‘But what about Esther? You don’t mind me…’
Sophia shook her head. ‘You were my best friend once upon a time, Magda. If things hadn’t changed, you would have been there right from the start. I know you would have. Come on, let’s go. We’ll be late otherwise.’
Hopping up from the bench, Magda swiped up her bag and fell into step beside Sophia. She felt nervous suddenly, because meeting Sophia’s daughter seemed like a huge deal. She wanted to make a good impression. She wanted Esther to like her. She followed Sophia’s lead to the school gates and waited for the miniature version of Sophia to appear, clasping her hands nervously as she did so. Sophia glanced at her and smiled softly. It was if she knew how Magda was feeling, but she understood it too, and right then, that meant everything.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Sophia had imagined that when she finally introduced Magda to her daughter, she would feel nervous. She didn’t know why she’d thought that, but she had. As it was, introducing them to each other felt incredibly right. As if it had always been meant to happen, eventually. When Esther’s smiling face appeared in the sea of children and began to approach them, Sophia didn’t fail to notice the nervousness radiating from Magda who was standing beside her. This was obviously a massive deal to Magda, and Sophia could understand it perfectly. During the pregnancy, she’d wished plenty of times that Magda were around, to help and give guidance, no matter how little experience Magda had herself. Maybe it would have made things easier, having a friend who knew her inside out, to rely on and grumble to, every now and again? Wasn’t that what every girl needed?
Beside Esther stood Harry. Sophia looked around to see if she could find Michael. He was usually right on time for afternoon pick-up, although he ran a little late some mornings. She frowned when she didn’t spot him, and decided to send him a quick text. She told him she’d take Harry back to hers and he could collect him from there whenever he was able.
‘Esther, I’d like you to meet my friend. This is Magda. We knew each other when we were little, like you and Harry.’
Esther gazed up at Magda. ‘Hello. I’m Esther. I saw you the other night. You were in our house.’
Sophia watched as Magda knelt so she was level with Esther before introducing herself. ‘It’s lovely to meet you, Esther. I’m Magda. How do you do?’ They smiled at each other, and Sophia felt something shift in her chest. As if this was meant to be. As if this was right.
‘And this handsome little chap is Esther’s best friend,’ continued Sophia, beckoning to Harry, who shifted uncomfortably on his feet. He was looking around for Michael, but glanced at Sophia and then at Magda when he heard his name. ‘Harry is the son of a good friend of mine. Michael. The one I was at the reunion with?’
Magda nodded. ‘Nice to meet you, Harry.’
He didn’t say anything, but continued in his visual search for his father.
‘Come on, Harry. You’re coming back to our house for a little while. Your dad’s running late, I think. You can play with Esther for a little while. How does that sound?’
He seemed delighted at the news and so the four of them began the walk back to Sophia’s house. Once there, Harry and Esther both kicked off their shoes and raced into the lounge, while Sophia and Magda retreated to the kitchen. Sophia was worried and still trying to get hold of Michael.
‘I wonder where he’s got to,’ she muttered beneath her breath, as she made herself and Magda a coffee.
‘Is everything okay?’ asked Magda, seated at the table. She seemed to slot into her surroundings effortlessly. It was as if she’d been enjoying coffee in Sophia’s kitchen for years upon years.
‘Yes, it’s fine. Michael just isn’t usually late for afternoon pick-up, that’s all. I’ll ring him, try and find out where he is.’
Sophia tapped her fingers on the countertop while the dialling tone rang out. When it went through to voicemail, she left a quick message, even though she’d already sent a text message.
‘I’m sure it’s fine,’ Magda offered. ‘Maybe he’s just caught up somewhere. You never know, do you?’
‘You’re right. I’m sure he’s fine. Anyway, I better get this spaghetti bolognese on the go. Those two in there won’t last long without the promise of food to keep them going.’
As Sophia prepared the meal, she and Magda talked about Michael, although she didn’t go too into depth with it. She didn’t tell Magda her true feelings towards him but instead held firm that they were simply friends and nothing more than that. She did say, however, that she adored him and he’d seemed to arrive in her life just when she had needed him most.
