‘Then let me pick her up,’ Bryn suggested. Instead of the keys, he handed Nina her glass of wine. ‘Give yourself some time to get your thoughts in order. Whatever happens, you have to let Scarlett know that she doesn’t have to deal with this on her own, and neither do you. We’re in this together, Nina.’
Bryn kissed her forehead and went into the hall to put on his jacket. As she waited for him to leave, she put down the glass of wine. She was going to need a clear head for what had to be the most difficult conversation a mother could have with a teenage daughter, an underage teenage daughter at that. She heard Bryn open the front door and waited for the house to fall into silence, but to her surprise she heard returning footsteps along the hallway.
The kitchen door opened slowly and when Scarlett appeared she had her eyes cast down. Bryn followed close behind.
‘I’m sorry, Mum,’ Scarlett whispered.
Nina’s heart had been racing and the sound of her daughter’s childlike apology threatened to tear it apart. She was still a child. She shouldn’t be dealing with this, not at her age. Where had Nina gone wrong? Had their talks about contraception unwittingly encouraged Scarlett to have sex before she was ready? Had she given her daughter too much freedom? The answer to that particular question was obvious.
‘Oh, Scarlett, what’s been going on?’
Scarlett simply shook her head.
‘I wish you’d come to me sooner. Am I that unapproachable? Don’t you know you can tell me anything? Anything, Scarlett.’
When Scarlett looked up there were tears in her eyes and so much uncertainty. ‘I can’t,’ she said.
‘You have to,’ Nina insisted. She longed to pull Scarlett into her arms and tell her it was going to be all right, but she held back. Before forgiveness and understanding, she needed her daughter to acknowledge the problem. ‘You’re pregnant, aren’t you?’
Scarlett snapped her head towards Bryn and then back to her mum. ‘I thought this was about me phoning you while you were away?’ In a fraction of a second the little girl had vanished and the petulant teenager returned. ‘Oh, my God, how paranoid are you? I’m not pregnant, Mum! I was upset, probably because I’m due on,’ she said, to make the point. ‘I missed you, that’s all, and God knows why now. You’re so suspicious! It’s like you keep waiting for me to mess up, like you actually want me to!’
‘Of course I don’t!’ Nina said, raising her voice to match Scarlett’s. ‘And this isn’t paranoia, Scarlett. You were seen. If you’re not pregnant, what were you doing at an antenatal clinic?’
‘How did you find out about that?’
‘Never mind how. Why were you there, Scarlett? Please, tell me I’m being paranoid, because I’d rather that than have to deal with the consequences of you being pregnant! You’re fifteen years old, for God’s sake!’
In the midst of her outburst, Nina had taken a step closer to her daughter. Scarlett had taken a step back, almost knocking into Bryn. She placed her hands on her hips. ‘No,’ she hissed. ‘I’m not telling you a thing. You couldn’t handle the truth, Mum. Seriously, you couldn’t.’
‘What does that even mean? Stop speaking in riddles, Scarlett, and talk to me!’
When Scarlett gave a snort of derision, Nina knew she had lost the chance to get any more from her voluntarily. ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘If you’re not saying, I’ll go and speak to Linus’s parents. If you are pregnant, they’ll need to know.’
The threat wasn’t received with the horror Nina had expected. ‘Why would you do that? This has nothing to do with Linus.’
‘Oh really?’
‘Really, Mum,’ Scarlett said. ‘I’ve never slept with Linus.’
This one fact ought to have given Nina some comfort. It didn’t, but she clung to a strand of hope. ‘So you’re not pregnant?’
‘That’s not what I said.’
‘So are you now admitting that you are pregnant?’
Scarlett glanced behind her again. Nina wasn’t sure if she was looking at Bryn or the exit.
‘Scarlett, answer me.’
When her daughter turned back she had a look of fear in her eyes. She nodded.
‘How pregnant?’ Nina said as she gave her daughter the once-over. There were no obvious signs, so hopefully there was still time to consider all options.
‘Eight weeks.’
‘And the father isn’t Linus?’
There was an imperceptible shake of the head.
