Good Little Liars

by Sarah Clutton

  Harriet pulled into the driveway of the house a moment before Clementine’s little orange car pulled in beside them. The car was a disgrace but Harriet wasn’t about to be called a snob by voicing her thoughts.

  Harriet opened her window. ‘Clementine, Scarlett was just wondering how long you’re here for.’

  ‘Trying to get rid of me, Scarli? Well I’ve got my school reunion on the weekend. And Dark Mofo’s starting. This year’s festival line-up is awesome.’

  Harriet sniffed. ‘The debauched images all over town last year were bordering on obscene.’

  ‘Oh Mumma, you’re a duffer,’ said Clementine.

  Harriet cringed at her patronising tone.

  ‘Anyway, I can’t leave ’til we celebrate your birthday,’ added Clementine.

  ‘I’m not having a birthday party, Clementine, I told you already. Now, can you drop Scarlett somewhere later on?’

  ‘No, sorry. I got invited out on a fancy boat. We’re going on a cruise up the river to MONA. Some big swinging-dick art dealer. I probably won’t be in any state. You know – later, after all the free booze.’

  Harriet raised an eyebrow. Where had she gone wrong?

  She turned to Scarlett. ‘What time do you need to go out?’

  ‘About five. We’re going to plan Lilly’s eighteenth party.’

  ‘Alright,’ Harried sighed. ‘I’ll be back at four-thirty to pick you up. Do not keep me waiting.’

  She pressed the button to wind up the car window, but stopped as Clementine turned to Scarlett and spoke.

  ‘Don’t be late, little sis, or she’ll cook your kidney and eat it with lima beans and a nice Verdelho.’ Then Clementine made a grotesque sucking noise with her lips and moved her teeth up and down, in an excellent imitation of an evil rabbit.

  Scarlett screwed up her face. ‘What does that even mean? You are so weird.’

  Then Harriet watched as Clementine dissolved into fits of laughter and Scarlett stormed up the stairs, let herself into the house and slammed the door.

  As Harriet drove off down the street, quite inexplicably, she found herself laughing.

  Twenty-Three

  Marlee

  Seraphina. What sort of name was that? Marlee watched the blond bombshell who had walked into their meeting room an hour ago as she leaned over again to rest her hand on top of Ben’s. He was laughing – she could hear it through the open door, then she caught it in his profile as he turned his head and looked directly at Seraphina. The woman lowered her eyes and leant forward even further, giving him an open view of her boobs that were spilling out over the top of a very tight, white t-shirt. Tanned, perky, huge. Clearly fake. Ben stood up, signalling the end of the meeting and Seraphina picked up her leather jacket from the back of the chair and shrugged herself into it, making sure Ben was watching. She leaned in and kissed both of his cheeks, her pink talons resting gently on his upper arms.

  A new client. Loads of money. Would only have Ben – none of the other architects would do. That’s what Lidia had told her. She could see Lidia sneaking glances at the boardroom every few minutes too. Poor Lidia.

  Marlee watched as Ben walked Seraphina to the front door and waved goodbye. She closed her eyes. An image of Seraphina falling flat on her face and bursting one of her fake boobs popped into Marlee’s head. It cheered her enormously.

  Ben walked back across the room to her desk. ‘Sorry that ran over time. Ready?’

  ‘Sure.’ Marlee closed down the document she was working on and looked back up at him. ‘Looks like you met your Barbie after all,’ she said, nodding towards the front door.

  ‘She was lovely,’ said Ben. ‘A very switched on woman actually. Great project too.’

  Marlee felt an unfamiliar surge of jealousy. Perky and smart. She picked up the large white roll of A3-sized plans on her desk, ready for their client meeting on site. Ben had hardly had time to look at the latest version, so she’d have to answer most of the questions. Richard Lekky was a difficult client and a perfectionist. She wasn’t looking forward to the next few hours, partly because of Lekky but mostly because she was going to have to sit in the car with Ben for half an hour each way to and from the building site. They’d barely spoken since Sunday morning when he’d run off to placate Princess Scarlett after the birthday cake disaster. She hoped the awkwardness of the last two days hadn’t been too obvious to the rest of the staff. When she hadn’t been avoiding Ben, she’d spent most of each day tossing up the pros and cons of the two issues that had taken over her head – finding another job and how and when to tell him about the baby.

