The Story of Our Lives

by Helen Warner

  Steve said not to listen to any more. He’ll be on to you next…

  As if on cue, Emily’s phone buzzed in her hand, making her jump. The number was withheld but she knew it was him. For a moment she considered answering it. But something stopped her and she let it click through to voicemail.

  Once the message alert sounded, she pressed her voicemail with shaking hands. His voice was clear, confident and charming. ‘Hi, Emily,’ he said, before pausing. ‘Look, this probably sounds a bit ridiculous but I’ve just got home and Amy and the kids aren’t here.’

  There was another long pause, as if he was collecting himself. ‘I’m just a bit worried. If you get this message and you know where they are, could you give me a call? Thanks, Emily.’

  Emily stared at the phone. He was so plausible. So charming. It was hard to imagine him being the monster she knew he was. She deleted the message and decided to switch off her phone for a few hours, so that there was no possibility of her taking any more of his calls.

  When she switched it back on just before going to bed, it buzzed into life angrily and she could see that there were six new missed calls. All from him and all with accompanying voicemail. She wondered if she should take Steve’s advice and delete them but something compelled her to listen to them.

  In the first message, he managed to maintain his worried yet charming tone but by the sixth, he had given up all pretence:

  ‘Listen, you fucking conniving bitch, I know you know where they are and I know you’re to blame for them leaving. Call me back and tell me where they are or I will track you down and I promise you, you don’t want that to happen…’

  Emily’s heart began to pound with a mixture of outrage and fear. This is what poor Amy had been living with all this time. She couldn’t help wondering, what if he did track her down? He was so menacing and she knew what he was capable of.

  But, she rationalized, he had never been to her flat and wouldn’t have a clue where she lived – would he? Amy had taken her phone with her and she was fairly sure her contact details wouldn’t be written down anywhere else. With a trembling hand, she deleted the voicemails and texted Sophie:

  He’s threatening to track me down… I’m a bit scared. How is Amy? X

  Sophie replied almost instantly:

  Do you want to come here? We could squeeze you and Jack in too? Amy’s gone to bed. She’s like a zombie but at least she’s safe.

  Emily thought for a moment how wonderful it would be to be looked after by Sophie and Steve. But even though it was tempting, she didn’t want to involve Jack in this mess and if she was honest, she didn’t want to put either of them in harm’s way any more than they already were.

  No thanks but I’ll call tomorrow xx

  Over the next week, the volume of Nick’s calls increased. Emily stopped listening to them and would delete them in bulk at the end of the day. Then, just as suddenly as they had started, they stopped.

  She rang Sophie. ‘He’s stopped calling.’

  ‘Hmmm. He’s stopped calling her and us too.’

  ‘It worries me more than the abusive voicemails. He must be up to something.’

  Sophie was silent for a few minutes. ‘I know what you mean.’

  ‘How’s Amy?’

  ‘Good, actually. It’s as if she’s waking up from a coma. She seems angry, which I think is a good thing.’

  ‘Me too,’ Emily agreed. ‘I’ll come over tonight if that’s OK? Jack’s at my mum and dad’s house.’

  ‘Sure. Amy would like that. Stay for dinner.’

  Emily arrived at around 7.00 in the evening. The house was a scene of happy chaos, with Steve cooking while Amy watched the kids playing. ‘Where’s Sophie?’ Emily hung up her jacket and took a seat beside Amy at the huge kitchen table.

  ‘Still at work,’ chorused Steve and Amy together, before laughing.

  ‘Well, you certainly seem a lot happier than when I last saw you.’ Emily reached out and took Amy’s thin hand in hers.

  Amy glanced nervously towards Megan, who was playing dolls with Emma in a corner of the room and seemed oblivious. ‘I’m not sure happy is the right word,’ she began. ‘But I definitely feel better. I’m just terrified Nick’s going to turn up here. Poor Steve – I won’t let him out of my sight in case he does.’

  Emily looked up at Steve, who was cooking at the island in the middle of the room. He caught her watching him and smiled. ‘It’s nice to be so in demand. I’m not used to women wanting my attention all the time.’

  Emily laughed.

