Hands hidden under the table I clenched my fists. Little liar. I knew she hadn’t phoned. I forced a reasonable tone. ‘Well, actually, since I was on call last night, if the phone had rung, I would have answered it. I have to be available and within thirty minutes of the hospital. I don’t think we have caller ID for everyone.’ I said, forcing an even tone through tight lips. ‘The phone didn’t ring.’
‘It was your message bank,’ she stated, her voice a challenge, then quickly added, ‘I didn’t leave a message though, I thought you were too busy to talk to me.’
How convenient. No proof of her call.
Her supporters wore varying accusatory looks, even Fiona, still new to our group. She worked with Lisa and had joined us on Fridays for a couple of months now. I felt the same old sinking sensation of frustration. Outmaneuvered by a clever manipulator.
Why would I be the liar? Our group knew me as truthful. I assumed.
‘Since you insist you called, we can ring our phone carrier to see if we’re missing any calls.’
Instantly alarmed, she shook her head. ‘Don’t worry. It’s not that important.’
She’d been caught in a lie. I’d called her on it and might be paid out for it in some sneaky way.
‘Next time leave a message,’ I snapped, back stiff, anger bubbling away.
She exchanged an odd triumphant look with Lisa. Were they both trying to manipulate me, or our group? Was she playing her old tricks of friends and enemies?
This was one of her subversive tricks, trying to wrong-foot me. Why now? I’d thought her intrigues and artifices were things of the past.
‘Bathroom stop,’ I muttered, jaw tight, to Brigid as I extricated myself from the hard bench. Brigid joined me.
Shona, having placed our dinner order, followed us.
We checked the brightly lit bathroom to make sure we were alone.
I sagged against a tiled wall, swearing under my breath. Brigid was much louder. Nurses swear a lot. We try to keep it quiet at work, but when life and death are part of our work life, we tend to let rip at home.
‘She’s doing it again.’ I slapped my hand against the uncaring wall. ‘Endless craving attention. Gouging everyone’s eyes, making sure they see her tits and perky little ass.
‘Clear as day to us. But not to everyone else.’ Shona checked her makeup, pouting at her reflection. ‘Martin’s not fooled.’
‘Neither’s Andy.’ Brigid tried out some more colorful language, until we were giggling.
‘Eddie seems to be.’ I pulled a rueful face. ‘How did that happen? He seemed to believe her lie. He knows I don’t lie.’ I swung round. ‘I would have answered the phone, you know that, don’t you?’
‘Course we do. We know her tricks. We also know most guys don't get it when women undermine other women, they just think we’re being bitchy.’
‘But that’s exactly what she’s doing and that lot,’ I flung my hand in the direction of the beer garden, ‘can’t see it. I thought we’d all settled in for low key friendship, especially after she was my bridesmaid.’
A tipsy woman staggered into the bathroom. ‘Sorry, girls, get lost before I upchuck all over you.’ She headed for a cubicle. We exited pronto.
Platters of fish and chips were being served as we sat down again. Lightheaded from wine on an empty stomach I filled my plate with a generous helping and hoed in.
Bianca sat opposite me, taking only a small portion, anticipating a reaction. She had it straightaway. Every woman at the table glanced from her plate to their own, self-conscious about portions. Lisa threw a quick scan at Bianca’s plate and, face flushed, she dropped chips back on the communal plate. Even Shona, looking chagrined, did the same. Brigid and I exchanged grim looks, she piled her plate higher. I watched our group, hating the way women did this to each other, judging, assessing, disapproving. Bianca ducked her head, hiding a triumphant smile.
Not for the first time I felt something akin to hatred for her.
I ignored her fake censure, enjoying my food.
Her eyes skimming me, a frequent competitive tactic with every woman, Bianca paused, eyes latching onto something. ‘That’s pretty.’ She pointed to my bracelet. Is it new?’
I nodded, wary of where this was going. ‘A gift from Eddie on our honeymoon.’ My diamond bracelet, a favorite memento of Hawaii.
She glanced from my diamonds to her silver bracelet with semi-precious stones. I felt Shona tense up beside me. Bianca was comparing and coveting. Brigid, unaffected by jewelry and fashion, remained unaware of undercurrents, although her gaze was cautious. I loved her for that, half-wishing I was blasé about girly things.
