Love Getting Even

9. Chapter 9

9

T hey had left Barbara and Malcolm, Barbara still standing mouth agape, fingers fluttering at her throat, and headed for the bar. Agreeing that they needed a dose of Dutch courage, the first drink had disappeared in moments. Flagging down the barman for a second round, they nursed these drinks a little more slowly. They had taken up residence on bar stools at one end of the long wooden bar. All the better for keeping the drinks flowing, they had agreed.

Their arrival had certainly ruffled some feathers and had been an action-packed start to the evening. Tom had thought, at best, that they’d get some withering glares from Ryan and Melissa, spend a couple of forgettable hours with a sedate crowd of people mostly coming up to retirement age, and then head home to lie in bed and feel very, very single.

The DJ was playing a medley of hits from the year Belinda and John got married, and Agadoo was straining from the speakers. A group of rather drunk sexagenarians were kicking up their heels on the dance floor and jabbing their pointed fingers into the air.

Tom turned to Katie to say something when Ryan appeared in front of them, hands on his hips. He was swaying slightly and sweating as he stepped towards Katie.

‘Why are you still here?’ he snarled at her. ‘And why are you telling people I cheated on you?’

Katie set her drink down on the bar and shook her head at him.

‘Wow, Ryan. I knew you had a loose relationship with the truth, but what do you want me to say when people ask? Oh no, Ryan didn’t cheat. We broke up because, while at a colleague’s house, all his clothes flew off, and his penis accidentally fell into her vagina. Again and again.’

‘Jesus.’ Ryan put his hands in his hair. ‘Would you keep your voice down?’

Tom could smell the alcohol on Ryan and swivelled on his stool to fully face Katie, one foot on the floor.

‘Don’t tell me what to do,’ Katie hissed. ‘We’re not together anymore. You’re just some cheating bastard ex now.’

Ryan swore under his breath and staggered slightly, tipping forward towards Katie. Tom stood and slid an arm around her shoulders where she sat. She twitched initially at his touch. From the corner of his eye he saw her face turn to him, then he felt her relax.

‘And what on earth,’ Ryan said, his lip curling as he waved a finger between them, ‘is this?’

Tom felt his blood rise, but he kept his voice calm. ‘Mate, you should get your finger out of my face and step away from Katie.’

‘Or what?’

Ryan straightened up as tall as he could, but he still came up several inches short of Tom. The exercise just made him look like a preening peacock.

‘We’re not in school,’ Tom continued. ‘Just leave Katie alone. She’s a guest here, just the same as you.’

Ryan turned his bleary, drunken gaze back onto Katie and leered. ‘You’re making things really awkward, Katie. Can you please just piss off? You’re not wanted here.’

Katie’s mouth fell open. Tom banged his glass down on the bar and planted himself directly between Ryan and Katie, drawing himself up to his full six-foot-two.

He leaned down so Ryan could hear him.

Ryan tried to back away.

‘I don’t know what your relationship with Katie was like,’ he said in a low and cold voice into Ryan’s ear as Ryan staggered unsteadily on his feet. ‘But you’re not with Katie now. So you don’t get to speak to her like that. You,’ he reached out and straightened the knot on Ryan’s tie as Ryan struggled to follow what was happening, ‘are not wanted anymore. At all.’ He took another step in until Ryan had to strain his head back to meet Tom’s gaze. ‘So hurry back to Melissa, there’s a good little man.’

Ryan was still straining up to Tom, blinking at him as a bead of sweat ran from his left eyebrow down his cheek. Tom could see the thoughts playing across Ryan’s face as he considered his next move.

After a moment, Ryan took a wobbly step back, grabbing onto a chair behind him for balance.

‘Tuh.’ He forced out a half-laugh. ‘Not worth it,’ he said as he straightened his jacket, sweat patches blooming around the collar and armpits, and turned to go, pushing his way through the crowd.

Tom let out a long breath and felt tension ebb out of his shoulders.

Katie was on her feet in front of him now, holding him by the arms, her eyes big and bright as she sought out his.

‘Holy fuck!’ she said.

Tom reached for his drink and took a long swallow. ‘I’m really glad he just left.’ He took a breath. ‘I’ve actually only hit someone once, and it bloody hurt.’

Katie burst out laughing and pushed Tom back onto his bar stool.

‘Seriously, Tom, that was epic.’

Her face was shining.

