The Affair

by Amanda Brooke

  Vikki thought she might burst into tears too, and concentrated on holding them back and nothing else as the minutes ticked by. The silence was eventually broken by the sound of voices outside the office. One was a male voice and the other was Mrs Marshall. The school secretary’s tone was harsh as she told the young man to go back to class, but a moment later he was stepping through the door, closely followed by the red-faced secretary and a schoolgirl who Vikki thought looked vaguely familiar.

  ‘Liam, what are you doing here?’ Nina demanded.

  ‘Is it true?’ he asked. ‘Have you kicked Bryn out?’

  Before Nina could respond, Mrs Marshall spoke up. ‘I’m sorry, I couldn’t stop him,’ she said as she gave the intruder a withering look. ‘Liam, this does not concern you. You have to leave this minute.’

  ‘Seriously?’ he asked. ‘You honestly think this isn’t my business?’

  Vikki had never met Nina’s son before, but she had heard a little about him from Sarah. The tall young man squaring up to the ferocious school secretary was nothing like the image Sarah had painted of the gangly teen who spoke in monosyllabic sentences.

  ‘It’s all right, Pam,’ Rob said, assuming control. ‘I can handle this. Liam, come in. Take a seat.’

  Liam stood his ground and put his hands in his jeans pockets. ‘I’m fine standing, thanks,’ he said curtly, turning to glare at the grey-haired woman until she got the message.

  ‘I’ll leave you to it then,’ Mrs Marshall said with a sniff, but she made a point of testing that the door wedge was firmly in place before she left.

  ‘Well?’ Liam said to his mum.

  ‘Yes, Bryn has gone.’

  ‘Because you think he and Scarlett were up to something?’

  The schoolgirl who had remained at his side slipped her hand into his pocket so she could hold his hand. ‘Scarlett told me what happened this morning,’ she said to Nina.

  ‘Did she also tell you who got her pregnant?’ Nina asked.

  Eva’s head dropped and she fell silent.

  ‘For goodness’ sake, I can’t take any more of this,’ Sarah said. ‘Someone needs to start talking!’

  ‘I suppose it had better be me,’ Liam said, ‘and I think you need to prepare yourself for another shock, Mum.’

  24

  Before

  Sunday, 21 February 2016

  Complaining that time was running out before school resumed on Monday, Rob had locked himself away in his study all weekend to finish marking mock exam papers. On the rare occasions that he did emerge, it was only to go out for a run, and he would return home exhausted.

  The stress Rob was under made Vikki have second thoughts about ever starting a career, and especially one in property development. Her dad would often work long hours whenever projects fell behind plan, and although the job Sarah had in mind was mostly admin, she would have high expectations. Given the limited help Rob could offer, Vikki needed to be realistic. She would be better off staying at home caring for her family, she kept telling herself, and if Sunday evening were anything to go by, she was doing a pretty decent job. Freya was in bed and there was a slow roast in the oven ready for whenever Rob came downstairs looking for food, except when he did appear, he was in his running gear.

  ‘Again?’ she asked. ‘You were out running this morning, Rob. I’ve hardly seen you.’

  ‘I’ll only stay out long enough to clear my head,’ he promised.

  ‘Liar,’ she said as he leant over and kissed her cheek. She had a laptop balanced on her knee with a web page open on a site that gave nutritional advice for expectant mums. When she heard Rob close the front door, she opened up the page she had minimized when she had heard Rob coming downstairs. She read through the email twice before she was ready to pick up the phone.

  ‘Hi, Sarah, I’m not disturbing you, am I?’

  ‘No, it’s fine, I could do with the distraction,’ she said. ‘I suppose this is about my proposal.’

  Sarah had sent her details of an online project management course that would be ideal for the person she was looking for. Vikki took one last look at the message on screen before closing the laptop lid. ‘The thing is, Sarah, it’s a lovely offer, but I just can’t accept. I’d be wasting your time, and your money.’

