by Kaylie Kay
‘Dad, what are you wearing?’ Sophia cried, Lewis giggling by her side. Susan turned to see Jeff, who she had thought was just using the bathroom, standing proudly in a short-sleeved shirt that was covered in bright green palm trees.
‘What the heck is that?’ she asked, horrified. She had never seen it before, and certainly hadn’t packed it.
‘Do you like it?’ he asked, lifting his eyebrows up and down and pulling funny poses that had their son almost in tears he was laughing so much.
Susan just shook her head slowly, no, she really didn’t like it. She looked to her daughter for support; surely Sophia would be on her side with this?
‘Sophia, tell your father that he can’t wear that out!’
Sophia though was smiling, maybe not quite as amused as her brother, but not as horrified as she would have been had they been at home.
‘It’s my holiday shirt, and I like it, I don’t care what you think!’ Jeff obviously didn’t give a hoot about what his wife thought, which irked her even more. ‘Right, get your swimming stuff on, we are going to the pool!’ he announced.
Susan stood speechless, the words that she wanted to say trapped in her head. The three of them scattered to find their costumes, leaving her to come to terms with what had just happened. She struggled with the part of her that just wanted him to fit into her ideals, and the mother that loved that he was making their children laugh. She would have to let it go, she concluded quickly, it was his holiday too, and if he wanted to wear that awful shirt then she would have to accept it, whether she liked it or not. The fact that there was absolutely no way that she could be attracted to a man that thought so little about his appearance was extremely unfortunate.
Chapter 29
Lucy stepped out of the shower feeling invigorated. She had had no idea that a shower could do so many things, make you feel so good with its pulsating jets and steam functions. She thought of her own basic one at home, the one that sat over her bathtub and just about managed to rinse the shampoo from her hair, but what else could she expect from a value brand?
She dried herself off with the new white Egyptian cotton bath towel. Mrs Kennedy always requested that they were replaced every six months with brand new ones. Lucy had always thought that it was a little bit spoiled, but was grateful nonetheless to take the old ones home, nothing wrong with them after all. Now though, now that she was living this life for a short while, she had to agree that new ones did feel that much fluffier and more luxurious.
Pumping the expensive body cream into her hand she smoothed it over every inch of her body, breathing in the exotic aroma, loving the way that it felt on her skin. She had never seen the brand on the shelves at Asda, and she was pretty sure that it would have a huge price tag wherever it was stocked.
As she stood in the wardrobe moments later, she surveyed the rails of designer clothes, choosing a blue woollen wrap dress for today, admiring how it made her slim figure look curvy in the long mirror. It was a shame that the endless rows of shoes were just a little big for her, but it didn’t stop her from trying on a few pairs just to see what they looked like with the outfit, even if she couldn’t walk in them.
Lastly, she sat at the dressing table and opened the drawer of makeup, applying the brands to her face that she could never have justified buying. She had always wanted to believe that it didn’t really matter what brand your makeup was, that the cheap ones were just as good, but she had discovered yesterday that some of these little pots and palettes could perform small miracles. She had always known that she was no beauty but she had to admit that the person who was looking back at her now from the mirror was a much, much more attractive version of herself.
Pleased with her work she breezed down the stairs, slipping on her shoes, the only thing about her right now that was her own, picked up the keys from the console table and walked out to her car. As she drove the Range Rover out of the gates she felt euphoric. This was the life she was meant to be leading, it was her that deserved this car, these clothes, not the woman who blatantly cheated on her husband with her own nephew. Did they both think that she was stupid when they snuck off to the summer house? Did they not see her in the window?
Lucy shook her head, momentarily catching herself, shocked at the malice in her own thoughts. She hadn’t felt herself since her mum had died, probably because of the difficulty sleeping; yes that was it, once she got a good night’s sleep she would be okay, back to her old self she was sure. Yes, it did upset her the way that they were carrying on, but as for deserving her life, and the other troubling thoughts she’d been having, those weren’t like her, and they made her uneasy.
She drove the car towards M&S. She knew she was doing wrong, that she was pretending to be someone else, but what harm could it do, to live this life just for a few days? Anyway, Mrs Kennedy wouldn’t mind her borrowing the car, she knew that, but perhaps the clothes were a little too much.
She shook her head again, swinging between the reality and the justification. Well she was here now, wearing these clothes, driving this car, so she may as well follow it through and enjoy it. Parking the car, she stepped out and smoothed down her dress. She tried to ignore her cheap shoes, holding her head high as she joined the rest of the Mrs Kennedys in the aisles, gliding along with them, worthy.
‘Lucy Skinner, is that you?’ Lucy turned to see a vaguely familiar face smiling back at her and she quickly put the ready meal for one that she had just decided on back on the shelf. ‘It’s me, Kate.’ Lucy still couldn’t quite place her. ‘Kate James, from school!’