  ‘Joking aside,’ Amy continued, glancing at Steve, ‘I can’t stay here indefinitely…’

  ‘Yes, actually, you can.’ Steve’s voice was firm. ‘You can stay as long as you need to.’ He finished the stir-fry he was making and deftly scooped it into three dishes, which he placed on the table, before taking off his makeshift tea-towel apron and sitting down opposite them. ‘Dig in,’ he said, pouring a glass of red wine for each of them.

  ‘Thanks so much, Steve.’ Amy picked up her fork. ‘I don’t know how I’d have coped without you and Sophie.’

  ‘Shh! None of that talk,’ Steve said, already wolfing his food down. Emily thought it was a peculiarly satisfying sight to see someone enjoying eating so much, especially with Amy picking at hers like a tiny bird. It was no wonder she was so thin.

  The doorbell rang, causing them all to start. Steve jumped up and headed for the front door, wiping his mouth with a napkin. ‘Sophie’s forgotten her keys again,’ he said, before disappearing.

  Emily and Amy continued to eat in silence while they waited for Steve to return. Minutes passed. Finally, Emily frowned and stood up. ‘Where’s Steve got to?’

  Amy’s eyes widened in fear and instantly she shrank back into herself. ‘Oh God,’ she whispered. ‘What if it’s Nick?’

  Emily noticed Megan turn towards them curiously. ‘It won’t be him,’ she said, trying to keep her voice steady as she headed out into the hallway. Even before she reached the wide-open front door, she knew something bad had happened. ‘Steve?’ she called tentatively, before going out onto the front step.

  In the neatly paved driveway, Nick’s Range Rover was parked erratically and beside the open driver’s door, Steve had pinned Nick up against the car.

  ‘You can’t fucking stop me seeing my kids!’ Nick snarled, as a thin trail of blood snaked from one nostril, pooling onto his top lip.

  ‘You don’t deserve to see them!’ Steve snarled back, pushing his fist further into Nick’s chest, causing him to yelp in pain. ‘Funny how you’re not quite such a big hard man when you’re faced with someone your own size, isn’t it?’

  Nick tried to shake himself free from Steve’s grip but he was no match for Steve’s greater height and strength.

  ‘No, you prefer beating up women who are half the size of you, don’t you? You’re pathetic.’ Steve loosened his hold for a second and in a flash, Nick’s fist came up and connected with his chin, sending him spinning off balance. As Steve hit the ground, Nick kicked hard at his ribs and he howled in pain.

  ‘Steve!’ Emily cried, running towards Nick, who was about to land another kick in Steve’s stomach. Without pausing to think, she threw herself at him and began to rain blows at his head. The anger she had felt against him for so long overflowed in a steaming torrent of rage as she pummelled him with a strength she had never known she had.

  The next thing she knew, she was lying on the ground, waking up to find Steve crouching over her, his face creased with concern. ‘Em? Em, are you OK?’

  Emily frowned and rubbed her eyes. ‘What happened?’

  Steve reached under her back and helped her to sit up. ‘Nick caught you with a right-hander. Nothing compared to what you did to him, though.’ He smiled ruefully.

  ‘Where is he?’ Emily tried to turn her head to look for him but immediately felt dizzy.

  ‘He’s gone. Jumped in his car and took off. He’ll be licking his wounds for a while, I think.’
<
br />   ‘Are you OK? He gave you a bit of a kicking there.’

  Steve winced. ‘Think he may have cracked a rib. Hopefully he came off worse, though. Come on, let’s get inside.’ He reached out to take her hand and pulled her to her feet. Emily’s legs wobbled under her and she lurched against him. ‘Whoa! Steady on there. Take it slowly.’

  As they shuffled back into the kitchen, they found Amy cowering in a corner of the room, covering her eyes with her hands and sobbing violently. Emma and Megan were staring at her with a mixture of horror and curiosity.

  ‘Hey,’ Emily said, crouching down beside her. She tried to take her hand but Amy had folded herself into a ball and it was impossible. ‘It’s OK. He’s gone.’

  ‘But he’ll be back.’ Her voice was little more than a whimper.

