The Affair

by Amanda Brooke

  ‘Ah, yes,’ Miles said and cleared his throat. ‘When I said a whale of a time, what I meant was because I was working so hard, dearest.’

  Nina bit her tongue. Unlike her oldest friend, who would jump at the opportunity to scrutinize the cracks in someone else’s relationship, Nina preferred to focus on the positives. Sarah’s marriage might have its faults, but it had been strong enough to endure an affair, and if Miles had strayed since, he was a brave man indeed. By contrast, Nina’s first marriage had disintegrated at the first hint of a problem, and Nina would be eternally grateful to Sarah, who had stopped her falling apart by convincing her she could go it alone.

  ‘Thirty is so old,’ Scarlett was saying.

  Sarah choked on the sip of wine she had been taking. ‘God knows what she makes of you then, Miles.’

  ‘Fifty is the new forty.’

  ‘And twenty years more than thirty,’ remarked Scarlett.

  When the starters arrived, the English teacher and his family were all but forgotten as the grown-ups focused their attention back on their own table.

  ‘So what are you up to, Liam?’ Sarah asked.

  ‘Not much.’

  ‘Have you picked a university yet? I’m sure it was around this time that Charlotte dragged us all around the country for countless open days. Typical of Charlotte, she opted for the first one we’d seen.’

  ‘She’s at Liverpool, isn’t she?’ Bryn asked.

  ‘Yes. I can’t believe it’s her final year so soon, and now the little madam has her mind set on a career in advertising. If I’d known she wouldn’t be coming home to work for me, I might have thought twice about paying for all that extra tuition that got her into uni in the first place.’

  ‘It’s a different generation,’ Nina offered.

  ‘Maybe, maybe not,’ Sarah told them. ‘By hook or by crook, I’ll rope Charlotte in eventually. I know I take advantage of Miles, but we can’t go on as we are. It’s only going to get busier in the next year.’

  ‘I can’t imagine convincing any of mine to become florists,’ Nina said, confirmed by the expressions on her children’s faces. ‘And I wouldn’t want them to. I’d like them to go off and explore the world. Liam came up with a long-list of possible unis over the summer, but I suppose we do need to whittle it down. Isn’t January the deadline for getting applications into UCAS?’

  ‘It doesn’t matter any more,’ Liam said. ‘I’ve changed my mind.’

  ‘Pardon? What do you mean, you’ve changed your mind?’

  ‘Not everyone has to go to uni.’

  ‘I know,’ Nina said slowly to keep her temper in check, ‘but up until now, it was what you wanted. And if you don’t go, can you please tell me what you do have planned?’

  ‘My company has a very good apprenticeship programme,’ Miles offered. ‘Or failing that, there could be opportunities with Sarah’s new housing development. It’s still going through planning, but once we get the green light, I’m sure we could persuade one of the contractors to take you on. What kind of career were you thinking about?’

  Nina was struggling to keep up with the pace of the conversation. ‘Hold on, can we rewind for a minute. We haven’t ruled out university yet.’

  Rather than answer, Liam returned his attention to his phone. The argument was closed, for now at least, and perhaps that was for the best. She didn’t want Miles mapping out her son’s life for him, she had managed well enough on her own so far.

  ‘I’ll be out this evening and, by the sounds of it, so will Scarlett,’ Bryn said. ‘Maybe you two could have a chat about it later?’

  ‘Good idea,’ Nina said, admonishing herself for forgetting she was in a partnership now. The conversation she needed to have with Liam might be better alone, but it felt good knowing she had backup.

  While everyone had been concentrating on Liam, Scarlett became disengaged from the conversation. She had finished her starter and was looking absent-mindedly around the restaurant. Taking her lip gloss from her purse, her mouth open in a pout, she stroked the wand across her lips in soft, sensual strokes.

  ‘A word of advice, my lovely,’ Sarah said, her note of caution laced with a hint of envy. ‘Don’t do that in public unless you want to attract the attention of every hot-blooded male in the room.’

