Epilogue – Part 2
Bernadette and Lila
‘That woman has the best laugh I’ve ever heard,’ Nina giggled as a group passed their table in the foyer of the hotel.
Bernadette couldn’t reply as she was in mid-action.
‘Mum, if you start with the “Wheels On The Bus”, he’ll never let you stop,’ Nina warned. Bernadette was having too much fun to care.
This had been Stuart’s idea, coming out to a hotel to bring in the new year, rather than celebrating it separately or having it at home.
Sarah had invited them to spend it with her and Piers and their families, but Bernadette had gratefully declined.
It was time to be with her children and grandchildren and start a new tradition for their family.
They’d arranged for a babysitter to take the little ones up to their room at 9 p.m., leaving the adults to enjoy the party that was taking place in the ballroom.
Nina and Gerry, and Gerry’s parents, and his two brothers and their lovely wives, and Stuart and Connor, Bernadette and…
Just Bernadette. She hadn’t yet got used to not saying his name in the same sentence, but it was still a blessed relief every time it dawned that she no longer had to.
It was amazing how quickly a lifetime together could be unravelled.
He’d already had his lawyers send her the contracts to buy out her share of the house, just as Nina had demanded.
She was a smart cookie, her girl. At first Bernadette had resisted, bending to his protests that it would completely wipe him out financially, but she’d finally signed this morning and sent them back.
He’d just have to deal with losing his savings.
Maybe there was justice in that. She’d lost years of her life to their marriage, now he’d lost his wife, his money, and according to Marge, there were rumours swirling as to his relationship with Lila.
That kind of gossip could damage a pillar of the community.
Retribution wasn’t the reason Bernadette had forced him to give her what she was due.
The deciding factor had been the cottage that was for sale, tucked away in a beautiful little cul-de-sac down by the river, roughly halfway between Sarah’s home and Nina’s, about ten minutes either way.
She’d made an offer for it and it had been accepted.
Her settlement would be enough to buy it and to have enough left over to enjoy life, to go on holiday, to have some new adventures.
Sarah’s husband Piers, had already persuaded her to join them on a Caribbean cruise over Easter. She couldn’t wait.
The best thing about it was that she hadn’t had to ask Kenneth’s permission. All those years she’d been desperate to go on a cruise and he’d blocked her. No more.
She’d insisted that Nina invite him tonight so the kids could share the celebration with both parents, but he’d declined.
Instead, he’d boarded a plane to New York, going a couple of days early for some big medical conference he’d been invited to.
It was probably just as well. Stuart had told her that Kenneth was still apoplectic that he’d dropped medicine and was refusing to take his calls.
He hadn’t even had a chance to tell him about Connor.
Bernadette had invited them to Sarah’s for Christmas dinner and had a great night.
Kenneth had spent the day alone.
The man was a fool. Well, good luck to him. Bernadette could honestly say that she didn’t feel anger, or resentment or hostility.
She just felt free.
Fifteenth chorus of ‘Wheels on the Bus’ over, she headed to the ladies room, and Nina joined her at the mirrors.
‘I’ve never seen you look so great, Mum.
You’re glowing. Makes me really happy.’ Bernadette knew she was right.
Sarah had made her go to the hairdressers, have a couple of highlights added to her hair, tonight she had a bit of make-up on.
But none of that was what really made the difference in how she looked.
That was all down to happiness, pure and simple.
‘Thanks, my darling. If I’d have known it was going to feel this good, I’d have done it years ago,’ she said lightly.
‘I wish you had,’ Nina replied. ‘I really do. I hate the thought of him lying to you all those y—’
Bernadette put her hand on her daughter’s to stop her. ‘It’s all happened the way it was meant to. I don’t want to be all Doris Day, but everything for a reason.’
‘I know,’ Nina agreed, laughing. ‘I’m just glad they didn’t get together. Having her as a step-mother would have been a total nightmare.’
The first part of that revelation came as a surprise to Bernadette. She’d assumed that after she’d left him, Lila would have moved straight in and she’d be sitting on the plane to New York with him right now.
‘They didn’t? How do you know that?’
Nina was grinning at her now, like she was the only one who had no idea what was going on. Not an unfamiliar situation, it would seem. ‘Mum, it’s been all over the Internet! Haven’t you seen it? It’s like, the biggest social media story of the year.’
‘What is?’
Nina pulled out her phone. ‘Look. There’s Lila and that’s…’
Jean Pascal ran his fingers down the curve of her back, then back up across her shoulder blades, along her neck, her chin, stopping at her mouth. She kissed his finger, took it in her mouth, enjoying his groan of pleasure.
This was the sexiest man she’d ever known.
And what did it matter if he barely spoke English, and the only French words she knew were Chanel and Gaultier?
This was a true meeting of minds. Since Christmas Eve, when he’d sent her a first class ticket to join him in Paris, until now, they’d only left the bed to eat in gorgeous restaurants, luxuriate in a spa, take walks in the park, where they were relentlessly pursued by paparazzi. Neither of them minded.
This was like a dream come true. Jean Pascal loved to share their relationship on social media, so every public moment, and some not-so-public moments had been caught on camera and caused a frenzy when they were posted.
The irony was, none of this would have happened if it weren’t for Ken and Cammy.
If Ken hadn’t made her believe that he wanted to be with her, she’d have broken it off long ago.
And then, when Cammy proposed, perhaps she’d have said yes, and there would have been no story, just a few hundred ‘likes’ on her Instagram page for a cute video and a few shots of an embarrassing ring.
She was destined for more than that. Jean Pascal’s video of her rejecting Cammy now had over a million ‘likes’ and tens of thousands of shares. Overnight she’d become a celebrity. People knew her. Others wanted to know her. Jean Pascal had chased her until he knew her intimately.
She had called her boss, informed him that she wouldn’t be coming down to head office for their meeting and told him he could shove his job.
It might seem rash, but she was all about opportunity and this was one that she wasn’t going to refuse.
He told her the company would have no option but to pursue her for the expenses she had illegally charged to her credit card, but when she’d gone crying to her parents about it, her dad had offered to pay it.
He might not have been the most loving father when she was growing up, but at least the money showed just how much he loved her now.
So. Job gone. Cammy gone. Ken gone. But she didn’t care. That was her old life. This was her new one. Just her. Jean Pascal. And a camera lens.
Not that she was deluding herself. She’d done her research.
She knew that Jean Pascal had a hideous reputation, and a long trail of womanising and broken relationships behind him.
He was a serial playboy, who never settled with one woman for more than a couple of months.
But Lila was pretty sure she could change that. And if she didn’t?
That was fine by her. The break-up would cause a huge stir, hit the headlines, bring her even more followers. Jean Pascal might have brought the attention, but she was pretty sure she had what it took to keep it.
Screw Ken. Screw his wife. Screw them all.
‘Chérie, show me sexy.’ Lila glanced up to see Jean Pascal holding up his phone. She shook her hair, adopted her best pose, smouldered into the lens.
She had everything she needed right here.
Her life was perfect.
The whole world could see that.