‘Oh, then who …’
‘This is Steve Harris – your brother.’
My heart gave a jump. ‘Oh – er – hello.’
‘You don’t sound very pleased to hear from me.’ His voice was deep and coarse with a strong cockney accent. I had a feeling of foreboding.
‘What can I do for you?’ I asked stupidly.
He chuckled at the other end of the line. ‘Now, there’s an offer. I thought we could meet,’ he said. ‘I think it would be nice to get to know one another, don’t you?’
I bit my lip. This was something I had to nip in the bud. ‘Forgive me but I can’t really see the point,’ I said.
‘What? You’re saying that you don’t want to meet your little brother after all these years?’ The voice held a mocking tone.
‘Until yesterday I didn’t even know you existed,’ I told him. ‘And you’re not my brother – only a half-brother.’
‘Blood’s blood,’ he said. ‘We share the same mum. She thought you were a bit of all right,’ he said. ‘In fact it was her idea that you and I got together. She thought we’d have a lot in common.’
‘I doubt it,’ I told him. ‘As a matter of fact, I’m going away tomorrow and after that I’ll be away on tour so I can’t really see an opportunity for us to meet.’
‘Oh dear, that’s a pity,’ he said smoothly.
‘Yes, but there, it can’t be helped,’ I said, thinking that by the time we came back to London he’d have given up, with any luck. ‘Goodbye.’ I ended the call quickly and switched my phone off so that he couldn’t ring back. ‘Damned cheek,’ I muttered as I made myself a coffee. No doubt he thought he could get some money out of me. Well, he had another think coming.
Susan didn’t ring me back and in the end, I decided to just turn up. Maybe she’d be annoyed but it was only for a few days and I really didn’t fancy staying in the grotty bedsit for a whole week with nothing to do. I took the train next morning and arrived in Bridgehampton just before lunch.
Susan didn’t look surprised when she opened the door and found me outside.
Her expression was more one of resignation.
‘Louise – how nice. Come in.’
‘I did ring you yesterday,’ I told her as I walked in through the door. ‘I left a message. Didn’t you get it?’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t always check,’ she said.
I didn’t believe a word. ‘Is it convenient for me to stay for a few days?’ I asked.
She looked at me and then at the small bag I was carrying. ‘A few?’
‘Just until the weekend,’ I said. ‘We’re off down to Bourne-mouth next Monday to begin our tour so I’ll need time to pack and leave the flat tidy.’
She didn’t even try to conceal her relief. ‘Oh, well, that’s fine then,’ she said. ‘I’m afraid it will have to be the sofa again.’
‘Yes, that’s fine.’ I unzipped my bag and pulled out the bottle of rosé wine I’d brought as a sweetener. I handed it to her. ‘I got you this, Susan,’ I said with a smile. ‘I know it’s one of your favourites.’
She took it from me, looking a bit taken aback, and when she spoke, her voice had softened a little. ‘Oh, that was thoughtful of you. I was just going to make a meal. We can have it with that.’
‘Better still, why don’t you let me take you out to lunch as a thank-you for having me at short notice?’ I suggested.
She smiled. ‘Oh, thank you, Louise. That would be lovely. I’ll get my coat.’
Over lunch I heard all about Karrie and Simon clearing off to Paris at Easter and leaving her literally holding the baby. I thought it was a bit thick of them but I decided to play it cool.
‘Well, I know how you love little Peter so I don’t suppose you minded,’ I said.
We’d drunk a bottle of wine between us and it had loosened her inhibitions somewhat. She frowned.
‘Of course I didn’t mind having him,’ she said. ‘We had a lovely time together, the two of us. What I did mind was that Karen felt she had to manipulate me into it. If she’d asked outright I’d still have said yes.’
‘Oh well, no doubt she had her reasons,’ I said tactfully. ‘And what about you? What have you been up to since I was here last?’
Her face clouded. ‘Well, to tell the truth, dear, I’ve had a bit of a disappointment.’
‘Over what?’
She looked up at me. ‘Over a man actually.’
I raised an eyebrow at her. ‘A man, eh? Well, you dark old horse, Susan.’ I looked at her, my head on one side. ‘So – are you going to tell me about it?’