  ‘Just give me two minutes.’ She picked up her handbag and headed outside to the toilets, wondering if her summary of the latest round of changes to the plans could be stretched out to take up most of the car journey.

  She hung her bag on the toilet door. As she sat on the toilet, she glanced down. A large bright red patch of blood stared back at her. For a moment her mind was blank, then she thought why have I got my period when I’m pregnant? Then – the baby! The fear was swift and shocking.

  She sat frozen, fighting a rush of hot panic, as she wondered what to do. She rolled up some toilet paper and stuffed it in her knickers. Outside the bathrooms, in the cold, shaded courtyard she sat down on the garden wall and pulled out her phone. With shaky fingers, she swiped and scrolled and finally managed to dial Anna-Beth’s surgery.

  ‘Dr Rawson’s rooms. Kiara speaking.’

  ‘Hi, Kiara, It’s Marlee Maples. I need to speak to Anna-Beth.’

  ‘She’s with a patient, Marlee. Is it urgent?’

  ‘Um, yes, I think it might be. I’m bleeding and I’m really worried.’

  ‘Can you remind me how many weeks pregnant you are, Marlee?’

  ‘Fourteen tomorrow.’

  ‘Okay, let me just see if I can put you through to Anna-Beth.’

  Marlee waited. A cold gust of wind whipped into the gum tree above her, sending a single grey-green leaf floating and flipping down towards her feet. She shivered. She could feel her heart beating in her chest, pulsing the blood around her body, faster and faster. She wondered if she should be lying down to stop the bleeding, but the paved courtyard offered no options except a few faded timber chairs.

  ‘Marlee, Anna-Beth has just said if you pop into the surgery now, she’ll do a quick ultrasound to see what’s happening.’

  ‘Okay. Is that going to tell me if the baby’s alright?’

  ‘Well it’s her usual procedure with a threatened miscarriage. You’ll have to wait to talk to Anna-Beth I’m afraid.’

  ‘Oh. Right.’

  Marlee hung up. Threatened miscarriage. She really was losing the baby. Her vision was suddenly blurry.

  The door from the office opened and Ben stood in the doorway, eyebrows raised. He looked pointedly at the phone in her hand.

  ‘We’re running late.’

  ‘Right.’ She stood up and then immediately sat down again.

  ‘Are you alright?’ He took a step towards her then stopped.

  ‘No.’ Marlee’s eyes welled with hot tears. She looked down at her feet as she tried to control her emotions. Then she felt his hand on her shoulder, warm and comforting, bursting the dam of her tears. They rolled down her face, now hot and blotchy with fear.

  ‘Marlee?’ Ben squatted in front of her. His forehead was furrowed with concern. It was such an exact re-run of the last time she’d felt faint and sick at the art exhibition that usually she would have laughed, only now she could hear herself sobbing like a two-year-old.

  ‘What is it?’

  She couldn’t get the words out. She couldn’t tell him. But she couldn’t keep going like this either.

  ‘Marlee… Have you had some bad news? Are you sick?’

  Marlee forced her hand across her eyes and took a deep breath. ‘I’m pregnant.’ A fresh bout of tears filled her eyes and began running down her face as she sniffed loudly. ‘But I think I’m losing the baby.’

  Ben st
ared.

  ‘Can you please drop me at my doctor’s surgery? I need to get an ultrasound.’

  ‘Okay.’ Ben’s face was an unreadable mask. He stood absolutely still, as if a sudden movement might upset some sort of delicate balance.

  She stood up and he reached forward and took her arm. She shrugged him off. The bridge between them was too raw and rickety. She walked ahead of him and opened the back door of the office and walked through the office with her eyes fixed on the front door. In the car park she heard the beep as Ben unlocked the door of his car and she got in. When he got into the driver’s seat, she could feel him looking across at her. She gave him directions to Anna-Beth’s rooms without looking at him then they drove across the suburbs in silence. A few minutes later they pulled up beside a low-set brick building a street away from the hospital.