  ‘And if he does come back, we’ll be ready for him,’ Steve said. He tried to crouch but winced in pain and decided to stay standing. ‘It’s OK, Amy. He’s a typical bully. Knowing he’d have to get past us will put him off, I promise you.’ He gave a dry chuckle. ‘You should have seen Emily go for him. Remind me never to upset you, Em.’

  Emily laughed. ‘Well, the same goes for you.’

  Slowly, Amy unfolded herself until she was sitting with her back against the wall. She wiped her eyes with her hand. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered, giving Emily a watery smile.

  There was a bang as the front door slammed, making them all jump. ‘Jesus, what the hell’s been going on in here?’ said Sophie, taking in the scene as she walked into the kitchen, bringing the last remnants of the late summer evening with her. She scooped Emma and Megan up in either arm and planted a kiss on each of their heads. ‘I take it a certain someone’s been here?’

  Steve, Amy and Emily all nodded. ‘It got a little… messy,’ Steve said, instinctively putting his hand to his stomach.

  Sophie’s mouth dropped open. ‘Oh my God! Are you all OK?’ She put Megan and Emma down on the floor and reached out to take Steve’s hand. ‘Did he… attack you?

  ‘Well, yes. But we attacked him more.’ Steve gave a rueful smile. ‘Especially Emily. I definitely know not to get on the wrong side of her in future.’

  ‘Oh God, how awful. Well, at least he’s gone.’

  Steve nodded. ‘Yup. I think we can safely say we’ve seen him off.’

  ‘Until the next time,’ Amy muttered.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  ‘So, I have some news…’ Sophie had waited until the children were in bed and it was just the four of them curled up in the cosy sitting room of their rented holiday cottage. They had lit the real fire in the inglenook fireplace – even though it was the middle of summer, there was a distinct chill in the breeze that blew off the sea – and drawn the heavy drapes across the pretty latticed windows.

  Melissa, Emily and Amy all sat up and looked at Sophie expectantly.

  ‘I’m pregnant. Again.’

  ‘Oh, Soph, that’s fantastic news!’ Melissa threw herself at Sophie and hugged her tightly.

  Amy beamed as she tucked her legs underneath her. ‘I’m pleased that having us three there hasn’t stopped you… well, you know.’ She tailed off, as a flush spread up her pale cheeks.

  Sophie laughed uproariously. ‘No, of course it hasn’t. Quite the opposite, actually. Gorgeous baby George would make anyone broody.’

  There was a murmur of agreement. ‘Congratulations, Sophie,’ Emily said, raising her glass of red wine. ‘How pregnant are you?’

  Sophie ran her hand protectively over the nicely rounded bump she had carefully kept covered with an oversized sweater. ‘Five months. Almost twenty weeks.’

  ‘Well out of the danger zone,’ Emily said. ‘I’m pleased for you, Sophie.’

  Sophie couldn’t stop smiling. She really felt as though everything was going to be OK this time. She was convinced that having Amy and the children living with them was the key that had unlocked whatever was causing their problems. She was so distracted by the children in particular, who were both adorable, that she sometimes even forgot to obsess over getting pregnant again.

  It was Steve who had suggested she do a pregnancy test as they lay in bed one night. ‘Oh! Do you think so?’ she had replied, startled, her brain immediately whirring back through dates.

  ‘I do.’ Steve had propped himself up on one elbow in bed beside her. ‘Call it intuition or call it the fact that your boobs are noticeably bigger.…’

  Sophie had laughed, wishing she could leap out of bed and run to the chemist right at that moment.

  The next morning she bought a test on the way to work and did it as soon as she arrived. Sure enough, the blue line was clear and bold. It felt like a new beginning. A second chance.

  ‘So how’s Mark Bailey taken the news?’ Melissa said, bringing Sophie back to the present.

  ‘I still haven’t told him.’

  ‘And it’s not like he’d notice with everything that’s going on at the moment.…’

  ‘No,’ Sophie agreed. Mark was starting to make waves in America and had sold a huge format to the networks there. It meant he was spending less and less time in the UK, leaving the day-to-day running of it all to Sophie.

  ‘What will he do without you?’ Melissa sat up and leaned forward.

  Sophie considered for a moment. ‘He’ll have to either find someone to take over while I’m on maternity leave or come back and do it himself.’

