42. Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Two
A fter a tense journey punctuated by terse snippets of conversation, Hugo finally pulled his car onto the housing estate, which, though once familiar, now felt like a totally alien landscape. We drove past our old house, and I turned my head away.
‘Here we are,’ said Hugo, pulling into a street made up of new-build terraced houses. Each house was identical, built from ugly orange brick. Several had baskets of plastic flowers hanging from either side of their front doors. ‘Number twenty. This is us.’
Hugo pulled into the driveway, and he and Marion climbed out. No mention had been made of Rob, but I assumed he would be waiting for us inside the house, and I wanted to put off the moment I’d have to see him.
‘Come on, hurry along, we haven’t got all day,’ said Marion, opening the back doors of the car for me and Bertie to get out.
‘Come on, Bertie,’ I whispered. ‘It won’t be as bad as you’re imagining.’
Bertie scowled at me, undid his seatbelt and climbed out of the car. The front door opened, and Rob forced a smile onto his face. He had bags under his eyes, suggesting he’d got as much sleep as I had over the past few weeks.
‘All right, mate,’ he said as Bertie walked up the path. ‘Long time, no see.’
‘Whose fault’s that?’ asked Bertie, scowling up at his father.
Rob laughed and ruffled Bertie’s hair. ‘As lively as ever, I see. Hello, Olivia.’
I ignored Rob’s greeting and pushed past him into a house as bland as I’d been expecting. It wasn’t hard to guess who’d chosen the décor. Everything gleamed white and my first impression was that I’d stepped into an operating theatre dressed up as a house. It was sterile, devoid of character, and felt nothing like a home.
‘Are you staying for a coffee?’ Rob asked his parents as Hugo removed our suitcases from the car and deposited them in the hall.
‘No, we’ll leave you alone for some family time,’ said Marion, kissing her son on both cheeks. ‘Goodbye, Albert.’
No answer came from upstairs, and Rob let out a nervous laugh. ‘He’s probably up there settling into his new room.’
Marion huffed and left the house. The door closed and Rob turned to me.
‘Just don’t,’ I said, running up the stairs to find Bertie.
The first door I tried opened onto a family bathroom. A free-standing bath stood on a marble effect floor, while the walls were covered in rectangular white tiles, which reminded me of a public toilet, but which were now the height of fashion. The next door I opened led into a master bedroom, a tiny ensuite shower room squashed into one corner. The room was like a show home, pressed grey bedding, dusky pink throw strewn casually on top of the duvet. A grey velvet accent chair was tucked beneath a white dressing table, and generic prints of flowers were the only artwork on display. When I pushed the last door, I found Bertie lying on a Spider-Man duvet cover on a narrow bed. To call it a bedroom felt generous. It was more like a cupboard. No amount of white paint could enlarge the tiny space.
‘It must be nice to have your own room again,’ I said, sitting down on the bed. Bertie rolled over, his eyes fixed on his iPad. ‘Can I get you anything?’
‘Go away.’
‘Please, Bertie.’
‘I said, go away. Are you deaf or something?’
I stood up with a sigh and closed the door behind me. Downstairs, I found Rob in the kitchen diner making coffee from a fancy machine. ‘Is he settling in OK?’
‘What do you think?’
‘I know his room’s a bit on the small side, but we’ll get a bigger place soon, and it was really generous of Mum and Dad to get this place for us.’
My mouth hung open as I watched Rob pottering about like it was a normal family Sunday. ‘Generous? GENEROUS?’
‘All right, Liv. There’s no need to shout.’
I didn’t want to shout. I wanted to scream. ‘I assume you know how your mother persuaded me to come back to you?’
Rob had the decency to blush. ‘I don’t agree with her methods, but she’s got our best interests at heart.’
I placed my hands on the breakfast bar and leaned forward, taking deep breaths. ‘Right, I think we need to get a few things straight. Number one, you need to understand I’m only here with you because your witch of a mother blackmailed me into it. Number two, please give me prior warning if a man with a camera is going to be following me around again. Number three, I’ll play your stupid game of happy families, but it’s just that. A game. While Bertie’s around, I’ll do my best impression of a loving wife, but when he’s not, I don’t want to even be in the same room as you. You can sleep on the sofa and clear away your bedding before Bertie gets up. You can forget me pandering to your complex dietary needs. I’ll cook for me and Bertie and save you some. If you’re hungry enough, you can eat it.’
‘Anything else?’
‘You remember the conversation we had when I said I’d like us to be friends?’
‘Yes.’
‘Well, you can forget it. I don’t want to be friends with a spineless excuse for a man who goes along with his mother’s blackmail, using his son as leverage. Oh, and one last thing. I’ll be applying for jobs, so you’ll need to do your share of the housework. I’ll take care of mine and Bertie’s washing, but you can do your own. Or perhaps your mother would like to take care of that, like she’s taken care of everything else?’
I grabbed the coffee Rob had just made and stormed into the living room, spilling drops on the new white carpet as I went. I couldn’t remember ever feeling so angry. Upstairs, the person I loved most in the world was grieving for the life and friends he’d left, and I’d done that to him. Marion had done that to us . But Rob had done nothing to stop her, and I could never forgive him for it.
Rob walked into the living room and I wondered if he had a death wish.
‘I want to be on my own.’
‘Liv, we need to talk.’
Liv? Since when did he call me Liv? ‘There’s nothing to say.’
‘There is. There are things you don’t know that I think you’re going to want to hear.’