by Kiki Archer
Andi kept her arms looped around Zara’s neck and looked up at her wife. “I’m just pleased you’re okay.”
“I’m fine, sweetie. I explained it all on Saturday. The doctors think a combination of treatments will lift this constant cloud.” She smiled. “But I must say, you’re doing a very good job of lifting that cloud all by yourself.”
Andi shook her head. “No. There’s been an incident at work.” She pulled away from the cuddle and reached into her pocket for her phone. She scrolled to the photos and selected the one of the computer screen. She held it up to Zara’s eye line.
Zara winced. “What the fuck is that?”
“Can we sit down?”
Zara ushered them to the soft chairs near the window with the incredible view of the London skyline. “Where the fuck is that from?”
Andi took a seat. “It was uploaded to the Proud Unity server and placed as the background on everyone’s desktop computer.”
“What freak’s done that?” snapped Zara, holding out her hand and demanding the phone once again. She clicked on the picture and zoomed in, reading the red jagged writing. “What does it say?” She squinted. “Your campaign has destroyed the institution of marriage. Now I’m going to destroy you. Stab, by stab, by stab … starting with your wife. Well thanks a fucking lot! What did I do?”
Andi rested her elbows on her knees and rubbed her temples. “That’s just it. You’ve never done anything. You never asked to be in the limelight. You never brought these sickos to our door.” She shook her head. “I’ve done it. It’s my fault. All of it. I can see that now.”
Zara pulled her long black hair over her shoulder. “I forgive you,” she said magnanimously. “But I think you should leave.”
Andi looked over with a pain in her eyes. “Work?”
“Yes of course work! What else could I possibly mean?” She stood up and walked over to her desk, lifting up a pile of glossy prospectuses. She handed them to Andi. “If not for me … then do it for them.” She nodded at the collage of babies on the front cover. “I really was stuck in traffic, you know? And I am committed to starting a family.” She smiled. “Sweetie, I’ve gone through the information from every single clinic and rated it on potential.”
Andi looked at the number 10, hand written on the top corner of the prospectus on the top of her pile. “Potential for what?”
“Potential for fulfilling our dreams.” She crouched down next to Andi’s chair and stroked her arm. “Our dream of having a family.” Zara shook her head. “Look at you, sweetie, you’re as white as a sheet.” She paused. “Andi, your job at Proud Unity’s been done. I watched the announcement. It’s all over. You can leave now.”
Andi frowned. “I thought you were in a meeting?”
“I slipped out. The point I’m trying to make is that you’ve won. You’ve made your mark. Equal marriage is happening. You’ve left a great legacy at Proud Unity. Now get out while you’re on top. Get out while you can. Get out before some psycho tries to slit your throat.”
Andi shuddered. “I was more concerned about you actually. You don’t deserve to be dragged into this. Maybe I should move out of the house, so you don’t get tarred with the same brush as me.”
Zara narrowed her eyes. “What? How ridiculous! There’s a psycho out there. The best place for you is at home, with me and your family. Just leave Proud Unity. It’s your only option.”
Andi shrugged and placed the wad of information back down onto the coffee table. “I don’t know, I love-”
“For Christ’s sake, Andi. Our lives are at risk! I’m not bringing a family into the world with this hanging over our heads. If you were to leave Proud Unity, the nutter would think they’ve won.”
“But someone else would just take over. The campaigning would continue.”
“Exactly!” said Zara, clapping her hands. “You’ve finally got it! You’re replaceable, Andi. The organisation will survive without you.” She shook her head lightly. “But I won’t. I need you. You’ve got a duty to stand by me. Yes, I’ve been difficult sometimes, and I’ll apologise for that for as long as you want me to; but there were crossed wires, there definitely were. I thought you knew.” Zara spoke quietly. “I won’t misbehave again. I won’t need to because of the new treatment. We’ll start a family, we’ll be a unit. Tell me you’ll leave. Please, Andi, just tell me you’ll leave.”
Andi closed her eyes. “I’ll leave.”
