Alan called out to her, his voice competing against the residual wind. ‘It’s freezing out here and they’re still in their pyjamas.’

  ‘I’ll round them up,’ Sophie agreed, calling out to them. They reluctantly returned to their own garden and with a final wave to Angie, they all raced back inside.

  ‘That was fun,’ Tom said as he tucked into his cereal. ‘Their climbing frame is really cool.’

  ‘I’m sure it is but you can’t go wandering into their garden any time you like, oka
y?’ Sophie told him sternly. ‘Just because the fence is down doesn’t mean you have the right.’

  Tom and Katie nodded solemnly. But later that day after school, they both ran through the house and disappeared out of the back door the minute they got home, leaving a trail of discarded bags and lunchboxes in their wake. The wind had died down but it was still cold and Sophie watched them from the kitchen window and shivered. Children never seemed to feel the cold in the way that adults did. She moved away to put the kettle on and when she turned back to the window, a few seconds later, they had both disappeared.

  ‘Dammit,’ she exclaimed crossly, reaching for her coat and trainers and yanking them on. She trudged huffily up the garden and looked through the gap in the fence until she saw her children, as pleased as punch, sitting in her neighbour’s treehouse. She frowned at Tom, who had obviously been the instigator. Katie would never do anything so rebellious without her brother.

  ‘Guys, this is not okay. You can’t just go next door and start playing whenever you feel like it,’ Sophie told them sternly. ‘This isn’t our garden.’

  ‘It’s okay,’ she heard a small voice say. It was Ellie who was marching up the garden in her raincoat and wellies, flanked by Freddy. ‘We want to play with them.’

  Sophie watched as Ellie climbed up into the treehouse, followed by Freddy. She stood there for a minute, at a loss as to what to do. While it was rather heart-warming to see them making friends, she didn’t feel that she knew Angie and Jack well enough to let her kids play in their garden without their permission. She felt horribly conspicuous herself, hovering on the divide between the two gardens, and wondered if Angie was watching from the window, maybe tutting her disapproval at their audacity. Should she make them come back inside? And how safe was that rickety treehouse anyway, especially after the storm? The last thing she needed was a trip to A&E. Before she had a chance to decide, Angie emerged from the house.

  ‘I’m really sorry,’ Sophie called out to her. ‘They just disappeared through the fence before I had a chance to stop them. I’m fetching them back now.’

  ‘It’s fine,’ Angie said. ‘Let them play. Ellie and Freddy were terribly excited when they saw them from the house. They couldn’t get their wellies on quick enough.’

  ‘As long as you’re sure,’ Sophie said. The two women stood side by side watching the children huddled together in the treehouse, chatting away as if they’d been friends for years rather than just a few minutes. If only it was so easy for grown-ups, Sophie thought, feeling awkward. She was relieved when Angie broke the silence.

  ‘I was just going to make a cup of tea; would you like to join me?’

  ‘Okay, thanks,’ Sophie replied.

  ‘Come inside where it’s nice and warm. The kids are fine out here.’

  With a final, nervous glance at the treehouse, Sophie followed Angie into the house. She felt a rush of warmth as she stepped over the threshold and then gasped as she looked around her. The house had been completely transformed. They’d been having work done to it for forever and she knew from the absence of builders’ vans and drilling that they were finally finished but she couldn’t believe how incredible it looked. The old, dated kitchen and dining room had been combined and extended to create one immense family room with a huge kitchen, furnished with pale granite worktops and a central island, with a neat row of stools next to it. Above it, three pendant lights hung from the ceiling.

  On one side of the room the entire wall was lined with a floor to ceiling bookcase, stacked with neat rows of books. There was a huge grey corner sofa with a big fluffy rug in the corner and on the other side a long, elegant dining table with wooden benches. In the centre of the room, tucked into a column, was a wood-burning stove, its flames flickering. The whole thing looked like something from an interior design magazine When she took her trainers off, Sophie felt the warmth of the smooth tiles on her socks. Underfloor heating, she realised blissfully.

  ‘This place looks unbelievable,’ she told Angie.

  ‘Thanks,’ Angie replied, switching on the kettle and fetching mugs. ‘It was one of the most stressful things we’ve ever done but now it’s finished, I feel like we’ve reached the light at the end of the tunnel. I hope the refurbishment work wasn’t too noisy for you?’

  The constant drilling had been horrific but Sophie shook her head politely. ‘Not at all, it was absolutely fine,’ she lied.

  ‘They’ve just finished the loft too, so we’ve finally moved upstairs into our new bedroom. Indie is ecstatic to have a room all to herself. Would you like a little tour?’