I made a mental note to keep my bracelet safe from pilfering.
She poised, ready to cut me down. I could see it in the way her face became sly.
‘Eddie says you had loads of meals at a cake restaurant.’
‘That’s right. We went to The Cheesecake Factory a few times.’ Where was she going with this?
‘I can see you ate there a lot.’ Her smile held only malice, her eyes flicking over me. ‘You’ve stacked on a few pounds.’
Ouch. Bitch!
I turned a hard face to her. ‘Careful, Bianca, poison is corrosive. And, by the way, you’ve got ketchup on your cheek.’
I should have said nothing and let her find out in a mirror. She swiped at her cheeks with a paper napkin.
‘How was the honeymoon?’ Martin had the good sense to turn attention away from the simmering nastiness.
Eddie gave a repeat of his prowess on the surfboard and his near-death experience. Bianca made all the right noises, gasping, holding her hand to her heart, black lacy bra making a more prominent appearance, putting an over-manicured hand on his arm for a moment, before judicious withdrawal. Eddie lapped it up.
‘Yeah, mate. Been there a few times.’ Martin nodded. ‘Swallowed too much saltwater, seen a couple of sharks, scared the bejesus out of me.’
All eyes turned to our resident Aussie. We were always avid for electrifying anecdotes. Snakes, spiders, crocodiles and, of course, sharks. I grinned. Australia doesn’t abound with wildlife intent on annihilating humans, but, for unfathomable reasons, it’s commonly believed to be a dangerous country to visit.
‘What sort of sharks?’ Bianca asked, wide-eyed, and leaned in again to offer her cleavage for inspection.
To his credit Martin didn’t inspect her offering.
‘A bronze whaler, big and nasty. It would have been about five meters long.’ He measured the distance from the pub door to our table. ‘And about that far away.’
Approximately fifteen feet. We all shuddered, landlocked townies with no experience of ocean dangers.
‘What happened?’ I asked, thinking of Cal, wondering if he diced with death in the surf. I bet he’d seen more sharks than most in his line of work.
He shrugged. ‘It wasn’t hungry. It just swam right past us and out to sea.’
‘And the other shark?’ Fiona asked, eyes agog.
‘A grey nurse. Smaller, but still sporting sharp teeth. I was out surfing with a couple of mates off Manly Beach and it swam around us a few times. We all pulled our legs and arms safely out of the water onto our boards until it lost interest and disappeared. We chugged a few beers to calm us down when we got back to the beach.’ He laughed, but without humor. Shona clutched his hand.
Eddie had lost his audience in the face of a seasoned surfer. Crestfallen, he opened his mouth to say something, but Bianca beat him to it with a snide comment about some TV celebrity caught, pants down, with a starlet on a casting couch.
I widened my eyes at Shona. Tabloid fodder again.
‘More drinks anyone?’ Shona asked. She took orders and I followed her inside to assist. She knew my short leash with scandalmongering.
‘Who gives a rat’s arse about some tosser caught in flagrante delicto?’ I huffed, while we waited for our drinks.
She laughed. ‘The public doesn’t know the half of it. You sho
uld see the shenanigans at my work.’
‘But really, who cares?’ I said. ‘Trashy tabloids are bought by a public avid for some over-hyped claptrap about minor celebrities whose lives are somehow more tragic, more joyful or more sensational than we nonentities could possibly ever aspire to. I mean, anyone who’s having a baby and it’s suddenly ‘baby joy’, or it’s ‘tragic past’ for someone whose mother died at the ripe old age of eighty-five. Why should we care about total strangers we’ll never meet? I prefer my own calamities, thank you very much!’
‘Okay, honey. Your pet hate is clear to us all. Calm down and climb off your soapbox.’
Chastened, I took a few deep breaths. ‘Sorry.’
‘Okay. But aren’t you more pissed off with her for having a go at you?’
With a heavy sigh, I nodded. ‘Of course. But she’s right.’ I looked down at my marginally larger abdomen. ‘I had hoped nobody noticed.’