  Bryn and Miles remembered themselves and looked away from the fifteen-year-old schoolgirl.

  Scarlett

  I used to think I could tell Mum anything, but not now, at least, not everything. Actually, not even close.

  I know all this is driving her crazy, but it’s not like I meant to cause so much trouble. It just happened, and it happened so bloody fast. It was like, one minute I hadn’t spoken two words to him, and the next, he was the only one I could talk to. I’m not saying I didn’t know it was wrong, but I honestly couldn’t help myself and neither could he. You have no idea what it was like. We fell truly, madly and deeply in love and it was like we became addicted to each other.

  And do you know what really annoys me? People won’t take my feelings seriously. Like, they assume because I’m technically underage, I couldn’t possibly know what real love is like. I’m sorry, but what does a date on a calendar have to do with anything? I was in love. I still am.

  I know I shouldn’t say this, but it was actually funny looking back at how I acted. I didn’t have a clue he was interested in me, not in that way. I’m sort of used to people staring at me and I don’t want to sound vain or anything, but I know I’m pretty. It doesn’t matter how big a group I’m in, people always look at me first. I used to think it was because I was the tallest, but now I get it. It was always the men who looked at me the longest.

  I’ve been told that I could hypnotize men with my dazzling violet eyes, but the person who said that was interested in a lot more than my eyes.

  ‘That mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble one of these days,’ he told me.

  I bit my lip and said, ‘I don’t know what you mean.’

  To be honest, at the time I wasn’t sure if he was talking about all the backchat I’d been giving him, but when he glanced at my mouth, I swear to God, it was so obvious he was wondering if my strawberry lip gloss tasted as good as it smelled. But the next minute he was laughing.

  ‘OK,’ he said, ‘if not you, then most definitely me.’

  3

  The Accusations

  Vikki Swift didn’t know why she had been lying awake all night worrying about Scarlett. It must be so awful for Nina, but teenage pregnancies were a sad fact of life and Vikki had been little more than a teen herself when she had had Freya. Of course the difference was that Vikki had been married by that point, but who was to say Scarlett wasn’t in a loving relationship? Except that seemed extremely unlikely, if what Scarlett had said was true. How was this man she was involved with going to explain himself to the world in general, and more especially to his wife?

  Refusing to dwell on the subject, Vikki turned on her side and slipped an arm around her husband. She reminded herself how lucky she was to have Rob. He was her one and only love, and even though she was still only twenty-four, she couldn’t imagine life without him. She held him tightly as she thought about everything they had been through, and how much growing up she had had to do. She might be a teacher’s wife and a mother, but up until six months ago they were simply labels she had collected, certificates she had acquired without actually passing the exams. She had always depended on other people to make sure she didn’t mess up, and although she was trying her best to think more for herself these days, it was still so hard. There were some things that she could never have been prepared for. It was scary how life could change so quickly.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Rob whispered.

  Vikki was surprised that he had been awake enough to notice her clinging to him. Or was there something keeping Rob from sleep too?

  ‘Nothing,’ she said.

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Hmm,’ Vikki said, which was as near to a
lie as she was prepared to go.

  The truth was, she wasn’t sure of anything all of a sudden.

  4

  Before

  Sunday, 6 September 2015

  As thirtieth birthday parties went, having lunch with your wife, mother-in-law and daughter was not how Vikki thought the occasion should be celebrated, but Rob had insisted that he didn’t want a fuss. Reluctantly, she had gone along with his wishes, although she had been a tiny bit naughty. There were two helium balloons tied to the back of his chair which he obviously hated.

  ‘Sorry, is that annoying you?’ she asked when a balloon hit Rob in the face as he turned to fill her mum’s glass.

  ‘It’s fine,’ Rob said. There was a smile on his face and a glint in his eye when he added, ‘Who wouldn’t want to be assaulted by an inflatable number three. It could be worse; I might get my head stuck in the zero.’

