Chapter 15
Vinnie was arriving at seven thirty to take her to the pictures. She was really looking forward to seeing him again, even though she had such a lot on her mind this evening. He seemed to have such a calming and comfortable effect on her. She didn’t feel quite so nervous about seeing him this time. He knocked on the door at seven thirty on the dot, and it made her smile; she loved the fact that, unlike Mark, he turned up at the time he said he would. She hoped that this wasn’t just the good behaviour that everyone displayed when they first started dating someone.
She glanced in the mirror, wondering if her jeans and sparkly top looked OK, grabbed her linen jacket from the bottom of the banister and opened the door with a big grin on her face.
‘Hey, beautiful,’ he said as he kissed her cheek. They walked to the car where he held the door open. ‘Your carriage awaits.’ She went to get in the car, but he stopped her. ‘Just one minute, lady, not so fast.’
He leaned forward, closed his eyes and kissed her, long and hard, on the lips. ‘Mmm. That’s better! I’ve been waiting for that all weekend.’
As he closed her door and walked round to the driver’s side, she touched her lips, which seemed to be on fire, and beamed from ear to ear. He climbed in beside her and she had to tell herself to stop grinning like the village idiot, but she really felt that the time she spent with Vinnie was definitely better than that without him. She was determined that despite the conversation she’d had with Mark earlier, she was going to forget about everything else and relax into a lovely evening with Vinnie.
‘So, as I’m not sure what sort of films you like, I’m going to give you a choice of two and let you pick if that’s OK? We could either see that new Melissa McCarthy comedy or the new Tom Cruise action film. Which would you prefer?’
Grace knew that she had to stop comparing Vinnie to Mark but, on the very rare occasions that they’d ever had a night out at the pictures, he’d told her what he was going to see and she was asked if she wanted to go along. To have a choice was a real treat.
‘Being a massive Melissa McCarthy fan, that would be my choice, if you don’t mind, that is.’
‘To be honest with you, Grace, I’m really glad you said that. I can’t bloody stand that little short-arse! I just thought I’d give you the option in case you had a crush on him.’
He grinned at her and her heart skipped a beat. He was looking so handsome tonight. The blue of his t-shirt set off his twinkly cornflower-blue eyes perfectly. God, he’d make beautiful children, she thought, suddenly reining herself in as her mind worked overtime.
They chatted comfortably about their respective weekends. He’d enjoyed some time with Ruth and her family, and Grace told him about their weekend in Wales. He seemed to be really interested in finding out more about Archie. He had two nieces and a nephew and talked about how much he loved spending time with them, so he certainly wasn’t a stranger to having kids around. Always a good point when you were single and had a child. Before they knew it, they’d arrived at the cinema.
‘My treat,’ Vinnie said as he paid the cashier before Grace even had a chance to get her purse out of her handbag.
While Mark had been generous, he’d also always made her feel that she should be grateful that he kept them clothed and housed, despite the fact that Grace was looking after their child and felt she earned it. But with Vinnie, she had the feeling that he was just trying to be a gentleman. Grace loved the fact that now she was working, she had money of her own to spend. She was still getting used to that after being a stay-at-home mum for the biggest part of Archie’s life.
‘Well, in that case, I insist on buying the popcorn and the drinks,’ she said.
The film was hilarious. They both laughed till tears streamed down their cheeks and chatted about it all the way back to Grace’s house. This time, when Vinnie pulled up, she asked him if he had to be up early or whether he wanted a coffee. It was only just after ten o’clock.
‘And I do mean coffee, young man!’ she said jokingly when his eyebrows raised cheekily.
They’d had such a lovely evening but the thought of anything more at this stage, even though she really liked him, just made her feel sick with nerves.
‘Go on then, I’ll have a quick one,’ he said.
This time Grace raised her eyebrows at him, and as he realised how wrong that sounded, he blushed. Grace laughed at him as they headed into the house. It felt good to laugh and she realised again how comfortable she was around Vinnie, even after just a short time.
While the kettle was boiling, Vinnie stood close to her and her nerves were tingling. She bit her lip as his head bent down towards her, and his lips were what seemed like a millimetre from hers when her mobile rang. After a second or two he stepped back, and she grabbed her handbag and fished her phone out. It was Mark.
‘I’m so sorry but I’m going to have to take this. It’s Archie’s dad.’
‘Of course. Can I just pop to your loo?’
She pointed to the doorway at the side of the kitchen.
‘Mark, is everything OK?’ she breathed into the phone.
‘Not really, no!’ Mark replied. ‘Archie has got a really high temperature, said he feels sick and he’s just crying and crying and saying he wants his mum. Can you pop round?’
Grace sighed. She knew that Archie would have to come first. ‘Of course I will. I’ll leave straight away,’ she said.
Vinnie walked out of the toilet and caught the tail end of the conversation. ‘Do you need to go?’ he asked.
‘I’m so sorry, Vinnie, but Archie needs me. He’s really poorly.’
