Page 4 of One Day and Forever
Not exactlyWar and Peace, but it made the point.
Galvanised by something between fear and blind fury, she pushed back the duvet and climbed out of bed.
‘The thing is, I know it’s too late because I’ve already burnt that bridge and told them to shove their job, but I want it all done officially and in black and white. They’ll only have heardhisside of the story. I want everyone who wasn’t there, including Abigail Scary Knickers Dunlop, to hear mine.’
The ‘his’ in question was Corbin Jacobs, the lead actor onThe Clydesideand the man who, at The Clydeside New Year’s Eve party, had put her in a position that gave her no option but to quit. If anyone listened to the crap he espoused daily, they’d believe he was the next Anthony Hopkins. The reality was he’dbeen brought in as eye candy replacement for Rex Marino, the previous hot, thirty-something star of the show, who’d fled to the USA after being ridiculed in a tabloid scandal on this side of the pond. Kara never thought she’d ever say it aloud, but she’d take two of that slimeball, Rex Marino, over Corbin Jacobs. At least Rex could keep his hands to himself.
‘Scary Knickers?’ Drea asked, amused.
‘It’s what we call the HR boss. Anyway, that’s not what we’re concentrating on right now. We’re focusing on me making it official that Corbin Jacobs is a vile tosser.’
‘Babe, you know I’m with you all the way on this, but meeting them won’t make a difference. He’s the star. We both know how it works. His word against yours. It’s pointless.’
Kara began peeling off the old Westlife T-shirt that acted as her comfort sleepwear, noticing for the first time that there were stains down the front from last night’s midnight consolation snack of Doritos and salsa. Another moment of class and dignity.
‘You’re right. I know this. But I need to stop by the flat anyway, to pick up a few things I left behind – stuff I’ll need for this trip to be the sad spare part at your wedding – and the studio is on the way, so screw it, I’m going.’ When she’d left in a hurry in the middle of the night, she’d remembered the basics, but forgot to bring anything from her holiday drawer – including swimwear, sarongs, summer dresses and, most crucially of all, the small matter of her passport. Not that she was going to tell Drea that, because it would cause her sister’s anxiety to escalate to a gale force that could rival any incoming storm.
‘Wait a minute. You never mentioned going back home. What if Josh is there? He’s been blowing up our phones for the last two days, so he clearly wants to speak to you. Just leave your stuff, Kara. We can buy replacements for anything you’ve left behind.’
The sweatpants Kara slept in now joined the T-shirt on the top of her growing washing pile at the end of the bed. Drea was so allergic to untidiness, no doubt she’d have it washed, dried and folded before Kara was out the door.
‘No. I don’t want replacements; I want my own stuff. I’m unemployed now, remember? No splashing out on needless purchases. And if Josh is there, then… well, I’ll just have to face him. I’m not going to change my mind.’
‘Are you sure about that?’ Drea didn’t even try to hide the cynicism in every freshly tinted hair of her raised eyebrows.
‘Yes!’ Kara replied assertively, before buckling with a weaker, ‘I mean, almost definitely.’ Then a reinforced, ‘I mean, yes!’
‘Oh dear God, you’re a nightmare. This is like a really bad play. Kara and the Coat of Many Indecisions. I can’t keep up with the drama.’
Kara was now raking in the bin bag for clean underwear to go with the black jeans and semi-crushed sweater she’d just pulled out of her suitcase.
‘How can I stay with him after what he did, Drea? How could I marry a guy who didn’t defend me when I needed him? The truth is, Josh hasn’t put me first in a really long time. It just took what happened the other night for me to see that.’
Kara felt her throat begin to tighten again and had to push down yet another urge to go back under the duvet. She had loved Josh Jackson for nearly eight years now. It had taken him almost six to propose, but she had been happy to go with the flow, to just live each day as it came. No demands. No ultimatums. No pressure. None of those things were in her nature. Now, she could see that was the problem. For the last few years, since he’d launched his PR company, work had been his number-one priority and she’d been relegated to second place. Maybe third, after his workout schedule. The worst thing was, it hadn’t even occurred to her to mind.
The last forty-eight hours in bed had given her time to think. Time to reflect. Time to decide that there was no going back. Even if that thought chipped a huge piece right off her heart.
‘You know, he didn’t even want to take the time off to get married. That’s why we were only coming for a week and not staying for a fortnight like you guys. He wasn’t even giving me fourteen days. Why didn’t I see that was a problem? Why did I put up with that? Why has it taken the huge bomb to go off in our lives before I noticed all the other things that were wrong?’
‘Because you loved him,’ Drea answered simply. ‘And because you’re way too nice and a bit of a pushover, but I don’t want to kick you when you’re down, so we’ll just brush right over that.’
‘I wasn’t a pushover the other night,’ Kara retorted, stating the obvious. She had replayed what had happened at the Hogmanay party in her mind so many times, she couldn’t even bear to think of it now. The bottom line was that she’d had an altercation with Corbin Jacobs and she’d expected Josh to take her side, but he didn’t. She’d hoped her bosses would take her side, but they didn’t either. So she had – in not too polite terms – said goodbye to them all. ‘And look where that’s got me.’
Drea was now picking up her washing pile. ‘You did the right thing, Kara.’
‘I know I did and I’m not backing down. I need to draw a line under everything, instead of avoiding it or running away from it all. So today I’m going to go make my resignation official and tell my side of the story…’
‘I can see why telling your boss to shove his job in the middle of a posh nightclub might not be considered official,’ Drea agreed.
Kara nodded, then barrelled on, ‘And if I see Josh at home, that’s probably a good thing because we have stuff to discuss. I was going to leave it until we came back, but if he’s there, thenI’m just going to bite the bullet. I need to arrange to get all my stuff out of the flat. We need to disentangle our lives. Fight over custody of our book collection. Get my life sorted out.’
Her sister clearly realised that resistance was futile. ‘I have no idea where this new assertive you came from, but I like her. But just promise you’ll be back here in loads of time for the car to the airport. Leaving here at 4p.m. Repeat after me: 4p.m.’
‘Fourp.m. I’ll be here.’
The front door slammed and Kara and Drea automatically locked eyes, both of them dreading what was about to come.
Dressed in a full length, pink fake fur coat, Jacinta McIntyre swept into the room with more impact than the average tornado. ‘Dear God, it’s colder than a serial killer’s freezer out there.’ She paused, her gaze sweeping from Kara’s bare feet to her bed-head coiffure. ‘You know, darling, I love you dearly, but heartbreak doesn’t look great on you. Could you try to be a bit more Julia Roberts about it? I always think she’s a fabulous crier. And you’ve already got the hair. Although a good brush wouldn’t go amiss.’