‘Katie,’ Tom said, relishing the cold of the glass in his hand. ‘No accountant should go around standing up to people like that. It’s not in our DNA. We punch paper, not people.’

Katie burst out laughing. ‘What? You work out. You’re in great shape.’

She prodded him in the bicep.

‘These hands need to type Katie. There are spreadsheets that need doing, data input to deal with. Emails to customers excited to discuss their financials…’

He was grinning as he spoke, enjoying the gleam of excitement and something like pride on her face.

‘Well, I am glad for your sake that you didn’t have to hit him. Wouldn’t want those spreadsheets waiting on input.’

She rolled her eyes slightly and tapped him on the arm.

More softly, she added, ‘But I am glad for me that you stood up to him. I can hold my own.’ She straightened her shoulders and tipped her head back, and Tom’s eyes dipped to her chest. ‘But it’s nice to have someone in my corner.’

‘Of course.’ Tom smiled. ‘That’s what this whole pact is, isn’t it? Being in each other’s corner.’

Katie nodded. ‘Sure. Now let’s get you a whisky so you can knock it back in one like the tough guy you are. We can get a taxi home,’ she added, as Tom opened his mouth to remind her that he was driving.

He gave in, and Katie raised an arm to get the attention of the bartender when suddenly a woman in a red dress and suit jacket clasped at Katie and awkwardly hugged her sideways.

‘Oh, Katie, sweetheart,’ the woman gushed, holding Katie with one arm and stroking Katie’s hair with the other hand. ‘You came. You came! You’re so good to come.’

Tom stood politely by and straightened his shirt collar. Katie slipped off the bar stool, gently prised the woman’s arms off her and turned to face her.

‘Belinda,’ she said, facing the woman and taking her hands in hers. ‘I told you I wouldn’t miss this. It’s your big night.’

Belinda, tears spilling over her heavy-handed eye makeup, clutched Katie’s hands to her. ‘Oh sweetheart, you’re too good. Too good for that stupid,’ she shook her head and spat the words out, ‘stupid boy of mine.’

She cupped Katie’s cheeks in her hands. ‘Look at this face. What was he thinking?’

She sighed and pulled a tissue out of her pocket, dabbing at her eyes, creating a slightly streaked panda effect. Katie took the tissue from her and gently wiped away the streaks.

‘Thank you,’ Belinda whispered. ‘You’ve always been so kind.’ She started to cry again. ‘You’re like a daughter to me.’

‘Belinda,’ Katie hugged her, then took her by the shoulders. ‘We don’t have to lose touch. We can still see each other.’

Belinda looked sorrowful. ‘I don’t want to be a horrible reminder of what that boy of mine has done.’ She shook her head.

‘You won’t be.’

‘There’s none of this on my side of the family,’ Belinda shook her head, her voice stern. ‘This,’ she wagged a finger, ‘must be from his father’s side.’

She glanced over at her husband, John, who was chatting away to an elderly man propping himself up on a cane, oblivious to the fact his dear wife was maligning his entire bloodline.

‘You know, Ryan’s uncle on his father’s side was married four times.’ Belinda pursed her lips in disapproval. ‘Four times! Each time he cheated, then left his wife for the latest bit of stuff.’

Belinda suddenly noticed Tom standing there quietly. Her hand went to her throat.

‘Oh, Katie, have you already moved on?’ She gripped Katie’s wrist, and it looked like she might burst into tears again. ‘Have you met his mother?’

Katie flashed a look at Tom. ‘No, Belinda. I haven’t moved on. This is Tom, my…we….’

Tom hesitated to jump in—who was he in this situation?

Katie took a breath.

‘Tom was Melissa’s boyfriend. We actually met because we both suspected we were being cheated on….’

Katie was watching Belinda closely.

Belinda still had a hand clutched to her chest, eyes moist.

She slowly let go of Katie and reached out her hands to Tom. Unsure what was happening, Tom took them. They were soft and delicate, but she gripped his hands firmly.

‘So,’ she said, squeezing his fingers. ‘You are another victim of my son’s.’

She glanced over at Ryan and Melissa, who were huddled by the buffet, watching them.

‘I am so sorry. I don’t know where I went wrong.’

Tom glanced over her head at Katie, who looked like she was trying to swallow down a laugh.

‘Belinda,’ Katie offered. ‘These things happen. Not all relationships work out. You and John have been very lucky to have found something that has lasted forty years. I am not a fan of Ryan at the moment—but this is no reflection on you. People fall out of love.’