‘He’s very understanding and we just get on so well,’ she continued. She checked on the pasta and noticed it was almost ready. ‘He’s not boastful or unkind, spiteful or selfish. He’s a genuinely good person and you don’t find too many of those around these days.’ She saw Magda shift on her chair and immediately realised she might have insulted her without thinking. ‘I didn’t mean that,’ she said quickly. ‘You know I didn’t.’
‘No, I know. I’m not exactly a good person though, so you’re right.’
‘Magda, you’re not that bad, you know.’
‘Are you kidding? After what I did do to you? And then how I went about dealing with Greg’s affairs, thinking I’d fix it all by sleeping with a few strangers of my own? I’m hardly honest, am I? Or a person with good intentions? I’m happy you’ve got Michael though. He sounds like a lovely guy.’
‘He is. I just hope he’s okay.’ She looked out of the window for a moment. He still hadn’t replied to her text, or called her back for that matter. It was getting on now, almost quarter past five. She pushed the worries aside and served up the spaghetti bolognese instead, calling the kids through too. They all sat together around the table, chatting amicably about anything and everything. Esther and Harry seemed to lead the conversation, both of them with spaghetti sauce staining the sides of their mouths. Sophia kept glancing across the table at Magda, wondering how she felt about it all, but it was clear from the grin she permanently wore that she was enjoying this time. She looked very happy, and Sophia felt a little bubble of joy at having her join in. Esther seemed to like her too, which was a major bonus in Sophia’s opinion. She kept asking Magda lots of questions about herself, about where she lived and what food and colours were her favourites. Magda answered them enthusiastically, which seemed to buoy Esther up more. It was a lovely sight, one Sophia had thought she would never see, but had always secretly hoped for.
It was just as she was scooping up the last few strands of sauce-covered pasta that Sophia’s phone began to ring. She exhaled a loud breath of relief when she spotted Michael’s name on the screen. ‘Michael? Are you okay? Where are you? What’s going on? I’ve been so worried.’
There was lots of background noise and, while Magda, Esther and Harry watched her walk back and forth, Sophia blocked her other ear with a finger, trying to catch his words.
‘I’m fine, Sophia, but I can’t stay on the phone long. Do you think you can come and pick me up?’
‘Pick you up? But from where? Where are you?’
‘I’ll tell you when I see you. I’ve had a bit of an accident. I’m not hurt, don’t worry. But I just need you to come and pick me up, if you can. I haven’t got my van with me, you see.’
‘I’ll get straight in the car. Michael, you’re definitely okay, aren’t you?’
‘Yes, I’m fine. I’ll see you when you get here, okay?’
‘Okay. See you soon.’
‘Is everything okay?’ asked Magda, looking at her curiously once Sophia had ended the call.
‘Yes, he’s fine. I think. I’ve got to go and collect him from the hospital. He said he’s been in a small accident but wouldn’t tell me much over the phone. You wouldn’t mind just staying here while I take the car, would you, Magda? Esther and Harry will behave. If not, it’s totally fine. I can give Mum a quick call.’ Sophia lift
ed the phone, about to do exactly that, but Magda’s reassuring voice stopped her. ‘No, of course I’ll stay. You go.’
‘Thank you, Magda. I won’t be long. Be good, okay, kids? I’ll be back with your dad soon, Harry.’
She raced from the house and jumped straight into the car. She was in such a rush that she realised she’d forgotten the car keys. She slammed her hands down on the wheel in frustration and clambered back out. To her relief, Magda was standing by the open front door with the forgotten keys dangling from her fingers. ‘I think you forgot these.’
Sophia rolled her eyes at herself and took them gratefully, feeling silly. ‘Thank you,’ she called over her shoulder as she hurried back towards the waiting car. ‘If you have any problems with the kids, call me. I’ll be back soon.’ Finally, she was ready to leave. Sophia started the car and reversed out of the small driveway, being careful to avoid her next-door neighbour’s wheelie bins, which were always, without fail, in the way. She was half tempted to reverse straight into them in the hope it would send a message across, but she didn’t have time. Instead, with a final wave at Magda through the window, she took off down the street, remembering to watch her speed, and turned left towards the general hospital. She hoped to God Michael was okay.
