7. Chapter 7
7
P lotting against exes proved to be hungry and thirsty work, so they had ordered food to go with the drinks. Katie sipped at her third G&T and picked at the last few fries on the plate between them. They had devoured a burger each and then ordered more fries. It was early evening now, and a different crowd was slowly drifting in—groups of friends looking for food after a day out, couples with reservations for dinner. The brasserie slowly filled up around them.
Katie felt better than she had since she had heard Ryan’s voice floating out of that house, telling them to ‘keep the change’.
Everyone around her, her family and all her friends, had been so supportive. They had all said Ryan was an idiot, a dickhead, a bastard. They said it was his loss, she was better off without him, and she’d find someone better. It was all perfectly comforting, and she knew they loved her and would do their best to help her through this. And it all felt hollow.
They didn’t know , most of those people, what it felt like. Her mother and father had been happily married for close to forty years. Jess was currently single and was usually the one to call things off. Her college friend Ellie was happily married to her university boyfriend. None of them knew the pain, the humiliation of being cheated on, mixed in with the heartbreak.
None of them knew how small being cheated on made her feel. The feeling that she wasn’t enough for the person she loved most in the world—so they had to go out and find someone else. That she had been stupid enough to think that this wonderful person had picked her. And then the anger. The anger at them for being a liar and a cheater and for thieving her time and her love and affection. Then anger at herself for not seeing it. How could she not have seen it sooner?
Tom knew. Tom knew how it felt to stand outside the house with the pink door in the drizzling rain and know that they were in there, together, and it was all over. From happily loved up to heartbrokenly single in the two seconds it had taken Ryan to say, tell the driver to keep the change .
Life had turned on a sixpence.
They had rehashed that night, talking candidly about how they felt and what had transpired after they parted ways outside that house. It was cathartic to talk it through, the horror and the ridiculousness of it all, with the one person who knew exactly what had happened.
‘I think the biggest thing I am taking away from this,’ Tom said, reaching for some fries, his fingers almost brushing hers, ‘is that when you decide to do something, you commit. ’ He was grinning. ‘I mean, you borrowed a car, you had the wig, the glasses…’ he started laughing again. ‘I’m genuinely impressed. I just showed up with no plan and no idea what to say.’
Katie laughed and dipped her fries in ketchup.
‘So Melissa stalked you on the phone like Ryan did to me?’
He nodded. ‘I put my phone on do not disturb in the end. There were so many crying voice notes and texts.’ His expression was dark. ‘You’d have thought I had cheated on her.’
‘How long were you together?’
He dropped his head. ‘It was coming up to a year.’ He cleared his throat. ‘This time.’ He glanced up at Katie then his gaze dropped to his beer. ‘It was sort of a second chance, second attempt.’
Katie held her breath not wanting to interrupt this sharing. Tom dragged a hand down his face, his expression distant.
‘We were together in total for about two years, but about a year in I suspected she was cheating on me.’
Katie abruptly stopped chewing, face frozen as she listened. Tom looked up, his eyes focusing on her now.
‘I never had actual proof, not of…sex or anything. But there was this guy from the company she used to work at. I was pretty sure something was going on and then I saw them together one day and they didn’t see me straight away…’ He looked down at his beer. ‘They looked like a couple, sort of all over each other. Then she saw me and she looked guilty and I was furious and ready to break it off and we argued but then,’ he sighed, a sound that came up from the depths of him. ‘I was eventually persuaded—persuaded myself, maybe—that there was nothing, I was overreacting. So I gave her a second chance.’ His face darkened and he took a long slug of his beer. ‘We know how that worked out. I won’t make that mistake with anyone again.’
Katie nodded, chewing slowly now. Her heart went out to Tom. To have given Melissa a second chance only to be proved right about her months later was a special kind of cruelty. His mouth was set in an unforgiving line and she didn’t doubt that he was resolute about no second chances.
‘What about you?’ Tom asked, sitting back.
He took a deep breath and his dark blue shirt tightened across his broad shoulders, the ambient wall lights picking out warm chestnut streaks in his dark hair. He smiled at her, the sombre cloud rising from him now he had finished sharing his story. She had his full attention.
He ran a hand over his chin. Katie wasn’t sure if it was because her vision wasn’t clouded by distress and rain-streaked fake glasses or if it was the third gin, but he was even better looking than she had remembered. He gave no sense of being aware of it as he sat back easily in his chair, shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his collar open enough for her to glimpse a hint of golden skin on his chest. Under any other circumstances, she might have felt shy sitting and talking with such a handsome man.