‘Oh, of course!’ Suddenly the penny dropped and Lucy could see that the woman who was standing in front of her, carrying her designer handbag, with her perfectly blow-dried blonde hair, was the same Kate James that she had been in awe of at school. The Kate James who got dropped off every day in her mum’s Mercedes, who always looked so perfect, that every boy wanted to go out with. Lucy had just been average, plain even, and her mum didn’t own a car, but Kate had always been kind to her, although she couldn’t say they had ever been friends. The old feelings of inferiority bubbled up to the surface, and she hoped they didn’t show on her face. ‘How lovely to see you, Kate, you look really well,’ she stammered.
‘And so do you!’ Kate was wide-eyed, looking her up and down. ‘Lucy, you look so lovely.’
Lucy felt herself blush. Kate had always been quick with the compliments though, always said nice things to people, it was just the way that she was. As she looked down she suddenly noticed her dress and remembered that, actually, today she did look good, today of all days perhaps she really did mean it! She tucked her feet underneath her trolley, as only the shoes would give her away.
‘Thank you, Kate,’ she smiled, relaxing. ‘How are you?’
It was amazing how clothes and makeup had given her the confidence to talk to Kate on such an equal level. They stood in the aisle for at least a quarter of an hour as Kate told her about her husband and her job, and Lucy told her about hers. With little else to draw on she found herself back in her fantasy of being Mrs Kennedy, only her children were grown up and Jeff was only a little older than her. She sensed Kate’s envy, she could feel that she was lonely in her own marriage, without any children, and it felt good to be the one that was envied. She fought the urge to tell her the truth, to make her feel better, but no, for today at least she was the one with everything, why shouldn’t she have a taste of being the one who people wanted to be for the first time in her life?
Back at the house Lucy looked in horror at the food on the kitchen island, receipt in her hand. She wondered if it was the done thing to take food back. She hadn’t been able to stop herself showing off, putting things in her trolley for her imaginary meals with Jeff, with Kate following her around like a long-lost best friend. Now as she looked at the Beef Wellingtons and smoked salmon, the coffee beans and herbal tea bags, she berated herself for spending almost half of her week’s salary on things that she didn’t even really like, an
d all because she had started this whole lie. Kate hadn’t left her side, even walking her to her car, so in awe was she of how she had done so well for herself, so happy for her, so Lucy hadn’t had a chance to put it back, or dump it on a shelf. If only she knew the truth.
She pulled the dress over her head, throwing it angrily on the floor and stood in her underwear, fists clenched by her side. The dogs, that had been quietly waiting to be fed, looked at her with confused, cute faces that made her smile for a second. Maybe they would like Beef Wellington for dinner?
Chapter 30
Well, once he had taken the ridiculous shirt off and put it in the locker things had turned out wonderfully. The children had dragged them straight to the water park of course, although maybe dragged wasn’t the right word, they had hailed one of the complimentary buggies that drove them straight there, along the beach. There was no need to queue and buy tickets, like the rest of the public, not when you were staying in the hotel.
The waterpark was as over-the-top as the hotel was, and the morning had passed quickly as they had gone from one ride to another, their ages irrelevant as they each carried their inflatables up the stairs for the next one. She couldn’t remember the last time they had all had this much fun together, really enjoyed each other’s company like they were now.
Having finally insisted on a break, she watched from her sun lounger as the three of them walked back over from the ice cream stand. They were all laughing at something, and she loved to see the enjoyment on their faces. She couldn’t have wished for a more perfect family at that moment.
‘Here, Mum.’ Lewis handed her a tub of ice cream and she sat up to take it, adjusting her bikini to make sure that it stayed in place.
‘Thank you, darling, I think Mum’s going to get fat on this holiday,’ she grinned, remembering the extravagant buffet they had had only a few hours before.
‘I’ll have that then.’ Jeff playfully took it off her. ‘I can’t go home with a fat wife!’
The children laughed as Susan tried to grab it back off him, wondering if she actually wanted it now when he finally returned it. She had absolutely no intention of getting fat, ever, but it had never occurred to her that Jeff would love her any less if she did. She watched her husband as they all sat in silence eating, and wondered for a moment if he really meant anything by what he had just said, if he cared about her looks as much as she cared about his? Did he even know that she cared as much as she did, or had she kept it hidden as well as she thought she had?
‘Right, who’s for the lazy river?’ Jeff stood up, empty tub in his hand, and stretched. ‘I could do with floating around for a while.’
Susan looked at him; he was definitely looking fitter now, the excess weight around his middle almost gone, and she unquestionably found him more attractive again, but she didn’t want him to get too confident, the balance had to be right. He must always be grateful to have her, or one day he might think he could do better, and then where would she be?
‘Can you tie me up please, darling?’ She applied a quick slick of lip gloss, and ran her fingers through her hair. Standing up slowly, now that she had his attention, she made sure that he was watching her as she smoothed her toned stomach, and stretched out her lean arms and legs. She turned around and moved her hair out of the way so that he could tie the straps of her small but expensive bikini, knowing that he was admiring her, balance restored.