‘So it’s someone else?’ Nina asked with a sinking heart. ‘Who, Scarlett? Why would you sleep with someone else when you’ve been going out with Linus? I don’t understand.’
Tears welled in Scarlett’s eyes as she whispered, ‘I can’t tell you.’
‘You can, and you will.’
Scarlett stood her ground. ‘No, I won’t.’
‘You both got into this mess and you’re both going to deal with the consequences.’
‘We will,’ she said, choosing her words carefully. ‘He’s going to look after me, Mum. I know he will.’
‘Who is?’
‘I – Can’t – Say!’
Nina knew the conversation was turning in dizzying circles but she wouldn’t give in. ‘At least tell me why not.’
Scarlett took a deep breath that caught in her throat. ‘Because he has to tell his wife first.’
Nina felt suddenly faint. She was scared to look down because she had a feeling the ground was opening up beneath her, so she turned instead to her husband. Bryn had turned deathly pale.
Scarlett
I can’t tell you how bad it was, sitting in class and not knowing what was going to happen next. It took Mr Caldwell ten minutes to get everyone back in their seats and under control, not that I was interested in what was going on around me. I was too busy checking my phone to see if there were any new messages, but the last one had been not long after Mum had started kicking off that morning. He’d told me to delete every last trace of us from my phone.
I didn’t see why at the time because even if Mum did check my phone, I was using Liam’s app, so what was the problem? The problem was Mum was now in the school and things would get so much worse, but as I started deleting stuff, that stupid Mr Caldwell decided to pick on me. He was all red in the face because the lads were giving him lip, and when he saw me with my phone, he confiscated it!
Sitting and waiting for something to happen was just torture after that. I needed to speak to him. I needed to know what I was supposed to do. When he’d found out I was pregnant, he’d said he would look after me, but this was not looking after me. This was deleting me from his life and pretending I didn’t exist.
It was kind of a relief when Mrs Marshall came back into class. I didn’t have to guess why she was there, even though this time she didn’t look at me when she came in. The ever-so-helpful Mr Caldwell gave her my phone before he called me to the front. I grabbed my things and as I left my desk, Eva pulled at my arm.
‘Are you going to tell them?’ she whispered.
‘Never,’ I said.
Mrs Marshall marched me over to the office without saying a word and made me wait while she called Mrs Anwar out of her office. I kept my head dipped so I looked all timid. It was obvious Mum had told her I was pregnant by that point, so I couldn’t act completely innocent but I was going to give it a good try.
‘Your mum’s here,’ Mrs Anwar said, ‘but I’d like to speak to you on your own first.’
That was fine by me, I don’t know what I would have done if Mum and Mr Swift had been there, listening to me deny everything except that I was pregnant. Mrs Anwar on her own was so much easier. She took me into Mr Whittle’s office and she spoke really softly when she told me what Mum was saying.
‘You won’t be surprised to hear that your mum has told me about the pregnancy. You’ve been to see a midwife?’
‘Yes, miss.’
Mrs Anwar nodded. ‘You’ll need to have a sit-down with your mum and discuss what you do next, and we’ll offer whatev
er support we can, but that’s not why you’ve been called here, Scarlett.’
‘Oh?’ I asked, looking surprised, even though I kind of knew what was coming.
‘I understand you’ve refused to tell anyone who the father is?’
I nodded.
‘Am I right in saying that he’s married?’
Again I nodded.
‘And you’re fifteen years old.’
I so nearly rolled my eyes but remembered I was supposed to be acting, like, all meek. I played nervously with my fingers instead.
‘This must be an extremely stressful time at home,’ Mrs Anwar continued. She leant forward a little in her chair when she added, ‘But then there has been a fair amount of change in the last year for you all. It must have been quite a difficult adjustment when your mum got married.’
‘It was all right,’ I said.
‘And you get on well with your stepfather?’
Here we go again, I thought. ‘Up until Mum threw him out this morning, yes.’
‘Because she thought that he might have something to do with your pregnancy?’
I’m sorry, but I almost laughed. What was that supposed to mean? If she wanted to ask me if he had got me pregnant, she should have had the guts to come out and ask.
