The Fault

by Kitty Sewell

  ‘You’re not in cahoots with Brian, are you?’

  She stared at him, open mouthed. ‘In cahoots…what does that mean? Are you asking if I’m having an affair?’

  He looked at her pensively for several seconds. ‘I don’t know. Are you?’ Before she could answer he shrugged, turned on his heel and walked quickly down the ramp.

  ‘Wait, Sebastian!’ she called after him. ‘Don’t you dare walk away.’

  She power-walked up the stairs two at a time, the adrenalin of her fury as good as rocket fuel. How dare he make a suggestion like that? And then walk away. Mrs. Amirah had heard every word. When Eva glanced up she’d shaken her head in commiseration, as if to say: Men! Immature, jealous, unreasonable.

  Inside her front door, she flung down her gear and headed for the kitchen. She opened the fridge and took out a bottle of beer. ‘Mimi!’ she shouted. ‘Do you want to hear a funny story? About a one-hundred-thousand year old cigarette butt!’

  But of course, Mimi wasn’t home, she was in the clutches of the nefarious Montegriffo. Mad though she was at Sebastian, she still felt for him. He’d become almost obsessed with worry, convinced that Carlo was a danger to Mimi. She had to remind herself that Sebastian had effectively been Mimi’s father during her childhood, so it wasn’t surprising that his protectiveness was so deeprooted. On top of that was the burden of guilt that he carried, having been forced to hand over thirteen-year-old Mimi to their ice maiden of a mother, a woman he loathed with all his heart.

  She headed for the living room, bottle in hand, and on an impulse opened the door to Mimi’s room. Messy and unremarkable but for a huge bouquet of dark red roses sitting in the wine cooler on her dresser. She stared at the roses. Never had she seen such an extravagant bouquet. Who the hell had given her those; surely not Sebastian: she would have known about it. It had to be Montegriffo. The sheer size of the bouquet was excessive, the colour of the roses provocative somehow, darkly suggestive! With a shiver she wondered if Sebastian’s instinct about the man could be right. Should she have offered to go with him?

  In the kitchen she opened her laptop and tried to google ‘Duke of Durham’ cigarettes. Her mood lightened when she discovered that the cigarettes hailed from 1890, well over a century old. There was the tin, with an Art Nouveau painting of a woman with a fan leaning over a rose covered balcony, offering the packet to an invisible lover below. How charming was that? The find was almost as amazing as the Neanderthal cooking hearth.

  Her phone rang. Should she answer? She was still annoyed about Sebastian’s ridiculous insinuation but he was probably calling to apologise. He was usually quick to put things right if they’d had words, and she, in turn, was grateful for his initiative.

  She ran back to the kitchen to grab her phone. ‘Yes, hello.’

  It wasn’t Sebastian.

  The breather did his usual thing. She listened for a few seconds, that feeling of dread spreading through her belly. Just as she was about to hang up, he spoke for the first time. A strange voice said something she could not catch.

  ‘What!’ she whispered.

  ‘Come back to me,’ came the reply, his voice distorted and far away.

  ‘I am never going back, Adrian.’ She tried to keep the tremor out of her voice, but she was shaking so much she could not. ‘Wh…where are you?’

  ‘Near you. Very near you. Come away with me, Chantelle.’

  Panic flooded her. She was about to throw down the phone and just run. The clichéd scene she’d enacted in her mind so often flashed before her: the suitcase on the bed, flinging things into it; an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness.

  Suddenly she couldn’t bear for all this to begin again. She didn’t have the strength to go on running. And something else rose within her: anger. How dare he go on torturing her with his malice? She’d handed over her power to him, and he toyed with her as though she were a mouse. She’d had enough of it. Enough!

  ‘So come and get me, you bastard,’ she hissed.

  ‘I will,’ he promised.

  ‘No, don’t bother,’ she said icily, determined not to let him torment her another moment of her life. ‘I’ll make it easy for both of us. Let’s meet face to face. I want a divorce or you can kill me. I don’t care which way we go. You never loved me, it’s just your ugly pride, your fucking chauvinistic conceit. You’re not a man. A real man doesn’t abuse his own mother or torture defenceless animals. I have no feelings for you, no respect. I’m not even scared of you anymore.’

