The Au Pair

by Janey Fraser

  Getting into his car, he turned on the radio, moving the dial from his usual frequency to the local station to find out about the traffic. ‘There will be long delays out of Corrywood,’ chirped the presenter, ‘owing to an incident at a leisure centre in Hickvick. More details when we get them!’

  Matthew’s blood ran cold. A incident at a leisure centre in Hickvick? Wasn’t that where Lottie’s swimming party was? Fingers shaking, he dialled Marie-France’s number. Her phone was off. Suddenly he began to shake.

  Dear God, he began to pray, which was something he hadn’t done for years. Not even when Sally had died. Please let Lottie be all right. I’ll do anything if you do this for me. Anything.

  Matthew glanced again at his watch, tetchily. Gone four. Damn. He was meant to be at a meeting with James right now but this was more important. For fuck’s sake, where was the new leisure centre? Down this road? No. Maybe it was this turning. Yes! There was a sign at last.

  Oh God. An ambulance was passing him, its lights flashing. Someone had been hurt. Not Lottie. Please!

  ‘Sally, if you’re up there, for pity’s sake do something,’ he found himself saying before pulling up to let it by. The traffic was stationary now. People were hooting; some were getting out of their cars to take a better look at what was causing the blockage. And now a youth in a neon orange uniform was coming towards them. ‘The leisure centre’s closed,’ he heard him saying and there was a general groan from the car in front.

  ‘But we’ve come specially for a half-term treat.’

  ‘Sorry. There’s been an accident.’

  Matthew’s chest did a flip. ‘What kind of accident?’ he yelled, leaping out of his car.

  The youth shrugged. ‘Can’t say.’

  It was then that he began to run. ‘Oy,’ yelled a voice behind him. ‘You can’t just leave your car there!’

  Couldn’t he? As he raced through the stationary traffic, Matthew could hear more people behind hooting him in protest. So what? He had to get to his daughter. Cradle her in his arms. He could see it all so clearly. She’d be slumped on the ground in pain. Or maybe she’d be trying to talk just as Sally had tried at the end. She’d be looking at him with her mother’s large, sorrowful eyes …

  ‘Daddy!’

  ‘Lottie!’

  His heart burst with relief as a small figure with long, wet plaits ran towards him, closely followed by a rather flushed-looking Marie-France. Behind was a youth he didn’t recognise as well as two small identical boys.

  ‘Daddy! We’ve had an amazing time! I went all the way up this big giant chute but there was this awful queue and there was a very rude woman and then Teary came up and he and Marie-France took us all down on their laps. But then I sank to the bottom of the pool – honestly! – but I came up and got out to look for Marie-France. But she couldn’t see me for a bit cos there were all these people and then Teary found me and bought me a hot chocolate cos I was freezing and then Marie-France cried cos I hadn’t drowned after all! It was cool, Dad. Really cool!’

  Slow down, slow down! He didn’t understand half of what she was saying but all he cared about was that she was safe and in his arms.

  ‘I heard there was an accident,’ he managed to say to Marie-France when he was able to compose himself. ‘I saw the ambulance.’

  ‘Someone fell over at the ice-skating rink in the centre,’ piped up one of the small boys whose soaking wet hair was sticking to his scalp.

  Relief washed over him. ‘Where’s Paula?’

  ‘Inside, trying to count heads.’ Marie-France gave him a meaningful look. ‘This party, she is not organised. Paula has an enormous fright. She jumped in to get her daughter but she could not swim so the lifeguard, she pulls her out.’

  ‘It’s all my fault,’ said Lottie, her eyes bright. ‘I told Marie-France I didn’t need my water wings.’

  ‘You didn’t wear your water wings?’ he repeated slowly. He turned to Marie-France. ‘Is that true?’

  The girl flushed. ‘Yes, but—’

  ‘No buts.’ He felt anger rising inside. ‘I told you expressly she was to wear them. She’s not a strong swimmer. I trusted you. And you’ve let me down.’

  ‘I’m so sorry but—’

  ‘And you.’ He jerked his head at the lad, furious that Marie-France had brought a boyfriend along to a kids’ party. ‘Were you there just for the ride?’

  ‘I do not understand.’

  ‘Or did Marie-France just pick you up there?’

