Picnics in Hyde Park

by Nikki Moore

  They did make some progress because on two occasions he popped up from the studio to say goodnight to the children, giving them quick hugs before loping off, while she stood in the hallway to give them some privacy. Each time, he disappeared before she could speak to him. If she’d had something urgent to talk to him about she would have followed him down to the basement and insisted they catch up, but there was little to say at the moment so she left him to it. She didn’t want to do anything to make him suspicious, and appearing for idle chats when she knew he was so busy would surely make him wonder if she was after something.

  One balmy day Zoe and the children joined some other nannies and their charges in Green Park, with its tall trees, rolling lawns and deckchairs.

  ‘You lucky thing. Matt Reilly!’ Beth, a blonde haired girl who worked for a family in Belgravia, sighed dreamily. ‘He’s so gorgeous. Are you getting on with him okay? His last nanny Melody never said much about him.’ Her blue eyes widened. ‘Well?’

  She reminded Zoe of a golden retriever, all high-energy and bouncing enthusiasm. ‘Fine,’ Zoe said in a non-committal tone. ‘Nice.’ She raised her hand and shielded her eyes from the sunshine to check on Jasper, pleased to see him racing over the grass playing a good natured game of football with the little tow-headed boy Beth cared for.

  ‘Seriously?’ Monica exclaimed. ‘That’s all you have to say?’ A brunette with yellowish eyes who worked for a single mum entrepreneur in Chelsea, she was definitely the leader of the group with her expansive arm gestures and strident voice.

  ‘I didn’t even see the job advertised,’ Phoebe remarked softly. A tiny Asian nanny who looked after a six month baby girl for a family in Knightsbridge, she was dressed neatly in a lilac dress with a high collar, her feet tucked under her while she rocked the shiny, expensive pushchair beside her back and forth.

  Zoe liked her immediately. There was something calming about her gentle manner. ‘I got it through an agency,’ she explained to Phoebe, smiling politely.

  ‘Has he got another girlfriend yet?’ Beth quizzed.

  Zoe glanced over at Aimee to avoid their expectant stares, seeing the girl lying on her belly in the shade of a tree, nose stuck in a book, beribboned straw hat protecting her fair skin. She’d finished To Kill a Mockingbird the previous week with a sad but satisfied expression, and had moved onto Great Expectations.

  ‘So?’ Monica prompted.

  One of the core parts of being a nanny was discretion and confidentiality and while that might not be the case once her plan was achieved, for now she couldn’t afford to say anything indiscreet that would give Matt a justifiable reason to fire her.

  ‘Come on, spill,’ Beth said, ‘we won’t tell anyone, it’ll just be between us. The nanny code and all that.’

  ‘Nanny code?’ Zoe angled her face to the sun’s belting rays, glad she’d remembered to apply sun cream.

  ‘We gossip amongst ourselves, but never to anyone outside the group.’

  ‘I see.’ Zoe felt uneasy about the use of the word gossip, but didn’t want to spend the whole afternoon getting hounded, or face being excluded by them for being snotty. Maybe she could tell them something that wouldn’t be an issue if it got back to Matt. Sitting up, she checked on Jasper again, watching with a smile as he tipped his Ben 10 cap further back to see the football better, face stripy with neon-pink sun block. ‘Well, in that case, Matt seems nice. He loves his kids, and works a lot. I don’t think he’s that interested in a relationship at the moment though. He’s working on a big project.’ The last thing Matt or the kids needed was all the nannies in the area bowling up on the doorstep on some kind of manhunt. She was shocked at the protective instinct that ran through her at the thought.

  ‘Oh,’ Beth looked disappointed. ‘I’ve heard he’s nice, though a bit work mad, which is why what I heard about what he did to Melody doesn’t make sense. She always said good things about him.’

  ‘In what way doesn’t it make sense?’ Zoe asked, struggling to keep her voice level instead of achingly curious.

  ‘You know about it?’

  ‘I know that she left in a bit of a rush, Matt told me that, but not much else.’

  ‘I don’t want to worry you, especially if you’re getting on well, but supposedly he fired her without notice and threw her out the same day,’ Monica said bluntly, ‘apparently she did something really awful. But that doesn’t seem like her. She was so sweet and kind. Great with the kids too,’ glancing at Aimee, who was still reading, ‘it’s so strange.’

