He was staring at her. ‘You look fantastic.’
‘Oh, er thankyou.’
‘Who are you with?’
‘A friend,’ she answered lightly.
‘Yeah – who is he though?’
Kate’s heart gave a little skip. Was Alex jealous?
‘Just a friend.’
He pursed his lips nodding. ‘It’s Josh isn’t it, your salsa partner?’
Kate thought briefly about telling Alex it was none of his business. Didn’t Google say to keep errant husband’s guessing, the less they knew about what you were doing, the more they’d want to know. But it also said to make sure the ex-husband knew that you were moving on, having a good time without them. How was she supposed to do both wondered Kate desperately?
‘Yes, it is.’
Short and to the point.
‘And you’ve moved on to lunch already?’
Kate glared at her husband. ‘Let’s not forget you’re here with the woman you’re having an affair with Alex, the woman you left me to be with,’ she snapped.
‘Sorry! Sorry Kate – I didn’t mean, I don’t know …’
Alex swept a hand through the floppy fringe, a move always guaranteed to bring a smile to Kate’s lips.
She watched him unsmiling.
‘It’s just a surprise, seeing you here with – someone else,’ he offered. ‘I guess I wasn’t quite ready for it.’
Kate stood ramrod straight. ‘Yes it is a bit of a shock to the system,’ she said politely, watching Alex’s face fill with colour.
‘Sorry,’ he said again. ‘Sorry Kate, I – sorry.’
They stood in the long hallway in silence until Alex spoke.
‘Are you two together then?’
Kate blinked in surprise. ‘Well hardly Alex, I only met him two weeks ago.’
‘But you go to salsa with him and you’re here now having lunch with him.’
Kate stretched her lips into a semblance of a smile. ‘Yes,’ she agreed, ‘Josh is very thoughtful. He was worried about me spending so much time on my own and thought it would be nice for me – and Millie – to have a change of scenery.’
Alex had found it a chore going out with Millie. He objected to the huge volume of bits and pieces that Kate said were necessary when taking a baby out even if only for a few hours. He objected to the fact that their decision where to go, what time to go and where to sit were all dictated by Millie and when she would need to eat and sleep. He preferred to leave Millie with Fiona and take Kate out on her own.
He flushed slightly under Kate’s eye.
‘And it’s been lovely,’ enthused Kate, ‘having a relaxing Sunday lunch with a friend.’
Alex’s furrow deepened.
‘And of course you know how I love dancing,’ Kate carried on, enjoying the darkening of Alex’s eyes. ‘So having someone to join me on a Friday night is also wonderful.’
‘Shame you never suggested going to salsa with me,’ snapped Alex.
‘You hated salsa,’ snapped back Kate. ‘We went all of twice and you found a hundred and one reasons why we shouldn’t go back!’
They stood glaring at each other for a moment until Kate remembered the copious notes scattered across her kitchen table. Accusations were not the way to get your husband back.
She bit her lip and offered a smile. ‘Maybe we both should have considered each other a little more?’ she offered tentatively. ‘Perhaps we should have gone out more – to something we both enjoyed.’
Alex nodded stiffly. ‘Maybe.’
They looked at each other uncomfortably.
‘Kate,’ Alex began.
She waited.
‘Kate – I am sorry you know.’
Kate didn’t really care if Alex was sorry. She just wanted him to come back.
‘I acted badly and I am so sorry I hurt you.’
Now this was progress thought Kate, feeling a sliver of excitement slide down her spine.
‘I was - unhappy.’
The excitement dissipated.
‘But I never meant for things to end like this,’ Alex waved his hand vaguely in Kate’s direction, ‘for me and you to end up like this. It just all got out of control.’
‘I see,’ said Kate with a tremor in her voice.
Alex nodded. ‘I want to see you again Kate, I want us to sit down and talk about what we can do, if we can rescue this situation.’
The excitement was back.
She nodded. ‘Okay.’
‘I’ll phone shall I? Next week. Maybe Fiona can look after Millie again and we’ll go out and spend some time together.’