  He didn’t answer, no doubt wanting to see how long she could maintain her bravado, waiting to hear her crumble… so she waited too, wondering how far away from here could she get in a day.

  ‘All right, Adrian,’ she said after a long moment. ‘There is a small town, quite near Malaga airport, called Benalmadena Pueblo. I’ll be there by tonight and I’ll check into the most central hotel I can find. There shouldn’t be many to choose from. I’ll be waiting for you.’ She listened for a response, but when none came she repeated, ‘Did you hear me, Adrian? I’ll be in Benalmadena Pueblo, alone, ready and waiting for you.’ She pressed the off button and slipped the phone into her pocket.

  ‘What’s going on?’

  She swung around and there stood Mimi with her hands on her hips. She was wearing the same dress she’d had on the night before. Her topknot was curly instead of gelled up and she looked strangely grown up, as if she were the adult catching a teenager hatching a plot to run away.

  ‘Nothing.’

  ‘Who was that on the phone, this Adrian?’

  Eva stood still, looking at her. Enough of lies and pretences: Mimi had a right to know what was going on. It had been a wonderful few months, a whirlwind of love, excitement and romance, but now the whole pie-in-the-sky charade was over. There probably wasn’t even time to sit down and explain her decision to Sebastian, and anyway, it would be a drama which might end conclusively. Conversely, he might want to come with her and take on his rival. Sebastian was both strong and formidable in his own way, but he’d be no match for Adrian who lived his life and his work by violence.

  ‘Eva, answer me,’ Mimi insisted. ‘Who is Adrian and why were you shouting at him?’

  ‘Just so you know, Mimi, your brother is running around the length and breadth of Gibraltar looking for you. He’s probably in Both Worlds right now, kicking doors in.’

  ‘Oh, for fuck’s sake,’ Mimi groaned. ‘Well, that’ll keep him busy for a while. Who the hell is Adrian?’

  ‘Adrian is my husband.’

  ‘Adrian is your husband? So, you’re married?’ She didn’t sound angry, not even particularly surprised. Perhaps she’d taken some of those phone calls herself. ‘Does Sebastian know?’

  ‘He does now.’

  ‘And what’s going on? Judging by your shouting, you’re not going back with this Adrian real soon.’

  ‘Never,’ Eva said. ‘Adrian is a vicious and dangerous guy. He would never let me go and I was too scared to ask for a divorce. So I ran. He’s catching up to me fast, but I can’t keep running. I don’t want to put you and Sebastian in jeopardy, so I’m going on a trip… I’m going to meet him.’

  ‘You just said you’re not going back to him.’

  ‘Oh, no, of course I’m not. I’m going to ask him for a divorce.’

  ‘So you’ll be back with us, right?’ said Mimi anxiously. ‘He won’t hurt you, will he?’

  ‘Can you call Brian – here is his number – and ask him if he can drive me across the border? Tell him to meet me where he dropped me just now. In fifteen minutes.’

  Mimi followed her into the bedroom and stood looking at her as she flung some clothes into her case. ‘What about Sebastian? Does he know you’re off to meet this vicious Adrian?’

  ‘I’ve been trying to tell him everything, but he doesn’t want to hear it or take it seriously. Of course he was pissed off to find out that I was married and he thinks I’m still hanging on for some reason. Just phone Brian for me, please, Mimi. A
nd why don’t you phone your brother too and put him out of his misery.’

  Mimi nodded, went out to the kitchen with the address book she’d given her and returned within a couple of minutes. ‘There’s no answer. I didn’t leave a message. I wasn’t sure… And Sebastian’s phone is out of range. If he’s in Both Worlds, there’s a lump of fucking rock between us.’

  ‘Okay, Mimi. Would you do me a huge favour? Cut my hair, please.’

  Mimi stared at her, wide eyed. ‘No! What do you want to do that for?’

  ‘I want Adrian to see a different me, someone he no longer knows. Everybody associates me with my goddamned hair,’ she said bitterly. ‘Even your brother!’