  ‘Do you know what she’s supposed to have done?’

  ‘No, just something bad.’

  ‘Where did you hear that from? Matt?’ Zoe asked.

  ‘No, he keeps himself to himself, and I’ve never heard that he’s said a bad word about anyone.’ Monica frowned, ‘I can’t remember, a friend of someone who knows his brother, I think. Everyone was talking about it a few weeks ago.’

  ‘Please,’ Beth shuddered, blue eyes glinting, ‘let’s not ruin the afternoon by talking about Stephen.’

  Phoebe glanced over at her, pushing a black wing of hair behind one ear. ‘Are you okay?’ she asked her friend quietly.

  ‘Yep,’ Beth sighed.

  Zoe raised both eyebrows, ‘What’s this about Stephen?’

  Monica looked to Beth, who sighed and rolled her eyes. ‘Go on then.’

  ‘Melody was lovely, but she had lousy taste in men,’ Monica stated.

  ‘You didn’t like Stephen?’ Zoe asked, keeping her voice steady. It would be interesting to hear what they thought of her sister’s ex.

  ‘He’s immature, spoilt, and a serial dater. He’s been with half of London, including three quarters of the local nannies. Beth was one of them,’ she nodded at the blonde, who pulled a face to indicate her own stupidity, ‘unfortunately he’s not that great at finishing one thing before starting the next.’

  ‘He really sucked me in,’ Beth muttered, staring down at the tartan red blanket they were all sharing, ‘I thought he liked me. I should have known better when I was never allowed around the house to meet Matt, and when he only came to mine late at night.’

  ‘Of course he liked you,’ Monica squeezed her knee, ‘why wouldn’t he? Remember, you’re too good for him.’

  ‘I was a booty call and you know it. I just didn’t realise it at the time.’

  Monica put an arm around her shoulders. ‘You’re not the first girl to fall for it. Come on, you’ll be okay.’ She hesitated, and grimaced, ‘I’ve got to admit though, Stephen’s different with Melody. Kind of softer, and from the way he looks at her he seems to really care. They do look quite loved up. Sorry,’ she told Beth.

  ‘Don’t worry about me. I’m over it.’ The opposite was quite clearly the case, but no-one said so.

  Zoe wondered if the sense she’d got that Beth may be interested in Matt was anything to do with making Stephen jealous. Making a play for your ex booty-call’s brother was sure to get the booty-call’s attention.

  ‘Anyway, she’s welcome to him,’ Beth added, ‘I hope he’s being useful and comforting her somewhere.’

  ‘He’s not,’ Zoe said absently as she watched Phoebe get up and lift a beautiful little girl dressed in pink lace from the pushchair. ‘He’s gone abroad and she’s gone home.’

  ‘Really?’ Monica’s eyes widened. ‘She’s got an aunt over on the coast hasn’t she? And how did you know they’re not together?’

  ‘A sister too,’ Phoebe chipped in, looking at Zoe over the baby’s head, ‘although I think she’s in America somewhere?’

  Zoe’s drew her focus back to the group, realising what she’d said. Bugger, she hadn’t meant to blurt that out about her sister. And now they were asking questions about Mel’s family. This was getting too close for comfort. A warning claxon sounded in her head. Divert, divert. Fighting a mad urge to scoop up the kids and run, she forced herself to stay seated and appear relaxed. ‘Matt must have mentioned it,’ she answered, waving a hand at a fl
y that dive-bombed her face.

  ‘So they’ve broken up?’ Beth asked, leaning forward. Monica flashed her a look. ‘Not that I care,’ the blonde added lamely.

  ‘Not sure,’ Zoe answered, ‘it doesn’t really affect me so I haven’t asked.’ She was such a big fat liar. ‘Anyway,’ time to change the subject before she landed herself in trouble, ‘enough of that. Let’s talk about something more interesting.’ Something that would get them talking. ‘So, how does a girl go about finding eligible men around here?’

  Phoebe blinked at her as she placed the teat of a bottle into the baby’s searching pink mouth and Monica stopped in the act of lifting a drink from a cooler by her side.

  Beth looked at her like she was crazy. ‘Um, I can’t imagine why you need to ask. You’re living with one of the most eligible men in London!’