Susan made sure that she walked in front as they made their way to the lockers by the entrance to the lazy river. She knew she was getting admiring glances from the men, and she didn’t care about the less favourable ones she was getting from the women. They probably just wished they too could dress the same as her, instead of hiding themselves beneath the long sleeves and trousers that their religion dictated they wear.
‘I’ll catch you up,’ Jeff called, and she turned to see him with his phone to his ear. ‘Work,’ he mouthed, and she rolled her eyes. This was his first call, in fairness, and she had expected no less, knowing that he would need to be somewhat available.
Susan floated around in her ring, eyes closed behind her sunglasses, leaning back and enjoying the warmth of the sun on her body. She hadn’t seen the children for a while; the river seemed to have endless options for you to take, and they were favouring the more exciting, and less relaxing routes. She marvelled at how things had changed since the last time they had a holiday together, at how she could just let them go off and not worry. She was confident that their swimming lessons had paid off now, and also the presence of a lifeguard at least every twenty metres was a huge reassurance. She didn’t know if Jeff was still on his call, or trying to find them, but she was sure she would bump into him eventually. Opening her eyes momentarily she saw a handsome lifeguard staring down at her, smiling broadly.
‘How are you, madam?’ he asked.
‘Very well thank you,’ she said, with a coy smile, and without sitting up. She let his eyes wander over her, not the slightest bit uneasy with his stares, enjoying them, as she moved slowly past.
‘Come back soon,’ he called as she drifted away. She knew nothing would or could happen here, but she closed her eyes and imagined anyway, there was no harm in that.
‘Susan.’ Jeff’s voice brought her back into the moment, and she opened her eyes. She was back in the entrance to the river, and he was standing holding on to her ring to stop her floating away again. He looked serious. ‘I have to go back to the room for a bit, have to make a call.’
‘Really?’ She sat up and looked at him.
‘I know.’ He looked as unhappy about it as she did. ‘Hopefully it won’t take long but one of my biggest clients needs to speak to me urgently, and there’s no one else that can deal with it.’
‘Okay, well we’ll stay around here, come and find us when you get back.’
‘Mum, Dad!’ They both looked to see an excited Sophia and Lewis paddling back into the river with their inflatables, waving furiously, and they waved back at them.
‘I won’t be long, hopefully.’ He kissed her quickly and headed off to get a buggy back to the hotel.
For a moment Susan felt disappointed that her family holiday was being interrupted by work, but then that was what being married to someone so successful entailed, she guessed, shrugging off her annoyance. She pushed herself off and felt the current take her, heading back in the direction of her admirer, ready for another dose of appreciation to feed her soul.
Chapter 31
What had she done! Lucy paced up and down the hall, stopping for a moment to check herself in the mirror. The buzzer sounded, and she walked over and pressed the button to open the gates, hearing the sound of the car pulling up the driveway.
Why hadn’t she just changed the last digit when she had given Kate her number? Well she hadn’t really expected her to ring, hadn’t known that she really meant it when she had suggested ‘popping over one day’. Now, just three days later, and here she was, driving up to her imaginary life, and the tangled web of lies was about to get a whole lot more tangled.
Not only that, nooooo, that would have been bad enough, but Kate had just messaged this morning to say that she was bringing Natasha Thomas with her too, and ‘wasn’t it lovely that they were all getting together again!’ Lucy wailed inwardly, no it wasn’t bloody lovely! Natasha Thomas had been a complete stuck-up bitch at school, and the last person she wanted in her imaginary life right now.
She took a deep breath as she opened the door, reminding herself that to them this was all real, that they didn’t know the truth. She fixed a smile on her face and welcomed them into her home, surprised at how she enjoyed the look of envy on their faces, slipping rather too easily into the role of Mrs Kennedy. She relished showing them around, lapping up their compliments, enjoying the confidence that money gives you.
‘Lucy, you are so lucky, you have everything I dream of having,’ Natasha had sighed as she sipped her herbal tea. Of course, she was comparing all of this to her comfortable fou
r-bed detached, and had she only known Lucy lived in a flat she wouldn’t be saying that, in fact she probably wouldn’t be giving her the time of day.
‘I know I am,’ Lucy had said humbly.
As she said goodbye a couple of hours later she knew that they couldn’t come back here again, she would have to give up all of this soon. She had actually enjoyed their afternoon together, still surprised at how differently people treated you when they thought you were rich, knowing that if they only knew the truth they wouldn’t have been so keen to meet up again.
The lies and tales had come easily, her imaginary life was almost real in her mind now, and she was going to miss it. She had always been quite content with what she had, but now she wondered if she could be again, or would she always want more now that she had had a taste of all of this? Anyway, the Kennedys would be back in just a couple of days, and she would just have to get on with it; there was no point in moping about what she couldn’t have, her practical voice scolded her.
Lucy didn’t really drink, but she only had two more nights to be Mrs Kennedy and so she clumsily opened a bottle of champagne and poured herself a glass. The bubbles went up her nose and she recoiled slightly before taking a sip, wondering what it was about the stuff that her boss loved so much. She felt the effects almost instantly, a warmth in her cheeks, and a happy feeling that made her want more.