Page 31 of The Mistake

Her eyes are glassy when she turns her gaze on him now, her mouth trembling as she speaks. ‘I waited for you – do you know that? After you ditched me for Natalie. I was so sure you would see sense eventually. We went through so much together – your parents moving to Oz and you staying behind, my mum and her many men – I didn’t ever really believe you could just throw it all away, like what we had was nothing.’

‘Vanessa, that was over twenty years ago. We were kids.’

‘Iwaited,’ she says again, a hint of urgency in her voice. ‘And then when you came to work on the site, it was like you’d never left. You must have felt it, Pete? We still had that connection. I told you things I had never told anyone before and I thought finally I had someone who would actuallylistento me, properly. You made me feel special, Pete. You made me think you weren’thappy with Natalie. You said she was ill, that she made you miserable. You made me fall in love with you all over again.’

‘That’s not fair,’ Pete says, a sour taste filling his mouth. ‘You knew I was married. You knew I had kids – a new baby, for God’s sake. You can’t honestly have thought I would leave my family, leave a tiny baby?’

Vanessa looks up at him, and Pete realises with a sickening lurch that there is hope in her eyes. Hope, and a steely determination to not let go of whatever she thinks she’s found. ‘So, if there was no baby then things might have been different? Is that what you’re saying?’

Jesus Christ.Something hard lodges in Pete’s stomach, a sensation so unfamiliar to him – to kind, easy-going Pete who hates to cause a fuss – that it takes him a moment to realise what it is. It’s hate. Hate, mixed with a healthy dollop of fear, for this … thismad womanwho caught him in a moment of weakness and nostalgia and now holds all the cards, who can bring everything tumbling down around him.

‘Get out.’ Pete feels the ball of hate grow larger, as Vanessa stares at him, until he’s sure it’s going to burst out of his skin. ‘I mean it. Everything that happened between us was a mistake, do you understand? Get the fuck out of my house and stay the fuck away from my family.’

Vanessa lets out a soft huff of laughter, so low it’s little more than a breath. ‘Oh, Pete, did you really think it would be that simple? Like you said, you’re not my dad, so what gives you the right to tell me what to do?’ She lifts her chin, giving him a glimpse of the Vanessa he sees at work, and reaches for the door handle. Relief floods Pete’s body at the thought that, for all her strong words, she might just leave.

‘No man speaks to me like that and gets away with it.’ Vanessa pauses at the cloakroom door. ‘No man gets totreatme the way you’ve treated me, Pete. Whether you like it or not, this isn’t over.’ She stares at him, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears beforeshe wrenches the door open, flooding the small cloakroom with music and chatter from the party, the door swinging on its hinges behind her.

Pete’s instinct is to hurry after her, out of the cloakroom, to make sure she really does leave, but he knows he has to sit tight for a few more minutes. If someone sees him coming out of the cloakroom seconds after Vanessa, then he won’t have to worry about Vanessa spilling the beans to Natalie herself – someone else will do it in a heartbeat. Slumping against the wall, Pete swallows hard against the wave of nausea hitting him, that same old question battering his mind.What the hell have I done?Straining to hear the sound of the front door opening, he wonders if he’s just made things infinitely worse. Vanessa was intense enough while he was sleeping with her … and she’s already shown she’s not entirely stable by showing up at his house with that file of incriminating photographs. Who knows how far a woman scorned will go?

Natalie

Natalie ties her hair back into its messy bun and slicks lip gloss over her mouth before hurrying back downstairs as quickly and quietly as she can. Zadie’s bedroom door is shut and Erin is finally asleep, and all Natalie can think about is getting her hands on a fresh glass of that good Sauvignon Eve brought from M&S.

Hurrying through the empty hallway, the baby monitor blinking on the small table there, a red light showing it needs to be charged, Natalie can almost feel the wine hitting her taste buds, but as she reaches the kitchen, she pauses. The refrigerator door is open, someone standing next to it with their head buried deep inside.Eve, Natalie thinks.Eve is the only person here who would feel comfortable enough to root around in my refrigerator.Even Stu doesn’t make his own coffee when he visits, and he’s known Natalie as long as she’s known Pete. With that pulse fluttering at the base of her throat again, Natalie waits, not sure what to say. Is she still angry with Eve? She thinks so, but it’s not a white-hot rage any more, just a simmering bubble. She opens her mouth to speak, but when the refrigerator door swings closed, it isn’t Eve standing there holding a bottle of the good champagne Natalie is saving for when they cut the cake. She recognises the woman, who smirks at her, twisting the foil from the neck of the bottle, but it takes a moment to place her.

