Page 45 of The Best Friend
‘Why are you being like this?’
‘Actually,’ I say, ‘youcan stay here with Joe.I’mgoing out for a change. And you can do the school run tomorrow, too.’
‘I have client meetings tomorrow, Lou. I can’t—’
‘Tough. You’ll have to reschedule. He’s your son, too. It won’t hurt to drop him off and pick him up for one day.’ My body is trembling as I speak. I have to get out of the house before I say more things I’ll regret. I barge past him, grabbing my handbag from the table and swiping at a tear on my cheek.
‘Don’t go, Lou,’ Jared says. ‘We need to talk about this.’
‘I’ll be at Beth’s if you need me,’ I say.
I briefly consider packing an overnight bag, but I’m not calm enough to do it and I can’t let Joe see me like this. Beth will have a spare toothbrush I can borrow. I grab my coat and keys and leave, feeling sick when I realise I didn’t kiss Joe goodnight.
Eighteen
Sunshine filters in through the blinds as I lie in bed in Beth and Carys’s spare bedroom. The flat is quiet; quieter than our house. It’s 9 a.m. already, so I guess everyone already left for work and school. When I showed up on her doorstep last night, Beth was great. I didn’t feel like talking, so she brought tea and toast into the spare room and left me alone, telling me she was there if I wanted to talk.
I didn’t.
Now, I’m checking my phone. There are three voicemails, two texts, and seven missed calls, all from Jared, and all along the same lines ofI’m sorry,I miss you,Come home. I guess I should reply, but I don’t know what to say. Should I forgive my husband? Sweep it all under the carpet? What if he still wants to go running with Darcy? I can’t face another argument. So, instead of replying, I set my phone back on the nightstand, roll over and close my eyes once more, letting sleep take me again.
Eight hours later, I’m in the car heading home in the dark through slow-moving, rush-hour traffic, headlights shining in my rear-view mirror, nerves clawing at my stomach, dreading another fight with Jared. I didn’t wake again until midday, and spent the afternoon pottering about the place, reading old magazines, flicking through daytime TV and tidying Beth and Carys’s kitchen. Not that it particularly needed tidying, but I had to keep myself busy. I wanted to make sense of the jumble of thoughts crowding my mind. Thoughts about Darcy and Mike, about Jared, and my lost or stolen career. I couldn’t get any sense of perspective. I couldn’t work out whether I was worrying over nothing.
I toyed with picking Joe up from school, but then I’d have had to call Jared to let him know, and I wasn’t ready to speak to him yet. Anyway, I figured it wouldn’t hurt for Jared to pick Joe up today. I still don’t feel in the mood to speak to my husband, but I have to go home sometime, and I’m already missing Joe like crazy.
Finally, I make the turn into our road. Jared’s car isn’t outside the house. I hope he remembered to collect Joe. The school never called me, so I’m sure Jared must have picked Joe up. I notice someone else has parked in his spot, and then I recognise the sleek lines of Darcy’s Bentley. What the hell is she doing here? I pull up opposite our house, outside Mrs Levinson’s low front wall. She hates people parking outside her window – it means she can’t be as nosy as usual.Tough. There are no other spaces close by.
Before I get out of the car, I pull down the mirror, switch on the interior light and check my make-up. If Darcy’s in my house, I don’t want to show up with smudged mascara and lipstick on my teeth.
My heart pounds as I let myself in through the front door, wondering if maybe Jared has confided to Darcy about our argument and she’s here to try and talk me around. The hall lights are on, and a delicious smell of warm pastry wafts out of the kitchen. I walk straight through to see a vase of fresh flowers on the kitchen table, a basket of fresh bread, and various salad items laid out on the chopping board. Darcy is crouched down in front of the oven wearing a pair of oven mitts.
‘Hi, Darcy,’ I say, trying not to sound put out. ‘What are you doing here? Is Jared with you?’
She turns and stands, closing the oven door. ‘Louisa, you’re back! Hi. I didn’t realise you’d be home so soon.’
‘Well, here I am,’ I say attempting to sound light-hearted, and failing.
‘You must be wondering why I’m in your kitchen,’ she says, crossing the room to greet me.
‘Well, yes, I thought Jared was picking Joe up. Is J—’
‘Jared was working, so I offered to pick Joe up for him. It’s no big deal. He said you were… busy?’
I bite down on my rising anger. ‘You didn’t have to do that. Jared was supposed to—’
‘I was passing by the office and he seemed a little flustered. It’s no biggie, honestly. I had to get Tyler anyway.’
I could kill Jared, but I don’t want Darcy to know how I feel so I plaster on a smile and try to appear grateful. ‘Thank you. You really shouldn’t have.’
‘I wanted to. You guys have been so supportive. It’s the least I could do. I offered to take the boys back to mine, but Jared said he’d be home by seven – and he wasn’t sure if you’d be back – so I said I may as well bring Joe here, save him schlepping all the way over to mine after work. I tidied up the kitchen a little and made a pie – hope you don’t mind.’
I bite back the retort that he’s happy to ‘schlep’ over to hers most other nights.
‘Now you’re here,’ she says, ‘do you fancy slicing up some veggies for the salad?’ She slides the chopping board in my direction.
Bloody cheek, I think. But I nod, sit at the table, pick up the knife and start slicing the cucumber. ‘Where’s Joe?’ I ask.
‘Upstairs with Tyler. They’re watching the new Batman movie on Ty’s iPad.’