‘She really is a cow.’ Shona made a moue of distaste. ‘Remind me again why you introduced her to our happy group.’
‘My fault, I know. She was in trouble. I helped her. That’s all I can say,’ I added, when Shona looked ready to pursue this. ‘You know I’d tell you if I hadn’t promised.’
‘Okay, love, I’ll drop it.’ She tossed her head in the general direction of our table. ‘I bet Joe ran out of money keeping her in “love tokens”. Poor bastard’s probably broke.’
‘Yes.’ I took a deep breath. ‘But the trouble is she’ll be on the prowl again, won’t she? Who do you think she’s got her eye on in our little group?’
We turned around, seeing our gang through the thinning crowds. All attention now focused on her, Bianca was in full flow with some amusing anecdote.
‘Take a closer look,’ I said, ‘she seems more spontaneous without us crushing her little tales. I wonder why it’s our group and not some of her work cronies that she spends time with? I mean, we all do work she doesn’t understand and, for the most part, we dismiss her or don’t include her. What can she want?’
Shona watched for a couple of minutes. ‘You know, you’re right. We’re not that nice to her. With good reason, of course. We’ll never forget all that lying and stealing. God, she got all of us into so much trouble. Little witch.’ Puzzled, she turned to me. ‘There’s an ulterior motive, isn’t there? If she’s after one of the men it won’t be Tony. Lisa won't let her near him, even though they’ve cozied up to each other.’
‘That leaves Martin or Andy,’ I said, training my gaze on them.
‘And Eddie.’ She gave me a significant look.
‘She wouldn’t dare.’
Chapter Four
At home I mulled over our conversation. Bianca? Really? She might be a troublemaker, but why would she want Eddie, he’d never liked her?
I barely gave her a thought for a week. Until Eddie and I were doing our least favorite chore – supermarket shopping. Saturday chores never improve with time. Amicable bickering about groceries had been underway for a few minutes, when out of the blue he asked why I hadn’t contacted Bianca.
‘Huh?’ I frowned, stopping the trolley in the middle of an aisle. Where was this coming?
Eddie scooted the trolley to the side, propelling us out of the path of other shoppers. ‘We saw her again last night while you were working. Your hours are crap,’ he added, as an aside. ‘Anyway, she’s still upset about Joe dumping her. You invited her to be your bridesmaid. That’s a good friend act. So, why don’t you see her now? His hands tightened on the trolley. ‘She thinks you don’t care.’
Stung, I chose careful words. ‘Eddie, you knew she was only my bridesmaid cos she asked me, not the other way around. Why do you care, anyway, you’ve never liked her?’
He gave me a sidelong dubious look.
‘Look, Eddie, I’ve told you her history. I still can’t trust her. She’s been a troublemaker from the moment she crashed into our teenage innocence and nothing’s changed. She used everybody, especially me, cos I was stupid enough to be nice to her. She nicked my clothes and anything not pinned down. She may have been a bridesmaid, but only cos she begged me. She’s never been a real friend. Why should I be extra nice to her, when she chips away with nastiness?’
‘Mmm.’ He nodded, as if he understood. ‘But you did invite her back. And anyway, she’s not like that screwed up teenager any more. She’s really sweet.’
God, I could scream right now.
‘She’s sweet now, but not for long.’ I clutched his arm. ‘Eddie, don’t be fooled. She’s working on some scheme, she always does. Everything will seem great and then BANG, she’ll have split us up into friends and enemies and our gang will be finished.’
He shook off my hand, frowning.
I shoved both hands in my pockets, fingernails digging into my palms. Guys just don’t get this stuff. Why can’t my husband believe me? Worry did a rapid scurry through my guts. I didn’t know what to do.
To change the subject, I handed him a box of frozen pizzas. ‘What about these, we haven’t tried this brand before?’
‘Yeah, okay.’ He tossed the box into the trolley without a glance, coming right back to Bianca. ‘Well, I think she’s changed and I really think we should have her over for dinner, or maybe lunch tomorrow. She’s really lonely.’
‘Eddie,’ I said, gritting my teeth, ‘We’ve got lunch at my parents’ place tomorrow.’ I took a deep breath, desperate to de-escalate this. ‘You used to dislike her. What’s changed?’ I leaned on the trolley, face as neutral as I could make it.
