Unfaithful (The Complete Trilogy)

by Clancy, Joanne

  “The beginning of what, I wonder?” Jackie mused. “It sounds ominous, almost like a veiled threat.”

  “Yeah, well, he's threatening the wrong person,” Colm fumed, his face dark with fury. Jackie stared at him. It wasn't like him to have such a ferocious reaction to anything.

  “Can you believe it? That bastard is going to make a fortune!” he stared incredulously at her. “He’s getting book and movie deals! What the hell is wrong with the world when a cheating, lying bastard can actually make money out of his wrongdoings?”

  Jackie shrugged, not wanting to say anything to further antagonise him. The last thing she wanted was to get into yet another long conversation about Mark. Colm had wanted to know every last detail of their encounters and what sort of a man he was. He'd been obsessed and consumed with Mark's life ever since he'd found out about the affair. His interest in him was disconcerting but she tried to dismiss it as her husband's way of coping. They'd also discussed him in detail at their marriage counselling sessions and the counsellor had explained that some people cope with an affair by wanting to know everything before they can move on and others want to forget about it as quickly as possible. Sometimes she wished Colm was the former rather than latter.

  “Would you like a coffee?” she asked, trying to break the thunderous silence that had descended.

  “No, I need some fresh air,” he jumped up from his seat, sending his chair crashing to the floor and stormed out of the room, slamming the front door loudly behind him.

  Jackie sighed and put the kettle on, wishing for the umpteenth time that she could turn back time.

  Chapter 13

  “Bloody computer!” Jackie flung her pen across the room in annoyance. She’d been trying to do some research on her latest book but the computer kept shutting down. Her editor had been putting pressure on her, and her deadline was fast approaching. There was nothing quite like a deadline to get the creative juices flowing; that and sheer panic. It was the first morning in weeks that she’d had the time or the inclination to write and now technology was trying to defeat her.

  She picked up her phone and dialled her sister’s number, hoping that she might be able to offer some words of wisdom. Shona was quite a whizz with computers, but of course, there was no answer. The one morning she really needed her, she wasn’t answering, so she left a rather testy voicemail. “Can this day get any worse?” she shouted at the empty house.

  It was strange having the whole house to herself. The children had been home for three months during their summer holidays from school and she’d been consumed with the back to school routine for the past while. It seemed as if Charlotte and Emmett had a better social life than her! They were always off to someone’s birthday party or sleeping over at a friend’s house or they had swimming lessons, ballet classes and karate. It was never-ending. Driving them around and coordinating their schedules was a full-time job in itself and she rarely had a minute to herself.

  Colm had been working from home regularly. She was glad to have him around and appreciated the fact that he was making more of an effort to spend time together as a family, but part of her was glad that he’d be away on business for a week. Their relationship was slowly on the mend, but she couldn’t help feeling tense. It wasn’t his fault; he was trying hard too and he constantly assured her that they’d work everything out together, but somehow she felt like she always had to be on her best behaviour or he might leave.

  He’d left for London the previous evening and a small part of her was relieved that he was gone. It wasn’t easy always being in a good mood, trying to read his moods and have everything perfect for him. Sometimes she wanted to yell at him and tell him that he was far from a model husband but she bit her tongue. After all, he hadn’t been the one having an affair.

  The silence in the house was deafening. She’d dropped the children to school at half past eight, which meant she’d have the whole place to herself until three o’ clock. There was plenty of time to get a decent chunk of writing done, but she’d procrastinated all morning about starting. It was true what people said; starting was the hardest part. She’d tidied, dusted and cleaned until the house was spotless. She’d even baked a chocolate cake, and she hated baking! Anything to put off doing the inevitable, and then when she’d finally decided to get stuck in, her computer had started playing up!

  She gave the computer one last try but it was having none of it. Time for a coffee, before she ended up flinging the machine against the wall or stamping on it! She pottered about the kitchen for a while; drinking coffee, eating cake and flicking through yesterday’s newspaper. Her jangled nerves were calming down when her phone rang. It was Shona.

