The Au Pair

by Janey Fraser

  ‘Mum can see us now, silly.’ Lottie jumped up and down in excitement, trying to touch Marie-France’s shoulders and pointing upwards at the same time. ‘Can’t she?’

  Matthew felt uncomfortable for their au pair. Lottie’s insistence that her mother was either hovering on the ceiling or hiding in the garden was unnerving at times.

  ‘You are doing very well, ma chérie.’

  ‘What about me?’ demanded the squat, plump little kid who’d been sitting next to Lottie.

  ‘You too,’ smiled Marie-France warmly, looking at him pointedly.

  Rather too slowly, Matthew picked up his cue. ‘Great, Tom. Great!’ When Marie-France had first suggested that they invited the boy from her previous family to do a duet, he’d been impressed by her initiative.

  ‘Lottie isn’t ready yet to do it on her own,’ she had told him quietly. ‘Tom is a starter too and he wants lessons. If he comes here, they play together. That is all right, yes?’

  It had been a really good idea. One of his worries had always been that Lottie was an only child. It would do her good to have a friend round on a regular basis like this. As for poor little Tom, he felt sorry for him. There were all kinds of wild rumours flying around school, or so he’d heard, courtesy of Paula who had rung the other day to see if Lottie was going to the swimming party.

  Some people seemed to know Phillip was being investigated by the police for fraud. Others apparently claimed Dawn had thrown him out because he’d had another affair. But, as always, it was the kids who suffered.

  The following week, he told James he had to leave early. ‘What is it this time?’ his partner had demanded. ‘A dental appointment?’

  Their relationship had deteriorated even more since Matthew had refused to reconsider James’s plea to stay on. Consequently, they’d lost the Kiddy Bedroom Range client which the firm could have done with and Matthew couldn’t help feeling guilty.

  ‘Actually, it’s my daughter’s school talent show.’

  ‘Talent show!’ James raised his hands in despair, which made Matthew feel awful. ‘How about some talent in this place? Go if you have to, but make sure that the plan for the Coopers’ place is ready by the morning. By the way, you might like to know that Karen rang when you were in a meeting. She says she’s been signed off for a bit longer. Some staff don’t have any sense of responsibility.’

  James had to run a tight ship – especially with Matthew having been away for so long – but that comment about Karen wasn’t very fair. Then again, he himself hadn’t behaved very well towards his PA. Sure, he’d sent her some flowers after the accident but he hadn’t called round, which was unforgivable considering she only lived at the other end of town. Maybe, if he was leaving early anyway for the talent show, he’d drop in on Karen just to make sure she was all right. After all, the poor woman was completely on her own. And she’d helped him out when he needed it.

  Karen lived in one of those modern apartments at the top of the hill. The car park was at the bottom. Matthew, who’d always thought he was reasonably healthy, began to puff slightly. It couldn’t be easy for a woman with a badly broken arm to make her way up and down to the shops.

  She was at the door before he’d had a chance to ring the bell: a much thinner Karen with her eyes done up in exaggerated blue make-up and her right arm in a bright green plaster cast. There was an overpowering smell of her usual heavy perfume.

  ‘Thank you so much for coming round,’ she gushed, glancing appreciatively at the large box of mint chocolates he’d bought from the garage when filling up. ‘How lovely. Thank you! Please. Come in.’

  He followed her through the narrow hall and into a small sitting room where there was a pot of tea ready waiting on the table, complete with a home-knitted brown and beige tea cosy.

  ‘I don’t have anything to offer you to eat, I’m afraid, Matt. It’s difficult to get out to the shops. I do have a neighbour who brings things in every now and then but I don’t like to bother her. I suppose I could do one of those drop-off supermarket services but the last time I did that, they brought me the wrong kind of butter. Besides, my appetite’s quite gone since the accident.’ Karen ran her hands down the sides of her hips. ‘I’ve lost quite a lot of weight, don’t you think?’

  She was gabbling fast in the way that people do when they’re nervous, realised Matthew. ‘You look wonderful.’

  She flushed. ‘You’re just being kind. Now, please sit down.’

  He glanced at his watch. It had taken him longer to get here than he’d banked on, forgetting the lunchtime traffic always got busy, especially near Puddleducks nursery.