His face hardened. ‘Nothing’s changed. I used to think she was a bit silly, but she’s grown up a lot. I only have it from you that she was annoying at school. She thinks you all had a lot of fun together.’
What the…?
‘Anyway, you should see it from her point of view – Joe’s the third boyfriend in a year who’s let her down.’
My mouth dropped open. He’d called her a tart and a slapper in the past. And worse. Could he really have forgotten how much he’d looked down on her and even said she should go back where she belonged, on the streets? Desperate to remind him, I knew the supermarket wasn’t the place. She wasn’t that important. Instead I planted a mild expression on my face, selecting my words with restraint.
‘Has it occurred to you they might have good reasons for not wanting to be with her?’ My tone remained neutral. ‘Bianca’s record with men isn’t flattering.’ I bit my tongue, holding back.
My antennae were up. Could Shona possibly be right about Bianca going after Eddie?
He didn’t know her at all. She never did anything without careful scheming.
What about the rest of our gang? Andy was the only single guy. He had zero interest in Bianca. He was far too focused on his medical career. Would she want to be a doctor’s wife? She might like his income. If that was her plan, she didn’t know him. He’s no pushover. Super aware of his social standing, he wouldn’t choose a wife like her in a month of Sundays. He dated women on the same intellectual level. Bianca might be street smart but she was not his equal.
Fists clenched in my pockets, I forced a calm exterior, wondering how I’d convince my own husband I knew Bianca hadn’t changed. A leopard can’t change its spots.
‘Just give her a chance, she’s really changed. Maybe you should forget what she was like before and accept she wants to be a real friend now.’
Shockwaves of alarm shot through me. I felt as I had at school, when Bianca’s feigned distress had more impact than my veracity.
Eddie had made up his mind and anything more I had to say would fall on deaf ears. Inwardly furious, but outwardly cool, I racked my brains for a way out of committing to a tête-à-tête with a woman who rated right up there with man-hunting tigers. She was a man-eater.
‘Look, love,’ I said, a solution presenting itself. ‘Why don’t we have her over to dinner, as you say, and invite a few others? That way she can feel looked after by all of us. What do you think?’
I had no intention of being solely responsible for the little cow. How dare she manipulate me and use my husband to do it? And Eddie’s no better, I’d never try to foist a new friend on him. Anger seethed inside my gut.
Releasing an audible sigh of relief, he smiled. ‘That’d be great, darling. What about Wednesday on your rostered day off?’
‘Sure. I’ll give her and some of the others a call when we get home.’
Chest tight with unshed tears, I was outwardly polite as we finished our shopping. What made it worse was my own behavior. When Bianca had run to me for yet another crisis intervention, I should have told her to get lost. This was my reward.
She must be laughing at me right now. I bet she was waiting for my humble invitation to dinner. Either that, or she was preparing to play a forlorn victim of my harsh treatment.
Something had changed in our marriage and I was caught on the back foot.
I had to do something. That night, I set out to seduce him. It worked, of course. And I enjoyed the sex – I’ve always liked sex. But it wasn’t the same as our usual spontaneous joyous coupling, at least, not to me, although Eddie seemed not to know the difference. When Eddie fell asleep next to me, I watched his peaceful face in the moonlight, saddened for using a cheap trick of Bianca’s – I’d manipulated him to suit my ends, to get her out of his head.
My last thought that night was to remind myself that all’s fair in love and war. And Bianca had become a war zone.
✽ ✽ ✽
Wednesday arrived. Resentment brewed all week. Thinking about Bianca had started a three-day headache. That it coincided with my monthly curse was pure accident. My thoughts were as dark and dismal as the teeming rain.
My one rostered day off per month had become my treat day. Browsing shops in London, having lunch in a cafe, catching the train home loaded down with essentials and maybe a treat in the form of a new pair of jeans. That was my kick back and relax day.
Or maybe not jeans, I huffed. Eddie preferred me in soft, feminine dresses.
Bugger Eddie. Tonight would be jeans.
Promises Made- Promises Kept Page 6