‘That’s OK, love, I understand that your son comes first.’ He sounded really dejected. ‘But will you ring me later and let me know how he is? I want to make sure you’re both OK.’
‘Sure will, and I’m so very sorry, Vinnie, I’ve had such a great evening again. I hope we can meet up again soon.’
‘I’d love to if you would,’ he replied. ‘Let’s speak later and sort something out. It doesn’t matter what time you phone me, I’ll be waiting for your call.’ He took her face in his hands and looked deep into her eyes, then kissed her long and lingeringly on the lips.
‘Mmm…’ She heard a low guttural moan then realised that the noise was coming from her.
‘Until next time,’ he said, walking her towards the front door.
She picked up her car keys and handbag and headed for her own car, waving as he pulled away.
It took ten minutes to get to Mark’s house. As a family they had originally all lived in a new-build on a development, which Mark had chosen and she’d thought she liked. It wasn’t until after they’d decided to split up and sold the house that she realised she’d never really felt at home there. She could go for days without seeing a soul. Most people left to go to work in the morning and returned home without conversing with the neighbours, keeping themselves very much to themselves. That was hard when she was at home all day with a small child and no friends.
Mark now lived on the fourth floor of a modern apartment block, which was nearer to his work, and she had to park miles away from the front door. She rang the intercom and he kept her waiting for at least five minutes, and she had to ring three times before he clicked the latch.
Why didn’t he just open the door if he knew she was on the way up? But then she realised that it was part of his controlling behaviour. He liked to keep people waiting; he did it all the time. He was still trying to control her, even now. She wasn’t even sure he realised that he did it, but she figured it was part of his self-important persona.
Mark opened the door and stood back, letting her in. The room opened straight into the lounge, and Grace spotted Archie sitting on the sofa bed. Mark’s apartment had only one bedroom so when Archie stayed over he had to sleep on a sofa bed in the lounge, which meant that he never got to go to bed very early. For a head teacher, Mark’s own parenting decisions often left a lot to be desired. Grace always wondered how he had the nerve to question the parents in the school and make judgements about their parenting styles.
‘Hey, Mum!’ Archie said as she walked straight over to him. ‘You OK?’
‘I’m OK, darling. More to the point, are you?’ she asked him.
‘Yes, I’m fine thanks. I felt a bit sick but I think it was because Dad made me eat something I didn’t like for tea. I feel fine now though. And Dad’s turned the heating off so I’m not so hot any more! What are you doing here anyway?’
‘Your dad asked me to come. He said you were crying and wanted me,’ she said, glancing at Mark suspiciously as he walked into the kitchen.
‘Did he? That’s strange. I told him not to disturb you because I knew you were going out with your friend tonight,’ he said, with emphasis on the word ‘friend’.
So that was what it was all about. Mark just wanted to spoil her evening. It seemed like every time she planned to do something nice in her life, he spoilt it. He’d been doing it for years. He was like a naughty selfish child who didn’t want anyone else to have anything nice.
‘Where’s Lorraine?’ Grace asked, following Mark into the kitchen.
‘She’s staying over at her friend’s tonight so they can have a drink,’ he replied. ‘But while she is out of the way, have you thought any more about what I said earlier about us getting back together?’
‘No, I haven’t, Mark.’ Grace raised her voice at him in frustration. ‘You can’t just expect an answer from me to a question like that! It’s something that we would both have to think very seriously about before even considering it.’
‘Well, I know it’s what I want. When you realise it’s the right thing to do for our son, our son that you’re supposed to love with all your heart, our son that you’d do anything for, then perhaps you’d like to let me know.’
Mark had always managed to rile her. He was such a contradiction. Sometimes a self-obsessed, patronising jerk who frustrated her beyond words. If she didn’t agree with him, she was wrong. If she had an opinion, she was having a go at him. If she asked him to do something, she was nagging. But then there was nice Mark, the one who charmed the pants off her the moment she met him, who wined and dined her and won her over and proposed when they were expecting a baby. The Mark who said he’d love her forever.
The trouble with people who were constantly manipulative but nice from time to time was that for some reason, you remembered the nice moments more than the nasty ones. Human nature, she supposed. But it didn’t help when trying to make an important decision.
She walked back into the lounge and kissed Archie on the head, and he looked up at her with his baby-blue eyes. ‘Mum, can I come home with you? Now you’re here I just want to be with you.’
She looked at Mark. ‘Go on then,’ he said. ‘Take him back with you, as long as it’s not going to spoil your evening.’ He smirked at her.
‘It’s a bit late for that, as you very well know,’ she said through gritted teeth. ‘Come on, sweetheart, pop your dressing gown and your slippers on and let’s get you home.’
Archie went into the bathroom to get his slippers. When he returned, he threw his arms around his dad and Mark ruffled his hair and kissed the top of his head.
‘Bye, Daddy.’
‘Love you, son.’
This exchange between father and son was another tug at Grace’s heartstrings.