‘Please, Scarlett,’ Mrs Anwar continued. ‘We all want what’s best for you. Your mum has a certain responsibility for your welfare and so do I. If there are things that you can’t say to your mum, please know that you can tell other people, people who can act as a go-between if you like. You can talk to me.’
She left a pause which I know I was supposed to fill, but as if. The only sound was Mrs Anwar sighing, and then she said, ‘What would you say if I told you that your mum has also accused Mr Swift?’
‘I never said anything about Mr Swift.’
‘Even so, an allegation has been made.’ Mrs Anwar’s tone had hardened. She was letting me know this was serious stuff – as if I needed reminding. ‘Which means we have to investigate fully. I should warn you now, Scarlett, that unless you start explaining yourself, there’s a good chance the police will be involved.’
My stomach did this horrible flip and I wanted to be sick. I’d seen CSI; the police could do all kinds of tests and stuff. They would find out our secret and he’d be arrested and … I couldn’t even think about it. My lip started to tremble as I tried to remember what he’d said to do if something like this happened. As long as I denied everything, then it would all be OK. I just had to keep my nerve. Well, actually, it was more like finding my nerve – and quick, because it wasn’t only my lip that was trembling, I was shaking so bad.
‘A lot of people are going to get hurt,’ Mrs Anwar continued. ‘Did you know Mrs Swift is pregnant too? I can’t imagine what this will do to her if her husband is accused of child abuse.’
‘Oh, God,’ I whispered.
‘Now, I’m not trying to frighten you deliberately,’ Mrs Anwar explained. ‘I simply want to make it very clear what the implications are if this accusation is taken further.’
‘But I never accused him. He didn’t do anything, miss. Honest!’
‘Nevertheless, your mum is desperate for answers. Answers that you hold, Scarlett.’
When the bell rang, I was ready to get out of there, but there wasn’t going to be any escape for me, not until I gave Mrs Anwar some kind of answer. She was leaning with her elbows on the desk and had her hands clasped in front of her while she gave me some thinking time. And that was when I worked out what I had to do. I could give her an answer, even if it wasn’t the one she was expecting.
23
The Accusations
Vikki had made it as far as the main gates, but she hadn’t been able to cross the threshold and turn her back on the school and whatever was going on inside. She was scared that if she tried stepping back into her old life, she might find that it didn’t exist any more; if it ever had. Nina could be confronting Rob at that very moment and while she could imagine that he would deny everything, this didn’t give her any comfort at all.
As she pondered her future, a Range Rover sped through the gates and past her before coming to a sudden stop nearby. When Vikki had called for backup, her options had been limited. Standing in the school playground, she had been acutely aware of the friendships she had lost. At Scarlett’s age, she would have had half a dozen of her peers to call upon, but all she had now was a business card from Amy, who had become a relative stranger. Vikki needed someone who would have more faith in her than she had in herself and, more importantly, in her husband too. Sarah Tavistock had been the first to suspect Scarlett’s stepfather, and would dismiss Nina’s latest theory as utter nonsense, but when Vikki had phoned to let her know what was happening, Sarah’s only response was to cut the call short, and now she was here.
‘You should go home, Vikki,’ Sarah said as she got out of her car.
Feeling like a child who was being sent out of the room while the adults talked, Vikki said, ‘But I want to know what’s happening. I want to hear what Rob says.’
With a tilt of her head, Sarah asked, ‘Does that mean you’re not sure? Do you doubt him too?’
‘No – of course not. Why would I?’
There was a heart-stopping moment when Sarah might have asked more, but she simply said, ‘In that case, maybe you should be there. Let’s go.’
Sarah didn’t explain what she intended to do, and Vikki was too afraid to ask, as was the receptionist who took one look at Vikki’s pale complexion and Sarah’s glowering features before sending them up to the main office.
Mrs Marshall was sitting behind her desk when they arrived. She looked no different than when Vikki had been a student, except perhaps her grey hair was a shade lighter. She gave Vikki that same look as if she had just been sent out from class, and Vikki did feel like a schoolgirl again. She was only grateful that they would be dealing with Mrs Anwar and not her predecessor. Mr Taggart had terrified students and teachers alike.
