Chapter 27
MAYA
I was strangely anxious as we drove towards Liv’s house that evening.
I prayed the night would go well. I dearly hoped Hugo and Elliot would behave themselves.
My friendship with Liv mattered to me so I just wanted us all to get along together without any drama.
I had made a boozy tiramisu in a trifle dish; there was a sinful amount of mascarpone and alcohol in it but I knew it was a crowd-pleaser.
‘Maya,’ Liv said, kissing my cheek before moving onto do the same to Hugo. ‘Thanks for coming.’
‘Thanks for inviting us. Elliot has something he wants to give you.’ I nudged my son, who was holding an extravagant bouquet of peonies that I had chosen in our local florist’s earlier.
Elliot handed her the flowers. ‘These are for you,’ he said shyly.
‘Thank you, Elliot, they’re stunning,’ Liv said, taking them from him. ‘You shouldn’t have, Maya.’
‘I wanted to. I also made a tiramisu; it is laced with rum and an eye-watering amount of calories but let’s not think about that.’
She laughed. ‘It looks delicious. Calories don’t count when you’re eating with friends. Let’s go find Jay and Finn,’ she said, linking my arm and walking me inside the house, leaving Hugo and Elliot trailing after us.
My first impression of their home was that it was tiny.
Liv had warned me that it was small, but I hadn’t been prepared for just how minute it actually was.
It wasn’t helped by the fact that three bikes and a plastic Spiderman scooter clogged up the hallway.
A tub full of shoes stood beside the stairs and coats hung over the newel post. We went through to a narrow kitchen where a short run of cupboards ran along one wall and a circular table covered with a geometric-printed vinyl tablecloth and four chairs took up the majority of the floorspace.
A timber Live, Laugh, Love sign hung over the extractor fan and a pink fridge was covered in magnets and Finn’s artwork.
‘Don’t worry, we’re going to eat outside,’ Liv said, obviously noticing my reaction to the size of her kitchen.
‘That’s not what I was thinking,’ I lied, feeling mortified that she could read me so easily.
‘I love your use of colour and pattern, Liv; it’s really bright and cheery.
’ Liv’s décor style was the opposite to my neutral-toned, minimalistic home and yet for all the clutter and mess, it told the story of a happy, much-loved family home.
‘Hugo, do you know Jay?’ Liv said by way of introduction.
‘Nice to meet you,’ Jay said as the two men shook hands and then the six of us stood uncomfortably around the kitchen.
‘Well, it’s nice to see everyone outside of our therapist’s office,’ Hugo quipped.
‘I know it’s kind of awkward how we… eh… how we all know one another but you’re all very welcome here and I just want us all to have a nice evening,’ Jay said after a beat.
Liv smiled adoringly at her husband. ‘I’m glad you got it out of the way.’
‘Isn’t it weird how things work out?’ I enthused. ‘If the four of us had never gone to see Julia,’ I moved closer to Liv, linking her arm before turning to Jay, ‘I would never have got to know your lovely wife.’
Liv beamed in appreciation and put her other hand over mine to seal it there.
‘Who’s Julia, Mammy?’ Finn asked, looking up at the adults in confusion.
Liv paled and dropped my arm. ‘Oh, she’s just a woman we all know, lovey…’ she said quickly. ‘Why don’t you go show Elliot your sandpit?’
‘Okay, Mammy,’ he said. The two boys wandered out to the garden.
‘I’d better go get the steaks on the BBQ,’ Jay said, excusing himself so it was just me, Hugo and Liv left in the kitchen.
‘Would either of you like a glass of wine?’ Liv offered, after a beat. ‘Or I have prosecco. Or maybe you’d prefer a beer…’
‘Sure, I’d love a glass of Pinot Grigio,’ I said.
Her face turned stricken. ‘I only have Chardonnay. I’m not much of a wine expert.’
‘Don’t worry, I’m not fussy,’ I said with a wave of my hand.
‘Maya will drink anything,’ Hugo interjected.
I shot him a pleading look, begging him not to ruin this evening for me.
‘Chardonnay is perfect, thank you, Liv.’
Liv visibly relaxed as she turned to Hugo. ‘Would you like one, Hugo?’