  ‘Pick up?’ His au pair’s voice rose in indignation. ‘I do not pick up like Antoinette. Thierry is my friend from home. I do not know he is coming. He help me at the top of the chute.’ She clutched his arm and gazed up at him in undisguised admiration. ‘I think he is angel to rescue us.’

  Matthew put his arm around his small daughter’s shoulders. ‘If you’d looked after Lottie properly, you wouldn’t have needed rescuing. I think we’d better go home now.’

  ‘I’ve got to get these two back to Jilly,’ said Marie-France, giving him a sullen look as though he was at fault and not her.

  ‘Very well.’ He could hardly bring himself to talk to her, he was so angry about the water wings business. ‘You take them in Sally’s … in the other car and I’ll take Lottie.’

  ‘You want me to work later, yes?’ Marie-France’s voice was shaking and he could see now that her lips were blue with cold. ‘Because I like to talk to my friend before he goes again. I can fill up my hours tomorrow. Is that all right?’

  ‘It will have to be, won’t it?’ said Matthew grumpily.

  Just then, there was a loud shrill voice. ‘Ten, eleven, twelve – shit, I can’t see any more. Oh thank God. There they are! Look! There’s Lottie and the twins. Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen – it’s OK, Antoinette, I think we’ve got them all.’

  It was Paula, rushing up with soaking wet hair and streaked mascara. He’d never seen her look so dishevelled before. ‘Matthew! I’m so sorry. This whole thing has been a complete nightmare. Half the mothers who’d promised to help out cancelled on me – including your mum, boys. Oh dear. Does anyone know where I put my Rescue Remedy? Sorry I haven’t got enough party bags everyone but I’ll bring some into school next week.’

  He left them to it, marching across the car park, feeling annoyed with himself for trusting a young girl with his precious daughter. ‘Don’t be cross with Marie-France about the water wings,’ pleaded Lottie. ‘It was my fault. Really!’

  This time, he could tell, his daughter really meant it. For once, she hadn’t intended to get the au pair into trouble. But how could he trust a girl who went against his wishes?

  Damn. Not his mobile. Shit. It was James.

  ‘Matthew? Where the f— are you?’

  ‘I’ve had a bit of a problem—’

  ‘DAD! Can we just go home now? I’m cold and I don’t want to go swimming again.’

  ‘Swimming? I don’t believe it, Matthew. You’ve been swimming?’

  ‘No, you don’t understand.’

  ‘I think I do.’ James’s voice was ice cold like the frost on the car windscreen that he had to clear before driving off. ‘You leave early at lunchtime and then fail to get back for the meeting which, as you know, is vital. Instead, you’ve skived off when you know there’s a deal to be sewn up. Look, Matthew. I know you’ve had a tough time and I’ve been as understanding as I can. But I’m terminating our partnership right now. The accountant will be in touch about the financial side. And don’t bother coming into the office to clear out your stuff. We’ll send it on.’

  JILLY’S AU PAIR AGENCY: GUIDELINES FOR AU PAIRS

  After a few weeks, ask your family if they are happy with you. Use this meeting as an opportunity to iron out problems on both sides.

  Chapter 34

  ‘SO SORRY TO bother you on a Saturday – I didn’t wake you up, did I? – but you do see my point, don’t you, Jilly? I mean I know we’re friends but this was always a business arrangement and I can’t have a
girl who walks around the house with a face like a poker and is surly to me when I ask her to get out the Hoover.’

  ‘Yes, but—’

  ‘And before you ask, I have spoken to her about it. She says she’s upset because her parents split up last year so she came over as an au pair to get away. I feel really sorry for her but she’s so miserable that she’s making us depressed too.’

  Jilly tried to cut in. Annie, a friend of a friend from Puddleducks days, was a nice woman but she could go on!

  ‘And another thing. As soon as she’s finished her “work” – which is basically moving the kitchen cloth around in slow motion – she starts cooking her own food because she doesn’t like ours. She’s addicted to fried chicken wings which reeks the house out…’

  It was no good. She’d have to interrupt. ‘Annie, I’m really sorry but I’m going to have to sort this out on Monday. I’ve got to get down to Sussex for my parents’ wedding anniversary and I need to get the kids ready.’