  When Rob leant over and gave her a peck on the cheek, she relaxed; she had done the right thing. Smiling, Vikki pushed back a rogue curl that had escaped the hair grip pinning back her dark golden curls, leaving only a select few tresses to fall over her round face in an attempt to lengthen her features. She often wished it were as easy to lengthen her petite figure, which was also a bit more curved than she would like since the birth of her daughter.

  ‘Maybe we could re-tie them so they’re floating higher above your chair,’ Vikki’s mum suggested helpfully.

  Rob was still smiling when he said, ‘Great idea, Elaine. There are probably people at the far end of the restaurant who haven’t realized I’ve turned into an old git yet.’

  ‘If you’re an old git, what does that make me?’

  ‘Have you never heard of the term Cougar?’ Rob asked.

  Elaine had stood up to rearrange the balloons and swiped him across the head. ‘Yes, I have, and I think I’d prefer to be called an old git.’

  Vikki’s mum was technically middle-aged, but only just, and she was both flattered and annoyed whenever people refused to accept that she was a grandmother. Her husband, who had passed away four years earlier, had been much older and Elaine’s youthfulness had been a sensitive issue for her. Despite the teasing, she didn’t mind getting old, certainly not as much as Rob did. She loved being a grandmother, and that was something Vikki was counting on as she let the waitress take their orders before dropping the first suggestion about her plans.

  ‘I’ve seen a couple of jobs I think I’m going to apply for, Mum. It’s only general admin work, but it’ll give me a chance to get my brain back into gear.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘I keep telling Vikki she’s selling herself short,’ Rob said when Elaine offered no further response. ‘Anyone can see she does a brilliant job of looking after Freya, and me too. I’m sure she thinks that because she isn’t earning a wage she doesn’t contribute to the household. Your daughter’s too proud for her own good.’

  ‘But with Freya starting pre-school, I thought that’s what everyone expected me to do,’ Vikki said.

  Before answering his wife, Rob shared the briefest look with Elaine. ‘I support you one hundred per cent, Vikki,’ he said, ‘but I don’t want you to feel pressurized into going out to work. I know we had this vague plan about you restarting a career, but plans can change. You shouldn’t feel obliged.’

  Vikki wasn’t sure she did feel obliged. She liked the idea of finding a job that would take her interests beyond home, although, if she were being honest, she didn’t exactly have a career path in mind. She wasn’t even sure how employable she would be these days, which was why she needed someone to give her that final push. Rob was being too nice about it, and that was why she had raised the subject in front of her mum.

  Her parents had had their hearts set on Vikki going to university after her A levels, and had only agreed to her taking a gap year because she had found herself a job she loved with a local estate agent. The gap year turned into two, and marriage and motherhood followed in quick succession, putting an end to her plans for university and her job, but Elaine still had ambitions for her daughter – it was what her late husband would have wanted and her support was assured.

  ‘I’d only need to find a childminder for the afternoons, if I needed to …’

  Vikki let her words trail off deliberately. This was where her mum was meant to speak up. It wasn’t as if Elaine hadn’t already hinted that she would be willing to take care of Freya if ever Vikki were ready for a career. Except, now that Vikki was ready to accept such an offer, her mum remained silent on the subject.

  ‘Honestly, Vikki, now isn’t the time,’ Rob said, rather harshly, which made Vikki feel all the more confused. She didn’t know what she had done wrong.

  Elaine searched under the table for her bag and grimaced as she picked it up. ‘Here you go, Freya, look what I brought for you.’

  All eyes turned to the little girl who had inherited Vikki’s curls. Freya’s eyes lit up when she spied the colouring book. ‘Me draw smiley faces now.’ The three-year-old reached out and wrapped her hand around an orange crayon but when Elaine moved closer to help, Freya shook her head. ‘No, Daddy do it.’

  Rob was more than willing, if only to dodge the awkwardness of the conversation mother and daughter were avoiding.

  ‘Where is that waitress?’ Elaine asked, and a moment later cursed under her breath. ‘Oh good lord, is that Sarah Tavistock? That’s all I need.’