****
Pippa jumped at the touch on her shoulder. She was leaning over the desk in Andi’s office, scribbling a note as to her whereabouts. “Shit, Andi!” she shouted, dropping the pen and spinning around in shock. “Where have you been?”
“At G-Sterling.”
Pippa took hold of Andi’s wrists shaking her head in relief. “I’ve been trying to get hold of you. I’ve left you a billion messages. I told you not to come back here!”
“Why?” said Andi completely puzzled.
“Because it’s Elizabeth!”
“What is?”
“The psycho! It’s Elizabeth!”
Andi checked her pockets, suddenly having a vision of Zara looking at the image on her phone before dropping it onto the littered coffee table. “I’ve left it at Zara’s. It’s fine, she’ll bring it home. What do you mean, it’s Elizabeth?”
“If you’d have listened to my messages you’d know! I’ve explained this to your phone three times already, and that was much easier than this is going to be.” She paused, reaching down for the ripped brown file. She looked Andi in the eye. “I’m so sorry, but it appears that Zara’s been having affairs. It’s all in here.” Pippa looked to the floor.
“Really?”
“Yes, with Melody, and it seems she was the person Jayney left me for as well.” Pippa handed over the documents. “I think Elizabeth was going to go public with this or something to discredit your marriage. It’s also too much of a coincidence that all of the callers and tweeters had a variation on the name Elizabeth. Plus she has access to Janet’s admin code. She could easily have uploaded that image.”
Andi dropped the file back onto the desk.
“Don’t you want to read it?” asked Pippa. “She’s been having affairs. Zara’s a cheat.”
“I know,” shrugged Andi. “I’ve got the original file. This is a copy.”
“What? How long have you known?”
“Saturday, after our day out on the Segways.”
Pippa was puzzled. “Why didn’t you come back around? Why haven’t you told me? This changes everything, Andi. You can leave her now!”
“I’m bound to her by law.”
“So get a bloody divorce!” laughed Pippa, not actually finding any of it in the slightest bit funny. “Look, I need to make this call. That’s what I was writing down for you in case you came back. We’ve got the police liaison officer in the media suite. He wants to ask Elizabeth some questions, and he doesn’t want you around when she comes back. I was telling you to go home and wait until I called.” She took a deep breath and carried on talking. “I’ve got to ring Janet now, to alert her about what’s going on and make sure she brings Elizabeth back here. Let me do it quickly, so we can have some time to talk before they get back. Are you following?”
Andi ruffled her short blonde hair. “Not really.”
“Right, wait a minute, let me make this call.” Pippa picked up her mobile and dialled Janet’s number. It rang for a good ten seconds before being picked up, and she was immediately hit with the sound of sirens and the high pitched yapping of Elizabeth’s dog. Pippa started to speak. “Good, you’re still there. Don’t talk, just listen, really carefully. We think Elizabeth’s the one behind the nasty upload and the horrible tweets and gruesome deliveries. We’ve found a file in her office about some extramarital affairs that Zara’s been having and we think she was going to go public with it to discredit Andi’s campaign. You must act normally, but you have to bring her back to the office as soon as possible. We’re sending Andi home
so she’s not in danger. But you can’t repeat any of this, do you understand?”
“Yes,” came the muffled response.
Andi watched as Pippa hung up the phone. “You’re acting like you’re on CSI.”
“This is serious! She’s threatened to kill you.”
Andi shrugged. “Don’t you think she’d have done it already?”
Pippa was shocked by the apathy. “What’s wrong? What’s going on?” She took Andi’s hands.
Andi shook her head. “I’m leaving. I’ve made my decision and I think it’s time. I’m leaving Proud Unity so I can focus on my duties as a wife and hopefully in a year or so, my duties as a mother.”
Pippa bent down and peered into Andi’s downcast eyes. “What the bloody hell did you just say?!”
Andi lifted her head and maintained the eye contact. “I’m leaving. I’m choosing my wife.”
Pippa opened her mouth in shock. “She’s a cheat! She’s had at least two affairs if the details in that file are correct.”