  ‘Actually, Karen, I don’t have much time, I’m afraid. I’ve left work early to watch Lottie in her school talent show.’

  Her face fell. ‘Of course.’

  It was then that the idea occurred to him. ‘Why don’t you come with me? I’m sure Lottie would like to see you.’

  Karen lit up as though she was a child who’d just been invited on an unexpected treat. ‘That would be wonderful. Oh, Matthew. You don’t know how happy you’ve made me. I feel like a prisoner in this place. It would be wonderful, really wonderful to go out for a few hours!’

  It wasn’t easy helping her down the slope, particularly with the frost that was already forming in preparation for what looked like a very cold afternoon. He had to hold her good hand, which was embarrassing, and then, when they got to the car, almost lift her in. ‘I twisted my ankle as well as breaking my arm,’ she explained, panting. ‘A little less pressure to the right. Thanks. That’s better.’

  Feeling awkward and also concerned because all this was taking much longer than he’d thought, he leaped into his own seat. But before he could start the engine, he felt Karen reaching out for his hand. ‘Matthew, just before we go, I want to say how much I appreciate this.’

  ‘You already have,’ he began, feeling slightly suffocated by her over-effusiveness. Maybe he’d made a mistake in offering to take her. Oh God. Maybe the other parents might even assume he’d brought a date! He’d have to make it clear that she was a sort of informal aunt to Lottie. The last thing he wanted was for others to get the wrong idea.

  Matthew hadn’t realised how nervous he would feel on Lottie’s behalf until Mr Balls came out on to the school stage and introduced the event. ‘We believe that every child has a talent inside,’ he said in a warm but no-nonsense voice. ‘Sometimes these gifts aren’t obvious and that is where you, the parent or carer, and we, the teachers, come in. It is our job to bring out the best in our kids and, in so doing, to increase their confidence. Confidence is one of the greatest gifts we can give the next generation and it comes from encouraging someone to do the best that they can. That doesn’t mean that they have to do it perfectly. In fact, I will be very disappointed if all our stars this afternoon put on a flawless performance.’

  There was a nervous ripple of laughter among the audience. ‘It is by getting through their so-called mistakes, without being made to feel silly,’ continued Mr Balls firmly, ‘that they will gain the strength to do the same in life.’

  Matthew thought back to last night’s practice when Lottie had made a complete hash of her piece. He’d been on the verge of suggesting that she did something else for the show but Marie-France had been wonderfully calm. ‘If you make a false note, ma chérie, just go on to the next one. I tell Tom to do the same.’

  Lottie had seemed reassured enough but Matthew still felt sick with apprehension as he wondered how his little girl was doing behind the curtain. Was she nervous? Was she wishing that her mother was here instead of him?

  ‘You’re shaking,’ said Karen. ‘Poor you.’ She slipped her good arm into his for a couple of seconds, giving a quick squeeze of reassurance. ‘Don’t worry. I’m sure she’ll be fine.’

  And then the curtains drew back and William, Paula’s eldest, edged out nervously before proceeding to sing a rather tuneless version of ‘Wish Upon a Star’. It was awful! Real toe-curling stuff! But
everyone gave him a huge clap at the end and the kid’s face lit up. It was true, what Mr Balls had said, really true. That boy was going to go backstage, now, feeling good about himself.

  The next act were a pair of girls who juggled two balls but kept dropping one. Again they were cheered as though they were a brilliant circus act. And then his own little Lottie came on together with podgy little Tom. They sat side by side on stools. Tom looked uncertainly at his daughter as though waiting for an instruction to begin and then she plucked the string.

  Matthew wanted to put his head in his hands as she continued to play. It wasn’t that she was off-key or playing the wrong notes. It was simply that the agony of watching made him want to curl up in a ball until it was all over. In short, it was far, far worse than doing any exam.

  He felt so relieved that he started clapping almost before the final note had been played. ‘Fantastique,’ yelled Marie-France, who was sitting on the other side of him. To his embarrassment, she wolf-whistled loudly, slapping her thighs with enthusiasm, and a couple of people turned round.

  ‘Er, Marie-France, we don’t usually do that here.’

  ‘Why not?’ Her eyes shone. ‘She does very well, yes?’