  Vikki twisted in her seat to get a better look. Fortunately, the group of diners who had caught their attention were too involved in their own conversations to realize they were being watched. Vikki had briefly attended the same gym club as Sarah’s daughter, Charlotte; although the age difference meant they had never been friends, Charlotte’s parents were hard to forget.

  ‘I had a letter from the planning department the other day,’ Elaine said. ‘Her company’s bought the land directly opposite the house and she wants to build on it.’

  The house in question was the home Vikki’s parents had bought on the outskirts of Sedgefield when her dad had taken early retirement. Combining his skills as an architect and her mum’s love of home-making, they had converted an old outbuilding into two holiday cottages; the intention was that this would provide enough income to allow them to take life at a slower pace. Unfortunately their plan for a perfect semi-retirement had lasted less than twelve months. Without warning, her father had collapsed and died from a massive heart attack, leaving his family bereft. It was an unspoken truth that Vikki and Rob’s decision to have a baby had been a reaction to the family’s loss. Freya’s arrival was by no means an attempt to fill the void in their lives, but she had given them all a new focus, her mum included.

  ‘Build what?’ asked Vikki.

  ‘Houses.’

  Vikki watched as Elaine rearranged the cutlery in front of her, having decided there was no further discussion necessary.

  ‘And you’re not bothered about it?’

  ‘There’s not a lot I can do, Vikki.’

  ‘Have you seen the details? Do you know what the plan is?’ Vikki asked. Her alarm was magnified by the lack of response from her mum.

  ‘It’s a small development of luxury family homes.’

  ‘How small?’

  ‘Sixteen houses.’

  ‘Someone wants to build a housing estate opposite your countryside cottages, and you’re not bothered? Dad would have had a fit! He would be camping out on the site in protest until they changed their minds. Dad would—’

  ‘Your dad isn’t here!’

  Elaine’s raised voice drew Freya’s attention away from the picture of a clown she and her daddy had been colouring in. She frowned until her grandmother gave her a reassuring smile, but when Freya returned to her drawing, Rob’s attention remained with Vikki and Elaine.

  ‘Fine,’ Vikki said, folding her arms across her chest and doing her best not to pout like a petulant child. ‘You might not want to do anything about it, but I will. I’ll start a campaign.’

  �
��Don’t, Vikki,’ Elaine said quietly. ‘Now isn’t the time, trust me.’

  ‘How can it not be the time?’ Vikki asked. ‘If there’s a planning application then there’ll be some sort of time limit for you to object.’

  ‘Please, Vikki,’ Rob said as he leant over to touch her hand. ‘Even if you did know how the planning process worked, do you really think it would do any good? People like the Tavistocks always get their way.’

  ‘We’ll see about that. Maybe I should go over there now and have a word with them,’ Vikki said. Wanting to be taken seriously, she moved as if to get up, but they all knew she would never have the nerve to confront the Tavistocks. Rather than look at Rob or her mum as she settled back in her seat, Vikki cast a withering look in the Tavistocks’ direction, only to lock eyes with the young girl seated at the table. Even from a distance, Vikki could see the look of alarm on her face when she realized she was being watched, and they both dropped their heads.

  ‘Oh great, today’s just getting better and better,’ Rob muttered before adding, ‘See that young lady over there pretending not to be looking at us? She’s in my form and there’ll be hell to pay in class tomorrow. I wouldn’t put it past her to take a photo of the balloons and plaster it all over Facebook. If she hasn’t already.’

  For the remainder of the meal, they all did their best to ignore the other diners. They kept to safe topics of conversation to smooth over Vikki’s spat with her mum, but an awkwardness persisted. After the main course had been cleared away, Rob made an excuse to leave the table, but before he left, he placed a hand on Elaine’s shoulder. They shared one last look which filled Vikki with a horrible sense of foreboding.

  ‘What’s going on, Mum?’

  Elaine was playing with her napkin and wouldn’t meet her daughter’s anxious gaze. ‘I want you to know that I would love nothing more than for you to have a successful career one day, Vikki. You’re a very capable young woman, and stronger than you give yourself credit for.’