Chapter 8
8
In the end, we agree to meet at Rebecca’s house at 9p.m., to give her a chance to bathe Rollo and get him settled in bed. I feel a little anxious as I ring her doorbell, a bottle of Chablis tucked under my arm. What if this afternoon’s ceasefire was only temporary?
‘Thea, bang on time.’ She smiles as she opens the door. ‘Come on in. I’m just settling Rollo. He’s exhausted but refusing to admit it. Go through to the living room and I’ll be with you in a moment.’
Rebecca’s house is laid out exactly how mine was before I did the renovations, so I don’t need directions. Where my house was tired and shabby, however, hers is homely and she obviously loves bright colours. Although the walls are painted in neutral shades, the artwork on the walls bursts with colour, as do the cushions on the sofa.
The sofa. Where John’s wife Alice is sitting, swirling a glass of wine the size of a goldfish bowl. Her eyes are slightly glazed, and I suspect this isn’t the first glass.
‘Thea, isn’t it?’ she says, slurring her words slightly. ‘Nice to see you. Help yourself to a drink.’ She waves in the direction of a table in the corner, where an expensive-looking bottle is standing in a wine cooler.
‘It’s from John’s cellar,’ she tells me as I pour myself a small glass. ‘It seemed appropriate. Oh, for God’s sake pour a proper measure,’ she scolds as I turn around. ‘Keep me company.’
I top up my glass and settle next to her on the sofa. I’m burning with curiosity about her friendship with Rebecca, but can’t quite find the words to ask her about it without sounding intrusive.
‘It’s OK,’ Alice tells me after a moment. ‘You can ask. I won’t be offended.’
‘Ask what?’
‘How I can bear to be in the presence of my husband’s mistress without slapping her.’
‘That wasn’t quite the question.’
‘I’m close though, aren’t I?’
‘It does seem an unusual setup,’ I admit carefully.
She sits up and takes a large mouthful of wine, spilling a little onto her chin. ‘OK. Full disclosure. Rebecca was neither John’s first mistress, nor his last. I sometimes think he must have had a time machine, because how else could he claim to work pretty much twenty-four-seven and yet find time to screw so many young women? Anyway, I digress. Rebecca was just one in a long procession, and I was indifferent to her because I was used to it by then. But then she did something that made her stand out, that meant John couldn’t drop her as casually as all the others when he got bored. She got pregnant.’
‘How did that make you feel?’ I ask.
‘I didn’t know. Not to begin with, anyway. John dealt with it in the same way he dealt with everything, by throwing money at Rebecca to pay for a private abortion and expecting that to be the end of it.’
‘But she didn’t.’
‘She refused. He was absolutely livid. He wasn’t used to people saying “no” to him and he didn’t take it well at all. Of course, I had no idea what the problem was, but I knew something was up by the way he banged and crashed around on the rare occasions he came home. Ah, there you are, darling,’ she says as Rebecca joins us and fills another glass to the brim. ‘Is Rollo all settled?’
‘Yup. He fought it like a trooper but he’s absolutely sparko now. I think we could host a rave and he wouldn’t notice. The bed in the spare room is made up if you fancy staying.’
‘You’re very sweet, but the boys and I are staying at the flat tonight.’
‘What are they up to this evening?’
‘The usual, I think. Taking advantage of being together in London to meet up with some old friends and make a night of it before we all go our separate ways again tomorrow.’
‘It’s funny how different they are from him, isn’t it?’
‘I thank God every day for it. Can you imagine if they were carbon copies of John? One of him was bad enough. Thinking of which, I was just telling Thea how we met.’
‘Oh, yes? Where had you got to?’
‘John being cross when you refused to abort Rollo.’
It’s odd listening to them; they’re like a double act as they take turns to explain how John initially tried to wriggle his way off the hook, before Alice found out what was going on and threatened to expose him if he didn’t do the right thing by Rebecca. I learn that Rebecca’s house, car and all of Rollo’s school fees and extra-curricular activities have been funded, with very bad grace, by John. Their mutual hatred of the man borders on the visceral. I mean, I didn’t like him, but this is in a whole new league.
‘Can I ask you something?’ Alice asks me a while later.
‘Sure.’
‘What is it you like about your job? What’s the thing that makes it all worthwhile?’
I consider her question for a bit.
‘When a transaction comes together,’ I tell her. ‘Months and months of labour, late nights, drafting and re-drafting the agreements, and then finally, the all-important signatures that close the deal. It’s a buzz.’
‘You like to win,’ Alice says.
‘Yes, of course. Doesn’t everyone?’
‘Yes, but I think it’s pathological with lawyers. It certainly was with him. He was still looking for ways to get back at us, right up until the day he died.’
‘I think we’ve both learned a valuable lesson,’ Rebecca adds. ‘The fewer lawyers you have in your life, the happier it is.’ She obviously realises her mistake as she instantly adds, ‘Present company excepted, of course.’
‘Of course,’ I tell her with a smile. But the damage is done. The events of the day, plus their visceral attacks on John and his profession, have planted a seed of doubt in my mind, and I can feel it taking root with every sip of wine.