  “Hello stranger,” Jackie answered.

  “Hello yourself, how’s it going? Are your knickers still in a twist? That was quite a voicemail you left me.”

  “Yeah, sorry about that, technology and I have never really gotten along. My computer is having a meltdown and I don’t know what to do about it.”

  “Have you tried shutting it down and restarting it?”

  “Thanks, Einstein. I knew you’d say that! Of course I have; that’s the first thing every so-called expert recommends. It didn’t work.”

  “Okay, okay, calm down. You can drop the computer into me at the office and I’ll get our I.T. guy to have a look at it for you if you like?”

  “Oh, that’d be great. You’re a lifesaver.”

  “Maybe we could have lunch if you’re free?”

  “Absolutely, I’d like that. It’s been ages since we’ve had a proper chat.”

  “Good. Meet me at the office at one.”

  “Will Rebecca be there? I really don’t want to bump into her.”

  “No, she’s working from home today. She called this morning to say she wouldn’t be in because Ethan is sick. Anyway, you don’t have anything to worry about; she doesn’t know anything about you.”

  “Ssshhh!”

  “What’s your problem?”

  “Someone could be listening!”

  “Don’t be ridiculous! Nobody’s listening. Stop being paranoid.”

  “I can’t help it. I'm not exactly proud of what I did and I couldn’t face meeting her, that’s all.”

  “Right, well, I’ll see you soon.” Shona hung up abruptly.

  Jackie sighed. Her editor wasn’t going to be impressed if she missed the deadline. She’d already pushed it back by a month, but with all the drama in her personal life she couldn’t find the motivation to write. Once she started, she knew the words would be flying out of her; she certainly had plenty to write about. She finished the last of her coffee and packed the computer in its bag. She missed chatting with Shona, but they’d both been so busy that they hadn’t seen other in ages. It would be good to catch up with her sister.

  “Hi, I'm Jackie, Shona’s sister,” Jackie beamed her big smile at Adrian, wishing she’d taken a few minutes to apply some makeup and style her hair before leaving the house.

  “I'm Adrian,” he smiled his megawatt smile back at her.

  “You must be new.” She could have kicked herself, talk about stating the obvious.

  “I'm not that new anymore. I’ve been here for almost five weeks. Hasn’t Shona mentioned me?”

  Jackie detected a note of disappointment in his voice. “I haven’t really spoken to her in a while. Anyway, she said she’d have a look at my computer. It’s having issues, or maybe I'm having issues. It’s a relationship of mutual dislike, bordering on hatred on days like today when it refuses to work for me.”

  Adrian laughed. “I can have a look at it for you if you like. Penelope and Shona are with a client. They should be back shortly.”

  Jackie glanced doubtfully at him. “That would be great, if you wouldn’t mind?”

  “No problem whatsoever. I quite enjoy pottering about with computers. My sister says I should have gone into computer software engineering. I would have made a fortune. It can be difficult making money from photography, so muc
h of it is about reputation and building a client base, which can be slow, but it's my passion so I can't complain too much.”

  “My husband's a software engineer and he does make a lot of money, but life isn't all about money, you know. He works too much and he's often away at some meeting or other. He's in London this week, which is why I couldn't ask him to check out the computer. He's gone until next week and I can’t wait that long for it to be fixed.”

  “Hello stranger,” Shona greeted her sister with a big hug. “Sorry I'm late, the meeting ran over.”

  “Another deranged bride,” Penelope groaned. “Why do they bother? Fifty per cent of marriages end in divorce anyway. What's the point of working themselves up into such a frenzy over the perfect dress, cake, guest list, photographs, blah blah blah?”

  “I see your cynical side is still going strong,” Jackie quipped.

  “It's called realism,” Penelope retorted disparagingly. “Most people could do with a strong dose of it.” She looked Jackie up and down before storming off to the kitchen.