Katie’s voice sounded slightly choked on the last word, and Tom glanced at her face. Her mouth was set in a firm line. It was generous of her to try to make Belinda feel better.

Belinda gave a slight nod, mollified but not entirely convinced she hadn’t somehow failed as a mother.

There were shrieks from near the entrance doors, and Belinda craned her neck to see. Tom could see a group of people embracing and jumping up and down at some new arrivals.

‘Oh, I had better go. That’s our best friends, Derek and Joanne, who have come all the way from Australia!’

Belinda was beaming now, her eyes bright.

She clasped Katie’s hands again and said, ‘We’ll talk more later, sweetheart,’ before hurrying towards the melee by the front doors.

Katie sagged a little and leant back against the bar. Tom looked at her, red hair falling around her shoulders, lights from the mirror ball playing across her pale skin.

‘You know, it was kind of you to try to look after Belinda,’ he offered.

‘Well,’ Katie gave him a soft smile. ‘It’s her night, isn’t it? Or it’s supposed to be. All she has talked about all year is this party, and how she wanted it to be perfect and loads of her cousins have come over from Canada for this, and their best friends have come back from Australia…. ‘ She stared out across the room, her expression clouded. ‘Forty years really is quite something, isn’t it?’

Tom looked around the room at the throng of people from at least three generations. ‘Yes,’ he murmured. ‘It is.’

Katie suddenly shook herself and slapped a hand down on the bar. ‘Ugh, well, this won’t do! We’ve gone and got all depressed!’

Tom wondered if that wasn’t partly the Belinda effect.

He glanced around the room. It was crowded, no sign of Melissa or Ryan. The hubbub by the entrance had quietened down, but there was still a throng of people there. The music had shifted to some ‘80s floor fillers, Rick Astley crooning out across the room.

‘Let’s dance,’ he said, inclining his head toward the dance floor, where people aged five to seventy-five were currently giving it their all. ‘Shake it off.’

For a moment, Katie looked unsure, looking from him to the dance floor and then back again. A smile spread across her face.

‘Sure,’ she said, and stepped forward in her glorious red dress, sashaying ahead of him through the crowds. Tom thought that the view from the rear was almost as good as the view from the front.

As they neared the dance floor, Katie turned to look at him over her shoulder, twisting and lifting her hand to run her fingers through her hair at the same time. Tom started to smile at her then realised something was wrong.

‘Oh Christ,’ Tom reached out and yanked her back into him, covering her body with his own.

‘What on earth are you doing?’ Katie’s voice was loud and indignant.

She wriggled and tried to shove him off her.

‘Don’t move,’ he breathed, holding onto her, the side of her body pressed into him, his arms holding her in place. ‘We need to sit down.’

‘Oh my god, are you okay?’ Katie stopped moving and looked concerned, peering up at him sideways. ‘Are you having a heart attack?’

He crab-walked them a few steps to the right, where there was an empty table on the edge of the dance floor. Just a few feet from them, people were doing poor imitations of Michael Jackson’s moon walk.

He eased them into two chairs, still holding onto Katie at an awkward side angle. She was looking more and more bewildered.

‘Are you having a stroke?’ she asked as they sat down. She turned in her seat to face him, his arms still encircling her, and Tom leaned forward across her.

‘Your dress,’ he managed.

‘What?’ She started shifting again, even as he kept his arms around her. ‘What about my dress?’

Where they now sat, Tom was sprawled partly across the edge of the table, partly across Katie as she tried to pull away from him. In this bent-over position, his head was level with her neck as if he was about to start kissing the top of her bosom.

‘Tom? What is going on?’ She shoved him again.

‘Your, uh,’ oh God, how to say it? ‘your boob is out,’ he managed. ‘I think your zip broke and your dress is hanging down and…. and… people can see your boob. I am trying to cover it.’

And trying not to look.

‘Oh my god,’ Katie whispered, hunching over, her head bowed, into the partial shield his arms and suit jacket provided. Her hands reached down, her fingers fluttering to find the problem. ‘Oh fuck…’

Tom was doing a sterling job of not looking and had tried to adjust himself into as casual a pose as possible, given the awkward sprawled angle.

‘Katie, I think I can move so it looks less like I am—’

‘No!’ Katie squawked. ‘Don’t move.’

He could feel her fidgeting, hands brushing against his chest. A doddery old man with a ruddy face, in a brown tweed suit that was far too hot for the evening, stared at them as he tottered past and nearly tripped over two toddlers zigzagging the other way.