Kate was holding her emotions firmly in check. It really wouldn’t do to whoop and shake her fist in the air.
‘That sounds good Alex. I’m sure Fee will help us out any night.’ She watched as Alex let out a relieved breath.
‘Of course I can’t do Friday night,’ she threw at him. ‘Salsa remember.’
‘Oh? I would have thought our future was slightly more important than Salsa.’
Kate smiled. ‘Well let’s wait until we work out what our future is Alex, then we’ll worry about salsa!’ and she turned away and carried on down the corridor to the bathroom.
Her heart was still leaping in her chest although whether from excitement, despair or nerves Kate wasn’t entirely sure. She really needed to get back home and in front of her laptop. Surely Google would have some sage words of advice to offer.
Leaving the cubicle Kate had to work very hard to contain a gasp. Standing by the sink was Sandra Maddison.
Ignoring her Kate began to wash her hands. After all, the only reason she knew this was Sandra, was because she had spent a tearful evening looking at her photograph. And of course, because Kate had followed her home. Neither of these things Kate felt inclined to explain to Sandra.
‘Hello Kate.’
Their eyes met in the mirror above the sink.
‘I’m Sandra. Sandra Maddison.’
Kate nodded her head, rinsing her hands slowly, let the warm water run between each finger.
‘I know Alex just followed you. He said he went to the bathroom but I know he wanted to speak to you.’
Alex lying to her about his whereabouts already. Kate let a flicker of a smile touch her lips and decided that her hands were as clean as they were going to get.
‘I just wondered what he wanted?’ said Sandra.
Kate gave her a haughty look as she walked towards the dryer. What was it to Sandra Maddison what Alex and his wife discussed?
She saw Sandra’s mouth open again and she thrust her hands in the electric hand dryer, the noise filling the bathroom and blocking out whatever Sandra had to say.
Hands thoroughly dried, Kate turned round to face Sandra who had fallen silent.
They looked at each other for a moment and Kate decided that close up Sandra wasn’t quite as elegant as she had first appeared. The dress was actually a little too tight and the make up a little too heavy handed. As Fiona had once told her, there was definitely more than a hint of desperation about Sandra Maddison.
‘Kate I know this is really hard for you,’ Kate doubted if Sandra had any comprehension just what life was like for Kate. ‘And I know you probably think very badly of me.’
Kate thought for a moment. She had tortured herself thinking of Sandra and Alex together, she had sobbed most nights at the image that haunted her of her husband in bed with another woman. Why Alex had let Sandra’s come to bed eyes take him to bed? What Alex had been thinking of the first time he had bent down to kiss Sandra? Why he hadn’t stopped to think of Kate when he embarked on an affair with another woman? And Sandra herself, what had she felt? Was she happy, excited, triumphant that she had managed to take away Kate’s husband?
‘I haven’t thought of you at all,’ Kate lied.
Sandra’s mouth tightened. ‘Well whatever – but the thing is that we’re in love.’
Kate took out her lipstick and reapplied some colour, watching
Sandra through the mirror again.
‘I know Alex finds it hard to say that to you, he’s worried about your feelings.’
Kate snorted. So worried he had left her.
‘I mean, he worries about how upset you might get, how lonely you are and he doesn’t want you to do anything desperate or silly.’
Kate put the lipstick away. ‘Do I look desperate?’ she asked in surprise. She looked at her reflection, she thought she looked extremely well, under the circumstances.
Was that a flash of confusion in Sandra’s eyes, wondered Kate.
‘Well,’ Sandra continued bravely, ‘that’s why he finds it hard to tell you that we love each other. He left you because he had fallen in love with me.’
Kate considered Sandra’s words. She had given Alex the opportunity to say he loved Sandra and he hadn’t taken it. She remembered the look in Alex’s eye as they’d faced each other in the corridor only minutes earlier and Kate knew that whatever Alex’s reasons for leaving it was not because he was in love with Sandra.
She smiled and gathered her handbag heading for the door.
‘He doesn’t love you any more, you do know that,’ shouted Sandra as Kate walked past her.
