by K. J. Rabane
“Pour me a gin and tonic would you, darling? Oh and go easy on the tonic.”
I caught Josie’s eye over the tufted top of Evelyn’s hair as she bent once more in animated conversation with Henry. I raised an eyebrow, smiled as if everything was normal, and poured the gin into her glass.
The evening was a complete disaster. Every time Josie tried to engage Evelyn in conversation, she received one-word answers. It was obvious she was giving her friend ‘the cold shoulder’ and I felt Josie’s embarrassment as acutely as I did my own at her behaviour. Poor Henry looked bewildered. His confusion, at my wife’s conduct was plain to see.
Evelyn flirted outrageously with Henry all evening and he appeared to be at a loss to know how to deal with it. By the time Mrs Bates announced dinner was ready, my wife had downed three large G and T’s and was beginning to slur her words. I was grateful the time had come for us to eat, in the hope that the food would lessen the effects of the gin.
The meal was delicious Mrs Bates had excelled herself and we were effusive with our praise of her culinary skills, all of us that is except Evelyn. She picked at her food and complained that the meal was too rich for her digestion. However, I don’t think Mrs Bates took any notice as the rest of us were heaping enough praises on her head for Evelyn’s petulance to pass her by.
At the end of the meal, my wife hurried ahead of us to the sitting room and put some music on the stereo system. The CD she selected I’d not heard before. It was loud and to me appeared to be anything other than musical.
“Who is this?” I asked above the din.
“It’s the ‘Punkins’! Isn’t it great? It’s Leo’s favourite group.” She caught hold of my hand and drew me across our wooden floor, kicking off her high heels, which slid into a corner. Then she danced with me, sliding her body provocatively against my thigh, as if we were alone. I held her at arm’s length for Josie and Henry’s sake as they were beginning to look more than a little uncomfortable. Then she let go of my arm and danced towards Henry and to my horror, I saw her catch hold of his wheelchair and spin him around full circle in time with the raucous beat. This she repeated until I saw Josie raise her hand to her face.
“Evelyn, that’s enough,” I said, pulling her away and steering her towards the couch. I removed the offending Punkins and put on a CD of swing music I knew Henry enjoyed, and tried to make light of the incident. “You’ll wear Henry out with your enthusiasm, my love. At least let him digest his meal in peace. At the mention of food, Evelyn put her hand over her mouth, retched, and rushed out of the room. We could hear the sound of her vomiting in the downstairs loo above the strains of Tony Bennett leaving his heart in San Francisco. At that moment, San Francisco was looking more and more appealing to me: anywhere other than watching our friends’ embarrassment as they made their excuses to leave the disaster area, without making a difficult situation any worse.
“We hope Evelyn will be feeling better soon. Thank you for inviting us,” Josie said, kissing my cheek. Henry just patted my arm as he left saying. “I’ll ring you.”
Later, when I had put her to bed, I sat in my study watching the stars burning in the night sky and wondering how I was going to put a stop to the unhealthy relationship, which had developed between Leonora and Evelyn, without either of them being aware of my involvement. My thoughts ran around in circles and the situation seemed impossible to rectify. I should have known I was wasting my time.
The stars above looked down on me as if acknowledging my insignificance in the scheme of things.
Chapter 14
The day after the disastrous dinner party, Evelyn spent in bed recovering. She had an almighty hangover and her mood was depressed and uncommunicative. I tried to make her give some sort of explanation for her actions of the previous evening but all she would say was ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry’ repeated in a monotone, devoid of either remorse or emotion. Hovering between extreme anger at her bizarre behaviour and concern for her mental state, I left the room and walked to the riverbank.
The telephone rang just after lunch. It was Josie thanking us for the evening. Uncertain how to proceed, she asked tentatively after Evelyn and finished by telling me that she and Henry were always there should I need them. Her concern rang alarm bells and I began to worry about my wife’s health in earnest, deciding that when Lucas returned from Europe I would pay him a visit. Maybe he would have the answer, without me having to consult someone professionally.