  ‘Yes please,’ Sophie said enthusiastically, relishing the chance to have a nose around. Angie led her from room to room, each one looking as beautiful as the next, and Sophie felt a pang of envy. She loved their family home, it was a happy, lived-in space, but it was cluttered and starting to look a little worn out too. In contrast, Angie and Jack had created something that looked like an Instagram show home. Sophie knew that even if they had the money to spend on that quality of furniture, fixtures and fittings, she simply didn’t have the eye for it and there was no way she’d be able to make it look as stylish as this. Even the children’s toys had been arranged perfectly into some sort of Scandi-style storage that definitely didn’t come from Ikea, stacked away into neat cubby holes along one length of the front room, which Angie referred to as the den.

  ‘This is the children’s space,’ she explained. ‘They can hang out here with their friends, play, watch TV, paint, whatever they like. Then when they’ve gone to bed, I can close the door and shut away the mess.’

  Lucky kids, Sophie thought, as she considered the mess that permeated every room of her own house. The loft room was equally impressive, with a modern four poster bed and even a small dressing room with racks for Angie’s endless collection of shoes and boots. In a little nook to the side of the bedroom was a desk with a computer on it.

  ‘Our study for when we work from home,’ Angie explained.

  ‘It’s absolutely amazing, the whole house,’ Sophie told her. ‘You must be so pleased.’

  ‘I’m getting there,’ Angie said. ‘The whole thing was incredibly difficult – the noise, the chaos, the dust. We escaped as often as we could and tried to spend as much time out of the house as possible. Tempers got rather frayed and by the end of it, I think we were all pretty sick of it, and each other. But now it’s done, I can see that it’s been worth the effort.’

  They headed back downstairs and Angie finished making the tea while Sophie checked on the children, who were still up in the treehouse.

  ‘They have a secret stash of snacks up there, so we probably won’t see them for a while,’ Angie said when she came back. It was all so perfect – the beautiful home, the treehouse, the outdoorsy, independent children. Sophie wondered again how Angie had time to do it all and look so well turned out at the same time. Glancing down at her jeans and faded jumper, she couldn’t help but feel out of place in this pristine house.

  We live in different worlds, she thought. As if reading her mind, Angie put the tea down on the table in front of her and said in a confiding tone, ‘I nearly lost it on several occasions. In the half term I had to ask Jack’s parents to look after the children so I could have a break. You’re seeing the finished product here but the journey to get there was extremely messy on all levels.’

  That made Sophie feel a bit better. ‘How are you all settling into the area?’ she asked.

  ‘Fine,’ Angie replied, sitting down. ‘The younger ones have settled into school very well. Benji seems to be plodding along in secondary school although I don’t think he’s made as many friends as we’d hoped. He definitely misses his old gang. Indie has surprised us; she was the fiercest opponent to us moving but actually she’s happier than ever. She’s slotted right in with a group of girls in her class and they’re as thick as thieves.’

  ‘How about you and Jack?’

  ‘Oh Jack’s absolutely fine. He’s immune to stress
so the refurbishment didn’t bother him in the slightest and he’s found a local café that gets his coffee snob seal of approval. He’s got an easier commute to work and he’s started coaching a local junior football team.’

  ‘And you?’

  Angie looked thoughtful before replying, ‘I’m happy to be closer to my mum but I do miss my old life in Greenwich. We lived there for so long and it was just easy. I’m still in touch with most of our friends but we can’t just pop round like we used to.’

  ‘Have you made friends in the area yet?’

  ‘I’m trying to but with work being so busy it’s challenging. I don’t do the school runs.’

  Sophie nodded sympathetically, seeing Angie in a new light. It was hard, she thought, constantly juggling responsibilities, not being able to drop any balls.

  ‘Anyway, how are you?’ Angie asked. Sophie sensed that she was keen to change the subject.

  ‘Oh fine, you know, same old,’ Sophie said dismissively, realising with embarrassment that she had nothing interesting to say to Angie, unless you counted the fact that she went to the supermarket this morning and bought an absolute steal of a coat.

  ‘How’s work going?’

  Sophie was about to reel out her standard response of, ‘Oh yes, all fine, thanks,’ but instead she found herself being honest. ‘A bit rubbish.’

  ‘How come?’

  She wasn’t sure if it was the warm, welcoming house, Angie’s attentiveness or just a need have something to talk about, but Sophie found herself telling Angie about how she’d gone to work with Alan and had been struggling to get back into her old job ever since.

  ‘I just feel a bit old,’ she admitted. ‘I know that’s silly because these days being in your thirties is considered young and I’ve got another thirty years of working age ahead of me at least. But I’ve just lost my energy and drive for it and I can’t seem to get it back. And I think I probably have a touch of imposter syndrome too, since having the children and my career break.’

  Angie nodded. ‘Oh yes, I know all about that.’