“She’s had five.”
“What?!” Pippa couldn’t believe the calm manner in which Andi was responding.
“She told me about them. About all of them. It was only sex. She’s got Dysthymia and she used the affairs to try and improve her mood.”
“What a load of bollocks!” Pippa threw her arms up in the air. “I’ve never heard of Dipstickia before!” She started to point her finger. “You’re a fool if you believe it.”
Andi shrugged her shoulders. “It’s true. I’ve looked into it.” She stared at Pippa. “It was just sex for her. She’s never betrayed me emotionally.” Andi shook her head. “It’s not like I can say the same, is it? I’ve been a worse wife than she has. I’ve given part of myself to someone else.”
“Which part?” asked Pippa unable to comprehend Andi’s position.
“My heart.” She shook her head. “You’re the one with my heart.”
Pippa grabbed Andi by the shoulders and actually shook her with force. “So leave her! Move in with me.” She pulled her close and started to rock. “I love you, Andi, and I know you love me too.”
“I have a duty to my wife.” Andi was staring blankly over Pippa’s shoulder. “I’m bound by law.”
“No! You’re playing out some weird sort of binding devotion, to a shit excuse for a wife, and a loyalty to a love that’s not even there.” Pippa’s phone stared to ring. “Don’t move. Let me get this.” Pippa reached for her mobile and answered it quickly. She listened carefully and put her hand on the receiver, passing it over to Andi. “It’s Nurse Sarah. Sarah Farley. The one who took your blood. She wants to speak to you.”
Andi frowned and reached for the phone. “Yes, hello … Yes I do remember you, I’m ever so sorry … Oh right, did you? … No, I didn’t get that message … No, we’re like ships in the night at the moment, there must have been some sort of miscommunication … Yes, I’ll come in tomorrow … So there was? … Oh right, what was it? … Seroquel? … Okay, I’ll look forward to it … Sorry again.” She hung up.
“I kept her card and phoned her this afternoon. The police officer was running through the list of issues you’ve had and he didn’t mention the drink spiking, so I thought I’d chase it up.”
Andi shrugged. “I didn’t report it. I thought I was just drunk.”
“And were you?”
Andi shook her head lightly. “No, it looks like I had something called Seroquel in my system. I’m going in tomorrow so they can talk to me, but she said it was a common prescription drug that notorious for making you feel drunk and limp if you take too much with alcohol.”
“So not a date rape then?”
“No, just one that made me look stupid.” Andi exhaled heavily. “Leaving Proud Unity is my only option. I can’t be dealing with shit like this. I can’t have people trying to spike my drink when I’m a mother.”
“A what?!”
Andi bit her bottom lip. “Zara’s finally coming round to the idea of having a family.”
Pippa threw her hands up in the air once again. “You don’t come round to the idea of having a family. You crave a family. You yearn for one. You plan one with the upmost excitement and elation.” She paused for breath. “You can’t have a band-aid baby, Andi!”
Andi rubbed her temples. “I’ve got a duty to give Zara another chance. She’s been ill, but she’s getting better. I promised to stay with her in sickness and in health. I’m not stupid, Pippa. I’ll see how it goes for a few months. See how it feels being a stay at home housewife.”
“A WHAT?!” Pippa couldn’t help it. “CAN YOU HEAR YOURSELF?! You’re Andi Armstrong. We need you! The campaign needs you.” She lowered her voice. “I need you.”
“I have to give my wife a chance. It’s not like she’s intentionally done anything to hurt me. She’s never intentionally been cruel. She loves me.”
“SHE’S HAD AFFAIRS! I’d never so much as talk to another woman if I was your wife. You deserve so much better.”
“Sixty per cent of people have extramarital affairs.”
“Who told you that?”
“Zara.” She shrugged. “But I checked it out and she was right. No one begins a marriage expecting to cheat, but it happens. It happens all of the time. The people involved just have to make a decision about what’s important. Marriage is a strong bond, Pippa.”