During the following week the weather worsened and I saw little of my wife. She was preoccupied with visiting Leonora on the pretence of keeping her company whilst Lucas was in Europe.
Frost covered the trees in the woodland and the edges of the river froze solid near the bank. Tinker shivered when I opened the back door and seemed less than eager to join me on our regular walk. I huddled into the depths of my sheepskin coat and watched him bound off into the trees his nose pressed to the ground. At one point I thought I saw Josie with the dogs in the distance but she turned abruptly and made her way back towards her house when she saw Tinker.
When Thursday arrived, I found myself looking for an excuse to visit the office when coincidentally the telephone on my desk rang. It was Alan Henderson. “Sorry to bother you at home, Boss, but I wondered if you could spare some time to come in today. There’s something I need to discuss with you.”
I looked at my watch. “It’s a bit late now. What about tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow’s fine. See you about eleven?”
“Sure. I could make it today if it’s desperately urgent?” I offered but he assured me that it could wait.
The next day, I awoke to the sound of Evelyn singing in the shower. I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed, it was a sound I hadn’t heard for months. She seemed almost content. Maybe things were going to improve after all. Ever the eternal optimist, I dressed for work but events that day were set to change the habits of a lifetime.
Evelyn, emerging from the shower room her fresh, cleanly scrubbed, face at odds with her black-rooted bleached hair, looked in the mirror, saw my reflection looking back at her in the glass, and smiled. Tapping the top of her head she murmured, “My hair is badly in need of a colour. It’s just as well Leo and I are booked in with Freddie today. If I leave it any longer I’ll be back to my old colour.”
“I didn’t mind your old colour. Why don’t you ask Freddie if he can colour it back?”
“You must be joking! Don’t tell me you don’t like my blonde bombshell look after all?”
Not wishing to hurt her feelings, I hedged my bets. “It’s not that. I love you, whatever the colour of your hair. I just thought it might be easier for you to let it go back to its normal shade, that’s all.”
“It’s no bother. Anyway Leo likes it.”
She started to comb the wet hair forward and I noticed how long it had grown.
“So, you and Leonora are going into town. Are you making a day of it?” I asked.
“Of course. You don’t mind, do you?”
“No, I’m going to the office for a while. So we’ll meet up for dinner at eight? Take care driving, the roads look icy to me,” I said, parting the bedroom curtains and peering through the frost-coated windowpane.
“I’ll be careful, I promise. Oh by the way, I rang Leo yesterday to ask her to join us for dinner as Lucas is still away,” she said, yawning.
I didn’t turn around so she missed the expression on my face. Then I heard her say, “She can’t make it though, Lucas is arriving home this evening.”
Later, I helped her into her car and watched as she drove in the direction of the Bennetts’ place, then followed in my car until the road forked and I joined the motorway slip road.
The side roads were icy but the motorway was clear and I arrived at my office in time to meet Alan at eleven o’clock. Alice put two cups of coffee on my desk as Alan and I got down to business.
“I thought you ought to see this,” he said handing me a letter, headed Megacells Comput
er Software. “As you can see it’s from Maxwell Hutton. He said sales of Gorgon have gone through the roof and he’s keen to have more of the same. He wants to know how long it will be before Centaur is complete and ready for production.”
I put the letter down on my desktop and rubbed the palm of my hand over my chin. “So it’s good news and bad news then.”
“How much longer do you think?” Alan looked at me apprehensively.
“I’ve had a bit on my plate recently, as you can imagine.” Frowning at him, I said, “I can’t see my way clear to finishing the finer points much before the end of December.”
“Hutton wants it in the shops before Christmas.” He looked at me over the top of his glasses. “How is Evelyn, by the way?”
“Not good, Alan, not good at all.”
“I’m sorry but I guessed as much, that’s why I wanted to talk to you today. This letter from Hutton only precipitated our discussion.”