  “What's wrong with her?” Adrian asked curiously.

  “She's bitter and twisted,” Jackie replied simply.

  “Jackie!” Shona stared at her sister. “That's a bit harsh, and you know you two rub each other up the wrong way.”

  “Personality clash, that explains it,” Adrian grinned. “I wondered why the temperature suddenly dropped to below freezing.”

  “Cheeky,” Jackie punched him playfully on the arm.

  “I see you two have met,” Shona glanced from one to the other. It irritated her how her sister felt the need to flirt with every man she met, whether or not she was even attracted to him.

  “Adrian's been taking very good care of me,” Jackie smiled, fluttering her eyelashes at him. “He even offered to fix my computer for me.”

  “That’s very kind of him. Are you coming to lunch or are you going to sit here flirting all day?”

  Jackie raised her eyebrows at her sister's sharp tone but decided against saying anything. It had been too long since they'd spent any time together and she didn't want to ruin it by arguing. “Lunch is on me. Where do you fancy eating?” She forced a smile as she shrugged into her cosy winter jacket, wishing again that she'd worn something a little more flattering. Her coat was warm and comfortable, like wearing a duvet with sleeves, but it made her look more like the Michelin man than a fashionable woman.

  “I'm not bothered, anywhere,” Shona snapped. “I'll be back in an hour. Call me if you need me.” She forced a smile in Adrian’s direction.

  “Okay, will do,” he replied.

  “I fancy a Chinese, how about you? There's a new place on O' Connell Street and it's had some rave reviews in the newspaper.”

  “Whatever, I'm not that hungry,” Shona replied sullenly.

  “What's your problem?” Jackie turned on her. She'd had enough of her irritable attitude. They'd been walking along in silence ever since they'd left the office.

  “What's MY problem?” Shona glared at her. “I'm not the one who's flirting with every man I see.”

  “What?!”

  “Don't play innocent with me. You were practically drooling over Adrian. It was embarrassing. I can’t believe a married woman of your age behaving like that. You think you would have learned your lesson by now.”

  “How dare you?” Jackie cried, not giving a damn about the people who had turned to stare at her. “You can drop your holier than thou attitude, Shona Morgan, and for your information I wasn't drooling over him, I was being polite. We were having a conversation, like normal people, and besides, if you hadn't been late, as usual, I wouldn't have spoken to him at all. What was I supposed to do? Ignore him until you arrived? Tell him my sister doesn't like me talking to men? Just because I'm married doesn't mean I can't talk to a man without wanting to jump into bed with him.”

  “Yeah, right,” Shona flung open the door to the restaurant, not bothering to hold it open for her sister and it smacked her straight in the face.

  “Christ!” Jackie swore. There was blood streaming from her nose.

  “I'm sorry!” Shona cried, scrambling around in her handbag for some tissues to stem the flow of blood. “Here,” she thrust some scrunched up paper at her sister. She stared at Jackie, ashen-faced, aghast at what she’d done.

  “Is everything okay?” a waiter appeared in front of them, full of concern.

  “Everything's fine. We’d like a table for two, please. We'll be back in a minute.” Shona grabbed her sister's hand and led her towards the ladies' room. She wiped her face and gently dabbed it with water. “Hold your head back and pinch your nose.”

  Jackie did as instructed and eventually the blood flow subsided.

  “I'm sorry. I didn't mean that to happen,” Shona apologised again as she passed her sister some concealer to patch up her face.

  “It's not broken. I'm sure I'll be fine,” Jackie grinned at her in the mirror and they both burst out laughing.

  “You look like you've gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson,” Shona gasped, clutching her side. Her face had already started to swell quite dramatically.

  “It will be interesting trying to explain this at Emmett's parent-teacher meeting tomorrow afternoon. The teachers will probably blame Colm.”

  “How is Colm anyway?”