  Zoe stopped at the entrance of Hyde Park next to the cute, white pillared Alexandra Lodge. The traffic along Kensington Road flowed behind them, red double-deckers roaring past at regular intervals, motorbikes darting between slowed cars with high-pitched purrs. Clutching Jasper’s hand and a picnic hamper, she looked at Aimee’s down bent head anxiously. The little girl had told her the previous night that if Zoe really, really wanted to visit Hyde Park, they could go the next day. However, she’d been staring at her bookshelves and her tone had been hesitant as they’d sat side by side on the small pink sofa in her bedroom.

  ‘Is that what you want Aimee?’ Zoe had asked, surprised the girl had raised it when she herself hadn’t mentioned going for a while.

  ‘I think I want to try.’ Aimee nodded. ‘I want to do it for you too, because you’ve never been.’ Gazing into space, ‘I think you’ll like it there. It’s pretty.’

  ‘Well, that’s nice of you. I appreciate you doing that for me. But what do you mean, you want to try?’

  Aimee tilted her head so she could meet Zoe’s quizzical expression. ‘It’s been a long time. Daddy only took us once and Melody never took us because I told her it upset me.’

  ‘Won’t it upset you now?’

  ‘Maybe,’ she looked serious, eyebrows lowering over her blue eyes. Her voice dropped to a whisper, ‘But I miss her.’

  Zoe was confused. ‘You miss Melody?’

  ‘No. Yes. I miss Melody but I was talking about Mummy.’

  Zoe edged away a bit so she could turn to face the girl, tucking one leg under the other on the sofa. ‘You want to go to Hyde Park because you miss Mummy?’

  ‘Yes. We used to go there. All four of us. Me, Mummy, Daddy and Jasper. We used to have picnics, Jasper was really little and we used to laugh.’ A shadow crossed her face. ‘There’s a piece of her there.’

  ‘A piece of her?’ Now she was completely flummoxed.

  ‘I’ll show you when we get there.’

  Zoe smiled. ‘All right. Would you like me to pack a picnic?’

  Aimee looked torn. A bit happy, a bit sad. ‘Can I tell you in the morning?’

  ‘Of course you can,’ she laid a hand on the girl’s arm, ‘that’s fine. Right, shall we read something?’

  Her face cleared, ‘Yes, please.’

  Now Zoe wasn’t sure if going into the royal park was such a good idea. Aimee had been unusually quiet this morning, playing Connect-4 with minimal enthusiasm and staring off into space at odd moments.

  Jasper tugged on her hand. ‘Come on, I want to splash in the water.’

  Whatever was troubling his sister he didn’t seem bothered by it. All morning it had been, water this and water that and did Zoe have his swim shorts and was there a towel and could he take a ball with him?

  ‘Ready?’ Zoe asked Aimee.

  The girl sucked in a breath and rolled her shoulders back, like she was bracing herself. ‘Yes.’

  ‘Good,’ Zoe led them over to the big tourist information sign and the map setting out the park and immediate surroundings with red circular tube signs dotting the edges. A large light green rectangle marked out the boundaries of the park, darker green indicating trees and bushes, beige lines carving out paths, buildings in browns and greys neatly labelled, the Serpentine a long blue curving body of water that cut diagonally from top left near the fountains, to bottom right near the Queen Caroline Memorial. Immediately next to the entrance they were standing at were the pavilion, a bowling green and junior tennis courts.

  ‘What are you doing, Zoe?’ Jasper asked, pulling on her hand again. ‘Come on, I want to play.’

  ‘Looking at the map.’

  ‘I know the way,’ Aimee dipped her head, watching with big eyes as a smiling couple walked past them holding hands.

  ‘Even after three years?’ Zoe asked, moving the picnic hamper from her hand to further up her arm, crooking it against her body.

  ‘We came every Sunday, even in the winter,’ Aimee explained. ‘We just wrapped up, that’s all.’

  ‘Great, come on then. Aimee, you lead the way.’

  Zoe followed the girl in through the open black wrought-iron gates, scores of trees lining both sides of the drive.

  ‘We have to go and see the Princess.’ Aimee pointed forward and off to the right.

  ‘The Princess?’

  ‘Mummy said she was beautiful and kind,’ Aimee replied solemnly, ‘and liked to help children and people who were sick.’

