Chapter 6
Jake was standing by the lift, tapping his foot impatiently, when Faye joined him.
He looked at her, surprised. ‘I thought you were in the meeting?’
She folded her arms.
Jake sighed and held out her keys. ‘I’d better phone for a taxi.’
She took the keys. ‘Don’t bother. I’m coming with you.’
‘But I don’t know when I’ll be back!’ Jake blurted without thinking.
Faye nodded. ‘I guessed that. I just called our supply teacher. I’ve booked him in today, to cover for you, just in case.’
‘I could hug you,’ Jake said. Then he realised that he’d better not. He was still treading carefully after the weekend, although he was very pleased that Faye wasn’t giving him the silent treatment anymore.
‘What did you tell the head?’ Jake asked anxiously.
‘That if you end up down at the station, giving a statement, you might be some time. And that as I was a witness, I should go with you.’
‘You said that?’
‘Well, it’s true – isn’t it?’
Jake nodded.
‘As I don’t have any teaching commitments this morning, and I can catch up with paperwork when I get back, I decided I’d accompany you. As I said, I told the head we might be some time at the station.’
Jake looked at her sheepishly. It might be true, if he had phoned the police.
‘So, you’ve phoned the police.’
‘Not exactly.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘There’s something I need to do first.’
‘Is it something to do with that phone call earlier?’
The lift doors opened. Faye followed him inside.
‘I have to find someone.’ Jake kept his eye on the red digits above the door that were counting down to G .
‘Can’t it wait until after work?’
‘No,’ said Jake firmly.
The lift door opened, and they made their way to the car park.
‘Look, if we take a detour to my house—’
‘Is that where you’ll find this person you’re looking for?’
‘No, but if you just drop me home, I can collect my car.’ Jake pursed his lips, avoiding further conversation about the phone call as they got in her car and Faye drove out of the school gates.
‘Who’s Lydia?’
Jake turned to Faye in surprise. ‘You were listening in on my conversation.’
‘Well, I couldn’t help overhearing somebody who was sitting directly opposite me,’ she said testily. She turned her attention back to the road ahead.
‘That doesn’t mean you have to listen ,’ Jake emphasised the last word. He could hear the irritability in his voice and knew he was being unreasonable.
Faye glanced his way. ‘It’s family, isn’t it?’
In the cold light of day, he was beginning to regret the previous night. Faye was obviously not happy about the amount of time he was spending with her daughter, and he was not happy that Faye, who had shared with him the details of some familial woes, may expect him to do the same.
He gave in – a little. ‘Lydia is my brother-in-law Marcus’s fiancée.’
‘What happened to him?’
‘I don’t know.’ Jake sighed heavily. ‘They probably had another fight.’ Jake rubbed his temples; he could feel the early stages of a tension headache coming on.
‘Another fight?’ Faye repeated. ‘Doesn’t sound like a match made in heaven.’
He stole a glance at Faye. By the look on her face, he guessed she was silently cursing herself for what she’d just said.
‘You’re right – it isn’t.’ He voiced his thoughts. ‘The thing is, I can never figure out why. On paper they should be … what did you call it?’
Faye hesitated. ‘A match made in heaven?’
‘Yeah.’
‘You’re good friends with Lydia?’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘She rang you for help. I mean, she could have gone to …’ Faye paused. ‘Oh, any number of people. What about Marcus’s parents, his father?’
‘It’s not that straightforward, Faye.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘She rang me because it’s probably my fault.’
‘What’s your fault?’ Faye said indignantly. ‘They had a row. What’s that got to do with—’ Faye stopped abruptly.
Her wide eyes gave away exactly what she was thinking, and Jake found it genuinely amusing. Despite the circumstances, he laughed out loud. ‘It’s got nothing to do with Lydia and me, if that’s what you’re thinking. We are not having an affair or anything like that.’
Jake thought that if Faye met Lydia, she’d understand. Lydia, a six-foot, sultry stunner, privately educated on the East Coast of America and a Harvard law graduate, was a formidable corporate lawyer. On paper, she was a good match for Marcus, who was an Eton-educated Oxbridge graduate corporate executive and heir to a business empire.
Jake had nothing against educated, career-orientated women. But what he had against Lydia was her condescending attitude towards anybody who didn’t reach her dizzying heights of perfection, and, in Jake’s personal experience, towards some who had; if you didn’t come from the right stock – meaning money – it didn’t matter what you achieved; you were still nobody.
She was a snob through and through.
Her one redeeming quality, as far as Jake was concerned, was her relationship with Marcus. It was obvious to anybody that she loved the guy, and it was obvious to Jake that Marcus didn’t deserve it – he treated her like a doormat. His habit of disappearing was causing her immense embarrassment, not to mention emotional pain – and was causing Jake a huge headache. He didn’t know why Lydia didn’t just end it.
They pulled up in front of Jake’s house.
Faye switched the engine off and turned to Jake. ‘So, why did she call you ?’
It was the same reason she called last time and the time before that; Lydia might love Marcus, but her love of the high society circles she moved in came an extremely close second. She was ambitious. Jake had a feeling Lydia didn’t want anything tarnishing the ‘golden couple’ image she was carefully cultivating. She didn’t want tawdry pictures of her wrecked fiancé, collapsed in some putrid doorway, splashed over some sleazy tabloid blowing away those perfectly orchestrated pictures in Hello! magazine. She didn’t want the police arresting Marcus with some prostitute hanging on his arm. Above all, she didn’t want to know any details. That was where Jake came in.
How many times had it happened in the past month? Jake had lost count, and this worried him. And there was something else. On the phone, Lydia – who was normally Ms Ice – had lost her cool completely. She was actually pleading with him to patch it up with Marcus, as though it was all his fault. She’d said, Can’t you just talk to him? Just one kind word? Jake had never seen this side of Lydia – the ice maiden thawed – which in any other context would have delighted him no end. But her small voice on the other end of the line, and her words, He misses you , had thrown Jake completely.
Had Lydia been trying to tell him this all along by ringing him up and asking him to find Marcus in the hope that Jake would see what he had caused and forgive him? Had she finally lost patience today and spelled it out: that Marcus’s increasingly erratic behaviour was his fault? Had he hurt him that much? But then, thought Jake, the truth does hurt.
‘What is it?’ Jake felt Faye’s hand on his arm.
‘Have you ever said something …’ Jake searched for the right words and decided to change tack. ‘If someone can’t handle the truth, do you tell them anyway or do you let them continue believing they are the one in the right?’
Jake wasn’t sure if that made any sense.
Faye stared at Jake a long moment.
‘This is me you’re talking to, remember? You know exactly what I’m going to say.’
Jake nodded. ‘The truth.’