True Colours

by Jeanne Whitmee

  ‘Hi, Maggie and Geoff Bambers’ house.’

  I froze, recognizing Rex’s voice. So that’s where he was! Sucking up to my parents again. No doubt putting his side of things and getting their sympathy! Without speaking I slammed the receiver down hard.

  ‘Damn you to hell!’ I said aloud, shaking with rage. ‘If that’s the way you want to play – fine!’

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Katie could hardly wait for her two friends to arrive at Napolitano – so much so that she was early. She chose a table where they would see her the moment they arrived, ordered herself a gin and tonic and settled down to wait.

  Since her lunch with Drew she’d been waiting for news and a couple of days ago he’d been in touch again, this time by phone. The call had come when she was on the bus on her way home and, seeing his name come up, she’d answered it eagerly.

  ‘Hi, Drew?’

  ‘Katie. Good to hear your voice. I was wondering what you were doing on Thursday. I know it’s your half day.’

  Her heart missed a beat. ‘Well not a lot really. I’m meeting a couple of friends for lunch, but apart from that….’

  ‘OK, so what about dinner? As a matter of fact I’ve got some news that I think will interest you.’

  ‘Oh! What’s that?’

  She could hear him smiling at the other end. ‘Ah now, you’re just going to have to wait and see. Dinner then?’

  ‘Yes. That sounds nice. Where shall I meet you?’

  ‘Give me your address and I’ll come and pick you up. Can’t have my protégé walking around the streets alone after dark now can I?’

  She gave him the address, hoping he wouldn’t think she lived in a slum. She had no idea where he lived but by the look of his clothes and general manner it had to be somewhere posh. And what did he mean by protégé? she asked herself, mystified.

  Fran arrived first. Katie saw her as soon as she walked through the door. She thought she looked tense. Last time it had been Sophie who was preoccupied. Fran spotted her and waved, quickly adjusting her expression.

  ‘Hi!’ she said, taking the chair next to Katie. ‘I thought I might be early. I travelled up to town with Harry and Charles on their way to this exhibition at Earls Court.’

  ‘How are they?’ Katie asked. ‘How does Harry like his new school?’

  ‘Oh, they’re fine,’ Fran said dismissively.

  Katie noticed that she left the enquiry about Harry’s new school unanswered and wondered if it might be significant, but before she could pursue the question Sophie appeared and came across to the table smiling.

  ‘Hi there you two. I’m not late, am I?’ She took off her jacket and sat down. Seeing that the three had assembled, the waiter came across with menus and for a few minutes they were absorbed in making their choices. When they had ordered Sophie looked at Katie.

  ‘So, what’s this fantastic news?’

  Katie took a deep breath, her cheeks turning pink with pleasure as she relayed her recent meeting with Drew and the events that followed.

  ‘Now he says he’s got some exciting news!’ She giggled. ‘I can’t wait!’

  Fran and Sophie exchanged glances. ‘I’d be a bit careful if I were you,’ Sophie warned. ‘He could be some kind of con-merchant. Have you checked out his credentials?’

  Katie’s face fell. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Is he known at any of these fashion houses he says he’s working for? Surely you’ve checked up on him.’

  Katie flushed a deep crimson. ‘No. I trust him. He knew the name of one of our customers and that’s good enough for me. He likes my designs, says I have a big future ahead of me. And he thinks Imogene is exploiting me.’ She didn’t mention that she had no idea what Drew’s surname was and so couldn’t check him out even if she wanted to.

  Reading Katie’s defensiveness Fran touched her arm. ‘You have to be vigilant in business, Katie. Sophie is only thinking of you. There’s such a thing as industrial espionage. He could be planning to steal your designs and pass them off as his own.’

  ‘Drew would never do that. I’m sure he wouldn’t,’ Katie said.

  The waiter brought their main course and they applied themselves to their food. Katie ate with her head downcast. She had looked forward so much to telling Fran and Sophie her fabulous news, thinking they’d be pleased for her but all they’d done so far was pour cold water on it. Could it be that they didn’t believe her, or were they jealous? Surely not? How mean of them to begrudge her this one little bit of excitement. But she swallowed her resentment. Last time they met Sophie had seemed preoccupied. Maybe her life wasn’t as rosy as it seemed. She looked up.