  There was a disappointed noise at the other end of the phone. ‘Sounds like you’re the one who needs an au pair, Jilly.’

  Exactly. Marie-France had promised to be here by now! ‘Well I do. Sort of. Except that she’s part-time and doesn’t live in.’

  ‘Hah! I don’t blame you.’

  The words ‘so you don’t practise what you preach’ hung unspoken in the air between them.

  ‘It’s not exactly like that—’

  ‘MUM. HARRY’S STOLEN MY IPHONE AGAIN.’

  ‘NO I DIDN’T. IT’S MINE.’

  She put the mobile down for a minute. ‘HarryImeanAlfie, don’t kick him like that and don’t push him or he’ll—’

  CRASH.

  Too late. That meant another twenty-minute delay while she cleared up the broken vase and Harry’s bloody knee.

  WOOF!

  Now Bruno had entered the fray. What was that in his mouth? Not another pair of pants! Stolen from the laundry basket again, no doubt, although these were bright pink ones that she’d never seen before. Still, they’d do. Grabbing them, she held them against Harry’s knee to stem the blood while still cradling the phone between her ear and shoulder.

  ‘Annie, can we sort this out later? Thanks.’

  She dropped the phone before Annie could disagree. ‘Where did the dog get those knickers from?’ she asked Nick as he sauntered into the kitchen, still wearing the jeans with cut-out knee holes even though she had told him ages ago to change for Mum’s party.

  ’Dunno.’

  ‘Maybe they’re Granny’s,’ piped up Alfie, who now, out of guilt, was giving Harry a grubby bit of kitchen roll to mop up his tears. ‘Nas ılsınız?’

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘I’m asking Harry if he’s all right in Turkish, Mum.’

  Uneasily, Jilly began rifling through the kitchen odds and sods drawer in search of a plaster. The pink pants with the expensive designer label inside were too big for her mother, far too small for Fatima and they certainly weren’t hers. Which only left David …

  Feeling a chill pass through her, she sorted out Harry’s cut, which fortunately was only superficial. So was that why her husband had been so cool and distant over the last few months? Not because of her job, but because he was having an affair? Had he brought this woman, whoever she was, here to the house when she’d been out? Had he simply put the pants in his pocket by mistake like a cheating husband in a film she’d seen once? Or was her imagination simply running wild because she was tired and had too much to do?

  ‘Jilly! Ah, there you are!’ Her mother tripped down the stairs wearing an elegant two-piece in blue silk. ‘My case is in my room so maybe one of you boys could bring it down for me. Nick, you’re not going like that are you, dear? And you are going to take off that fake tattoo, aren’t you?’

  Quickly she slipped the pink pants into her handbag. This wasn’t a subject she wanted to discuss with Mum. Not until she’d tackled David. ‘What tattoo?’ she repeated faintly.

  ‘The one on his arm, darling, which he’s been hiding under his T-shirt. Haven’t you seen it? Go on, Nick, show your mother.’

  ‘’Snot fake,’ muttered Nick, reluctantly rolling up his sleeve to reveal a pink heart with some lacy writing below.

  ‘It says “I love you” in French!’ sniggered Harry.

  ‘No it doesn’t.’ Jilly shook her head. Normally she’d have gone ballistic but compared with an adulterous husband, a tattoo was small beer. ‘Je m’aime?’ Someone had got their ‘t’s muddled with their ‘m’s.

  ‘You’re certainly maimed all right,’ snorted her mother. ‘Who did this?’

  Nick looked slightly shamefaced. ‘One of my friends, but it’s OK. We sterilised one of your sewing needles by putting it in a flame.’

  ‘How unhygienic! Aren’t you going to tell him off, Jilly?’

  ‘Later, Mum.’ Her head was still spinning with pink pants and stupid thoughts that wouldn’t go away.

  ‘Well, I must say, you’re being very laid-back about it. Now look, we need to go now or we’re going to be late. Since David still isn’t back, I’ll drive myself with Nick.’

  ‘Can we take Marie-France too?’ suggested Nick, flushing furiously. ‘She can help me with my French conversation.’

  Her mother snorted. ‘I bet she could. Where is she then? Honestly, these girls are so unreliable.’