  ‘Nonsense,’ Sarah said in her usual brusque way. ‘And I should warn you now, Vikki that I’m in no mood for an argument. I’ve already had more than my fair share of those today. If you must know, I sent the course details through to Charlotte first, to give her one last chance to pay me back for everything I’ve invested in her so far. I suppose I should admire her for knowing what she wants and setting out to get it, but I’m not happy she’s turned me down and I’ll be damned if I’ll let you do the same.’

  ‘But I’m not Charlotte,’ Vikki began. ‘What if you pay for this course and I can’t do it? I don’t want to mess you around.’

  ‘Do you think I’d be making this offer if I didn’t think you were capable? You can do the course while Freya’s at nursery and have it finished easily before baby number two comes along.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘Let’s be positive and say Elaine makes a full recovery. She can help look after the baby while you start your apprenticeship with me. The timing and the hours can be agreed later on, and we can negotiate on pay to take account of what I’m paying out for you now with this course.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘Look, I’m probably only doing this because I want to get back at my ungrateful daughter, helped along by a couple of generous glasses of Chablis. I warn you now, this is strictly a time-limited offer. So?’

  When Sarah stopped to draw breath, Vikki’s ears were ringing. She needed to tell Sarah that she wouldn’t be forced into doing something she had phoned to refuse. The problem was, that something was giving her the most beautiful butterflies in the pit of her stomach. She wanted this. ‘Do you really think I could do it?’

  ‘Have you not been listening to a word I’ve said?’ Sarah asked.

  ‘Yes, every syllable, and I can’t believe I’m saying this but, yes, I’ll do it,’ Vikki said, pushing to the back of her mind the small matter of clearing it with Rob. ‘Thank you. Thank you so much, Sarah.’

  ‘At last, something I’ve done right,’ Sarah said, her voice losing its strength at the last.

  ‘Are you OK?’

  ‘If you must know, I’ve put my foot in it with Nina,’ she said. ‘I’m so worried about her, Vikki.’

  ‘Is this about Scarlett? Is she pregnant?’

  Sarah exhaled so loudly it was a wonder she had breath left to speak. ‘It’s so much worse than that. Apparently, she had it out with Scarlett the moment she came home last night. Yes, she’s pregnant, but rather than launch straight into the discussion of whether she should keep it or not, Scarlett’s thrown a spanner in the works.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘According to Scarlett, the father isn’t her boyfriend.’

  ‘How does that work?’

  ‘She hasn’t slept with him.’

  ‘Oh,’ Vikki said, not sure what else to say.

  ‘But she’s had sex with someone,’ Sarah continued, her words slowing as she considered how much more information to share. ‘Up until this year, Scarlett was the model daughter, and by that I’m talking about her behaviour and not her looks, although she has those too.’

  ‘She is stunning.’

  ‘Yes she is, and it’s not very difficult to imagine the kind of effect she has on the opposite sex, and not just the boys, but men too.’

  Vikki knew how attractive schoolgirls could be and the effect they could have. She was nowhere near as beautiful as Scarlett, but she could remember thinking she held a certain power. ‘You think she’s been seeing an older man?’ she asked uneasily.

  ‘Someone old enough to have a family, yes. She told Nina she’s involved with a married man and she’s waiting for him to tell his wife. I’ll be honest with you, Vikki, that scares me.’


  It scared Vikki too, but she said nothing and let Sarah continue.

  ‘When something like this happens, you question everything, and that’s what I’ve spent most of today doing, as has Nina, although we haven’t necessarily reached the same conclusions. Did you know Nina had only known Bryn for six months when they announced they were engaged?’ Sarah paused long enough to take a gulp of whatever she was drinking. Vikki suspected it was the remainder of the Chablis. ‘I told her in no uncertain terms that she was taking a huge risk and begged her not to go through with the marriage. Now, I know I shouldn’t be telling you all this, but Charlotte won’t listen, Nina won’t listen and I have to tell someone …’

  ‘Tell someone what?’

  ‘That I was right to be worried. What if Bryn was out for whatever he could get from Nina? And what if that included getting his hands on her daughter?’

  To her shame, Vikki felt a rush of relief as if she had just dodged a bullet. ‘You think he’s the one who got Scarlett pregnant? But he seemed so nice.’