  ‘How are you, Sophie? Last time we met you seemed a bit under the weather.’

  Sophie smiled wryly. ‘Was I? Rex and I have been having a few problems. It’s all to do with the house. It’s costing far more than we expected it to. But apart from that I’m fine,’ she said. ‘My headmaster asked me to do pastel portraits of his two young sons. I’ve been working on them during this half-term week. I’ve got one more sitting with them tomorrow before they go back to their mother.’

  Fran looked at her. ‘Go back? Have he and his wife split up?’

  Sophie nodded. ‘Unfortunately, yes. Par for the course these days, isn’t it? At least Rex and I don’t have any kids, thank goodness.’

  Katie picked up on the remark immediately. So that was why she’d looked so depressed last time. ‘Are your problems that serious then?’

  Sophie nodded. ‘I’m afraid they are. Rex walked out and he’s been incommunicado ever since. I wouldn’t be surprised if the next time I hear from him it’s through his solicitor.’

  ‘Oh dear!’ Fran turned to look at her. Outwardly Sophie’s tone was flippant but she guessed that the light, offhand attitude was covering a deep hurt. ‘I’m so sorry, love,’ she said softly.

  Sophie shrugged. ‘It’s OK. I’ve come to terms with it now.’

  ‘What about the house?’

  ‘On the market,’ Sophie said briefly. ‘Can’t afford to live there on my own. Besides there’s a massive loan to pay back.’ She sighed. ‘Not one of my better ideas, I have to say.’ She looked at Fran. ‘What about you, anything new on your horizon? What about the job you were offered. Have you decided to take it?’

  Fran nodded. ‘Yes. I start training after Harry goes back to school next week. I’m going to the office after lunch to arrange the final details.’

  ‘Good for you. Was Charles all right about it?’

  Fran paused just a beat too long before smiling brightly. ‘Fine,’ she said. There was a pause then she looked up at the other two. ‘No, not fine actually. Something horrendous has happened.’ She looked at her friends, trying to assess how they would take what she was about to tell them. ‘I have a confession to make to you both. Neither of you ever knew about it, but I got pregnant in my last term at school.’

  Sophie looked shocked. ‘Fran! I never even guessed. Why didn’t you say anything?’

  ‘I was too ashamed. The boy I thought loved me didn’t want to know. I tried to keep it from my parents too, and I did for months. When they found out the balloon went up. They were even more horrified than I’d imagined.’ She sighed. ‘You knew of course that I was adopted?’

  ‘Yes. I remember,’ Katie said. ‘I always felt it was a bond between us.’

  ‘So how did your adoptive parents take your pregnancy?’ Sophie asked.

  ‘As you’d expect. It was made clear to me that there was no question of my keeping the baby unless I wanted to be a single mother and alone at sixteen. They bundled me off to Dorset to Dad’s sister, insisting that the baby was to be given up for adoption as soon as she was born. Only on those terms was I to be allowed home after which it was all to be forgotten, never to be spoken of again.’ She bit her lip. ‘I need hardly add that Charles has never had the slightest idea.’

  Katie looked from one to the other, wondering where Fran’s dramatic revelation was l
eading. ‘Are you saying that your daughter has turned up?’ she asked.

  Fran shook her head. ‘No. She’d still be too young. It was actually my birth mother who suddenly turned up.’ She smiled wryly. ‘All adopted people fantasize about their birth mother. Some people resent the woman who gave them away, and some – like me, especially after I went through it myself – see her as a sad victim of fate.’

  ‘And yours?’ Sophie prompted.

  ‘Well, she’s certainly no victim. It turns out she was a friend of my adopted father’s sister which is how she knows all about my baby.’

  ‘So what was her reason for coming to find you?’

  ‘Putting it bluntly, to blackmail me,’ Fran said. ‘She’s down on her luck and she thinks I’m rolling in money and that I owe some of it to her. She’s threatening to tell Charles about my teenage pregnancy.’