When Sophia arrived, she managed to find a parking bay a few spaces away from the entrance. She was rushing and feeling panicky, and felt as if her heart was lodged painfully in her throat. Brushing past a few people on her way in, she went straight to the reception desk and gave Michael’s name.
‘He’s just through the doors up ahead, on the left, in accident and emergency.’
‘Thank you so much.’ Her trainers squeaked along the floor as Sophia followed the woman’s simple directions. She burst through the doors that led to A&E and glanced around quickly. She’d arrived in the waiting area, where numerous seats had already been taken up by people waiting to be seen. There was reception against the furthest wall, with a small queue trailing away from it. Up the corridor were the cubicles where patients were also placed. Sophia ignored the curious glances from the people sitting down and headed towards the cubicles.
‘Michael?’ she called, having a peep in the empty cubicles. She found him in the end one, sat on a hospital bed with his legs dangling down. ‘Oh, my God.’ Sophia gasped at the state of his face. ‘What the hell happened to you? Have you broken your nose?’ She couldn’t help herself. Sophia began to fuss. She took his face in her hands, turning it left and right to get a proper look at him. ‘You look terrible.’
‘Gee, thanks,’ Michael murmured, pushing her hands away. ‘It’s fine, honestly. They think it’s a broken nose but I’m just waiting for the doctor to come back.’ He winced. ‘It hurts like hell, though.’
‘How did this happen?’
He looked sheepish and avoided eye contact with her. ‘It was Tom.’
She froze, took a step back so she could look at him properly. ‘Tom? What do you mean it was Tom? Tom as in Esther’s father? That Tom?’ Michael nodded, still not looking at her. ‘What? He just punched you in the face?’ Her eyes widened. ‘You didn’t fight with him, did you? Oh, my God. You did. You had a fight with Esther’s father!’ She couldn’t believe it. This was absurd.
‘We didn’t have a fight. Not a proper fight. I was out grabbing a few things from the high street, and there he was.’
‘He knew who you were?’
‘No, but when I was walking past the chip shop, I heard him talking about you to some other guy. Not sure who he was. I heard your name being mentioned, so I pretended to be interested in the window display a few steps away from them. I know it was wrong of me to eavesdrop but I couldn’t help myself when it was you they were mentioning. So, I stood there and I listened.’ He looked up at her then, those dark eyes of his pinning her in place.
Sophia wasn’t sure she wanted to hear what he was about to say next. Surely it wasn’t going to be pleasant if Michael was sitting here now with a nose that was possibly broken. She gulped and looked right back at him. She pulled the light blue curtain across the cubicle and raised her brows. ‘What were they saying? Tell me.’ She crossed her arms across her chest and waited, her expression serious.
She couldn’t believe she had been foolish enough to even contemplate allowing Tom not only back into her life, but into her daughter’s too. He was obviously still a complete idiot, not matter how old he was. He must have been saying some terrible things in order for calm and easy-going Michael to have stepped in.
‘Nothing bad,’ he replied, his voice almost a whisper. ‘In fact, it was mostly good.’
Sophia frowned. Confusion swamped her. ‘I don’t understand.’
‘He was talking about you and Esther. About how he was hoping to make things better. He was telling this friend of his that seeing you again made him realise how much he had missed you while he was away. He wanted to start again, and try and fix the mistakes he made. He said he…’ Michael’s throat constricted and he closed his eyes, as if he were in pain. ‘He said he thought seeing you again had made all of his feelings for you resurface; that he would do anything for you to give him another chance.’
Still confused, Sophia laughed. ‘Right. But that’s… that’s not bad, is it? I still don’t understand, Michael. If that’s all he said, then why the broken nose? Why are you even here?’
He took a deep breath. ‘Isn’t it obvious? Why else would I step in and have my say, Sophia? I know it was wrong. It was bloody stupid and I don’t know why I did it. Well, I do know why I did it. I did it because the thought of him being anywhere near you filled me with…’ He emitted a strange sound. Somewhere between a groan of frustration and a growl. He threw his hands in the air. ‘I don’t know what it filled me with, but it filled me with something. It was a feeling I didn’t like, so I told him so. And that was that. It escalated from there really. As you can see, I came away worse off than him, but it’s my own damn fault.’