‘So, come on then,’ Tom said, gesturing to her with his pint glass. ‘How long were you and the lovely Ryan together?’
Katie felt her lips pull into a faint smile and watched her finger as she ran it around the rim of her glass. She lifted her eyes to meet Tom’s. He was still, his expression patient and curious.
‘Five years,’ she said in a quiet voice. ‘Five years of my life I’ll never get back.’
Tom didn’t say anything. He sat still, his gaze on her face.
‘We lived together,’ Katie continued. ‘We moved in together quite quickly, I guess, after only about six months. He was so energetic, so ambitious. He was fun,’ she said begrudgingly, ‘in those earlier years. So was I,’ she said softly.
Katie glanced up and her eyes met Tom’s.
‘We lived in this crappy one-bed flat for a couple of years, then, about three years ago, we moved to the house we live in—’ She stopped. ‘ Lived in,’ she corrected herself, ‘until, well, until a few days ago. We wanted more space, and I needed an office. Ryan thought it was a better postcode. More prestigious.’ Her mouth twisted.
‘Bloody estate agents,’ Tom muttered, and Katie gave a watery smile.
Katie twisted the corner of a napkin. ‘We had talked over the years about marriage and kids. I think I thought it was all just a matter of time.’ She swallowed. ‘Maybe I got complacent and lazy, maybe it all got boring, and so that’s why he—’
‘Katie,’ Tom said, reaching a hand across the table and brushing his fingers against hers. ‘Don’t blame yourself. He made those choices. If he felt there was really something wrong in your relationship, it was up to him to talk to you, like an adult. Not start lying and cheating. You didn’t do anything wrong.’ He paused for a heartbeat. ‘ We didn’t do anything wrong.’
Katie could see the hurt in his eyes as he willed them both to trust that. Katie felt her fingers flick out and grab Tom’s. He laced his fingers through hers, squeezing her hand, covering their entwined fingers with his other hand as they leaned across the table towards one another. Katie stared at their hands, feeling the strength and the heat, glancing up to meet his eyes, seeing no judgement there, only understanding. Around them, the hubbub of the evening crowd thrummed, but they stayed there, in a little bubble of their own making, for a few moments more.
A crackle of laughter followed by a glass smashing a couple of tables away broke the spell. Katie snapped back, withdrawing her hand abruptly and elbowing her gin glass, which teetered on its narrow stem. Tom shot out a hand and caught it.
‘Hey, just cos someone else does it, doesn’t mean you need to follow suit,’ he said, inclining his head towards where a waiter was hurrying over to sweep up broken glass.
Katie gave a half-laugh and lunged for her gin, taking a long drink.
A waitress came up and cleared their plates, then retreated. They were quiet until she had gone.
‘Well then,’ Tom said, pressing his hands together. ‘What exactly do we have in mind for our lying, cheating exes? Will you be sewing shrimp into their curtain linings? Shoving dog poo through their letter box? Using Ryan’s work email to sign him up to multiple porn sites?’
Katie grinned. ‘What makes you think I haven’t done all of those things already?’
Tom raised his eyebrows. ‘Nice work.’
‘I also opened multiple new email accounts to create new fake profiles and left them both terrible customer reviews on the company website,’ Katie added. ‘And I googled how to get revenge on your ex. ’ She narrowed her eyes. ‘All the articles said things like, the best revenge is to get on and live your best life.’
Tom’s mouth turned down at the sides. ‘I hate that expression.’
Katie sighed. ‘Truthfully though, tempting, ’ she bit out the word for emphasis, ‘as it was to do all those things and more, I decided I’d rather stay this side of the law. I don’t want one of them going to the police complaining that I sabotaged their career with my fake reviews. So I’ve stuck to the untraceable.’
Tom nodded. ‘Cat allergies and plug fuses.’
‘Pathetic, isn’t it?’
‘Creative and mildly malevolent,’ Tom said, a gleam in his eyes.
‘The thought that kept coming up for me,’ Katie said, ‘aside from how to kill him and get away with it, of course,’ Tom nodded, face serious, ‘was that I don’t see why this gets to be easy for them. I’m not prepared to slip quietly away as if the last five years never happened. I won’t avoid him or tiptoe around them. I’m close with his sister and his parents. Am I supposed to never see them again after five years ?’
Tom’s head bobbed in agreement. ‘This is a small town. We’re all bound to see one another.’