‘The zip is broken.’ Katie hissed into his ear, her breath fanning his hair. She sounded distraught. ‘I can’t make it stay up. Don’t move!’ she hissed as he shifted in his seat.

‘I’m doing my best to contain the situation,’ Tom murmured.

Katie’s head flicked up and her eyes met his. ‘Are you saying my boob is a situation?’

‘Not exactly,’ Tom’s lips twitched. ‘But it definitely needs containing.’

He concentrated on keeping his eyes on her face.

‘You make it sound like Chernobyl,’ she muttered, eyes down again, still struggling with the zip.

Tom grinned and said into the top of her bent head, ‘From what I saw, it’s really not at that scale.’

Katie glowered at him. ‘Is that a reference to the size of my boobs?’

Tom went to lift his hands in surrender, but Katie grabbed his arm and kept it in place. A moment later, she shifted and sat back slightly.

‘Are you decent now?’ Tom murmured. ‘Can I sit up properly?’

Katie gave a curt nod, and he slowly sat upright and leaned back in his chair opposite her.

Katie’s arm was clamped to her torso, the rent in the dress visible up her side, a sliver of bare skin on show. The dim lights and bobbing crowd of dancers provided some cover. The top of the bodice was tucked into her armpit, clenched in place. She didn’t look like she could move.

‘This is not,’ she said, looking grim, ‘how tonight was supposed to go. I was supposed to look gorgeous and sexy, as if I were moving on. Now,’ she turned to him, her eyes moist, ‘I’m the girl who flashed her tit and is holding her dress up under her armpit.’ Tears welled up and threatened to spill over, and her lip trembled.

His stomach went into knots at the pain in her voice.

‘Hey,’ he reached out and took her free hand. ‘I know this was hardly the plan, but believe me—you look gorgeous. The men here can’t take their eyes off you. Especially Uncle Malcolm.’

Katie gave a half smile and sniffed. He saw her glance down at the split up the side of the dress and her carefully manicured fingers trying to tuck the ripped fabric out of sight. She pouted, but he saw a smile playing about her eyes.

‘It is a bit ridiculous, I suppose. Trussed up to the nines to try to show my ex what he’s missing for…for what reason I don’t know, ‘cos he’s a dirtbag I want nothing to do with. And here I am holding my dress together with my fingers.’

She snorted and shook her head.

‘We need to go.’

Tom nodded, pulling his phone from his pocket, as he said, ‘I’ll get us a cab.’

Glancing up a few moments later he said, ‘It’ll be out front in a few minutes.’

‘Tom,’ Katie said, arm squeezed to her side, her eyes wide, ‘I can’t stand up. I can’t move.’ She tipped her head to the gaping hole in her dress. ‘Everyone will see.’ She glanced across the huge room to where Ryan and Melissa were chatting to an elderly grey-haired couple. ‘Including them.’

Tom rose to his feet. ‘Fear not,’ he said, in his best gallant voice, shrugging his jacket off. ‘This should do the trick.’ He draped the jacket around Katie’s shoulders. ‘If you keep one hand inside the jacket to hold the dress up, we can make it to the door without you flashing anyone else.’ The jacket was far too big for her slender shoulders, so he adjusted it, tucking it around her. Katie grabbed his hand and squeezed his fingers.

‘Thank you,’ she said, ‘I’m so glad you’re here.’

Her eyes filled with tears. Tom knew she wasn’t crying over a ripped dress, but over why she had felt the need to wear it and go there tonight in the first place.

As she gripped his hand and stood, she swayed into him slightly. Huge hazel eyes were locked on his, her palm caught in his hand. He shifted his grip on her hand, turning his palm and sliding his fingers between hers, feeling the softness of her touch as he laced their fingers together. On impulse, he lifted their clasped hands and pressed his lips to the back of her wrist, his eyes still on hers. A smile hovered about her mouth and her lips parted slightly.

A gasp erupted from somewhere behind him. He turned to see Belinda staring at them, mouth open, pearlised fingernails clutching at her ruby necklace.

‘Well!’ she said. ‘I thought you said you weren’t a couple.’

Their clasped hands were still pressed between them, from where Tom had kissed Katie’s wrist, his jacket about her shoulders. Katie’s other arm was hidden inside, holding the dress up. Tom steadily lowered their hands, but neither he nor Katie broke their grip. Belinda’s eyes followed the gesture, staring at their entwined fingers.