  Eva sat down on the chair in front of the little dressing table and took the trimming scissors and a comb from the drawer. ‘Do it! Cut it straight, page-boy type of thing, right at the jaw.’

  ‘Oh, fuck,’ Mimi groaned. ‘Your gorgeous hair! Are you sure?’

  ‘Yes, I’m sure. Please hurry.’

  Mimi took the scissors from her hand and, combing with her left hand, she began a straight cut from the side of her face. Her hand was steady enough. ‘So, go on,’ she said without looking up. ‘Tell me everything.’

  ‘Look, Mimi, I love your brother. I’m totally in awe of him…or I was. In those first few weeks together I was caught up in a kind of fairy tale, and Sebastian never asked me any questions. I think a lot of people working in Dubai come there because they’re leaving something behind, so I didn’t feel like I was obliged to own up to the complex circumstances of my past. It was my own business. Besides, if I’d told him I had a husband – a spiteful U.S. Federal Agent who’d be casting the net far and wide to find me – he might have felt differently about me. I’d have had to explain a whole bunch of stuff and, to be honest, that was exactly what I was wanting to get away from. Moving here with Sebastian was different, of course, and it was cowardly of me not to tell him then. I should have given him the choice. I should have owned up to everything before we even left Dubai.’

  Eva looked up into the mirror and met Mimi’s eye.

  ‘Yeah, perhaps, but Sebastian is not a man who asks questions. He might be brilliant, but where relationships are concerned he doesn’t see further than his nose,’ Mimi said, matter-of-factly. ‘He’ll be gutted, though. He’s not as emotionally strong as you think. This might just tip him over the edge.’

  ‘In what way? What edge?’

  She could see Mimi hesitating. ‘There is no point explaining Sebastian to you now,’ she said, ‘but there’s plenty of stuff he ought to have shared with you.’

  ‘I’ll give him a call once I’m on my way, but if for some reason I can’t get him or he doesn’t want to talk to me, can you please explain on my behalf? Right now I’m getting out to keep you guys safe. You understand, don’t you, Mimi?’

  Mimi nodded, her eyes on the cutting. Long tresses of hair fell slowly, like feathers, to the floor. Mimi looked at her through the mirror. ‘Could you phone me every few hours?’

  Eva smiled. ‘I’ll let you know exactly what’s going on.’

  ‘And if you don’t call. What do we do?

  ‘I guess call the Spanish police.’

  ‘Oh God. Why don’t you just call them now and have them confront the guy?’

  ‘He’s not done anything against the law. Anyway, they’d be in awe of him, a six-foot-four senior FBI agent: they’d be eating out of his hand. Probably hand me over in chains.’

  They stayed silent for a few minutes while Mimi finished cutting. She’d done a remarkably good job. It would hardly need touching up. Instead of making her look older, as she had hoped, the short hairstyle did the opposite. Damn! Well, at least she looked different.

  ‘Mimi…please could you sweep all this hair up after I go? It wouldn’t be very nice for Sebastian to see it.’

  ‘Yeah, of course.’

  Eva got up from the chair and brushed the wisps of hair off her clothes. She looked through her handbag, checked that her passport was there and counted the notes in her wallet. ‘Thank God I’ve had a job. Brian knows I’m an illegal alien so he pays me cash. Will you try calling him again for me, please? Otherwise, I think I’ll just walk to the bus station across the border.’

  She searched through the drawers for something she might have missed, then sat down for a moment, put her head in her hands and tried to think straight. Mimi came back and patted her on the shoulder. ‘It’s okay, I got hold of Brian. He said he’ll pick you up at the end of Galetta’s Passage in ten minutes.’

  Eva stood up and gave her a quick hug. ‘Take good care of yourself, Mimi. I know you’ve got your head screwed on right. Just be careful with Carlo. He’s not the right kind of guy for you, surely you must see it.’

  Mimi nodded. ‘Yeah, I know he isn’t.’ She hesitated a moment, then said, ‘I think I’ve met someone else. He’s young, like me.’

  ‘That sounds more like it. You need to be young and have fun. You’re far too serious, too alone. Enjoy being a teenager. You haven’t got long and you never get it back.’