  Just as she spoke, Marie-France came cycling round the corner, wearing a dress instead of her usual jeans. Oh no. Not the phone again.

  ‘Maybe it’s Jeremy!’ Her mother grabbed the receiver. ‘I do hope he’s going to get there on time. He said he’d found someone to cover him for today. Hello? Hello? Bother. It’s just rung off. I do hate it when that happens.’

  There was the sound of a car on the gravel drive outside. It was David who’d gone, she recalled now from a terse conversation last night, to a so-called ‘Saturday morning meeting’ at work.

  Jilly made to head upstairs. ‘He can take you and Marie-France, Mum. I’ll see him at your place.’

  Her mother frowned. ‘Don’t you even want to say hello?’

  ‘Not really.’ If she did, she’d probably burst into tears or have a huge row with him and that wouldn’t be fair on Mum. Not just before the party. She’d just have to be brave and wait until it was all over.

  Right. Now they’d gone, she could concentrate on her list of things to do. Put pink pants out of head. Get dressed. Find mascara. Get twins dressed. (‘Why can’t we wear jeans, Mum?’) Get dog in car. Put dog food in car. Find Mum and Dad’s anniversary present (a picture of them on their wedding day in a rather nice frame). Wrap it up. Ignore the doorbell. Maybe not.

  ‘Nigel!’

  Jilly stared at the tall, self-assured man who was standing on the doorstep as though she should be expecting him. She’d never really cared for Nigel with his carefully combed-back dark hair and his penchant for black polo jumpers under jackets, whatever the weather. Yes, they had often gone out as a foursome to restaurants or school quizzes in the past. But that was because he had come as a package with Paula. Now, remembering what her friend had said about him earlier, she felt a distinct coolness.

  ‘I’m sorry just to turn up like this but I wanted to apologise.’ His voice sounded smoother than ever.

  ‘What for?’

  ‘The swimming party. It sounded like a complete mess to me. Typical Paula. She can’t seem to organise anything, not even a children’s party.’

  ‘Actually, they’re incredibly difficult to …’ she began but he was already stepping inside the hall as though she’d asked him in.

  ‘Anyone around?’ He glanced behind her.

  ‘The twins and my au pair.’ She was beginning to feel uneasy now.

  He touched her hand lightly, only for a few seconds but long enough for it to be more than a friendly gesture. ‘I think you’re incredible, Jilly. Setting up your own business. Doing something! Helping your husband when he’s down on his luck.’

&nb
sp; She stepped back as he got closer. Someone might see them and get the wrong idea. ‘It’s what any wife would do.’

  ‘Hah! Not mine. She’s always at the gym!’

  ‘And do you know why?’ Jilly felt angry now. ‘It’s because it’s the only place where no one criticises her. Where she feels she can accomplish something.’

  ‘Like you, you mean.’ His hand touched hers again, but for longer this time. ‘I don’t know if I’ve ever told you this, Jilly, but you’re a very attractive woman.’

  ‘Have you been drinking?’

  He made a rueful face. ‘Only one or two before I have to go back and face my bad-tempered wife for a so-called family lunch.’

  ‘Well, if I were you, I’d go back immediately and make Paula feel good about herself instead of coming round here. Now, if you don’t mind, I have to go out.’ She stared at him. ‘To join my husband for a family party.’

  The word ‘husband’ seemed to jolt him. Suddenly Nigel looked nervous. ‘Of course. I see. Er, this conversation of ours. I’m sure you won’t repeat it, will you?’

  ‘Luckily for you, I won’t. But only out of respect for Paula. Not you.’

  Shutting the door firmly behind him, Jilly stood with her back to it for a minute, her heart pounding. So Paula had been right! If she wasn’t mistaken, her husband had been trying it on with her. How awful. And – despite what she’d said earlier – should she tell Paula? Would it be kind to warn her friend that her husband had a roving eye. Or was it best to keep mum?

  Even worse, should she tell David? Or was it possible – given the strange underwear – that he was making similar overtures to another woman? She felt sick with apprehension and disbelief. If Nigel could be like this, why not her husband too?

  Oh no. Not the phone again! Jilly was gripped with a sudden panic. Supposing it was Paula? An angry Paula, who had somehow found out that her husband had come round …