“Go on,” I urged
“There’s this chap, nephew of an old mate of mine. His name is Charles Thornley, known as Chip, only partly because of his interest in computers.”
I smiled and Alan relaxed. “He’s completed his degree but as yet hasn’t found a job. I wondered if?”
“Excellent, get him on to Centaur straight away, as soon as possible. I trust your judgement as always. In fact it couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time.”
“Great, I’m sure he’ll be an asset to us.”
“That’s good enough for me then,” I said.
“I told Chip I’d speak to you today and I’ve arranged to meet him in the wine bar across the road at half five. Now it looks as though we have something to celebrate. Why don’t you join us? I’m sure he’d appreciate hearing the good news from the main man.”
I hesitated but only for a second. I doubted if Evelyn would be home much before seven. “Sounds like a good idea to me. See you later. Now, while I’m here, I suppose I better do some work. Send Alice in would you please?”
Chip Thornley was tall and thin with a shaved head and an earring in one ear. He was keen and his enthusiasm reminded me of myself at his age, although there the analogy ceased, as I had conformed to the norm in appearance and dress, neither of which he seemed inclined to do. Although his appearance did nothing to advertise his reliability, I felt drawn to him. During our conversation, I had the strong feeling his loyalty would be unquestionable, which was why I felt able to trust him with Centaur without any misgivings.
Softcell had a more than adequate technology department staffed with analysts and programmers who, I was sure, would be competent enough to deal with most problems but Centaur required a visionary. Gorgon and its followers were special projects of mine and Alan Henderson knew of my sensitivity regarding their production, but even Alan could see I was struggling and couldn’t possibly complete in time for the Christmas market. I trusted his judgement where Chip Thornley was concerned and my first meeting with him had done nothing to dispel that feeling
The wine bar was full of office workers, Alan, Chip and I stood in a corner at the end of the bar discussing what we would be expecting from our new recruit.
I looked at my watch. “I must be going gentlemen. Chip it’s good to have you on board. Alan will fill you in with all the details.”
Alan Henderson walked to the door with me leaving Chip standing at the bar.
“What do you think?” he asked
“I like him. I think he could be just what we are looking for. Sorry to dash off. I’ll give you a ring in the morning.”
“No probs. Give my love to Evelyn,” he said, closing the door behind me.
Outside, the cold air hit me full in the face and my breath burned in my chest leaving me panting for air. Snow flurries swirled in the light shed from the lamppost and I bent my head as my face began to sting. By the time I’d reached my car, there was a light dusting of snow on the bonnet and my fingers felt numb as I struggled with the already freezing lock.
The motorway was clear and the snow showers had stopped when I took the side road leading to the village. A fire engine passed me from the direction of the River Road, its blue light flashing in the gloom and I wondered if it had been called out on yet another false alarm. The fire alarms in our building at Softcell were always being set off accidentally and it was a source of embarrassment to me that we’d had to explain to the fire chief, on numerous occasions, that their assistance wasn’t required.
I felt my tyres slide on a patch of black ice and turned my wheel in the direction of the skid, so that I remained pointing in the right direction. It was dark, and the side road, which branched off to River Road, was unlit. All I had to guide me was the beam from my headlights. Glancing through the trees to the road, I saw everything appeared to be in darkness. I thought maybe there’d been a power cut.
It’s easy to say now that I knew something was wrong, but it’s true the nearer I drove to River House, the stronger became my sense of unease. Icy rain began to fall and I switched on my windscreen wipers. The wind had strengthened and the trees at the side of the road rustled and shook their bare branches eerily in the darkness. I thought I saw our house lights as I turned a bend in the road and wondered how it was possible to see them so clearly at such a distance and if so the power cut had only affected the lights on River Road. As I approached, it looked as if Evelyn had left every light on in the house.