‘He told me all about you. He told me how you used to be such fun, how much he loved the life you had.’
Kate didn’t turn round. She held onto the door handle tightly but she didn’t open the door.
‘But you changed,’ blurted out Sandra. ‘He told me how you changed, how all you think about now is tidying the house and what to have for tea and looking after your daughter.’
Kate still held on to the door handle. The words were like knives striking her in the back.
‘And now he just thinks you’re boring. He wanted more which is why he fell in love with me.’
Kate turned, she looked at Sandra, trembling and teary and thought that they actually had something in common after all. They were both desperately unhappy with the way Alex was treating them.
Sandra tried to look confident. ‘He said you weren’t the person he fell in love with and he didn’t want you anymore,’ she flung at Kate, her words intended to be as hurtful as she could make them.
Kate remained dry eyed. She caught a glimpse of her refection behind Sandra and was pleased that she had chosen the cardigan she was wearing. It really suited her, she decided.
She looked at Sandra. ‘Alex talked about you as well Sandra,’ she said with a polite smile.
‘He did?’ asked Sandra, the tears momentarily halting. ‘what did he say?’
‘He said you were available,’ and with another smile and a gracious nod of her head Kate left.
Chapter 20
‘So what exactly did he say?’ demanded Fiona as they sat at the kitchen table later the following evening with tea and biscuits. ‘Did he say he wanted to come back?’
Kate nibbled on a hobnob.
‘Not exactly,’ she said cheerfully. ‘It was more the way he looked, the things he didn’t say.’
Fiona looked doubtful. ‘I always find out more when people actually speak.’
Kate grinned. ‘Okay. Well he did say that he didn’t know how things had got to this stage, he did say he was sorry for hurting me. He did not say he loved Sandra Maddison. And although he didn’t say he wanted to come back he did say that he wanted to see me again and for us to sit down and talk, decide what we wanted to do next.’
Fiona looked happier. ‘Okay, well that all sounds positive. And …?’
‘And?’ echoed Kate.
‘And do you still want him back?’
Kate took another hobnob and nodded. ‘Of course.’
‘So when are you two getting together? I’ll take Millie of course.’
Kate shrugged. ‘I don’t know, Alex said he’d phone me. Any day but Friday.’
‘Why not Friday?’
‘Salsa of course.’
Fiona stared at her friend for a moment then broke into a grin.
‘And is it salsa you’re looking forward to or seeing your salsa partner?’
‘Fee!’ Kate threw half a biscuit at her friend who caught it and dipped it in her tea. But she also noticed the flush of colour in Kate’s cheeks.
‘You like him don’t you. Josh, I mean, you really like him?’
Kate concentrated on her tea, refusing to meet her friend’s eyes.
‘Of course I like him. He’s a friend.’
‘I’m your friend, you don’t blush when someone mentions my name!’
Kate took another biscuit, swirling it in her tea until it fell in two and she watched as it drifted to the bottom of her mug.
‘He’s just a friend Fee,’ she insisted. ‘He’s been incredibly nice to me – and Millie. It was lovely going out on Sunday, it’s been such a long time since we had lunch out as a family.’
‘But Josh isn’t your family,’ said Fee quietly and the flush in Kate’s cheeks deepened.
‘I know! What I meant was that it felt like a family type of outing and I enjoyed myself.’
Actually, thought Kate with a frown, she usually spent her Sundays cleaning the house and ironing Alex’s shirts for the coming week while Alex played with Millie for approximately fifteen minutes before turning on the TV. It was occasionally broken with a visit to her mother’s, something Alex enjoyed more than Kate did but which was at least a change of scenery. So Sunday with Josh, far from reminding her of what she had been missing, had actually been a whole new experience.
She looked up, Fiona was watching her from under the mop of bright red hair.
‘So what happens now?’ she asked.
‘Well,’ Kate smiled as she flipped open her laptop. ‘Everything is going to plan! Alex knows I’ve been out making new friends,’ she held up her fingers as she ticked off her list, ‘he has a renewed interest in me because he is no longer aware of what is going on in my life and he is being reminded of why he loved me in the first place.’ She grinned. ‘Perfect!’