  ‘I’ll just wait here for you,’ he said.

  ‘No need. You’d better go to the meeting.’

  ‘But, you… I mean… you might need something.’ His face was creased with concern.

  ‘They’ll be waiting for you.’ She got out and slammed the door, not waiting for his reply.

  Inside the cool, calm interior of the surgery, Anna-Beth ushered her in after a fifteen-minute wait.

  ‘Right, Marlee, when did the bleeding start?’

  ‘I noticed it less than an hour ago. Is the baby dying?’ Marlee got up on the bed as directed and lowered her waistband.

  ‘How much blood was there?’

  ‘Well, my pants were stained – but not too much. It was maybe a teaspoon?’

  Anna-Beth was pushing the ultrasound around on her lower abdomen, the slimy, pushing sensation now familiar.

  ‘Any pain?’

  ‘No.’

  Marlee watched the screen. She couldn’t see anything. Anna-Beth kept moving the doppler, staring at the screen as Marlee lay frozen, barely daring to breathe.

  Then Anna-Beth spoke. ‘He’s there – see?’ They both watched the rapid flashing light on the screen. After a minute she said, ‘The baby’s heartbeat is exactly right. He doesn’t appear to be in distress. A small percentage of women experience minor bleeding in the second trimester, Marlee. What I recommend is getting some extra bed rest. Certainly, for the next day or so you should take it very easy. No exercise. And sitting or lying down whenever you can. If there’s no further bleeding in a day or two just return to normal activities. Okay?’

  ‘But… I have to work.’

  ‘I’m assuming you’ve decided to keep the baby?

  ‘Yes. Yes, I have.’

  ‘Well then, you’ll just need to take it easy to get you through the next couple of days and see what happens. Maybe work from home. This might be a warning that you’re doing too much.’

  Marlee felt a wash of relief as Anna-Beth handed her a paper towel to wipe the gel off her stomach. Then she thought of Ben – he’d be having trouble trying to explain the new concept to the client without her having brought him up to speed. She was glad. She felt angry with him for not being here with her, even though she hadn’t asked him. She knew that her anger didn’t make sense.

  Marlee walked into the carpark, scrolling through her phone for a taxi number. Outside the door, Ben stood on the path typing something on his phone. He looked up and put the phone in his pocket, his face grim.

  ‘Marlee. Are you alright? Is the baby alright?’

  At the sight of him another well of mixed emotion rushed up and sat behind her eyes, threatening to spill out.

  ‘Marlee – I’m so sorry.’

  ‘Why?’ she choked out the word.

  ‘Well, the baby…’ He ran both his hands through his hair. ‘I just feel really bad, you know… I had no idea.’

  Why were men so annoying in a crisis that involved women’s business? He was obviously wondering if the baby was his, then worrying that he was going to have to stump up for child care for another eighteen years, until he was… She did a quick calculation: Clementine had said he was forty-eight, add eighteen. Sixty-six. God, really? Sixty-six? That was past retirement age. She felt a bit sick about it herself. Well if she lost the baby, he could head off towards his dotage with all his pennies intact and only Scarlett to spend it on. But unfortunately for him, she had no intention of losing this baby.

  ‘The baby’s fine. I have to put my feet up for a few days. I’m going to need the rest of the week off.’

  ‘Oh, that’s great – about the baby. And of course, take as much time as you need. Um – could you just maybe send me an email so I can see what direction you’re going with the Lekky building?’

  Marlee’s heart twisted with such unexpected rage, she almost kicked him in the shins. How dare he think of work issues when she was trying to keep her baby alive. Their baby. She thought again of Seraphina, and all the women out there waiting for a guy like him to come along. There was no way he would want this baby.

  He was waiting for her response, a deep crease running through the middle of his forehead. She really didn’t want to get back in his car. She looked around hoping a taxi would magically appear down the street with its light on, waiting for her fare. But there was no avoiding it. She needed to get home quickly so she could lie down.

  ‘Could you just drop me home? I’ll send the email tonight.’

  ‘Sure.’ In the car he looked straight ahead. The silence made her self-conscious, as if they were a parody of a family going on a drive, except everything was upside down. She really didn’t want to think about Ben, she had enough to worry about. She slumped back in the seat and closed her eyes, opening them only when he pulled up outside her apartment.