He shook his head. ‘I’m driving so I’ll stick to the soft drinks, thanks. I’ll have a Coke if you have it.’
‘No worries.’ Liv uncorked a bottle of supermarket own label wine and poured me a glass. She handed it to me before she gave Hugo a Coke. He wandered out to the garden to where Jay was reigning over his BBQ.
Through the kitchen window, I winced as Hugo wandered across the garden and practically ignored Jay as he strolled around, looking at something on his phone. Maybe this was a terrible idea. What had I been thinking bringing him here? I should have known that he and Jay would be total opposites.
‘Let’s go outside,’ Liv suggested, obviously thinking the same as me.
We went out to the garden and sat down at a small timber table.
I glanced over to the boys, who were busy filling a toy dumper truck with sand.
I was relieved they seemed to be getting on much better this time, compared to the day we had them over in our house.
Perhaps Elliot was just being a little territorial that day.
‘Did you watch the Liverpool match at the weekend?’ I heard Jay asking Hugo, to make conversation.
‘I’m not much of a football fan,’ he replied bluntly.
I cringed. Sometimes, I wished Hugo could just play along with stuff like this instead of making the conversation awkward for everyone.
‘Oh what sports are you into?’ Jay asked, trying a different angle.
‘I play a bit of golf. Do you play?’
Jay shook his head. ‘Never could get into it. You need time. Liv would divorce me if I headed off playing eighteen holes at the weekends.’
Hugo sneered, taking a sip from his Coke.
After a while, Jay served up juicy steaks, baked potatoes and Liv brought big bowls of salad out from the kitchen. There was grilled asparagus, tomatoes and corn still in its husk.
‘This looks great, guys,’ I said as I began to eat.
‘So, what do you do, Jay?’ Hugo asked as he chewed on a mouthful of the meat.
‘I’m a nurse.’
‘A nurse,’ he repeated and I prayed he wasn’t going to make a derogatory comment. ‘Tough job but I guess someone has to do it.’
‘That’s how they met, darling. They’re both nurses,’ I chimed in. ‘Isn’t that sweet?’
‘What do you do, Hugo?’ Jay asked.
‘I run my own property development firm. Mainly in the commercial sector but we’ve moved into residential lately. We can’t keep up with demand.’
Jay nodded. ‘Housing is a disaster in this country at the moment. Liv and I were both in steady, permanent jobs, working full-time, and it still took us years to save up enough to put a deposit on this place and as I’m sure you’ve probably noticed, it’s not exactly a mansion.
It’s a terraced three-bedroomed house, you can’t swing a cat in it and when I see how much leaves our bank account for the mortgage every month, it makes me want to cry. ’
Liv reached out and placed a hand on top of her husband’s. ‘But at least we own our own place now and we’re not funding some landlord’s pension pot.’
Jay smiled at her and I felt my heart twist. Despite their financial hardships, they were so united, so in love – they had everything I wished I had in my own relationship.
‘True. The government needs to do more for people trying to buy,’ Jay continued.
‘Why should they?’ Hugo challenged. ‘Why should people get handouts? It’s really simple: the harder you work in life, the more money you’ll have to spend.’
‘Well, that’s not true now, is it? I work hard and we’re always broke.’
‘No offence but you work in a public-sector job,’ Hugo countered.
‘Well someone has to do it; who’s going to work in the hospitals or in the schools if everyone is off chasing the big bucks?’
‘Well, I know what I’d rather do…’ Hugo muttered.
I couldn’t believe he said that. I wanted to die.
Jay and Liv shifted uncomfortably.
‘Darling, if you’re not careful, you won’t get any of my boozy tiramisu,’ I joked, trying to lighten the mood.
‘What do you do, Maya?’ Jay asked, turning away from Hugo.
‘Well I studied marketing in college but my degree is worthless since the advent of the digital age. If I wanted to go back to work, I’d need to upskill and learn about online advertising and media campaigns and with Elliot being so young and Hugo working such long hours, I don’t think it would be a good move for us right now. ’
‘So now she spends her days getting her hair and nails done instead. It’s almost a full-time job, isn’t that right, Maya?’
