Chapter 29
29
Drew was suffering from extreme light-headedness. Although not an expert, he was pretty sure it was the type of light-headedness that always resulted when a beautiful, smart, young woman suggested they head up to a hotel room together and ‘cut loose’.
Polly was sitting back on her bar stool, the twinkling in her eyes even brighter than the glass in her hand.
‘You don’t need to worry. No one needs to know.’ She had a confidence about her. Or was it arrogance? At that precise moment, they were hard to distinguish. ‘No one would ever know. We could keep it a secret. My little Christmas present to you for all your hard work.’
There was a standard reply he was meant to give at that moment, but he was having rather a hard time remembering it.
‘Sarah,’ he managed to choke out.
‘How would she find out?’ Polly whispered. ‘I’m not going to say anything.’
Drew shook his head. It couldn’t be real. It just couldn’t. Things like this didn’t happen to average-looking middle managers. They weren’t the type of men who had attractive young women throwing themselves at them and begging them for a night of adulterous passion. And yet it was happening.
‘So?’ Polly said, her hand back on his leg, causing a series of chills to run up and down his spine. ‘Shall I order us a bottle of wine to take up to the room or not?’
‘It’s just?—’
‘What have we got to lose?’
Somewhere, a switch flipped. Of course. Polly was carefree with the whole world in front of her for the taking. She had nothing to lose. But he already had everything. Everything he wanted, everything he needed. And all of that could be ripped from him in one single night. Jumping up from the stool, he banged his knee on the bar as he moved.
‘I… I… No. Sarah. I mean, thank you, but no.’
‘Sorry.’ Polly’s cheeks were flushed. ‘I just thought you and her?—’
‘We’re married. We’re good. We’re better than good. We’re having a baby. Shit. Shit . What am I doing? What the hell am I doing?’
A delicate hand rested once more on his shoulder. ‘Drew, you didn’t do anything. Really.’ The pink blush was gone. She was back to cool, sophisticated Polly. Unflappable Polly. Unlike Drew. Drew was most definitely flappable. And flapping.
‘I need to go. I need to find her.’
‘She’ll be fine. She was getting the train home, you said. Why don’t you just come up to the party for one drink? A work drink. The others were asking where you’d gone to. And I promise, no funny business.’ She winked. It was probably a sexy wink, probably another attempt at seduction, only he didn’t have time to give it any attention. He needed his phone. Where the hell was his phone? He scanned his eyes up and down the length of the bar, then checked on the floor before re-checking his pockets, even though he knew the phone couldn’t be in them. He never put his phone in these pockets. Whenever he wore these trousers, Sarah always carried his phone in her bag.
‘Noooo.’ He turned around in a circle like somehow, he might find the answer to his issues walking through the revolving doors. When that didn’t happen, he ran for the elevator.
‘Wait, where are you going? I thought we were going to the party for a drink.’
Drew shook his head as he pushed the button on the elevator while simultaneously searching for his keys. ‘I need to get going. I need to find Sarah. I need to put this right.’
‘Shall I call someone? A friend? Your mother? A priest? Some people like to have a priest by their bed when they’re giving birth, don’t they?’
‘I think that’s just when they’re dying,’ Sarah replied.
‘Oh. Maybe not a priest then. How about a sister? A cousin?’ The girl was doing a stand-up job at sounding chirpy. If anything, she seemed excited by an event Sarah was still almost positive was not going to happen. For twenty minutes, she had been doing her best to swallow down the contractions like spasms in the hope that the girl wouldn’t notice. It hadn’t worked.
‘It’s fine. Honestly. It’s just pre-labour pains. They’ll stop soon enough. Actually, I think they may have passed…’ She paused, holding her breath while it passed.
‘I think they might be getting a bit closer together.’ The girl bounced on her seat. ‘I love this bit; don’t you love it? You must be so excited. God, I’m excited, and I don’t even know your name. My name’s Jenny, by the way.’
Another spasm timed itself perfectly, causing Sarah to bite down on the sides of her cheeks.
‘Sarah.’ She spoke through clenched teeth, relaxing her muscles a fraction of a second too early. The pain burned through her.
‘Drew!’ she yelled at the air. Actual labour or not, what kind of dick husband would let their heavily pregnant wife storm out of a hotel at night in the middle of London?
‘What’s all the noise? What’s going on back there?’ The coach driver called up from the front.
‘I think she’s having a baby!’ the girl replied before Sarah could open her mouth.
‘I am not having a baby. It’s not due for another four weeks.’
‘Three and a half.’