  ‘Do you want me to get you anything at the chemist or… shops or anything at all?’

  ‘No thanks.’

  Ben got out and walked around the back of the car, but before he could open her door she was up and out of the car and had walked past him. She swiped her security card into her apartment foyer and let the glass door slam behind her, not looking back.

  As she waited for the lift, she leaned her head on the wall and gave a silent order to little Ned to stay firmly inside his amniotic sac until she could lie down. The lift doors slid open and she pressed the button to the second floor. As the doors closed, she turned around and looked up. Ben was standing on the footpath watching her through the locked glass door. His hand was raised in a silent goodbye.

  Twenty-Four

  Harriet

  Harriet peered over the top of her glasses as she heard a clatter, then the sound of a key tapping against the front door lock. After what sounded like several attempts, the key was inserted and the door opened. Clementine stood in the hall holding a large garden gnome under one arm and what looked like a half-eaten kebab in her hand. She wobbled slightly, then set the gnome down in the foyer. It was almost half her height. She looked up and spotted Harriet.

  ‘Mumbles! You caught me. What are you doing still up?’ Clementine slurred, leaning on the wall of the living room. She took a huge bite of her kebab without waiting for Harriet to reply.

  ‘What is that?’ asked Harriet, looking at the gnome.

  ‘His name is Fred. Do you like him? I love him.’ Flecks of food shot out of Clementine’s mouth and landed on the floor. She turned the gnome around and Harriet recoiled in distaste. The gnome’s trousers were pulled down and it was peering backwards over its shoulder displaying its bare bottom.

  ‘Oh, Clem.’

  ‘I stole him from a garden behind Mykonos when I stopped for food. Isn’t that the best brown-eye you’ve seen for ages? I might even use him for sex. My first male lover.’ Clementine looked briefly pensive. ‘Well, maybe not the actual first.’ She giggled to herself and walked into the kitchen.

  Harriet let out a loud sigh and looked back at her computer screen. Just a couple more weeks. Then she was going. Isn’t that what she’d said? She continued typing her advice.

  Clementine walked back in with a beer in her hand and slumped down, putting her boots up onto the
arms of the couch. Harriet flinched.

  ‘How was the boat trip with the art dealer?’ asked Harriet.

  ‘Alright.’

  ‘You didn’t drive home, did you?’

  ‘Of course not, Mumsy,’ said Clementine. ‘That’s how I met Fred. Best idea to walk home I ever had. Well, wasn’t my idea really. I ran into a couple of girls I knew at school down at Salamanca. Back for the reunion. They wouldn’t give my keys back. Thought I’d had one too many.’ Clementine tipped her head to one side and made a clownish face, widening her eyes in mock surprise.

  Harriet laughed.

  ‘Good to see the old school network is useful for something then,’ said Harriet.

  ‘Yup. All those lovely, lovely girls. You probably only sent me to Denham to keep me from meeting smelly boys with their nasty doodles. Except,’ said Clementine throwing her arm out wide, ‘you sent me into a den of temptation without even knowing it!’

  Harriet sighed again.

  ‘I don’t remember you fancying anyone at school, Clem. You seemed to be far too tied up in your art.’

  ‘Aah, but there you are wrong.’ Clementine took a swig from her beer bottle. ‘I was head over heels in love. For most of Year Twelve actually.’

  ‘Were you?’

  ‘Mmmm. With Tessa. Then she went and got herself killed like that. Very inconsiderate. I blame her for all the drugs that screwed up my twenties.’

  ‘Oh.’

  Clementine leaned back and poured the last drops of beer into her mouth, then put her eye up to the neck of the bottle and jiggled it. ‘Emma Tasker reckons Tessa was at it with Jonno back then,’ said Clementine, staring sadly at the empty bottle. ‘That would explain why she wasn’t up for a fumble with me I suppose – if they were doing it. Can’t really see it, though. Can you? He’s so straight.’

  ‘Of course not, Clem. That’s highly defamatory!’

  ‘But she was in his cottage that afternoon. I saw her.’