Our security gates stood wide open and behind them I could see the reason for the lights. Two police cars and an ambulance stood in our driveway, their blue lights flashing intermittently. The front door was ajar and I could see Mrs Bates with two uniformed police officers standing in the hall. She had been crying and I saw her dabbing her eyes with a teacloth. As I drew up and hurried out of my car, Lucas Bennett walked towards me.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, dreading the reply.
“It’s Evelyn. Look I want to speak to you before you go inside. There’s been an accident.”
I turned in the direction of the ambulance; there was a body on a stretcher. Two paramedics stood one each side of the back door to the vehicle. I took a step forward but Lucas placed a restraining hand on my arm. “No, please, let me tell you what happened first.”
I felt an icy finger slide down my back and shuddered as he continued.
“Evelyn had just dropped Leonora off and had barely driven two hundred metres along River Road. A while later we heard a crash and rushed to the scene.”
Drawing breath into my aching lungs, I felt the biting cold once more, this time sending its icy fingers towards my heart as I struggled to understand what Lucas was saying.
“By the time we reached her, we were too late. The car had crashed. She must have skidded on the ice and hit the lamppost. We looked to see if we could help but it was useless. The lamppost was lying across the bonnet and was thrust through the windscreen.”
Lucas put his hand on my arm as a look of pure horror spread across my face. “I phoned the emergency services and afterwards followed them back here.”
I watched him running his fingers through his grey hair, saying, “If it’s any comfort, she wouldn’t have suffered. It must have been over in an instant.” Lucas bent his head, “I’m so sorry.”
I started to walk towards the ambulance once more but he stepped in front of me.
“Come inside, Leonora is in the kitchen, she’s still in shock but making hot sweet tea for everyone. There’s nothing to be gained by seeing Evelyn now. Take my advice and wait until they call you for identification.”
I tried to pull away from him but recognised the futility of my actions. What was I hoping to see? Evelyn had gone. What was the point? Lucas was right. Reluctantly I allowed myself to be steered past Mrs Bates, who howled when she saw me and buried her face deeper in her teacloth. Ignoring the two police officers waiting to speak to me, I found myself deposited in the kitchen where Leonora stood in front of the kettle, her face even whiter than normal. Lucas held out a chair an
d I felt my legs collapse as I sat down.
“Forget the tea, Leo. A large brandy, please.” Lucas instructed. “You’re coming home with us tonight.” I shook my head slowly, my mind refusing to accept what had happened.“ No use protesting. I want to keep an eye on you. I insist. Don’t worry about the police, I’ll have a word with them,” he said, walking into the hallway.
It’s impossible to recall the anguish I felt that day. Something in my subconscious refuses to allow me to feel the strength of emotion I felt then. I remember little of the next few days with the Bennetts. It seems I must have spent them in a drug-induced stupor. I do remember Lucas bringing me a daily paper one morning, when I was sitting in his kitchen staring out of the window with unseeing eyes. He put a cup of coffee and the morning paper down on the table in front of me before leaving for his consulting rooms. Leonora was in town shopping and I was alone.
I turned over the front page and saw a photograph of Evelyn and myself on the inside pages. It was taken some years previously when we’d attended a dinner where I’d been presented with the Young Businessman of the Year award. We were smiling and I was holding my trophy aloft for the cameras to get a good picture. Above the photograph was the headline DEATH OF MILLIONAIRE COMPUTER GIANT’S WIFE and below an account of the accident. I read on;-
Beautiful Evelyn Hope, wife of the millionaire founder of ‘Softcell Computer Operating Systems,’ is dead. In a tragic accident on a side road near the village of Kings Datchet her car skidded in icy conditions…..
I let the newspaper fall to the floor, buried my face in my hands and there I remained until Leonora returned from her shopping. She made no comment when she entered the kitchen, quietly removed the paper and replaced the half-empty coffee cup with a tumbler containing a large measure of brandy. Then she left me alone with my grief and the stupefying effects of the golden spirit in the crystal glass for which I’d developed a fondness.