I got the whole story – about the duplicitous Ted and his double life; about the lovely time she’d enjoyed with him only to discover his deception. When she’d finished pouring it all out to me, she looked up.
‘I expect you think I’m a foolish old woman.’
I reached across the table to pat her hand. ‘Of course I don’t. The truth is, Susan, we women never seem to learn, do we?’
She sighed. ‘I suppose not. The truth is I only ever loved one man and that was your father. I’m not used to the kind of games people play nowadays.’
‘I met someone I used to be at drama school with,’ I told her. ‘He’s in the same show and I thought we’d get together again. We spent Christmas together and he even asked me to move in with him. Just when I’d decided to say yes, he announced that he’d moved his sister and her two kids in.’
‘Oh dear, why was that?’ Susan looked concerned.
I shrugged. ‘Search me. At a guess, I suppose he regretted asking me and moved them in to make things impossible.’
Susan shook her head. ‘How devious of him. And now you have to see him every day – work with him. How uncomfortable.’
‘Oh, we’re still friends,’ I told her lightly. ‘We have to be under the circumstances.’
The following morning, Susan went out to the supermarket. She’d asked me to go too but I fancied a lie-in, even though it was only on the sofa. Soon after she’d gone, I got up and made myself some toast and coffee. I was just about to get into the shower when the bell rang. I dragged on my dressing gown and went to answer it. Outside stood a tall, elderly man carrying a large bouquet of flowers. I guessed him to be the notorious Ted.
‘Good morning,’ I said frostily. ‘Can I help you?’
He looked a bit taken aback. ‘Oh – is Susan – Mrs Davies in?’
‘No, she isn’t,’ I said. ‘I’m Louise, her stepdaughter. I take it you are Ted.’
He nodded. ‘That’s right.’
‘Well, I can tell you for nothing that you’re wasting your time,’ I told him. ‘I’ve heard all about you. She wants nothing more to do with you and your devious ways so you can take your flowers and give them to the next gullible woman you pick up on the bus!’ And with that I slammed the door in his astonished face.
When Susan arrived home I told her about Ted’s visit. Her cheeks coloured.
‘Oh. What did he say?’
I shrugged. ‘Not a lot. I sent him on his way – told him what he could do with his flowers.’
‘Flowers?’ she enquired weakly.
‘Yes. He was carrying this enormous bunch of flowers. Daffodils and irises and those vulgar stripy pink things. I’ve always hated those, haven’t you?’
‘Tulips? No. I quite like them actually.’ She was unpacking the shopping, her back to me. ‘What else did he say?’
‘Nothing. I didn’t give him the chance,’ I told her. ‘I don’t think he’ll be bothering you again though. If he didn’t get the message he must be thick!’
‘I see.’ She turned to me. ‘I take it you were rude to him?’
‘I only told him you didn’t want any more to do with him.’
‘Well, I wish you hadn’t,’ Susan said. ‘I wish you’d told him I was out and left it at that.’
I stared at her. ‘After what he did? You must be mad if you’re even thinking of taking him back after that.’
> ‘But it’s my decision, isn’t it?’ To my astonishment, her eyes filled with tears and she fumbled in her sleeve for a handkerchief. ‘What I told you was in confidence and in future, I’d be grateful if you’d mind your own business, Louise.’
‘But you said – you were really upset and …’ But she’d disappeared into her bedroom and closed the door firmly behind her. I sighed. Really! There was no pleasing some people.
The atmosphere was distinctly frosty after Ted’s visit. Susan was distant – hardly speaking to me, and the following afternoon, I decided to go and say hello to Karrie. When I announced my intention to Susan she seemed relieved.
‘She should be home from school by four,’ she said. ‘But she usually picks up some shopping before coming home so I should give her another half-hour if I were you.’