‘Vanessa,’ Natalie says as she pastes a smile on her face, although it’s a cautious one. ‘I didn’t realise Pete had invited you to the party.’ A ripple of gooseflesh raises the hair on Natalie’s bare arms and she isn’t sure why. Pete really is taking the cake now. She could kind of understand him inviting the old people from across the street – they would be able to see and hear thatthe Maxwells were having a party – but to invite his ex-girlfriend, even if she is his boss? Without even mentioning it to Natalie?

‘Champagne? Oops.’ Vanessa laughs as she pops the cork on the bottle, the bubbles fizzing up and over, splattering the kitchen tiles. She pours a glass and hands it to Natalie, and then pours herself a glass.

‘I’m really sorry,’ Natalie says, hating herself for apologising – this woman is in her house! Helping herself to her champagne, for God’s sake. ‘I’m not too sure why you’re … Did Pete invite you to this party?’

‘Something like that,’ Vanessa says, and Natalie realises this isn’t the first glass of wine Vanessa has had today.

‘I just …’ Natalie licks her lips, her mouth dry, not sure why she suddenly feels apprehensive. ‘I wasn’t expecting to see you here.’

‘Life does like to throw a curveball, doesn’t it?’ Vanessa drains half the glass in one impressive mouthful, reaching towards the worktop for balance.Definitely half-cut, Natalie thinks.

‘Look,’ Natalie says gently, although inside she could throttle Pete. What the hell was he thinking, inviting Vanessa? He must have known it would make Natalie uncomfortable. ‘I know you and Pete are working together, and I understand the two of you have history. He told me all about it.’

‘Oh, did he?’ Vanessa smiles, but it is wavering and doesn’t meet her eyes. She reaches for the champagne bottle and tops herself up.

‘I think we can both agree that you being here … It’s a bit awkward, isn’t it? I know it was all a long time ago, and you and Pete are working together now with no issues, but I think it might be best if you leave. This party is for our daughter, and I don’t want there to be any … Well, you know. Maybe we could all go out for dinner some time instead?’ It’s the last thing Natalie wants to do, but she’s fully aware that if she offends this woman, Pete could lose his contract.

Vanessa gives Natalie an appraising look, and she is suddenlyvery, very conscious of her messy hair, the grease lining her scalp, the way her stomach strains at the edges of the tired old sundress she wears. ‘Oh darling,’ Vanessa says, taking a sip of her champagne, not even trying to disguise the hint of a slur in her words. ‘You really have no idea, do you?’

Natalie glances over Vanessa’s shoulder, hoping to see Pete, or even Stu. Something about Vanessa doesn’t seem right – besides the fact that she’s had too much to drink, she seems completely at odds with the poised, articulate woman who came to the house to drop work files off to Pete – but she can’t see either of them in the garden. ‘No idea about what?’ she says.

‘I’m rather closer to your family than you think.’

‘What?’

‘Pete isn’t the best husband and father, is he?’ Vanessa frowns, giving off an expression that could be concern, though something in her gut tells Natalie this woman isn’t concerned for her. ‘Howareyou coping, Natalie, with the baby? It must be terribly difficult for you – you’re basically a single parent, aren’t you?’ Vanessa cocks her head to one side, her eyes raking over Natalie. ‘Pete at work all the hours God sends … Coming home long after you’ve gone to bed … It must be terribly difficult for you.’

‘I’m not sure what it is you’re trying to say.’

‘Pete’s speech was bullshit, wasn’t it, Natalie?’ Vanessa takes a step towards her, and Natalie feels a frisson of fear run through her.Where is Pete?‘All that stuff he was saying about your perfect life, and your perfect family. All lies. I think deep down you know that’s true.’

‘You need to leave.’ Natalie’s voice wobbles slightly and she clears her throat. ‘Now, please. You weren’t invited, were you? Don’t make me call Pete to throw you out.’

---