  ‘And I suppose I can understand why Nina was attracted to him,’ Sarah said. ‘He’s not my type, but he can be quite charming in the right company. I really did hope his intentions were honourable, but it all happened too quickly for my liking.’

  ‘Does Nina think it’s Bryn?’

  ‘Oh, I think there’s doubt, I could hear it in her voice when we spoke earlier. We went through who Scarlett has contact with and what opportunity she would have to be with him. Bryn lives under the same roof, for goodness’ sake! And he gives her lifts quite regularly, which means if she was up to something with someone else, he would surely have worked it out. If you ask me, he’s part of the secret and I can tell you now, Bryn has his secrets. His daughter didn’t go to their wedding and Nina has never met her. Apparently, he invited her for Christmas too, but she refused. What if Bryn has a past he doesn’t want to share?’ Sarah coughed nervously to clear her throat of all the secrets she had so easily divulged. ‘That’s the gist of what I said to Nina, which is why she’s none too pleased with me.’

  ‘I can’t believe this is happening.’

  ‘Neither can she,’ Sarah said, ‘which is what worries me most. What if I’m right and she refuses to face up to it? I honestly don’t know what to do for the best, but I have to do something. I’ll go to the authorities myself if I have to.’

  ‘But don’t you want to give Nina and Scarlett a chance to work it out themselves first?’

  ‘He’s there with them now, Vikki, under the same roof. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it.’

  ‘But what if you’re wrong, Sarah?’

  ‘It would be the end of my friendship with Nina, which is why I’m not going to do anything yet. Yes, I might be wrong, and I hope I am. But who else could it be?’

  Refusing to answer, Vikki let the laptop slip off her knee. She was no longer interested in looking to the future. It scared her too much.

  ‘What about Rob?’ Sarah asked, making Vikki’s heart leap into her throat. ‘Could he help? Maybe the school could intervene?’

  Vikki took a moment to catch her breath. ‘I could ask him, Sarah, but maybe you should sleep on it first,’ she said, thinking she would do the same before speaking to Rob. The last thing she wanted was for Rob to become embroiled in the affair. He was stressed enough as it was, she told herself as if that were the only reason.

  ‘You mean wait until I’ve sobered up?’ Sarah said, and with a sigh, added, ‘You’re right, of course you are. Hopefully we’ll all see things more clearly in the cold light of day.’

  The call left Vikki with an uneasy feeling that only kept building as she imagined what it must be like to be in Scarlett’s shoes right now. It wasn’t as difficult as it should be.

  Scarlett

  There was this tiny, tiny moment when I thought it was all going to go away. I told Mrs Anwar all she needed to know, and when I’d finished I was expecting her to drag me by the hair back in to see Mum. She didn’t, obviously, but I could tell she wanted to.

  Anyway, I never got the chance to make my dramatic entrance because Liam had beaten me to it. The minute I stepped out of Mr Whittle’s office, I could hear his voice. Well, actually, it was Sarah’s voice I heard first.

  ‘If you know something then tell us! Can’t you see what this is doing to your mum?’ she was saying.

  ‘Tell them, Liam,’ someone said quietly and it took a moment to work out it was Eva. I hadn’t realized how big an audience we had, especially if you included Mrs Marshall who, just by chance, had some filing to do right next to Mrs Anwar’s door.

  We all must have been holding our breath, because there wasn’t a sound.

  ‘OK,’ Liam started, ‘would it help if I told you that Scarlett isn’t pregnant?’

  There was this weird strangled noise and then Mum said, ‘What?’

  ‘I went with Scarlett to the antenatal clinic,’ Eva said. ‘Except, it was my appointment, not hers.’

  ‘She was lying to cover up for us, Mum,’ Liam added.

  ‘Eva’s pregnant?’ Mum asked. ‘But why would Scarlett—’

  ‘To give us more time. We wanted to keep it a secret until it was too late for anyone to stop us.’

  Sarah actually laughed. ‘You’re planning on keeping it?’

  ‘Keep out of this, Sarah, this has nothing to do with you,’ Mum said. ‘In fact, it has nothing to do with anyone in this room. Liam, we can talk about it later.’