‘I refuse to just let them take everything,’ Katie said, banging her palm down forcefully on the table, the little tea light sputtering in the glass jar. ‘The friendships, the relationships with family, the…the…. festival tickets! But it could be very awkward to go to some of these things,’ she continued, ‘to do some of these things, on my own—on one’s own…So I was thinking,’ she took a breath then hurried the words out, ‘maybe you could come to some things with me…and I could go to some things with you. We could be each other’s emotional crutches.’
‘Ahhh,’ Tom said, on an out breath. ‘I think I see…’
‘As difficult as it might feel, I’d like to be there for Belinda and John’s—they’re his parent’s—ruby wedding anniversary. It’s all Belinda has talked about for a year, and they’ve been so good to me. They’re like family. But not…’ she studied him from under her lashes, ‘on my own.’
Tom leaned back. ‘Interesting proposition, Miss Technical Writer. You have a way with words.’
Katie smiled. ‘I just think, if we were to go together—which would be a delightful surprise for Ryan and Melissa—it means I can be there for people I love, who want me there, and hopefully can also subject Ryan and Melissa to some awkwardness.’ There was a slight smile on Tom’s face. She pushed on. ‘Is that a yes? It’s next weekend. You can tell me all of Melissa’s weaknesses, and I promise to exploit them shamelessly.’
‘Hmmm.’ He watched her carefully. ‘I will see your be my plus one to my ex’s family event.’ Katie was listening. ‘And I will raise you one non-refundable luxury spa weekend. Melissa paid for it as a gift, but she can forget it if she thinks I am sending the booking information to her.’ He shrugged. ‘I was going to just let it go to waste, but it seems a shame not to put it to use. We could go and take some fab pictures to put on social media and show how we’re living our best lives.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘It’s a suite,’ he added quickly, holding his palms up, ‘so there’s room for two. I’m not suggesting we top and tail in a bed.’
Katie laughed. ‘Thank God. I haven’t topped and tailed since I was ten.’
She stirred her drink.
‘Okay, okay. I see your spa weekend,’ she tilted her glass at him, ‘and I raise you one festival ticket. I bought the tickets as a present for Ryan because one of his favourite Europop bands,’ she wrinkled her nose, ‘is playing, but I told him I can’t find them. It’s sold out now, so tough shit for him.’ She twirled the stem of her glass. ‘I don’t give a shit about the band—they’re fucking awful—but the festival will be fun, and it would be great to have someone there who can take pics of me in the front row by the band. My friend Jess won’t go because she doesn’t like crowded places. Or anything with Portaloos. Or eating food from stalls, actually.’
Tom appeared to consider. ‘When is this festival?’
Katie tilted her head. ‘In about five or six weeks, mid-September, I think.’
Tom rubbed his jaw.
‘Okay. I’ll do your festival if you’ll come to the Barnsford and District Business Awards dinner with me.’ He paused. ‘Home&Place Estate Agents always has a table, so they’ll be there, together. It’s uh,’ he glanced around the busy brasserie before bringing his eyes back to meet hers, ‘it’s actually where Melissa and I met a couple of years ago.’
Katie’s heart went out to him. ‘Of course I’ll go to that with you.’
Tom nodded, looking relieved. ‘That’d be great. Well, alright then. This is a decent starting point. We’ll help each other get through the worst of the next few months.’ Tom listed off on his fingers. ‘I’ll come to the ruby wedding party and the festival with you, and you’ll come to the spa weekend and the business awards dinner with me.’
‘Yes.’ Katie grinned. ‘We’ll help each other through it, show them we are living our best lives,’ she gurned, and Tom laughed. ‘And make things as awkward as we can for them along the way.’
Tom held up his glass to her. ‘It’s a deal.’
Some weight lifted off Katie’s shoulders and tension eased in her chest. She had a real ally now. Not someone just trying to support and coax her through it, but someone down in the trenches, in the pain and the confusion with her, doing their best to find a way through.
‘So,’ Tom said. ‘Next weekend for the ruby wedding. Anything I should know to add some flavour to the evening?’
‘Umm, when we see Ryan, call him mate . He hates being called mate.’ She eyed him up and down. ‘And try to be tall. He’s five foot nine but tells everyone he’s five-eleven. If you could please be extra tall, that’d be great.’
‘I’m six-two, that okay?’
‘If that’s the best you can do….’ She pursed her lips and made a face. Tom chuckled.
‘And what about Melissa?’ Katie asked.
Tom thought. ‘She’s pretty vain. She’s not a natural blonde, which I don’t think is a surprise to anyone, but she’s terrified people will notice her roots.’
Katie nodded. ‘Great. I’ll tell her I know a good hairdresser I can recommend to her.’