Page 40 of Love, Accidentally

‘That’s not my number,’ Luke says dismissively after glancing at the screen. ‘I don’t know who that is, but it sure as hell isn’t me. Probably one of your delusional friends, in on the scam to try to make it look like me. Nice try, Tilly, but no cigar. Right, are we finished here, or does anyone else want to accuse me of something I haven’t done?’

Richenda’s face is impossible to read, but I can see from the look in Cindy’s eyes that she’s starting to believe him. I’m stunned. How can there be no evidence on his phone? I’ve got reams and reams of messages from him on mine. Luke is looking at me triumphantly, and this is thankfully enough to unlock my frozen brain. There’s another possibility, of course there is, and someone like Luke wouldn’t be so careless as to leave evidence where Cindy could stumble across it. It’s a long shot if I suggest it though, because it relies on him being cocky enough to make the mistake I need him to have made. If this fails, my little remaining credibility will go up in smoke and, whatever else Cindy and Richenda think of me, I’m not prepared for them to believe I’m some kind of fantasist. Also, his remark about complaining to HR has rattled me. Although I’m sure my work colleagues would back me to the hilt, the fact is that I did stalk his mother, and that’s going to look seriously bad. God, I need this to work.

‘I’ve got a question,’ I tell them, being careful to keep my voice calm and not sound like the lunatic that Luke is trying to make me out to be. ‘I get that this is my word against Luke’s and, frankly, I don’t much care which of us you choose to believe. It makes absolutely no difference to me one way or the other. But did I overhear you telling Luke to hang up his coat when he arrived, Richenda?’

She’s looking at me warily. ‘I did. Why?’

‘Would you mind very much fetching it?’

‘Oh, for goodness’ sake!’ Luke explodes suddenly. ‘What the hell has my coat got to do with anything? I’ll get it, Tilly, but then you have to go, OK? You’ve done enough damage for one day.’

‘No,’ I tell him firmly. ‘I’ve asked Richenda to fetch it.’

Luke stares at me, evidently trying to work out what I’m up to, before the penny obviously drops because, for the first time, he looks rattled. Good, that gives me hope that my gamble is going to pay off. Richenda is clearly unsure what to do as she hesitates for a moment before going out into the hallway and returning with Luke’s coat.

‘Put it on the table, would you?’ I ask her. ‘Right,’ I tell them once the coat is spread across the coffee table. ‘I’m going to reply to this text. You can all watch to make sure there’s no funny business.’

‘We’ve already established that’s not my number,’ Luke argues, but I can tell he’s blustering now. ‘What are you expecting to achieve?’

‘Nothing,’ I say, keeping my voice light. ‘Let’s just see what happens, shall we?’

I open the message purporting to be from Luke, type the word ‘Test’ in the reply box and press send. Immediately, there’s a buzz from the table and all eyes swivel to Luke’s coat.

‘Did anyone else hear that, or was it just me?’ I ask carefully. ‘Only asking because I do have an overactive imagination, as you know.’

Luke makes a grab for the coat, but Cindy is too quick for him. After a brief rummage through the pockets, she pulls out another phone. Unlike the one that Luke was waving around earlier, which is a large, state-of-the-art smartphone, this is an old-fashioned push-button affair with a liquid crystal screen.

‘What’s the unlock code?’ she demands, her voice pure venom again.

‘How should I know?’ Luke retorts. ‘I’ve never seen that phone before. She probably planted it on me. Yes, that’s it. She slipped it into my pocket when she arrived, to incriminate me.’

‘Nice try, but Tilly was already here when you arrived, and she hasn’t left this room since.’

‘She must have done it at work then.’

‘I think you’d have noticed a strange phone suddenly appearing in your coat pocket.’

‘Not necessarily. It hasn’t been that cold, so I haven’t needed to put my hands in there.’

Cindy lowers her eyes to the phone and starts typing in various four-digit combinations.

‘I’m in,’ she announces after a few goes. ‘So, before we go any further, let me just be quite clear on what you’ve said, Luke. You and Tilly are work colleagues, and anything more than that is delusion on her part. You definitely haven’t gone and bought a tacky burner phone so that you can keep your sordid affair a secret from your wife, you know, the wife you promised never to cheat on again. The wife who’s expecting your baby. You haven’t done those things, because you’ve learned your lesson, turned over a new leaf and all that jazz. That’s what I heard, anyway. Tilly?’

‘Yes,’ I agree.

‘So, Luke. I just have two questions. One, do you agree that the unlock code being your mother’s birthday is one hell of a coincidence, and two, is there anything you want to tell me before I start looking through the messages on here?’

Luke’s shoulders finally sag in defeat and part of me wants to punch the air in triumph. But, to my amazement, he’s not done yet.

‘Fine,’ he sighs. ‘But you have to understand that what happened between me and Tilly didn’t mean anything, Cind.’

‘You fucked her. That’s pretty bloody meaningful.’

‘I admit I slept with her. But that was all it was, sex. You haven’t really been in the mood since you got pregnant, so what was I supposed to do?’

‘Are you saying this ismyfault?’ She looks like she’d happily stab him if she had anything suitable to hand.

‘It’s nobody’s fault, love. I didn’t want to hassle you, so I just made alternative arrangements on a temporary basis.’

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