Sarah growled. Defending the fact that she was not in labour was not how she had planned her evening. ‘This is my third,’ she said. ‘And my others were both late. I know what labour feels like.’
‘Your third?’ The driver met her eye momentarily in the mirror before shaking her head, satisfied at the response. ‘The woman knows what she’s talking about. If she says it ain’t coming, it ain’t coming.’
‘Thank you,’ Sarah exhaled, feeling the weight in her stomach drop down as she breathed.
‘But I’ve been timing.’ Jenny wasn’t going to give up yet. ‘And they’re currently all under five minutes apart. I’m not sure if she’s dilated yet. I could check on Google. I bet Google can tell me how to check if she’s dilated.’ She began typing. ‘Oh, apparently I’d need access to your vagina.’
Sarah hoisted herself up, putting her weight on the seat in front. ‘No one is going anywhere near my vagina.’ She glared up and down the aisle. ‘I mean that, no one . Including this baby. I am not in labour. So, if we can just get to the next station and all get home, that would be just great.’
Ignoring the various looks – that ranged from sympathetic concern to extremely nervous judders – Sarah sank back into her seat.
Drew had caused this. My God, she was going to give him an earful when this was over. And the yelling was only going to be half of his punishment. She wasn’t going to change a single dirty nappy when this one arrived. No way. Not one. Not an ounce of baby vomit either. Nor the disgusting little black ball of vileness that formed when their belly button went all crusty and dropped off. Drew was going to have to deal with it all. With a ripple of regret, her thoughts flickered briefly back to Drew alone at the hotel. He probably thought he was doing the right thing, not telling her that people had seen the book, she realised sadly. It wasn’t the right thing. It was definitely not the right thing to do. But he would have thought it was. That was typical Drew. Botching things up because he was trying to make life easier.
With her anger waning ever so slightly, Sarah considered whether or not she should ring him. It had been over an hour since she had left the hotel. He was probably worried. He’d probably realised she’d got his phone by this point too. Then again, he deserved to be worried. It was him who had put her in this situation. Him and his stupid lying and emailing. She would let him stew for a bit longer. While still deliberating how long she would draw his punishment out for, her thoughts were interrupted by another sudden spasm of pain which rippled around her belly and back. This time, she clawed her hands as she waited for it to pass.
‘That’s four minutes now,’ Jenny said. ‘Isn’t it funny how it’s so different in real life compared to the movies? Like your waters and stuff. Do you know that a baby can actually be born in its sack? The amniotic sack, that’s what it’s called, but you probably know that already, don’t you? Anyway, I saw it on YouTube. This baby came all the way out, and it was still in the bag. Didn’t burst or anything. Looked like an alien. Was well weird. My sister’s waters broke on our mum’s sofa. She was well cross about that. ’Til she found out the insurance covered it. Imagine that.’
Sarah’s inhaling and exhaling echoed loudly in the air. It was hard to decide if Jenny’s jabbering was meant as a deliberate distraction, or she really was incapable of not talking. From the seat behind came a hard throat clearing.
‘I’m sorry, but would you mind keeping it down a bit?’
‘Sorry?’ Sarah said.
‘Well.’ He coughed again. ‘Some of us here are trying to get on with some work. Would you mind talking a little bit quieter?’ It was the man with the brogues, she realised. Tie still hanging loose around his neck.
‘I didn’t realise we were being loud,’ Jenny joined in.
‘No? Well, at the very least, could you change the topic to something more… civilised?’
A shudder ran down Sarah’s spine. Grinding her teeth together, she prepared herself for a fight, only to find herself beaten to the post.
‘Civilised? She’s pregnant, you twat.’
‘I can see that. All I’m saying is that perhaps the conversation you’re having is not ideal for a public forum.’
‘What public forum?’ Jenny was now off her seat and standing in the middle of the aisle, her head a full foot above his. ‘You’re the one listening in on us. And while we’re at it?—’
‘It’s fine,’ Sarah said, flinching as she twisted around to face him. ‘We’ll keep our voices down.’
‘Thank—’
‘The hell we will! How do you think it happens, you twat? It happens like this. She’s having a bloody baby.’
‘I’m not having a baby now.’
‘You bloody are. I bet you five quid it’s on the way.’
Sarah was about to accept the bet when the pain struck again. It wasn’t a pin point this time. Not beneath her ribs or on her diaphragm. It was everywhere. Every muscle in her abdomen all coming together at the exact same point. Like they were all trying to push something out.
‘Oooooh bugger,’ she cried.
‘I bloody told you, didn’t I?’ Jenny said with a smirk.