  ‘She was wonderful, Matthew,’ said Karen with a catch in her throat. ‘You must be so proud.’ She slipped her arm in his again for another squeeze although it lasted a bit longer this time. To his surprise, he found himself returning it. ‘I am,’ he croaked. ‘Very.’

  They’d been asked to collect the children about half an hour after the show had finished to give the kids and teachers time to tidy up. ‘I’ll run you home,’ he offered, thinking that this was better than making small talk with Karen with everyone watching and getting the wrong idea. ‘Marie-France, do you mind waiting here just in case Lottie comes out early and then I’ll come back to get you.’

  It was just as well that Karen did all the nattering while he drove her home. He was unable to speak, still choked by pride and also sadness.

  ‘Wasn’t she wonderful, Matt? I think you’ve struck lucky with this last au pair of yours. Fancy being able to play the guitar like that! Oh, Matthew, please don’t get yourself so upset.’

  The last bit was said just after he had drawn up outside her flat. ‘I can’t help it,’ he managed to blurt out. ‘I just wish that Lottie had had Sally there.’

  ‘But she has you as a dad, Matthew! You’re a wonderful father and such a good, kind man.’ Now it was her eyes that were filling with tears. To his surprise, she leaned towards him and kissed him lightly on the cheek, even closer to his lips than last time. Without meaning to, he found himself hugging her back. It was so comforting to be comforted!

  But as she released him, a tall elegant woman with blond hair tied up at the back and purple-framed glasses drew up in her car and parked next to them.

  ‘That’s my neighbour.’ Karen made no effort to draw away. ‘The one who does my shopping every now and then.’

  Her neighbour? Matthew watched the woman glance across as though acknowledging them briefly and then walk up towards the block of maisonettes. So that’s where Christina lived! Oh God. She must have seen him hugging Karen!

  Hot with embarrassment, he recalled the conversation he’d had with her about the ‘woman at work who seemed rather friendly.’ What was it Christina had said in reply? Something about it not being kind to ‘allow someone to get the wrong idea’.

  Well, that’s exactly what he’d gone and done, looking at Karen’s rapt expression. And now Christina had the wrong idea too.

  Idiot, idiot, idiot! Matthew mentally kicked himself all the way back to school where Lottie and Marie-France were waiting for him. But he had to put his own feelings on one side in order to tell his daughter how amazing she’d been.

  ‘I was so proud of you!’ He put his arm around her. ‘You didn’t get a note wrong! Not, of course, that it would have mattered if you had.’ He turned to Marie-France. ‘Thank you so much. You’re a brilliant teacher.’

  She beamed. ‘Tom was very good too, I think.’ Then her face darkened. ‘It is a sham his mother could not be here to see him.’

  ‘Don’t you mean “a shame”?’ he suggested.

  She’d shaken her head. ‘I do not think so. Dawn, she is not genuine.’

  No point in arguing. Marie-France was a great improvement on all the others but he’d noticed that she could be quite bossy when she thought she was right.

  That night, after supper, Lottie went straight to bed. ‘She is exhausting,’ announced Marie-France when Matthew came downstairs after kissing his daughter goodnight.

  Exhausting and exhausted! He nodded. ‘It’s been a long day for her.’

  ‘And for you too, I think.’ Marie-France sat next to him on the sofa. It was the first time she’d ever done that! Au pairs were meant to share the sitting room with you. The guidelines said that. But usually Lottie was here at the same time and Marie-France had always sat on one of the chairs. Her proximity felt rather awkward.

  ‘You are upset after the show, yes?’

  Matthew nodded, edging slightly away from her. He wasn’t going to make the same mistake he had with

  Karen this afternoon. ‘I wished her mother could have seen her.’

  Marie-France’s lips tightened. ‘I was not going to tell you this, Matthew, but I do not like to see you so upset.’ She lowered her voice. ‘I do not think your wife is an angel.’

  ‘I beg your pardon?’

  ‘I have discovered she is having affair.’

  ‘What?’ He stared at her, stunned. ‘Who told you this?’

  ‘Dawn. She say her husband Phillip has affair with your wife. They meet at the gym.’

  The gym? She’d said it was a man at work!