  ‘I could do it?’ Melissa said, with a slightly embarrassed laugh but Sophie could see that she wasn’t joking.

  She looked at her curiously. ‘Would you want to work in TV? You’ve never shown any great interest in it before.’

  Melissa shrugged. ‘I’m a bit old for the music industry and a bit bored of it. I fancy a change and of course, I know Mark of old…’

  The other three all turned towards her simultaneously, their radars suddenly alert. ‘When you say “know him”,’ Sophie began. ‘Are we talking in biblical terms?’

  Melissa shrugged again. ‘It’s the music industry, Soph. Everyone dates everyone else.’

  Sophie’s mouth dropped open. ‘I can’t believe you’ve never mentioned this before!’

  ‘Well, it didn’t seem important. It was just a one-night stand… or a one- or two- or three- or four-night stand, to be more precise.’

  Sophie felt a brief prickle of something approaching jealousy and mentally swatted it away. She genuinely didn’t fancy Mark in the slightest but she did feel a bit possessive over him. It threw her off balance to discover that Melissa had known him intimately before she had even met him. ‘Would you have liked it to carry on?’

  Melissa sighed. ‘Maybe, but you know what Mark’s like. He doesn’t understand the concept of monogamy. I knew I’d end up getting hurt so I put a stop to it.’

  Sophie gave Melissa an admiring look. ‘Wow, that’s a very mature thing to have done, especially if you were keen on him.’

  Melissa smiled. ‘I suppose it was really, considering I was probably off my face at the time!’

  *

  The next morning, all four of them, plus the four children, headed over to the beach for breakfast. Amy had prepared a feast of smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels, beautiful, exotic fruit salads, plus bread and croissants she had freshly baked herself. Over the months she had spent living with Sophie and Steve, she had begun to cook again, much to all their delight. Once she got back into her stride, it was obvious she hadn’t lost any of her talent. They had never eaten so well.

  They spread a huge blanket on the pebbles and unloaded all the goodies from the picnic hamper they had found in the cottage.

  ‘Amy, this food is incredible,’ Melissa groaned, tucking into her third croissant. ‘We’re all going to be enormous by the time this weekend’s over.’

  Amy smiled shyly, as she broke a roll in half and gave it to George, who was sitting between her legs, beaming contentedly as he stuffed the bread into his mouth and chewed it with great concentration. Sophie watched him, entranced. Having
him in the house had helped heal her heart, which used to break every time she looked at him. Now, she could just delight in him without feeling that ache of longing for her own little boy.

  She ran her hand over her rounded stomach and smiled to herself, imagining the little life that was busy growing inside her. A brother or sister for Emma. She didn’t really care what sex it was, as long as it was healthy. She’d heard others say it in the past and never really believed them but she really meant it.

  It had been good for Emma having the younger children living with them. She was a good-natured, generous little girl and had taken on the big-sister role with great enthusiasm. She watched her now, walking hand in hand with Megan across the pebbles, stopping now and again to pick up any that caught her eye and showing them to an ever-obedient Megan.

  Sophie worried a little about Megan. At three years old, she still carried a prematurely careworn expression and seemed anxious and jumpy. It wasn’t surprising, given what she’d been through in her short life but Sophie wondered when, or if, she would ever grow out of it.

  ‘Fancy a little stroll, Soph?’ Melissa said, jolting Sophie out of her reverie. Melissa stood up and held out her hand expectantly.

  ‘Sure.’ Sophie took Melissa’s hand and clambered to her feet, not caring for once that she felt huge and ungainly beside her. She had the best excuse possible.

  ‘So, how’s it been, really? Having them all living with you?’ Melissa’s braids blew across her face and she pushed them back impatiently.

  ‘Surprisingly good. I know it sounds weird but I feel like they’ve brought me back to life after… well, you know.’

  Melissa nodded. ‘Amy’s still very fragile, though, isn’t she?’

  ‘He did such a good job of taking her apart, bit by bit, that it’s going to take a very long time to get her back. I’m not sure if we ever will.’

  ‘Any more unwanted visits?’

  ‘Yes, unfortunately. And he’s demanding access to the children, which is difficult as she can’t really stop him seeing them.’

  ‘Of course she can! He was violent towards her!’ Melissa interjected furiously.