  Her voice sounded weird, like it wasn’t really her talking. I suppose she was in shock and, yes I know, I couldn’t exactly blame her. And I’d like to say right now that I didn’t do it on purpose. I never wanted anyone to think I was pregnant, but Mum pushed me into a corner and after that I had to keep up with the lies.

  We still hadn’t gone into the office to face everyone at this point, but Mrs Anwar gave me a prod and she had to push really hard to get me moving. Mrs Marshall was looking down her nose at me as I went past, and I so wanted to poke my tongue out at her.

  As I stepped through the door, Mr Swift was repeating what Liam had told them, as if he couldn’t believe his ears. ‘So Scarlett’s not pregnant?’

  ‘That’s right,’ Mrs Anwar said. She put her arm around me, which might have looked like she was being supportive, but it was only to stop me running away. ‘She’s just told me.’

  The look on Mum’s face was horrible and it matched her weird-sounding voice. ‘So you made the whole thing up?’ she asked. ‘There is no married man? There is no abuse?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘You little bitch,’ Sarah said under her breath, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

  What they all seemed to forget was that I’d actually been protecting my brother and my best friend. I had to cover for them. Once Eva’s mum and dad found out, they would make her have an abortion. She so wanted the baby and I said I’d help. So even though I was technically lying, it was a good thing I was doing. It seriously was not my fault that Mum went ballistic and started accusing everyone. I felt really bad about what was happening, but I’m not sorry for trying to save a baby’s life. I was not a bitch, not completely anyway. I was lying for a good reason.

  And now I bet you’re wondering exactly how good a liar I am, and if I’ve been making all the other stuff up too.

  25

  The Aftermath

  Nina could feel her ears about to pop. She was sitting at the conference table, but it might as well have been the eye of a storm. For a moment, and it was all too brief, she felt a wonderful sense of calm. She couldn’t quite believe how well she was taking the news that it was Eva rather than Scarlett who was pregnant. A few days earlier she would have been devastated to discover that her seventeen-year-old son had got his girlfriend pregnant, but in the course of one morning, she had seen her family torn apart piece by piece and she had reached saturation point. She didn’t dare think how this would affect Liam’s future, but she would use the last of her strength to defend her c
hildren, or one of them at least. She wasn’t so sure about Scarlett. How could her daughter have remained silent while her lies destroyed not only her own family but threatened the Swifts’ marriage too? Why had she let things go so far? It didn’t make sense.

  ‘Look,’ Mrs Anwar said, ‘if you think it would be helpful, Mrs Thomas, I’m happy to continue talking around the table with you and your family. It might be better having a third party involved in the discussion.’

  Nina agreed, if only because she wasn’t sure her legs were strong enough to carry her out of the office. She had been holding her body so tense that every muscle cried out with pain.

  ‘I don’t think Mr Swift need stay,’ Mrs Anwar continued. ‘After all the upset, you might want to take your wife home. Take the rest of the day off and we can talk things through tomorrow.’

  ‘Wait,’ Vikki said. She had been so quiet that Nina had forgotten she was there. Her voice carried a sense of urgency. ‘Is that it?’

  ‘Yes, Vikki,’ Rob said. He stood up and with his hand under her elbow, encouraged his wife to her feet. ‘It’s time to go.’

  ‘But I want to hear what Scarlett has to say,’ Vikki insisted.

  ‘She’s right,’ Sarah said. ‘At the very least they deserve an apology.’

  ‘From me?’ Scarlett asked, looking shocked when all eyes turned to her. ‘I never said it was Rob in the first place!’

  It just happened that Nina’s eyes were on Rob at that moment and she caught the look he gave her daughter. A message had passed between them that Nina couldn’t hear and wasn’t supposed to see. With a shudder, she realized it had been a warning and, as she replayed Scarlett’s words, she saw the mistake. There was a rushing sound in her ears as the storm began to build again.

  Mrs Anwar was more concerned by the tone her student was using. ‘Scarlett, whether you made direct accusations or not, you have to accept some responsibility for the pain you’ve caused today.’