  He leaped to his feet. It was all making sense now. The familiar way that Phillip had called him Matt on the phone. Sally had been the only person who had called him that. He’d picked it up from her! And Sally’s sudden interest in the gym, and the text message with the initial P at the end.

  ‘Where are you going, Matthew?’

  ‘To find the bastard.’

  ‘Ssh, Lottie might hear you.’ Marie-France looked scared.

  He felt so mad that he almost didn’t care. ‘Stay here, please. Look after her. I’ll be back as soon as I can.’

  Later, Matthew would say that he hardly remembered roaring up the drive to Dawn’s house and making her tell him where Phillip was. Could hardly recall driving blindly through the streets to knock furiously at the door of the flat at the other end of town.

  But what he did remember was the suave, smooth face which answered: the face of the bastard who had gone off with his wife.

  ‘Is it true?’ he yelled.

  ‘Calm down, Matt.’

  ‘Don’t call me that!’ Throwing himself into the small hall, he tried to grab the man by his collar but Phillip side-stepped him deftly, almost falling over a suitcase. Clearly he’d had plans to go somewhere. Well, not now, he wasn’t.

  ‘Is it true? Did you have an affair with my wife?’

  ‘Sally?’ Phillip appeared to consider the idea. ‘Actually, it is.’

  ‘She told me it was a one-night stand with a business colleague.’

  ‘Did she now? Well, in a way, we were doing business but it lasted a bit more than one night. Now come on, Matthew, there’s no need to get upset about it, is there? She was lonely – you didn’t really do it for her in that department, if you know what I mean. We had a lot in common. Try and see it my way, man to man, can you? Dawn and I simply weren’t right for each other. But Sally is dead so there is really no point in—’

  And that was the other bit that Matthew clearly remembered, because he’d never hit a man before. Not like this. Phillip slumped to the ground, clutching his jaw and whimpering like a baby.

  ‘If you’re going to mess with other men’s wives,’ said Matthew through gritted teeth and nursing his own hand which was searing with pain, ‘that’s what you’re going
to get. Be grateful it’s not worse.’

  Then he drove home, hardly knowing where he was going, conscious only of an agonising pain in his right hand. When he opened the door, an ashen-faced Marie-France was waiting for him. ‘You kill him, yes?’

  ‘No, but I would have liked to have done. He might go to the police but I don’t care.’

  ‘The police?’ She laughed. ‘It is them he needs to be afraid of.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Dawn, she tells me that he tricks the insurance company.’

  ‘I had a feeling that might be the case,’ he said slowly. ‘But I wasn’t quite sure of the details…’

  So Marie-France filled in the gaps. And then Matthew realised that now he really knew how to get back at Phillip.

  USEFUL (BUT SOMETIMES UNRELIABLE) LITHUANIAN PHRASES

  veikat (Cheers/good health)

  Šis vyras užmokes uz visk (This gentleman will pay for everything)

  Mano laivas su oro pagalve pilnas unguriu (My hovercraft is full of eels)

  Chapter 31

  BRAXTON HICKS AGAIN, the midwife had sighed after Fatima’s latest false alarm. And if that wasn’t enough, Jilly now had another irate mum on the phone: Brigid, with whom she’d placed an Italian au pair the other week.

  ‘So within half an hour of getting here from the airport, Maria told me she was “going to explore the area”. But by eleven o’clock in the evening, she hadn’t come back! My husband went out to look – you can imagine how worried we were – and then found her in the local pub with a complete stranger. She was absolutely plastered and all over him like a rash. When my husband suggested that she came back, Maria announced it was her free time and that she could do what she wanted.’

  There was a brief pause for breath at the other end during which Jilly leaped in quickly before her client could continue. ‘I’m afraid she was right—’

  ‘Hang on. I haven’t finished.’ Brigid – whose son Bruce had been a friend of the twins since Puddleducks days – was obviously determined to give her the whole story, word for word. ‘The next day, she did some halfhearted dusting and vacuuming and then went out for the afternoon. When she got back, she asked if she could take a cup of tea up to her bedroom. Fair enough, I thought. But then within a few minutes, she came back down and asked if she could make herself another cup of tea. I thought it was funny she’d drunk that one so fast. So I followed her back upstairs and listened through the door. There was a man’s voice on the other side!’