Page 51 of Is She Really Going Out with Him?
“It’s fine, I’m not confused,” I say, because now it all makes sense. He’s started seeing this woman. Now he’s trying to let me down gently to avoid any awkwardness at work.
“I really like you, Anna. Our dinner on Friday was—”
“It’s fine,” I say, cutting him off, not needing him to spell it out. “We both had too much to drink, let’s leave it at that.” He shifts in his chair, frowning at my response. He should be pleased I just made this conversation a whole lot easier for him. I shoot him a broad smile so that he knows I really am fine about it. “I appreciated having a friend today, Will. Thank you.”
—
Ethan and Jesstake the news about Katniss better than I thought they would.
“She was old, Mum. It was her time,” says Jess in a gentle, comforting voice.
“She wasn’t that old,” I tell them.
“She was blind,” says Jess.
“Only in one eye.”
“Now she’s with Katsu in cat heaven,” Ethan says, nodding, his little brow furrowed into a pensive frown. I was braced for their misery, but they appear to be the ones comforting me.
“It’s okay, Mum,” says Jess, rubbing my back with the same circular motion I use on them when they’re sick. “She was a great cat.”
“Shall we watchThe Aristocats?” Ethan suggests. “It’s what Katniss would have wanted.”
“Good idea,” I tell him. Then, after throwing a pizza in the oven, I take the cat litter, the cat bed, and Katniss’s scratch pole out to the garage. The children snuggle up beside me on the sofa, and we have dinner in front of the TV, watchingThe Aristocats. For once, I let myself cry in front of Jess and Ethan. The tears are 98 percent about the cat, maybe 2 percent about Deedee.
Google searches:
Average lifespan for a cat
Cat caskets
Where does the name Deedee come from?
Dee Dee Warwick, Suspicious Minds music video
Chapter 16
On Wednesday, I have dinnerat Dan’s to look forward to. I’d rather stick toothpicks in my eyes, but I’ve left it too late to cancel and I suppose I should meet Sylvie if she’s going to be part of the children’s lives. I also need to appear normal and “non-stalkery” after the late-night phone call incident. The last thing I need is for Sylvie to think I’m still in love with her boyfriend. Jess and Ethan seem inexplicably excited as the three of us walk the four blocks to Dan’s house.
“Sylvie’s a great cook,” Jess tells me.Stab to the heart.
“Dad’s place smells funny now,” says Ethan.
“Funny how?” I ask hopefully. “Funny bad?”
“Sylvie uses scent diffusers. I like the smell,” says Jess.Second stab to the heart.Our house probably smells of residual cat litter and damp washing. “You’ll like her, Mum, she’s smart, she reads loads.” We haven’t even arrived yet and I’m already at nine out of ten on the “Sylvie is unbearable” scale.
“Hiiiiii!” Sylvie cries, opening the front door. Though I’ve seen pictures of her on Instagram, nothing can prepare me for how beautiful she is in real life. She’s willowy and long limbed,with taut, tan skin, white-blond hair, and impossibly straight teeth. She’s wearing a camel cashmere sweater, gray leggings, and Ugg boots, as though she’s modeling quiet luxury at an alpine resort. I knew she was going to be pretty, but she’s absolutely fucking luminous. How did Dan wangle someone like her? But then perhaps I’m thinking of the old Dan, depressed and withdrawn. Sylvie’s with shiny, new, highly motivated Dan, who is triangle shaped rather than oblong.
“So great to meet you,” Sylvie simpers, putting a hand on each of my shoulders. “Obviously I’ve seen photos, heard your voice on messages.” She leaves a loaded pause. “But it’s sospecialto finally meet you in real life. Goodness, aren’t you tiny!” Already low-level barbs about the drunken voice note and my small stature, and I’m not even through the door.Man, she’s good.
“Hey,” says Dan, coming up behind Sylvie and putting a hand on her waist. He’s wearing a jumper that looks identical to hers.They’re wearing his-and-hers jumpers.“Come in, come in.”
I’ve been to this house before. I’ve picked the kids up from outside or from the hallway, but I’ve never been all the way in. When he left us, Dan rented a flat, then took out a “huge mortgage” to afford this three-bedroom home. The first thing I’m struck by is how neat everything is. There is no mess or clutter or washing racks full of laundry.Where is all their stuff?The walls are white, and the furniture is gray and beige. It reminds me of a White Company store running low on stock. The only color comes from the huge, framed photographs of Dan and Sylvie adorning the walls. In each one they are posing while doing wholesome outdoor activities like hiking up a mountain, riding their bikes, or holding surfboards on a beach.
“Wow, so many photos,” I can’t help observing.
“Daniel hung them all himself,” Sylvie says, wrinkling her nose at me in an expression I think is meant to be a shared acknowledgment of how cute Dan is, but if it’s that, then she’smisjudged her audience. Looking at all the photos of the places they’ve been, I wonder how they’ve fitted so much in. They can’t have been together more than three or four months, yet they’ve been on all these trips and had time to mount them on the wall like relationship hunting trophies.
