Original Sin

by Tasmina Perry

  ‘Surrey? That’s miles away!’

  Sean turned to look at her, a twinkle in his eye. ‘Where’s your sense of adventure?’

  Tess laughed.

  ‘Seriously,’ he said, putting his foot down and shooting through an orange light. ‘It’s just down the A3. I’m told the house is a case study in how billions of dollars can’t buy you good taste. That’s got to be worth a look, hasn’t it?’

  The silver sports car slid across the City streets, down through the gritty postcodes, and out where the houses grew larger and more suburban, exchanging London cool for trees and wide–open spaces. Sean reached over and pressed a button on the dashboard. A CD player blared into life: Gary Numan’s greatest hits. Sean sang along, loudly and out of tune, his faux–English accent making Tess snigger.

  ‘Hey, what’s so funny?’ he asked.

  ‘Your confidence.’

  ‘That’s exclusive East Coast prep schools for you.’

  Tess was quiet for a moment.

  ‘Sean, you were so good at that meeting tonight – great, even. But then you have this terrible reputation that undermines it all. Don’t you ever get sick of partying?’

  Sean nodded. ‘I’m over all that.’

  Tess raised a sceptical eyebrow. ‘Really?’

  ‘Really. Listen, I’m thrirty–five years old. I figure it’s about time I stopped pretending I’m nineteen. So the man you see here is really, truly free of drink and drugs. Think of me as the brand–new Sean. I’ve reinvented myself.’

  ‘So how’s it going?’

  ‘Pretty good,’ he smiled.

  ‘Spoken with confidence.’

  ‘You think I’m an asshole.’

  ‘I never said that.’

  ‘Well I apologize for the Lupin party. I was a little rude.’

  ‘A little?’ she smiled.

  ‘I was being defensive, projecting my problems onto you.’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘My mom has employed you to watch over me, but I’m determined to get it right on my own. I’ve made my own mistakes, now it’s my responsibility to put it right. I guess I wanted to vent my frustrations with my mother and you got in the way.’

  ‘But why do you have problems with your mum?’ asked Tess.

  Sean looked up to the roof and laughed. ‘Hey, where do I start?’

  Tess frowned. ‘I was under the impression you were the apple of her eye.’

  Sean nodded slowly. ‘I can see why you might think that. I’ve certainly always been indulged by my mom. I could steal the crown jewels and she would just pat me on the head and say “Oh Sean”.’

  Tess was beginning to understand. Sean didn’t want indulgence, he didn’t want to be tolerated, he wanted to be valued and loved – noticed even. She could certainly understand that.

  ‘So I get shunted off to London. Mom won’t let me near anything important like marketing, but she thinks I might just be able to handle corporate entertaining. Well, she’s right about that; in fact I’m pretty good, even if I do say so myself. Asgill Cosmetics might not make the most exclusive fragrances in the world, but we throw the best parties. They get all over the papers, which produces hundreds of free column–inches for us. On top of that, I’ve brought retailers into the fold, brokered distribution deals, and persuaded all the top fashion magazines over here to take our advertising. Sure, I was at all the hottest parties, on the yachts, but that’s where the deals are done.’

  Tess flashed him a crooked smile. ‘So you’re telling me you’re not a playboy?’

  Sean laughed. ‘Hey, I’m not saying I don’t enjoy it, I just wish–’

  ‘You just wish Meredith had noticed what your huge bar bills were buying her.’

  He smiled, then glanced at the GPS on his dashboard. ‘One more right turn and I think we’re here.’

  They were now driving down country roads crowded with oak trees and big houses set back from the road. Sean swung the car into a driveway and Tess was surprised at what she saw. It was not a beautiful house like Belcourt, more like an overgrown Barratt show–home made from modern red brick with ugly concrete mock–classical pillars either side of the entrance. More impressive was the field to one side, where Tess could see at least four helicopters.

  ‘Why drive when you can fly?’ she said, wide–eyed.

  Sean pulled to a stop and handed the keys to a uniformed valet. They walked towards the house, skirting around a dazzling collection of parked cars, from Bentleys to Lamborghinis. Serious–looking security guards, dressed from head to foot in black, stood by the door, presumably listening to the chatter in their high–tech earpieces.

