Page 37 of Love, Accidentally

‘I’m sorry,’ I say aghast. ‘Did you saymeether?’

‘Yes.’ Richenda’s tone implies that this is the most obvious thing in the world, but it never crossed my mind and the thought fills me with horror. ‘She’d like you to come to my flat tomorrow, at half past one. Can you make that? I assume you can because you’re supposed to be meeting Luke at two, aren’t you?’

‘Umm, Richenda,’ I begin, desperately trying to think of a way to avoid what will undoubtedly be a very uncomfortable encounter. ‘When I said I was happy to fit in with whatever Cindy wanted to do, I didn’t think that would include, you know, face to face. I’m sure I’m the last person she wants to see.’

‘Nonsense. It’s only natural that she’d be curious about you, and she thinks that the best way to approach this is for the two of you to ambush him together.’

‘I’m really not sure?—’

‘Half past one,’ she interrupts. ‘Don’t be late, will you?’

Before I can protest any further, she disconnects the call. All the peace that I felt sitting in Jonathan’s room just now has vanished as the reality of my situation comes crashing back in. I want to go back in there, to pretend everything is all right for just a little longer, but I feel polluted after my conversation with Richenda. She may not have said anything directly, but she made it pretty bloody clear through her tone that I am nothing more than the ‘other woman’, who is to do what she’s told.

‘I’m going to head off,’ I tell them as brightly as I can, sticking my head around the door. ‘I’ve got some stuff to do.’ Mainly burying my head under the duvet and hoping the world will go away, but they don’t need to know that.

‘Before you go, Tilly, I’ve got something for you,’ Jonathan says. ‘They’re talking about letting me out tomorrow, so I’d hate to miss you.’ He hands me a piece of paper. ‘It’s our address and phone number,’ he explains. ‘Come and see us, please. I expect we’ll be driving each other mad within a few days, so you’ll be doing us a favour.’

‘Thank you. I might just do that,’ I tell him, glancing briefly at it before folding it and sliding it into my pocket. I won’t, of course, but it was nice to be invited.

* * *

I must be crazy, I decide, as I make my way towards Richenda’s front door the next day. How have I allowed myself to be dragged into this? Mike was furious when I told him what Cindy was planning, and practically forbade me from coming.

‘This isn’t about you,’ he fumed. ‘I mean, it is a bit, but it’s mainly about Cindy and her arsehole husband. She’s setting you up as a scapegoat, and that’s totally unfair.’

‘If it helps her to get closure though,’ I offered weakly.

‘Sod her closure. What about your closure? Who’s looking after you in all this? Maybe I should pull a sickie and come along as your wingman.’

‘I’m a big girl,’ I assured him. ‘I’ll hold my own.’

I don’t feel like a big girl as I reach out to ring the doorbell. I feel like a naughty schoolchild who’s been summoned to the head teacher’s office. The situation hasn’t been helped by the fact that Luke called as I was parking the car to tell me he was just leaving and couldn’t wait to see me. I hope Richenda manages to intercept him before he arrives at my flat and finds I’m not there.

‘Tilly, you made it. Do come in.’ Richenda sounds more like she’s greeting a lunch guest than her son’s soon-to-be ex-lover. ‘We’re just in the sitting room. You know the way. You can hang your coat on the rack here.’

Any chance of escape is cut off as she stays firmly behind me in the hallway. I feel a little like I’m being marched to the gallows as I turn into the sitting room.

Cindy is sitting in the armchair under the window, but gets to her feet as soon as she sees me. The first thing that strikes me about her, besides her terribly neat baby bump, is that she is absolutelyflawless. Her long blonde hair is pulled back into a simple ponytail, but it has the kind of soft sheen that you only see in shampoo adverts on TV. Her pale skin is like porcelain and totally blemish-free, apart from one small mole on her neck to remind you that she is actually human. Her blue eyes are set wide, giving her a slightly Scandinavian appearance, and her nose has that slight button-like upturn at the end that people pay cosmetic surgeons thousands to try to reproduce. I’m briefly distracted enough to wonder if it’s all natural before I’m brought back to earth with a thud as she speaks.

‘You must be Tilly,’ she says in a voice utterly devoid of warmth, holding out her hand. ‘Thank you for coming.’

Her hand is cool in mine, and she stares unblinkingly into my eyes as we shake. I may only have met her a few seconds ago, but it’s already clear to me that Cindy is not someone you mess with.

‘Please, take a seat,’ she continues, her tone now more that of an interviewer as she indicates one of the other chairs. ‘I thought it would be a good idea for us to have a chat before Luke arrives. Richenda, now that Tilly’s here, would you mind giving him a call? She’s going to tell him she thinks she can smell gas, and can he come right away,’ Cindy explains as Richenda leaves the room and she settles herself back in the chair. ‘We tried various scenarios, but that seemed the one most likely to work. While we wait for him, why don’t you tell me how you ended up fucking my husband, hmm?’

I stare at her, speechless. ‘I didn’t mean to…’ I begin lamely.

She smiles grimly. ‘I’m sure you didn’tmeananything, and yet here we are. So how did it start?’

‘He joined the unit where I work,’ I say quietly. This is excruciating.

‘Yes, but I’m going to stick my neck out and assume you’re not fucking any of your other work colleagues, so why him? What’s so special about him that you couldn’t resist?’

She’s riling me now, making me feel like I’m the villain in this piece and a part of me wishes that I’d brought Mike as a wingman after all.

‘Look,’ I tell her more firmly. ‘It wasn’t like that, OK? He came on to me, if you must know.’

She sighs. ‘Of course he did. You were mere putty in his hands. Did you know he was married?’

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