Page 45 of Sorry, Not Sorry
Salome gritted her teeth, and Delilah cocked an eyebrow. ‘Too soon?’
Salome stared at her for a beat, and then they both exploded into laughter, howling hysterically until they were bent over double and gasping for breath.
‘Oh – oh, oh God!’ Salome wheezed, clutching her stomach. ‘I haven’t laughed so hard in ages!’
Delilah wiped the tears under her eyes and tried to catch her breath. ‘Where are you going?’
Salome was already halfway to the kitchen counter, returning seconds later with a strip of paper towel. ‘To clean up your mess. I said I was working on it – I didn’t say I was there yet!’
Delilah chuckled softly as she watched her sister wipe the spilt tea. Sometimes you had to know when to cut your losses.
Tossing the tissue into the bin, Salome sat down again, and her expression sobered. ‘So what are you going to do about Noah?’
The kitchen door opened, and Farhan stuck his head through the gap. ‘I’m going upstairs to change Arin.’
Delilah instantly pushed back her chair and sprang to her feet. ‘Sal, I don’t know what I’m going to do about Noah. But what I do know is I’m going to show you right now that I meant everything I said about being a better sister.’
Marching up to Farhan, she held out her arms. ‘Hand over the baby. And as for you, young Arin, you can take that look off your face right now. Auntie Del’s on nappy duty today, so get used to it!’
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Delilah pulled the front door shut behind her and headed for the outside bin, holding the small sack filled with Arin’s soiled nappy at arm’s length. After she reluctantly handed her phone to her nephew, the second nappy change had gone a lot more smoothly than the first and drooling over her mobile had kept him still long enough for her to strap on a clean nappy.
The morning and lunchtime with her family had passed quickly, and Delilah was feeling happier than she had in ages. Her relationship with Salome and Farhan was back on track and they had shared their plan with her to enrol Arin into a local nursery for a few days a week, allowing Salome to look for a part-time PR job. Delilah, for her part, had offered regular babysitting support to give the couple more quality time together.
As she lifted the lid of the grey refuse bin, Delilah caught a flash of movement in the corner of her eye and glanced up just in time to see Noah, head down, striding up the street in her direction. Without thinking, she dropped the lid and ducked down behind the bin, praying he hadn’t seen her. What the hell was he doing here in the middle of a working day! Crouching into a tight ball with her back against the dividing fence, she pressed herself against the rough wood while her heart pounded furiously. She hadn’t spoken to Noah since Zazie had admitted her plan to trick him into marriage, and Delilah was terrified of facing him when she knew he was being lied to. At some point, she knew she’d have to come clean with Noah, but she wasn’t ready yet – and definitely not while she was clutching a bag with a soiled nappy.
When she heard the sound of a door slamming, Delilah counted to ten and then stood up cautiously, keeping a wary eye on the house next door while she opened the bin and tossed the nappy sack inside. She brushed down her coat and hurried along the path to the gate. With her eyes firmly fixed on the door to Noah’s family home, it was too late to stop herself from crashing headlong into Noah’s mother, who was approaching from the opposite direction.
‘Oh! I – I’m so sorry,’ Delilah gasped, her arms flailing as she tried to keep her balance. ‘It’s my fault! I should have been looking?—’
‘Yes, you should! You nearly knocked me over,’ Mrs West cut in sharply, holding on to the gate to steady herself. Her caramel-brown eyes, so like Noah’s, blazed with anger. ‘But then being considerate of other people isn’t your strong point, is it?’ she added furiously.
Delilah flinched at the jibe, but this was the first time in years the woman had deigned to speak to her, and she seized the opportunity to plead her case.
‘Mrs West, I know you’re very upset with me, and I don’t blame you,’ she said humbly. ‘What – what I did to Noah was unforgiveable and?—’
‘It was indeed unforgiveable.’ Mrs West cut into Delilah’s stumbling narrative once again. ‘But I’m not the one you should be saying this to.’
It was hard not to feel intimidated by the woman’s stony face and acid tone, but Delilah continued doggedly. ‘I – I know. I’ve spoken to Noah and apologised…’ She tailed off as Mrs West’s eyes widened with incredulity.
‘You’ve spoken to Noah? When was this?’
‘Um… well, we’ve met a couple of times over the past few weeks.’
‘That sounds very unlikely. He hasn’t mentioned it to me.’
Bristling at the implication she was lying, Delilah fought the urge to point out Noah was an adult and under no obligation to tell his mother everything that happened in his life. But the news that Delilah was in touch with her son was clearly infuriating his mother.
‘You really have a nerve, d’you know that? How dare you have the gall to even breathe near my son after the way you treated him?’
Her nostrils flared and her face tightened with anger, causing Delilah to take an involuntary step back. ‘My Neville and I opened our home to you, but our trust was misplaced. I always suspected you didn’t have staying power, but I held my tongue for Noah’s sake. I should have followed my instinct and persuaded Noah to finish with you before you hurt him so grievously.’
Although Mrs West would probably have considered herself too refined to raise her voice, Delilah would have infinitely preferred being shouted at to the quiet, cutting tone laced with contempt. By breaking Noah’s heart, she had created an enemy in his mother – not that there had ever been much love to lose from that quarter. And yet, behind the verbal assault, Delilah could hear pain, and a tiny part of her understood the woman’s deep visceral reaction to the girl who had so badly damaged her son.
‘I hope Noah has made it clear he has a girlfriend now?’ Mrs West continued, and Delilah winced at the triumph in her voice. But remembering her promise to Noah, she drew on the advice she had offered Zazie only days earlier and kept her tone even.
‘Yes, he has. Look, Mrs West, about Noah and me. We – we’re just friends.’