  ‘Hi Sean,’ said the pretty girl with the guest–list clipboard, tottering over on her six–inch heels to kiss him on both cheeks.

  ‘Hey Rachel, looking as lovely as ever,’ said Sean.

  ‘Go right in, sweetie,’ she said, giving Tess the once–over as she passed. I wonder what names Rachel is calling me under her breath, thought Tess, before her first glimpse of the interior wiped all other thoughts from her head. Sean hadn’t been joking when he said that expensive bad taste had run riot in Nina’s mansion: it was a sensory overload.

  The floor was white marble inlaid with gold, and the giant staircase that dominated the centre of the entrance hall was draped in velvet and garish silk tapestries. Behind the staircase was a huge stained–glass window depicting a naked couple, but the pièce de résistance was in the centre of the hall; a sculpture–cum–fountain featuring two rampant golden unicorns with purple water gushing from their engorged members.

  ‘Good God,’ said Tess.

  ‘I couldn’t have put it better myself,’ said Sean. ‘Worth the journey into darkest Surrey?’ said Sean.

  ‘Absolutely,’ she grinned.

  He touched her arm and led her through the crowd. There must have been six hundred people packed into the grand entrance hall, each groomed to within an inch of their lives. Tess was suddenly glad she had worn the red dress.

  ‘No! Tell me that’s not who I think it is?’ she gasped. She was staring through an open archway into what looked like a grand ballroom. On a stage at one end, just about to begin playing, were Duran Duran.

  ‘I thought I’d better not mention that,’ smiled Sean. ‘You might not have come.’

  ‘You’re joking, aren’t you?’ protested Tess. ‘I love Duran Duran!’

  ‘Ah–ha! The daahrling Sean Asgill,’ shrieked a voice, making them both turn. Sean was bear–hugged by a tall woman with blonde hair dropping down her back. She had wide feline eyes and around her waist was a sparkling band of diamonds that Tess felt sure were real.

  ‘Nina,’ said Sean, ‘what a wonderful party.’

  ‘Why wouldn’t it be, dahrling? I’m forty and fabulous,’ she purred. ‘I thought “you can’t stay thirty–seven forever”, so why not flaunt it?’

  Tess laughed. ‘Happy birthday. I’m Tess.’

  Nina looked at Tess, then gave Sean a slow wink. ‘What are you doing bringing gorgeous girls to my party?’ she teased. ‘I thought I was the only one for you.’

  ‘I didn’t think you were available, Nina,’ smiled Sean.

  ‘When you look this good,’ she said, striking a dramatic pose, ‘I think it’s cruel to keep it to one man.’

  Wiggling her fingers in the air, Nina drifted off on the arm of a male model.

  ‘Thirty seven,’ whispered Sean when she had gone, ‘She’s nearer fifty seven.’

  Tess laughed. ‘Well, I don’t know about you,’ she said, ‘but after that, I need a drink.’

  He looked in the direction of the crowded vodka bar. ‘Actually, I’d better go,’ he smiled. ‘I think we need someone with broad shoulders to get to the front – it’ll be good to test my resolve too.’

  ‘Okay, I’m going to see if there’s anywhere to get rid of my coat.’

  Sean touched her shoulder. ‘Don’t go far.’

  She glanced back at him and, in the low light, she noticed wh
at a sexy smile he had and just how pale green his eyes were. Tess hoped that it wasn’t sexual tension she was feeling in the air. Whatever it was, it was glorious and nerve–tingling. This is what happens when your boyfriend lives three thousand miles away and you don’t get enough sex, she told herself firmly.

  She looked away as in the distance she could hear Simon Le Bon’s gravelly voice telling the crowd that this was no ‘Ordinary Day’, followed by the familiar chiming melody of a song she had played a thousand times over on the stereo.

  For a split second, she was so wrapped up in the music, she did not recognize the good–looking man standing a little way off to her left. Wearing a sharply tailored suit, he was turned away from her, but he was obviously having the time of his life talking to a slim blonde to his left. Tess gaped at him. It couldn’t be, it shouldn’t be. But it was. Dom.