“People should think about that bond when they’re out there having the bloody affairs!”
Andi rubbed her temples. “I don’t really think you’re very well placed to judge.”
“I’m not married!”
“No,” said Andi, “but I am.” She looked at the clock. “I need to get going. I don’t want to be here when they get back.”
“Can we talk later?”
“My mind’s made up, Pippa.”
Pippa shook her head. “You can’t. I love you.”
Andi swallowed. “I need to do what’s right.”
“But I love you.” Pippa wiped away a tear and looked up with pleading eyes. “Please, Andi, please don’t do this. I love you.” She sniffed away more emotion. “I’ll leave. It’s fine. I’ll stop work. I’ll make it easy for you. Just don’t give up on your job. You love your job! You’ve said it a million times. I might not be worth fighting for, but surely your campaign is?”
Andi gasped and reached out for Pippa’s waist. “You’re worth so much more than any job or campaign.” She wiped away the tears creeping down Pippa’s cheeks. “I just can’t give up on my marriage. Yes, she can be moody sometimes, and her snipes can be mean.” She paused. “But she’s not abusive, and she’s not vindictive, she’s not malicious or sadistic. She’s my wife. You don’t just walk away from a marriage when something better comes along. You’re committed. You’re committed for life. I have to try and work through this.”
Pippa stroked the side of Andi’s face. “I’ll never stop admiring you, no matter how much it hurts.”
“I’m not sure I’ll be back,” said Andi holding on to her tears. “I think this is best. Everyone will understand.” She smiled. “I’ll say I’ve been housebound by the threat of a psycho.”
“I’m not a psycho.”
Andi laughed. “No, but you’ll be the reason I’m housebound.” She shook her head. “If I stay a moment longer I’ll change my mind.”
Pippa let her go. “I’ll be waiting.”
“I know you will.”
Chapter Thirty Two
Pippa watched with tears in her eyes as Andi walked out of the office for the very last time. She leaned backwards against the desk and held on for support. The pain was unbearable. She closed her eyes and remembered the way Andi had pulled back the covers of her bed and ordered her in. She smiled to herself, remembering the touch of her body and the sweet smell of her breath. Pippa shook with pain. There was no point in begging or trying to make her change her mind. It had to be Andi’s choice. Andi’s decision. Pippa took a deep breath and opened her eyes, half expecting Andi to be
back in the doorway, but she wasn’t. She sighed heavily. Andi had made her decision. She’d gone.
Pippa walked around to the other side of the desk and picked up the internal phone, calling the media suite, telling them that Andi had left the building and that Janet should be back soon.
“No, I’m back now!” giggled Janet blustering into the room. “Right! What’s all this drama?”
Pippa hung up the phone and looked at Janet all trussed up in her winter woollies. “Where’s Elizabeth?”
“Cheers! Happy welcome back to you too! Elizabeth didn’t fancy the drinky-poos, but I’ve got some great sound bites and we’ll really be able to let loose and rock out tonight! The party’s still on I hope?!”
“Where’s Elizabeth?” said Pippa even louder.
“You’d think she was the life and soul!”
“Where is she?”
Janet shrugged. “I don’t know. We parted ways at the House of Parliament.”
“What?!”
“Why?”
“The phone call! I phoned you!”
“No you didn’t.”
Pippa stood up. “Shit! It’s too late. Andi’s gone!”
“What are you talking about?”
“I phoned you! I told you it was Elizabeth!”
“What was?”
“Oh for Christ’s sake, Janet. She’s the psycho! She’s the one who uploaded the photo. She’s the one behind all of the tweets. She had a file on Zara’s affairs!”
“Zara’s affairs?”
“Yes I told you!”
“I went to the loo. Elizabeth looked after my phone.”
A surge of panic hit Pippa. “She heard me! She knows that we know! Oh shit, Janet! She knows that Andi’s gone home!” Pippa grabbed her coat and raced out of the office. “I’ve got to catch her!” She shouted back down the corridor. “Go to the media suite. Get the police to come to the house.”