‘But what do you do next?’ asked Fiona looking longingly at the few hobnobs left in the packet.
Kate paused, ‘Mm, I’m not entirely sure.’ She was scrolling through the pages. ‘I think he’s supposed to make the next move.’
‘How?’ Fiona had given in and had a mouth full of biscuit.
‘Well it’s not really clear but I think he will need to see more of me, find out what I’m doing – that sort of thing.’
‘What if he doesn’t?’
Kate frowned. ‘He will, it says here he will.’
‘Yes, but what if he doesn’t?’
The friends stared at each other for a moment.
‘He will,’ reiterated Kate. ‘I just know he will.’
The silence fell again and both women jumped as Kate’s mobile rang, vibrating along the table into her outstretched hand.
‘Oh my God it’s Alex,’ she squealed staring at the phone in her hand.
‘Well answer it,’ shouted Fiona who was now sitting up straight, her hands pressed together in excitement.
Kate bit her lip. ‘I don’t know what to say.’
‘Well you can’t say anything if you don’t answer it!’
‘Yes but …’
‘ANSWER IT KATE!’
‘Hello?’ Kate was trying for cool and calm but sounded breathless and unsure. ‘Oh Alex,’
‘Hello.’
Fiona was leaning towards her so she could hear the conversation.
‘Er, hello Alex.’
‘Kate, hello.’
Well that was the hellos out of the way thought Kate as she waited, holding her breath.
‘I just wanted to call and say …’
Kate waited as Alex coughed and paused. Fiona had her knuckles to her mouth, pretending to gnaw on them and Kate turned away so she could concentrate on her husband’s voice.
‘To say how nice it was to see you yesterday.’
Kate’s eyebrows shot upwards. They had both been in a restaurant with other people and had a
n argument in a corridor.
‘Oh right – er yes, it was nice wasn’t it.’
She heard Fiona groan beside her but she ignored her and hunched her shoulders over her phone.
‘I mean it was a surprise seeing you and Millie there but it was – nice.’
Kate nodded. ‘Yes,’ she replied, ‘it was nice.’
Another long pause and Fiona rolled her eyes and shook her head.
‘And you looked …’ both women stiffened, holding their breath. ‘You looked lovely Kate.’
Fiona power punched the air and Kate let a grin spread across her face.
‘Well that’s n – it’s lovely of you to say that Alex. Thank you.’
‘I – I …’
Another long pause as Kate and Fiona waited for the revelation.
‘It made me realise how much I’d missed you Kate,’ Alex offered eventually. ‘Seeing you sitting there with our daughter, it was hard not being a part of that.’
‘Then he shouldn’t have been sitting on a table with Sandra Maddison,’ growled Fiona under her breath but Kate shushed her with a frown and responded shyly. ‘I know what you mean Alex.’
Kate had found it unbearable, watching Alex and Sandra at their table.
‘Who would have thought that would ever happen,’ she said sadly. ‘It made me feel strange as well.’
Another long pause. ‘I meant what I said yesterday Kate, I think we need to get together and – talk.’
Kate was nodding enthusiastically. ‘Me too! I mean I think it’s a good idea.’
Fiona was scrabbling furiously through all the sticky notes Kate had covering her laptop and peeling one off she thrust it under Kate’s nose. RE-ESTABLISH A RELATIONSHIP it said in capital letters.
‘Er yes,’ carried on Kate bravely, ‘I think it would be a good idea to er meet up and er …’ her eyebrows were knitted together as she stared at Fiona for inspiration, ‘catch up.’
Fiona rolled her eyes and Kate carried on hastily. ‘Catch up with each other I mean, talk to each other about what we would like to happen and er – things.’
She closed her eyes in despair.
‘Exactly what I was thinking,’ said Alex softly.
Kate’s eyes flew open. ‘Really? I mean great.’
Google Your Husband Back: An wonderful tale of love, loss and how to get your husband back! Page 16