Before Sophia could say anything, the curtain of the cubicle swished open and the man she assumed to be the doctor who had been taking care of Michael since he’d arrived stepped inside. He began to talk to Michael so Sophia slipped away and sat down on one of the chairs outside instead.
She was trying to make sense of what Michael had told her. Of what had happened when he’d listened in on Tom’s conversation with whoever the other guy was. What was Michael trying to say? That Tom wanting to make a go of things with her was something he wasn’t okay with? But why? He was the one who’d been telling her it was a good idea to see where things went with Tom and Esther, wasn’t he? But Tom had said other things too. Things solely directed towards Sophia rather than his daughter, and that seemed to be the thing that had ticked Michael off more than anything else. But why?
‘I’m all done.’ Michael appeared in front of her. ‘Let’s get going. It’s not as bad as it looks apparently. Not severely broken. Just need to keep an eye on it at home, take some painkillers if I need to. Bruising and swelling should go down in a couple of weeks. Thank God it doesn’t need to be realigned. Not sure I could have coped with that if I’m honest.’
Sophia smirked as she got up from the seat and followed him towards the exit, although his words from earlier were still circling in her mind. Once they were safe in the car, and after Sophia had paid for parking, they were on their way back to the house. Sophia had checked her phone but hadn’t heard or received anything from Magda, so she assumed everything was okay. She risked a glance across at Michael but his head was back against the headrest and his eyes were closed. She was sure he wasn’t asleep, but he didn’t seem too keen on talking so she turned her attention back to the road and focused on getting them home instead.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Magda had never babysat before. Not once. But after Sophia had raced off to the hospital, she’d stepped back inside and felt sort of… motherly. It was a strange sensation, a sensation she hadn’t had many opportunities to exper
ience, but it was there all right, and it only seemed to strengthen as the evening wore on and she spent more time with Esther, Sophia’s daughter.
After the kids had finished their dinner, Magda washed and dried the dishes, then put everything away so that Sophia wouldn’t have to deal with it when she came home. She had looked stressed when she was leaving, and just from the look on her face, it was clear Michael was a very special person in her life. Once she’d done the washing-up, she wiped down the countertops and the table, then helped herself to a nice cup of tea, which she took through to the living room with her, to keep an eye on Esther and Harry.
There was no need, of course. They were both well-behaved and polite, and didn’t cause any trouble at all. They talked between themselves, flicking through the cartoon channels, and the atmosphere was one of calm and peace. It was cosy and comfortable, ad Magda felt completely at home with it all. For the first time in a long time, she wished for a child of her own, and it was painful when the thought of it perhaps now being too late struck her. She’d always wanted children with Greg, but over time, she supposed the chance to have them had been pushed aside like everything else in their marriage. She’d told herself to forget about it, to leave it behind. The more she looked at Esther though, the more she wondered what it would be like to be a mother herself.
And it was then, in the lounge of Sophia’s lovely home, that Magda realised just how much of her own life she had lost because of Greg. It hit her like a ton of bricks. Like a harsh, hard slap in the face. She’d had dreams for herself, and when those dreams hadn’t come to life, she’d simply put them to rest and forgotten about them. But what about the family she had always dreamed of? The happy marriage she had always wanted? They’d once been the things she had striven for, but somehow she’d lost sight of them. Greg, with his demanding ways, had taken over her life completely, pushing all of Magda’s own wants and needs to the side in order to ensure his own were taken care of. That wasn’t love. That wasn’t compromise. That was selfishness. Not once had she ever seen her father or mother act in that way. She’d always put Greg’s needs before her own, cancelling her own plans time and time again to ensure he was happy, and it had reached the point eventually where she hadn’t even bothered to make any. And he’d happily allowed her to do all of it. That wasn’t what love was supposed to be like. That was the complete opposite. Those dreams she’d had still existed somewhere; she just needed to dig deep enough to find them. She couldn’t believe she’d been so blind to Greg’s ways. He didn’t want a wife. He wanted a woman who he could keep locked up in their home, who would stay quiet unless spoken to. She was no longer that woman. Perhaps she had been at the beginning, but this time away from him had taught her many things, the main one being that she needed to get out of the marriage and start afresh. That was the only option that remained now, and she couldn’t help but love the thought of it.
Right Here Waiting for You Page 15