  Her shock and pleasure at seeing him curdled into a sense of dread and foreboding as she watched his hand sliding casually up and down the blonde’s bare back. The girl leaned in and whispered something into Dom’s ear, and he laughed – a flirtatious, happy, relaxed laugh that seemed so different from how he behaved with her. She stood fixed to the spot, unable to move or speak, when another couple came over to Dom and his new friend. Deeply tanned and rich looking, Tess didn’t recognize either of them, but Dom spoke to them as if they had been close for years. Strangely, it was that tiny observation that shocked Tess the most. Somehow, that felt like a bigger betrayal to her; somehow it made their life together an even bigger lie.

  She was still standing there staring at Dom, when Sean arrived with a glass of champagne.

  ‘You’ll never believe the bar over there, it’s covered with … ’ He trailed off as he followed the direction of her stare.

  She barely turned to look at him, and just handed him her coat.

  ‘Excuse me for one moment,’ she said flatly as she walked straight over to Dom. The moment he turned and saw her, the relaxed confidence she had observed from a distance crumpled.

  ‘Tess,’ he spluttered. ‘What the hell are you doing here?’

  ‘I was just going to ask you the same thing,’ she said evenly.

  The blonde put her hand on Dom’s. ‘Is everything all right?’ she asked in a clipped Home Counties accent. Tess noticed the way her fingers lingered on his just a second too long, and she instinctively knew that they had slept together.

  ‘I was just talking to my boyfriend,’ snapped Tess. ‘Is that okay?’

  The blonde looked at Dom and he shook his head slightly. She moved away quickly.

  For several seconds, Tess simply couldn’t think what to say. Her fingers gripped the silk of her dress.

  ‘I didn’t want you to find out like this,’ said Dom, nervously glancing around.

  ‘Of course you didn’t,’ said Tess. ‘You didn’t want me to find out at all.’

  She inhaled sharply, psyching herself to stay strong. ‘Who is she?’ she asked as calmly as she could.

  ‘She’s called Tamara. Tess, I just–’

  ‘Where did the two of you meet?’ she interrupted.

  ‘Around town,’ he said sheepishly.

  ‘Where,’ she demanded. ‘Where?’ Suddenly Tess felt she needed to know everything. Tess looked over at the girl who had retreated to the bar, and instantly Tess knew where they had met. Tamara had been one of the London society blondes at the Lupin launch.

  ‘It was the Asgills’ party,’ she said quietly, almost detached. ‘Wasn’t it?’

  Dom took a deep breath. ‘Briefly, yes. Then we bumped into each other again at Nobu.’

  ‘Nobu?’ she snorted. ‘Your local fucking canteen now, no doubt.’

  Tess thought of that amazing lovemaking session they had had in the seedy hotel straight afterwards and felt her face flush with stupidity. Lovemaking! All the time she thought it had been an indication of how much he really felt for her, a vindication of the strength of their relationship after all these years, but no. He had just been feeling horny.

  Dom looked at Tess sheepishly. ‘I’m so sorry.’

  ‘Sorry,’ she choked. ‘You’re “sorry”? After ten fucking years together, this is what I deserve: flaunting some posh bitch like a trophy in front of me? Did you really think I wouldn’t find out about it eventually?’

  ‘I was going to tell you,’ he said lamely. ‘But I didn’t want to do it over the phone.’

  She thought of all the things she’d planned for her trip in London that weekend. The cheesy double–decker bus tour, the meal at Chez Bruce, then cuddling up in bed afterwards, in their bed. But Dom had had other plans. He was going to finish with her.

  She swallowed hard.

  ‘Tess, come on,’ said Dom. ‘Our relationship has been dying on its feet for ages.’

  She turned on him furiously. ‘Oh, and that’s enough to justify sleeping with that slut, is it? You’re not happy, so you just jump into bed with the first tart who comes along?’

  ‘No,’ he sighed. ‘But we both deserve to be happy.’

  ‘This is what you’ve always wanted, isn’t it? A rich girlfriend, rich and beautiful. Not smart of course – certainly not smart if she’s interested in you.’

  Dom glanced around and bent in closer to Tess. ‘Keep your voice down, Tess.’

  ‘Why? Frightened your fancy new friends won’t approve of your old girlfriend? No, I was never rich or successful enough, was I? You wanted a Chelsea flat, you wanted the Tatler party pages, didn’t you, you shallow wanker? Well, I hope you’re finally happy.’

