Chapter 24 #2
‘I can assure you that I have a perfectly good reason and solid evidence to support every expenditure,’ Lila declared forcefully.
She didn’t, but now wasn’t the time to cave.
Her mum’s motto. Hair done, lipstick on, face the world.
She already had the first two covered, thanks to Rod and Kylie, so now it was up to her.
She would buy time to come up with something, and if she didn’t, well it wouldn’t matter.
This was the weekend that she was going to make the breakthrough with Ken, so she could go down to head office and tell them that, as the future Mrs Lila Manson, wife of cardiac surgeon Dr Kenneth Manson, they could stuff their job.
‘I do hope so, Lila. You’ve been one of our best performing account managers for many years. I really hope this can all be explained and we can go on to develop your career with the company. I look forward to hearing what you have to say.’
He rang off and Lila stared straight ahead, unable to move.
By the very implication in his last words, if she couldn’t explain everything, there wasn’t going to be a future with the company for her.
Argh! The truth was, she realised in hindsight, that she’d crossed a line that she wouldn’t be able to justify.
So her job was gone. She was about to be out of work.
And while the prospect of that terrified her, it made one thing clearer than ever: the stakes had just got higher.
There was now absolutely no room for hesitation with Ken, because she was not going to be the woman with no job, no husband, no chance of gainful employment, because she’d just been fired for misconduct.
She could lose everything here. Everything.
She blinked back the tears, determined not to spoil her lashes. Don’t cry. It’s all going to be fine. This was a blip in the road, but she hadn’t crashed and burned yet. Although, petrol bombing that old witch Madge now seemed like a perfectly reasonable proposition.
Across the street, she saw the front door opening. Yes! The cake delivery person must be leaving. This was going to be her chance. A woman stepped out of the doorway carrying bin bags. That was odd, but what did it matter as long as she was going to piss off and let Lila make her move.
Another woman appeared behind her, also carrying black plastic bags. She gasped as she realised it was Bernadette. Okay, still strange, but at least things were moving. Both women then went back inside, only to reappear carrying more bulging black sacks. What the hell was going on?
For fifteen minutes, they carried out bag after bag, then came clothes on hangers, all of it shoved into the back of the van.
Lila had a moment of clarity – they were packing for a car boot sale.
That was it. Bernadette absolutely struck her as the kind of woman who went to those things, flogging worn jackets and cheap tat ornaments for a few pounds to put petrol in that bloody Fiat. The woman had not an ounce of class.
Still, she waited. The two women were leaning on the side of the van now, deep in conversation and…
Oh for God’s sake, they were holding hands.
Were they related? Or was this some kind of secret affair?
Wouldn’t that be ironic – if Ken and Lila had been meeting in secret for the last seven years, while Bernadette was also sneaking around with an illicit lover.
They looked like they could be a couple.
Both the same age. Both the same shape. Both in unappealing, decidedly unflattering outfits.
Yep, they could easily be a couple. That would be brilliant – a free pass for Ken.
Before she even thought through what she was doing, she lifted her phone and shot a couple of pics of the two women embracing. Got you.
Okay, now get in the van and leave, lady. Go on. Clear off.
Lila actually thought the subliminal commands were working when the visitor jumped in the driver’s seat, but her hopes were dashed a few moments later when Bernadette locked the front door and climbed into the van too.
Argh! Fuck, fuck, fuck! Where was she going?
When would she be back? And why was she completely wrecking Lila’s plans?
Slipping the shades back on, Lila watched, fuming, as they drove past her, the driver staring intently at her. They stopped at the traffic lights behind her, then turned the corner, taking away her opportunity for confrontation with them.
Damn it. What to do? She could wait here for them to come back, but who knew when that would be? She could wait for Ken to get home, but again, that could be any time. His surgery could run hours late.
As if answering her dilemma, the phone rang again. Cammy. Much as the last thing she wanted to do was answer it, she did it anyway.
‘Babe, is everything okay?’ he asked and she could hear the concern in his voice.
No, it’s not. My boyfriend’s wife is being a royal pain in the arse by refusing to allow me to destroy their marriage, he’s not taking the initiative and doing it for me, and now there’s a fairly good chance I’m about to get fired. No, everything is not bloody okay.
‘Of course it is, darling,’ she assured him. Hair done, lipstick on, face the world.
‘I thought you’d be back home to change before we go out to dinner. I just got here and there’s no sign of you.’
She looked at the clock. Shit, it was after 7.
30 p.m. Her first instinct was to just blow this whole thing off, but her parents would already be on the way.
Nothing else for it. She’d have to go. She could eat, make some pretence about not feeling well, then come back here as soon as possible.
No point in wasting a perfectly good restaurant booking.
Besides, she was looking smoking hot, there was always some celebrity or another there, and the pics would go down a storm on her Instagram.
‘I’m sorry, honey, I just got held up with this meeting. Anyway, I picked up my pink dress from the dry cleaners this afternoon – you know, the Cavalli one, and it’s in the back of the car. I’ll just change and meet you there.’
She would just pop into the Hilton to get ready.
It was the perfect work to party hack for someone with her social life.
It was also another company perk she’d lose.
Free membership of the gym in the basement of the Hilton.
It was so close to the city centre that it came in handy for a quick swim, or a spa treatment, or getting dressed for a night out in a hurry.
Now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. It was all going to work out. No question. Lila Anderson didn’t do failure and she certainly wasn’t going to back down from getting what she wanted.
‘Ok, babe, try to get there as soon as you can.’
What was wrong with him? She’d get there when she bloody well got there. He was becoming entirely too high-maintenance. Just as well it was about to end because he was starting to seriously get on her nerves.
‘Will do,’ she said, managing to keep her voice light.
The last thing she needed was an argument with him right now as well.
What was the point? One more dinner, then back here, force the issue with Ken, and then they could just be together and none of this other stuff – Cammy, her job, the wife – would even matter.
She was so busy running the internal dialogue, that as she pulled out, did a U-turn and headed back towards the city centre, she didn’t notice Ken’s car coming from the other direction and slipping into the driveway in front of his empty house.