‘Where’s Mrs Anwar?’ Sarah demanded as she looked towards the office door, which had been left ajar.
‘And you are?’
‘Your worst nightmare, if you don’t find her right now,’ Sarah said, and before Mrs Marshall had the chance to respond, she headed for the open door.
Not wanting to be left behind, Vikki followed and was shocked to find Nina and Rob sitting silently at the conference table. Nina wouldn’t look at her, but focused only on her friend.
‘Did you speak to Charlotte?’ Nina demanded.
Sarah gave a brief nod. ‘I can’t believe she never told me,’ she said, the words paining her but seemingly having no effect on Nina, who looked away as her friend took a seat without being invited. Sarah folded her arms and glared at Rob.
Vikki was the only one left standing. The exchange between the two friends unnerved her and she felt faint. She also felt very alone.
‘What are you doing here, Vikki?’ Rob asked.
‘She wants answers, as do we all,’ Sarah answered for her.
Rob returned Sarah’s glare. ‘Perhaps more to the point, what are you doing here, Mrs Tavistock?’
‘Let’s just say I have a vested interest, too,’ Sarah told him, and without even looking at her, added, ‘Sit down, Vikki.’
There were several seats to choose from and Vikki didn’t know which to take until Rob pulled out the chair next to him. ‘This is ridiculous,’ he said under his breath.
‘Mrs Anwar is talking to Scarlett,’ Nina said to Sarah. ‘She asked that we don’t discuss anything until she gets back.’ She glanced towards the door, which had been wedged open on purpose, presumably so Mrs Marshall could raise the alarm if they broke the rules.
‘I take it you’ve denied everything?’ Sarah asked Rob.
‘And I imagine Scarlett is confirming everything I’ve said.’
‘Would that be because you’ve trained her so well?’
‘No, it would be because it’s the truth,’ Rob said, directin
g his comment to his wife. He grasped her hand. ‘I’m sorry, Vikki, you shouldn’t be listening to this. If I’d known it was going to turn into a witch hunt I would have let Nadia do this formally, and to hell with the damage to my reputation. There’s nothing to tell, and nothing to hide.’
‘Don’t be so sure about that,’ Sarah said. ‘I had an interesting chat with my daughter this morning. She told me what happened between you two.’ She glanced briefly at Vikki, before adding, ‘She told me about the kiss.’
Rob took a sharp intake of breath. ‘That was a complete misunderstanding,’ he said, letting go of Vikki’s hand and leaning forward. ‘She kissed me.’
‘She was an impressionable seventeen-year-old, and it was not a misunderstanding,’ Sarah replied in a low growl. ‘It was grooming, Mr Swift. My daughter was so embarrassed that she’s spent the last four years pretending it never happened. But it did happen, didn’t it?’
‘Did you hear me deny it?’ Rob demanded. ‘But you can’t build this up into something it’s not.’ He ground his teeth as he composed himself. ‘I’d kept her back after class this one time to go through a piece of coursework she was struggling with. I leant towards her to explain something and she thought I was moving in for a kiss, and that was what she did. It was over in a split second, and it was right that she should forget about it.’
‘Did you report it to the school?’
‘Of course not. It was a schoolgirl infatuation, and I was hardly going to add to her humiliation.’
Rob turned to Vikki for support, but she was too busy trying to work out when this might have happened. Could it have been around the time her dad had died, when she had been staying with her mum? Was there a pattern, or simply a jumbled mess that could be twisted and turned to make the picture fit the crime?
Vikki wished she’d had the courage to speak to Scarlett earlier. It felt as if her life and her marriage were hanging by a thread, and as the school bell began to ring, she imagined a knife slicing it clean through. ‘Will they be long?’ Vikki asked faintly.
For the first time since entering the office, Nina looked directly at Vikki. ‘I’ll wait as long as it takes to get answers,’ she warned, her eyes filling with tears. ‘I won’t let him get away with this.’
The Affair Page 20