  ‘Fuck!’ Mimi exclaimed. ‘You’re talking as if we’re never going to see each other again.’

  ‘Be good, Mimi. I’ll come back. I hope I’ll be welcome.’

  Mimi nodded. ‘Hey, let me make you a sandwich for the journey.’

  Eva smiled, then looked at her watch. She’d not eaten and her stomach felt hollow. ‘Okay, but make it quick, though. Just cut me some bread and a slab of cheese.’

  Mimi went to the kitchen and Eva pressed down the lid on her little case, regretting that her new wetsuit would have to stay behind. She wondered if she’d be coming back for it. She looked around one last time. The floor was strewn with her long blonde hair. Hopefully Mimi would remember to sweep it up and put it at the bottom of the trash can.

  ‘I’ve got to go, Mimi,’ she called from the hall.

  Mimi came to the door, pressing into her hands a grey sandwich bag with two rubber bands around it.

  ‘Thanks, Mimi.’ The sandwich made her tearful but she didn’t want to show it.

  ‘It’s a book, actually,’ said Mimi with a shrug. ‘We didn’t have any bread. Don’t throw it away, whatever you do. You’re going to need to read it, you hear me.’

  ‘Okay, if you say so. I’ll read it.’ She tossed it into her handbag and put the bag over her shoulder.

  ‘Do the zip up,’ said Mimi anxiously, like a mother sending her little girl off to her first day at school.

  ‘All right. Look after yourself.’

  ‘Look who’s talking,’ said Mimi wretchedly and threw her arms around her.

  Sebastian

  In Both Worlds, he walked up and down the coastal road and looked at the many entrances and the huge number of apartments. He rang several intercoms but few of them answered. The ones that did were suspicious or indifferent, and all claimed to be ignorant as to who Montegriffo was and what number he lived at. Someone buzzed him in and he went around rapping on doors. After half a dozen tries, none other than Montegriffo himself opened the door, again in his bathrobe.

  He sighed deeply on seeing Sebastian. ‘Now what?’

  Sebastian felt his pulse beginning to race as the scene of a few weeks ago came back to him. ‘Is Imogen here?’

  Montegriffo just opened the door wide and stood aside, waving him in with a curt gesture. Sebastian didn’t bother with courtesies but ran around the tiny, sparsely furnished apartment. Two plates, champagne flutes and other glasses stood on the kitchen counter, a testimony to their encounter. The single bed was made up, but the counterpane was rumpled as if two lovers had wrestled on it. Fearful of his own impulses, Sebastian made for the door.

  ‘Clearly you’ve entertained her,’ he said giving the man a cold stare. ‘When did she leave?’

  ‘Just after lunch.’

  ‘Do you always hang out in a bathrobe when inviting young girls in?’

  ‘Enough!’ said Montegriffo. ‘Get out!’

/>   Once out on the road he made his way towards Dudley Ward Tunnel, a short ten minutes along the coast. When he saw the No Pedestrians sign, he remembered Jorge Azzopardi’s admonitions, but the mouth of the tunnel loomed cold and dark, and he welcomed the feeling of entering the Rock, being embraced by it.

  It was not the peaceful silence he yearned for, but rather the noise of the traffic was amplified to a thunderous roar. With his hands clamped over his ears he sprinted like a hunted rat along the tunnel wall, cars hooting their horns and swerving to avoid him.

  When he staggered into daylight at the other end, his work-site was right ahead of him. The search for Mimi had drained him and it was a welcome refuge.

  Everyone except the security team had gone. He shuffled papers around his desk for an hour, trying to get through to Mimi at regular intervals to check that she’d arrived home. When the sky began to darken, he went out to look at the lights being lit on the tankers anchored in the waters off the coast. His eyes settled on the foaming turbulence where the rock-face plunged into the sea, and he tried to imagine the dramatic sight of his development lighting up the cliff against the night sky. The reality of that image seemed such a long way away. There had been further delays in shipments of materials, and some of his team had walked off since they had nothing to do. The planners had been to the site earlier in the week, checking and re-checking the boundaries of the development. They’d left without saying a word to him, effectively left him standing.