I told myself not to rise to it. Not to get dragged into an argument with him. He knew how to push my buttons but doing it in front of company was a low blow.
‘Now, that’s unfair; being at home with the kids is hard work,’ Liv interjected. ‘I’m sure it takes a lot of pressure off you if you know Maya is at home and you don’t need to juggle childcare or worry about Elliot. There’s a lot to be said for having that peace of mind.’
‘I may as well be the nanny,’ I spat, reaching for my glass and taking a long, deliberate gulp.
Just then, we heard a scream and we swung around to see Finn lying on the grass, crying.
‘Oh, honey,’ Liv said, rushing over to him.
‘Did anyone see what happened?’ Jay asking, dropping his cutlery and rushing over behind his wife.
I followed over and stood behind where they were crouched on the ground around their son. ‘Is he okay?’ I asked.
‘Elliot pushed me,’ Finn cried.
‘I did not!’ Elliot screamed.
‘Hey there,’ I said, going over and putting an arm around my son to let him know I was there. ‘Calm down and tell me what happened.’
‘He tripped over the step.’ Elliot pointed at the timber sleepers that framed the sandpit.
‘I didn’t trip,’ Finn cried hysterically, his face covered in snot and tears. ‘You pushed me!’ he accused.
‘Okay, everyone, let’s calm down,’ Jay said. ‘I’m sure it was an accident.’
‘But it wasn’t, Daddy.’ Finn cried even harder. ‘He pushed me.’
‘Elliot,’ I began, ‘is that true?’
He shook his head. Although Elliot was denying it, something about his demeanour and the way he wouldn’t meet my eyes told me that it wasn’t an accident.
‘I’m so sorry, guys,’ I apologised. ‘I’m not sure who’s telling the truth.’
‘H-he pushed me, Daddy.’ Finn continued to sob.
‘I’ll go get the first aid kit,’ Jay said to Liv.
Liv sat down at the table with Finn on her lap.
I saw he had a small cut on his shin. I watched as she wriggled his ankle joint and then his knee to check for broken bones.
Jay returned moments later and began fishing out antiseptic wipes and bandages.
I caught a glimpse of Hugo’s face; his eyes told me he thought they were overreacting.
Although I agreed they were fussing over what appeared to be a minor cut, we all parented differently.
Hugo put his hands out and Elliot climbed up onto his knee.
‘Lucky we have two nurses on standby,’ I said to lift the mood.
‘Ow, Mammy,’ Finn wailed as they cleaned the cut. ‘It hurts. Stop, Mammy, stop!’
‘He’s a baby,’ I heard Elliot whisper to Hugo and Hugo laughed.
I turned to Hugo and hissed, ‘This is the second time something like this has happened when he’s been playing with Finn. We need to nip this in the bud.’
‘What are you talking about? Let’s not overreact,’ Hugo defended his son. ‘The kid said he didn’t do anything. I believe him.’
‘It’s okay,’ Liv said to appease the situation. ‘They’re five-year-olds; they’re only learning how to socialise.’ Clearly, she believed her son.
‘I think he’s okay,’ Jay said after he had cleaned up the cut.
‘Well, that’s a relief,’ I said sympathetically while Elliot and Hugo sat smirking together.
‘Would anyone like dessert?’ Liv asked, clapping her hands together as if to signal an end to this conversation.
‘I’m good, thanks,’ Hugo said, patting his stomach and standing up from the table. ‘I think we should go now, actually.’
‘Yeah, it’s getting late anyway,’ I agreed, standing up and slipping the strap of my crossbody bag over my head. The evening was ruined now. I couldn’t see any of us being able to sit down and enjoy one another’s company after this. ‘I’m sorry, Liv.’
‘It’s okay,’ she said in a tone that told me it wasn’t. ‘I’ll walk you out.’
I placed a hand on her arm. ‘I don’t want to humiliate Elliot here in front of everyone but I promise, we’ll talk to him when we get home,’ I assured her in a whisper as she saw us out.
Jay followed after us, carrying Finn in his arms. ‘Thanks for having us over,’ I said to the two of them. ‘I hope Finn will be okay.’
‘Thanks for coming,’ Liv said, pursing her lips into a smile that didn’t stretch up her face.