I took myself off to the pictures after lunch, unable to stand Susan’s glum face any longer. There was hardly anyone else in the multiplex and the film was mediocre. I came out feeling depressed. Maybe it hadn’t been the best idea to come home after all. Even a visit to my bourgeois sister was preferable to going home to Susan. I took the bus to Sunnyside Drive and arrived at Karrie’s soon after half past four. I rang the front doorbell and waited but no one came. I rang again – still no reply. But Simon’s car was in the drive so I knew that someone had to be at home. I walked round the side of the house and through the back gate. The kitchen looked out over the back garden and I took a peek through the window. What I saw gave me a start. There in the middle of the kitchen, Simon was embracing a blonde girl. She had her head on his shoulder and he was holding her close and murmuring in her ear. I jumped back before either of them spotted me. My God! Simon of all people. And that old cliché: the husband and the au pair! Poor Karrie! Did she even suspect? I tiptoed away as quietly as I could, closing the side gate behind me. Walking down the tree-lined avenue my head was in a whirl. Karrie and Simon. The perfect couple. Who’d have thought it?
I was almost at the end of the road when Karrie’s little car came round the corner. She saw me at once and pulled into the kerbside, winding down the window.
‘Louise. Mum said you were coming for a visit. Were you coming to see us?’
I opened the passenger door and climbed in. ‘I’ve just been,’ I told her. ‘Karrie, I’m so sorry but I’ve got something to tell you.’
‘To tell me?’ She looked alarmed. ‘What are you talking about? Is it Mum?’
‘No, she’s fine. Look, I don’t quite know how to tell you this, but I’ve just called at yours. No one answered the door so I went round to the back. Karrie – Simon was in the kitchen. He was kissing your au pair girl.’
The colour left her face. ‘Louise! What on earth are you talking about?’ she said shakily. ‘I don’t believe you. If this is one of your sick jokes …’
‘It’s no joke. I tell you, I saw them with my own eyes,’ I told her. ‘Do you want me to come back with you? If he denies it, I’ll tell him what I’ve told you.’
‘No! Please go now, Louise. I’ll handle this on my own. It’s between Simon and me.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘More than sure.’
I was a bit disappointed. I’d been looking forward to seeing the perfect Simon get his comeuppance. ‘Well, if you want me you know where I am.’
‘I do.’ Karen tapped the steering wheel impatiently. ‘Please, Louise, if you don’t mind.’
‘OK, I’m going.’ I got out and bent to speak to her through the car window. ‘I’m here till the weekend so if you need …’ Before I could finish the sentence, she was revving up the car and I had to leap back to avoid the car as it sped off. I stared after it. Well, that was gratitude for you!
Susan and I were having our evening meal when we heard a key grating in the front door. Susan looked up.
‘That will be Karen,’ she said. ‘She’s the only other person who has a key. I wonder what she’s doing here at this time of the evening.’ She got up from the table. ‘I hope nothing’s wrong.’
Your smug little lives have hit the skids this time, I said inwardly.
Karrie burst into the room before Susan could reach the door. Her face was crimson and she was breathing heavily.
‘You bitch!’ she yelled at me. ‘You interfering, trouble-making bitch!’
I stared at her, spreading my hands. ‘What am I supposed to have done?’
‘You put two and two together and made a hundred and four,’ she said. ‘Can you imagine how I looked, bursting in and accusing Simon and Adrey of adultery?’
‘It was no more than they deserved,’ I said. I hadn’t mentioned the occurrence to Susan and now she was looking from one to the other of us with a shocked expression, at a loss to know what was going on.
‘Will someone please tell me what this is about?’ she demanded.
Karen looked at her. ‘She …’ She pointed her finger at me. ‘She stopped me on my way home this afternoon to tell me that she had seen Simon kissing Adrey in our kitchen.’
Susan gasped. ‘Oh my God!’
‘He wasn’t kissing her,’ Karen went on. ‘He was comforting her because she was upset. She’d just received a telephone call from home to tell her that her father had died. Can you even begin to imagine how that made me feel?’
‘And you believed him?’ I said. ‘A likely story if you ask me.’
‘Well, I’m not asking you,’ Karrie shouted. ‘And it’s true. She’s packing to go home for the funeral as we speak.’ She took a step towards me. ‘Your trouble, Louise, is that you think everyone is as nasty and devious as you are. Every time you come home there are ructions. The last time you almost had me locked up and now this! It’s going to take me a long time to put things right this time. Adrey has already said she won’t be coming back and Simon won’t even speak to me. And it’s all down to you!’
Her hands were clenching and unclenching, and I thought for a moment she was going to hit me until Susan stepped forward and took her arm.