  Sophie gasped. ‘You’ll go to the police of course.’

  Fran shook her head. ‘How can I? It would all have to come out if I reported her. I’d lose everything including Harry. My life would be shattered. I’m going to have to pay her somehow. She refuses to believe that I have no money of my own, which is why I have to take the job.’

  ‘Oh, Fran! Maybe if you confessed to Charles he’d take it reasonably. After all, he loves you. You’re his wife and the mother of his son.’

  Fran shook her head. ‘You don’t know him. He’d never forgive me for lying to him, besides, my – this woman is threatening to go to the papers. Losing face is Charles’s worst nightmare.’

  ‘Then he must be a very shallow man if you don’t mind me saying so.’ Sophie covered Fran’s trembling hand with her own. ‘And you didn’t lie; you just didn’t tell him. So when you told him you were taking the job, what did he say?’

  Fran’s eyes filled with tears. ‘Don’t even ask! I’ve had the most horrendous week. I can’t begin to tell you….’

  Katie looked from one to the other. It seemed that her friends didn’t have the charmed life she’d imagined. What she’d heard over lunch today made her feel for the first time in her life that she was the lucky one. Not that her news had aroused the interest she’d hoped for. In fact it had gone off like a damp squib. She looked at her watch and was shocked to see how late it was. She was going to have to go or she wouldn’t have time to wash her hair before meeting Drew. She looked at Fran apologetically.

  ‘I’m really sorry, love, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to go.’ She laid a hand on her friend’s arm. ‘I wish I could help in some way. I hate to leave you right now but I’ve got this urgent appointment and I can’t be late.’ She opened her bag to put her share of the meal on the table. ‘Look, Fran, Soph, you know where I am if you want to talk – any time,’ she added.

  Sophie looked up. ‘Oh, Katie, you’re not meeting this Drew person, are you?’

  ‘No,’ Katie lied. ‘It’s a really important appointment though. I can’t be late.’ She stood up and gathered her bag and coat together. ‘I do hope everything works out for you both.’

  ‘For you too, Katie. Good luck.’

  ‘Maybe we’ll meet again soon.’

  ‘Yes, we really must. Have a nice evening.’

  ‘And remember what we said about being careful about this Drew of yours,’ Sophie warned again.

  They watched Katie whisk out through the restaurant door then looked at each other.

  ‘Do you think we upset her?’ Fran asked.

  Sophie shook her head. ‘She can be so naïve. I had to warn her. I hope this Drew guy isn’t stringing her along.’

  ‘Me too. Poor little Katie.’ Fran smiled wryly. ‘I’m afraid we rather pricked her balloon. I wish I hadn’t gone on about my own problems now.’

  ‘So do I. I suppose we could have shown more enthusiasm. It must have made us look like a couple of pessimists pouring cold water over her plans.’

  Fran looked at her. ‘Is there really a serious problem between you and Rex?’

  Sophie sighed. ‘I’m afraid so. The trouble started when he went to my parents for a loan, behind my back.’

  ‘I’m sure they were only too happy to help you out.’

  ‘Oh, they were, but I wasn’t. I wanted this to be our project – achieved without any help from anyone, least of all them. I reacted by insisting on putting the house on the market to pay them back.’

  ‘Oh, Sophie!’ Fran looked incredulous. ‘That must have been so hurtful.’

  Sophie bit her lip. ‘I realize that now. At the time all I could think of was my own hurt.’

  ‘And now?’

  ‘I don’t know.’

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  FRANCES

  I felt so much better for getting some of my worries off my chest to Sophie over lunch. Now it was time to face Adam. Ostensibly my meeting with him was to make the final arrangements for my training but I also had a huge favour to ask him and the thought of it was already making me nervous.

  I’d been looking forward to Harry’s half-term so much and so far it had been a disaster. Charles had driven over to collect him while I waited eagerly at home, preparing Harry’s favourite meal. But he’d seemed oddly subdued when he arrived home. All the questions I asked him were responded to with a one syllable answer. I put it down to tiredness after the journey but later after he’d gone up to have his bath I went up to collect his dirty clothes for the wash. Upstairs I put my head round the bathroom door only to be greeted by an indignant yell.