  He stopped and looked at her more coolly, his public–school confidence allowing him to step up and take the high ground. ‘

  ‘You can’t criticize me for wanting this, Tess,’ he said evenly. ‘You were the one who high–tailed to it New York. You were the one who wanted the fat salary and the West Village apartment. And what am I supposed to do? You’ve been back once in two months – and that was for work.’

  ‘Because I’m committed to my job – what’s so wrong with that? I thought we were committed to each other too. I thought we would cope with the distance because we loved each other.’

  Tess was dimly aware that she was shouting now. She would not cry. She absolutely would not allow herself, but her lips prickled, her breathing had quickened, and her cheeks flushed anxiously hot.

  ‘This is not my fault alone, Tess,’ said Dom cruelly. ‘You forced me into this.’

  ‘Fuck YOU!’ shrieked Tess, turning and running for the door, crashing against a waiter and sending a pile of canapés flying.

  She fled back out the front door and down the steps, out into the stinging cold air. Wanting, needing to get away, she ran along the side of the house, her high heels scuffing against the gravel. What have I done to deserve this? she asked herself. Did I really force him into cheating? If I had stayed here, would we still be together?

  ‘No, that’s such crap,’ she whispered, wrapping her arms around herself and sitting down on a stone step. ‘That selfish wanker.’

  She sat there, shivering, staring at the ground as her eyes blurred. Her body felt numb and hollow. Was this really happening? she asked herself. Everything seemed so surreal – being in Surrey, in Nina’s mansion, seeing Dom with another woman – that she squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that when she opened them she’d be back in New York.

  After a few moments she heard footsteps running in her direction and her heart gave a tiny lurch. Was he coming for her, to take her back?

  ‘There you are.’

  She looked up in misery. It was Sean, not Dom. He put her coat around her shoulders.

  ‘Come on,’ he said, pulling her up gently. ‘I’ll take you back home.’

  Tess allowed herself to be led back to Sean’s car and sat in silence as he drove off down Nina’s long winding drive. Staring at her reflection in the window, she began to wonder if she was being truthful with herself. Did she really want Dom anyway? All that time she’d spent in New York, she hadn’t really
missed him, hadn’t really longed for him to come and be with her. She had assumed it was because she had been too busy, of course, but was that really the reason? When she and Dom had discussed the Asgill job, they had smiled and talked about paying off the mortgage and the golden opportunities to be had in America. Never once had he said, ‘Don’t go, I’ll miss you too much.’ And neither had she.

  Sean leant over and handed her a handkerchief. ‘I can’t blow my nose on this,’ she said with a wan smile, ‘it’s silk.’

  ‘Don’t worry. I can afford it.’

  ‘Thanks,’ she said gruffly.

  He paused for a moment before saying, ‘Don’t thank me.’

  She looked at him and he would not catch her gaze.

  The penny dropped.

  ‘You knew about this, didn’t you?’ she said quietly.

  More silence.

  ‘You knew? You brought me out here especially? In fact, you flew me out here – to end my relationship?’

  ‘Of course not,’ said Sean defensively. ‘I wanted you to come to the dinner.’

  ‘But you knew Dom was going to be at this party.’

  She looked at him, hoping it would not be true, hoping it would be a dreadful coincidence. He kept his eyes fixed on the drive and exhaled heavily.

  ‘Yes,’ he said flatly. Without thinking, Tess slapped him across the cheek. The car swerved dangerously across the gravel, the outside tyre bumping against the embankment.

  ‘What the fuck?’ shouted Sean as he struggled to gain control.

  ‘You sadistic bastard!’ she yelled. ‘What have I ever done to you? Why would you want to hurt me like this? What was it, some sort of cabaret? A little bit of entertainment to amuse your friends?’

  ‘No!’ he shouted back, ‘I was trying to help you!’

  ‘That’s what you call help?’ she spat. ‘Well next time, don’t bloody bother.’

  Sean paused, then said quietly. ‘It’s a small social circuit, Tess. I saw Dom and Tamara out together at a restaurant in Chelsea a week after the Lupin party. I didn’t want to tell you then, because it could have been a business meeting for all I knew. I wasn’t sure what was happening. But then I heard Tamara had been boasting she was going to Nina’s party with her new man.’