‘Calm down, darling,’ she said. ‘I know you’re upset but I’m sure Louise only meant it for the best …’
‘The best?’ Karrie screamed. ‘Don’t try to stand up for her, Mum. She causes chaos wherever she goes. She thrives on it – does it on purpose. If you take my advice you’ll kick her out. I know one thing – I’ll never speak to her again.’ She shook off Susan’s restraining hand. ‘It’s all right. I’m going now. Give me a ring when you’ve got rid of her. Goodnight, Mum.’
Susan went to the door to see Karrie out. When she came back, her face was grave. ‘Why, Louise?’ she asked.
I shrugged. ‘I know what I saw.’
‘And you actually saw them kissing?’
‘He was holding her,’ I hedged. ‘She had her face close to his. They were about to kiss. I’d lay odds on it.’
‘So you didn’t actually witness a kiss between them?’
I got up from the table. ‘Why split hairs? It was obvious what was going on. If Karrie wants to bury her head in the sand; if she wants to let him get away with it, then it’s her funeral. I should have …’
‘You should have minded your own business,’ Susan finished for me. She began to clear the table. ‘I think it might be best if you left first thing in the morning, Louise,’ she said quietly. ‘Karen was right, unfortunately. There always seems to be trouble when you’re around.’
‘I’ll do better than that,’ I told her. ‘If this is all the thanks I’m going to get for telling the truth then I’ll go now. I can catch the last London train at ten o’clock and be back before midnight.’
Susan didn’t argue. ‘As you wish,’ she said.
It was really late when I got back to Stoke Newington. I wasn’t looking forward to going back to my dingy bedsit and as I climbed the stairs wearily, I told myself I’d be glad to be out of the place. I rummaged in my bag for my key but when I went to put it in the lock the door swung open. Inside I found chaos. I’d been burgled. I stood, staring around m
e in disbelief. The place had been well and truly turned over, drawers pulled out and the contents strewn everywhere. The bed had been stripped; cupboards emptied. I pushed the door closed and it was only then that I saw that it had been forced. I couldn’t even secure it for the night. I pulled the chest of drawers across to block the doorway, then sat down on the bed and surveyed the mess. What a horrible week it had been, and now to come back to this. Luckily, there had been nothing of any value in the room. Certainly no money, but the feeling that someone had been here – could possibly come back – gave me the horrors. My first thought was for Mark. I needed him – needed someone kind and sympathetic. I took out my phone and selected his number. After a few rings, a woman’s sleepy voice answered.
‘Hello, Mark Naylor’s flat.’
‘I need to speak to Mark,’ I said. ‘Tell him it’s Louise.’
‘Isn’t it rather late to be ringing?’ the voice enquired. ‘It’s almost one a.m. We were asleep.’
‘I’m sorry, but this is an emergency. Who am I speaking to?’
‘This is Cathy, Mark’s sister,’ she said. ‘Mark isn’t here, he’s gone away for a few days. Is there anything I can do?’
My heart sank. ‘No, not really. When will he be back?’
‘Tomorrow evening. A friend invited him to go up to Scotland for a few days.’
‘Oh dear.’ I swallowed hard. ‘The fact is, I’ve just come back from a few days away and I’ve been burgled. The place is in a terrible state and I don’t know what to do.’
‘Have you rung the police?’
‘No. I can’t see the point. We’re off down to Bournemouth in a couple of days and I’d have to go through all that red tape. Besides, as far as I can see nothing’s been stolen.’
‘OK, I’ll get Mark to come over to you as soon as he gets back. Does he have your address?’
‘No. It’s room three, fourteen Mason Street, Stoke Newington.’
‘Right. I’ve got that.’
‘Thanks.’ I switched off my phone and lay down on the rumpled bed, feeling totally sick. I’d been fobbing Mark off about my so-called ‘flat’ for weeks and now he was going to see this horrible room. But I was past caring. Thank God we were off down to Bournemouth in a few days and leaving it all behind. This had been the worst week of my life. Why had everyone been so bloody awful to me? I’d only done what anyone else would have done under the circumstances, and anyway, it was time they were all jolted out of their little suburban heaven, damn them!
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