  ‘Mum! I’m in the bath.’

  I laughed. ‘I know that. I only want your clothes to put in the wash.’

  ‘I’m nine years old. I get bathed on my own now!’

  There was something in his voice, a shrillness that was more than just embarrassment.

  ‘It’s all right, Harry. I am your mum,’ I reminded him. I pushed the door open and began to walk into the bathroom only to be met with a wet sponge hitting me in the face.

  ‘Go away!’

  Shocked, I withdrew quickly but not before I’d seen the bruises on his chest and shoulders. The sight shook me but I decided to play it down for now and wait until he was in bed.

  He was sitting up reading a book when I knocked on his door. ‘Is it safe to come in? I’ve brought you some cocoa.’

  ‘Thanks, come in.’ He blushed. ‘Sorry, Mum but I’ve sort of got used to doing stuff on my own,’ he said.

  I happened to know that the boys at school took communal showers but I let it go. I put the mug down on the bedside table and sat down on the edge of his bed. ‘You haven’t said much about school,’ I said. ‘You’re happy there, aren’t you? He nodded, his eyes still on his book. ‘Made many friends?’ Again he nodded. ‘Teachers nice?’

  He put the book down. ‘Mum, I’m a bit tired, so….’

  ‘I saw them, Harry,’ I said. ‘I couldn’t help it. How did you get them?’

  ‘Get what?’ he mumbled, hiding his face in the mug of cocoa.

  ‘You know what – the bruises.’

  He shrugged, unable to meet my eyes. ‘You know how rough rugby is. Everyone’s got bruises.’

  ‘Not like the ones you’ve got. What happened, Harry?’

  ‘Nothing!’

  ‘Did a teacher do it? Because if that’s the case….’

  ‘No. Give it a rest, Mum!’

  I waited a moment, making it clear that I wasn’t going away. He put his book aside and lay down. ‘I want to go to sleep now.’

  I tucked the covers round him and bent to kiss him but he turned his head away. ‘Harry, what’s wrong?’ I asked. ‘I’m not going anywhere until I get a proper answer.’

  ‘I told you. It’s nothing!’ As he turned to me I saw the tears welling up in his eyes. ‘Go away, Mum. Stop interrogating me!’

  ‘Are you being bullied?’ I asked quietly.

  The tears got the better of him and he hid his head under the duvet. ‘Honestly, it’s nothing,’ he repeated. ‘Anyway, I promised Dad….’

  I pulled the duvet back.
‘You promised Dad what?’

  ‘That I wouldn’t tell you. He says it happens to everyone their first year. I’ve got to toughen up – grin and bear it.’

  Inside I was seething but I managed to sound calm as I asked, ‘Who did it, and why?’

  ‘Older boys. It’s what they do, because you’re a kid. They make you do stuff and if you don’t do it right they….’

  ‘Hit you?’

  He didn’t need to answer my question. Determined not to be emotional, I tucked him up and switched off the bedside light. ‘Go to sleep now and try not to worry about it,’ I said, dropping a kiss on the top of his head. ‘Night-night. See you in the morning.’

  Downstairs Charles was sitting in the conservatory reading his paper, a whisky and soda on the table beside him. I sat down opposite.

  ‘Did you know that Harry was being bullied at school?’

  He glanced up. ‘I’d hardly call it anything so melodramatic. A bit of joshing and being ordered about is par for the course in the first year,’ he said casually.

  ‘I’d hardly call intense bruising of the chest and shoulders joshing,’ I said. ‘Have you seen the state of him? He’s black and blue!’

  He looked at me over the top of the paper. ‘He’s a young boy. I expect he bruises easily. Anyway I told him not to go bleating to you about it. I knew you’d overreact just like you do over everything.

  ‘He didn’t bleat as you put it. I happened to walk into the bathroom when he was in the bath and he was very reluctant to tell me how he got the bruises. I notice that these young thugs are careful not to inflict any visible damage. What I’ve just seen on Harry’s body is what the police would probably see as actual bodily harm. It should be stopped, Charles.’