  ‘I see.’ She wasn’t sure what the girl was on about but it was bound to become clear soon. Strolling along the pavement while Jasper bopped up and down at the end of her arm, which made it feel like her shoulder was about to pop out of its socket, she dodged the numerous other visitors to the park, handbag swinging against her hip. The crowds were made up of both locals and international visitors; groups of teenagers in black garb, chattering families from exotic places driving pushchairs with other children racing along beside them, teenage girls in barely-there outfits, mature couples with walking sticks but purposeful strides, a fair Norwegian-looking pair with the woman almost as tall as the man, an expensive camera hanging around her neck from a Nikon strap. Most people were in shorts and t-shirts, with a lot of the women in colourful summer dresses, due to the weather. It was another bright, sweltering day and the heat of the sun on the back of Zoe’s neck was like a presence pushing her to the ground. She felt like she wanted to take a nap and it was only just gone noon.

  She adjusted the hamper on her left arm, already regretting the amount of food she’d packed because the straw basket seemed to get heavier by the minute, the twisted handle leaving marks on the inside of her arm. It also made it difficult because she didn’t have a free hand for Aimee. At seven, the girl was a little old to hold hands but Zoe still preferred to have one spare in case anything went wrong. Still, there were no cars to look out for; it was more about keeping track of both kids in the steady procession of people.

  ‘We go down there,’ Aimee pointed to a path that branched right, the tennis courts on one side before being hidden behind a row of leafy trees, and a thick thatch of bushes on the other. They walked along the path for a few moments before skirting left around the bushes.

  Zoe smiled. ‘Wow, this is nice.’

  In front of them was a space encircled by a dark green metal-railed fence with loops and arches along the top. Inside the fence was bright emerald grass, graceful trees and children playing and splashing happily in a stone fountain set into the ground in a large circle, with a raised lip. The water sparkled and glinted in the sunlight creating diamond reflections on the surface and the sky above it was an endless, deep blue. ‘This is where the princess is?’ she looked down at Aimee.

  ‘It’s a fountain for the princess, because she liked children.’

  ‘Ah, I see.’ Now it was starting to make sense. It must be the memorial fountain created and built to honour Princess Di. Zoe gestured to the nearest gate. ‘Shall we go in?’

  Jasper gave her a gappy grin and Aimee smiled slightly, moving ahead to hold it open for her.

  ‘Thanks, Aimee.’ Zoe hoisted the picnic hamper higher, releasing Jaspe
r’s hand and following them both in. ‘Pick somewhere to sit,’ she encouraged.

  Aimee gestured to a spot over on the far side closest to the Serpentine and some kind of statute, but not so far from the fountain that Zoe wouldn’t be able to keep a safe eye on them from a sitting position. ‘Okay, off you go.’

  Cheering, Jasper tore across the space, looping around the side of the fountain and coming to a halt on the spot his sister had picked. Jumping up and down, he grasped the bottom of his t-shirt and wrenched it over his head. Zoe was laughing by the time she and Aimee joined him, shaking her head wryly. ‘Hang on, hang on. Don’t you want to eat first? Aren’t you hungry?’

  ‘Nope,’ Jasper jerked his head from side to side. ‘I want to play.’

  ‘What about you, Aimee? What do you want to do?’ Zoe asked, setting the hamper down with a sigh of relief and flexing her arm. Letting her handbag slide to the floor, she gazed expectantly at the girl.

  ‘I’ll sit down for a minute,’ Aimee decided, sinking to the grass and arranging the skirt of her cotton dress neatly across her knees, ‘I’m not hungry yet.’

  ‘All right. Are you okay to stay here and keep an eye on our things while I take Jasper to the water?’ Not having been before, she needed to know how deep it was.

  Jasper hopped from one foot to another. ‘Come on, Zoe. Pleeeeeease.’

  Aimee nodded, biting her lip.

  Zoe held a hand up. ‘Hang on a minute, Jasper.’ Hunkering down, Zoe looked into Aimee’s eyes. ‘Are you sure you’re okay with this?’

  ‘Yes,’ she whispered, eyes confused. ‘I just want to sit down for a while. It’s nice to be here again though.’

  ‘I’m glad. We’ll only be a few minutes.’ Standing up, Zoe kicked her flip flops off and grabbed Jasper’s hand. ‘Right then, you. We don’t need to put any sun cream on because we did it before leaving the house, but if you get your upper half really wet, we’ll have to put some more on, okay?’ The coconut scent still clung to her hands.