  Jackie sighed. “Oh, I don't know. It's such hard work sometimes. I'm not sure if I did the right thing telling him about my affair. Maybe I should have continued carrying my burden of guilt.”

  “You definitely did the right thing. Secrets like that tend to creep into a relationship and destroy it like a slow rot. It's good to have it out in the open. Imagine how he would have felt if he'd found out from someone else.”

  “Would it really have made that much difference? He couldn't have taken it any worse.”

  “It could have been a lot worse. He could have left.” Shona paused to let her words sink in. Jackie turned pale. “Come on. Let's go and grab some lunch, I'm starving.”

  “Didn't you say you were starving?” Jackie asked as she watched her sister push her food around her plate. “It's not like me to be finished a meal before you.”

  “Thanks a lot. Are you trying to say I'm fat?”

  “Don't be ridiculous! You’re not fat. Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah, I'm trying to keep an eye on my waistline.”

  “You don't need to lose any weight. Those pilates classes have really paid off. You're super-toned. I could do with a few exercise classes myself.” She self-consciously patted her stomach which wasn't as flat as usual due to her overindulgence in chocolate cakes. “I wish I was one of those people who can't eat when their stressed. I'm the opposite; the more unhappy I am, the more I stuff my face. Oh well, I've already ruined today's diet so I may as well have some dessert.” A waiter seemed to magically appear at the table. “I'll have the chocolate profiteroles please. Shona, do you fancy anything?”

  “Not for me, thanks.”

  “It's not like you to skip dessert. Ooh, is there someone you're trying to impress?”

  Shona blushed.

  “Who's the lucky man?” Jackie smiled indulgently.

  “It's nobody, really.”

  “Come on, I can tell you've got your eye on someone.”

  “It's Adrian.”

  “I see, that explains your tetchiness earlier.”

  “I wasn't tetchy.”

  “Okay, let's not go there again. I don't really want another beating,” she teased. “He's very cute, isn't he?”

  “Yeah, I suppose,” Shona tried to be nonchalant.

  “There's no suppose about it. Tall, blonde hair, great personality; what more could you want?”

  “I don't know. We went out on a date last week and I thought we had a fantastic time but he hasn't arranged anything since. He hasn't asked for my number or even mentioned our night out together. It's weird. He’s behaving as if it never happened.”

  “How's he been at work?”

>   “He hasn't been in the office much. He's been with clients for most of the week. It almost feels like he's avoiding me. I don't get it.”

  “Maybe he's trying to play hard to get,” Jackie suggested.

  “Maybe or maybe I shouldn't have told him about Mark.”

  “Why on earth did you tell him about Mark? That was years ago. You didn’t have to tell him your entire life story, especially not on your first date.”

  “I don't know. I suppose I wanted to be honest from the start.”

  “That's too much information for a first date, don't you think?”

  “Apparently, thanks for stating the obvious.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “There's not a lot I can do. I asked him out so it's up to him to take the initiative and ask me out now. I like him but I'm not going to throw myself at him.”

  “Maybe you should pretend you're going out on a date with someone else.”

  “I'm too old for those silly, infantile games. He's either interested or he's not, it's as simple as that.”

  “I don't agree with that philosophy. There's no harm in giving Cupid a helping hand.”

  “What do you suggest?” she couldn’t resist asking.

  “You need to make him chase you. Try to be mysterious, less available. Men always want what they can have.”

  “Maybe.” She seemed doubtful. “I suppose it's about time I started learning from my previous dating disasters.”

  “That's the spirit.” Jackie was starting to warm to her subject. There was nothing she loved more than a new project. She pulled a pen and notebook from her bag.

  “What are you doing?” Shona peered at her sister as she began to scribble furiously.

  “I'm writing a list of dating advice.”

  “Oh no,” Shona groaned. “Let's not get too technical.”

  “Number One,” Jackie wrote at the top of the page. “Let him come to you.”

  “What does that even mean?” Shona stared at her in confusion.