‘Seems like my boy wasn’t actually the only one ready to move on. And there was me,’ she said, a blotchy red flush spreading across her neck, ‘thinking Ryan had broken your heart. My poor, misunderstood boy! My poor Ryan! Phrwww!’

She glared at Katie, shook her head, and then marched off.

‘Belinda!’ Katie called out but was in no position to run after her.

Tom saw Belinda grab the arm of a man wearing a red plastic sash that said forty years and point at them.

Katie shook her head slightly, hand shifting inside the jacket as they started to make their way to the exit.

‘Well,’ she sighed. ‘Another satisfied customer. I think our work here is done.’

‘At least you didn’t make a complete tit of yourself,’ Tom offered, squeezing her hand.

There was a split-second pause, then Katie stopped in her tracks, rocked forward, and started howling.

‘Oh, don’t, Tom! If I lose my grip on this dress, it could all get so much worse!’

Laughing, they batted red forty years balloons out of the way and were nearly at the doors when Ryan and Melissa appeared.

‘Leaving at last?’ Ryan smirked, his arm wrapped around Melissa. His forehead was covered in a sheen of sweat, his shirt collar was damp. He swayed slightly where he stood, his unfocused gaze peering out from red-rimmed eyes. Melissa’s arm was snaked around Ryan’s middle, her thumb hooked into his waistband. At first glance she looked as groomed as she always did, but Tom could see shadows under her eyes and a pinched expression about her mouth.

Tom hadn’t seen Melissa since that night at the house. He had seen her across the room during the evening, but not face to face like this. She had the decency to look a little uncomfortable now and couldn’t look him in the eye. She looked beautiful but brittle, and he tried to marry up the woman he had been ready to move in with, with the person shifting awkwardly in front of him now.

‘I thought you were staying all night, thought you were a guest with a right to be here,’ Ryan mocked.

‘Babe,’ Melissa muttered and tried to coax him away.

‘It’s early,’ Ryan spat out to Katie. ‘Had enough of airing our dirty laundry, have you?’

Tom felt Katie shift into his side, further shielding the torn side of the dress. He knew they didn’t need a protracted exchange with Ryan. They just needed to get out of there for Katie’s sake.

‘No, I have to finish packing up your—’ Katie started to say, as Tom said, ‘Actually, we have another party to get to—’

‘Hoo hoo!’ Ryan laughed, eyebrows raised as he rocked back on his heels. ‘Can’t even get your story straight!’

Tom wished he had punched him earlier.

‘Go on,’ Ryan said, stepping back with a mocking bow. ‘Don’t let us stand in your way.’

Tom gritted his teeth and tugged on Katie’s hand, pulling her into his side as they pushed open the doors, moved across the foyer in a few quick steps, and were out into the cool of the night.

They slowed their pace as the noise and lights faded behind them. Katie loosed her fingers from his, stepped away and pulled his jacket right around her.

‘Wow,’ she said, letting out a breath. ‘I think that evening was them one, us nil.’

Tom nodded and rubbed his jaw. ‘I admit, a rocky start. We’ll get better.’

They were quiet for a second as they walked across the car park towards the front entrance where the taxi would meet them, the silence broken only by the crunch of their feet in the gravel.

‘I thought being cheated on was all the humiliation I could take for one year, but it turns out,’ Katie said, starting to snort-laugh, ‘that there’s room for more.’

Tom nodded in understanding. ‘As evenings go, it was a real booby.’

Katie cackled and bent double, clutching onto the wing mirror of a Volvo. Tom burst out laughing at the sight of her, red hair hanging down, his suit jacket sloping over her back.

He was wiping at his eyes as she pulled herself upright and gasped, ‘Hopefully, we’ll get abreast of things soon.’

He snorted and sagged against an elderly Nissan, pressing a hand to his stomach.

Katie was wheezing as she came up beside him and nudged him forwards towards the car park exit. They stumbled forwards, laughter taking the momentum out of them.

‘At least it’s not too nippy out tonight,’ he said, barely making it to the end of the sentence before he cracked up again.

Katie collapsed into his side, silently laughing, an occasional wheeze the only sign that she was okay.

Tom felt his breath coming in short laughter-rasps, as he steered them toward the taxi, its hazard lights flashing as it waited at the curb. His face ached from laughing as he opened the rear passenger door for Katie, and she tumbled in.

If they could make each other laugh through this, he thought, maybe they’d be okay.