by Susan Lewis
‘Yes.’
‘Then I’d get round there quick if I were you, it’s about to be towed away.’
‘Shit!’ Matthew dashed his fingers through his dishevelled hair and looked at Kathleen. Then suddenly remembering that Woody was still on holiday, he turned back to Marian.
‘Hurry up, Matthew!’ she snapped. Then walking round the desk, she held her hand out to Kathleen. ‘Mrs Cornwall?’ she said. ‘My name’s Marian. I’m sorry nobody introduced us earlier.’
Matthew watched her, astonishment in every line of his face. This was a Marian he’d never seen before, but understanding completely what she was up to, he tried to stop her.
‘Look, Marian,’ he began, ‘this is extremely . . .’
‘Extremely unfortunate if you have to go down to Park Lane and reclaim your car,’ she interrupted, looking at her watch. ‘Especially when you’ve got a meeting at twelve thirty in Streatham.’
‘Streatham?’
‘Yes, Streatham. Now hurry up.’
‘Marian . . .’
‘Matthew! Do you have to stand there arguing?’
He looked at her, stunned, then threw up his hands and left.
When Marian turned back to Kathleen she was startled to find her smiling, quite pleasantly. And then she burst out laughing. ‘Nice one,’ she said. ‘Did you see his face when you said Streatham? He didn’t have a clue what you were talking about.’
Marian looked at her uncertainly.
Kathleen grinned. ‘Don’t worry, I saw straight through your little trick.’ Then, shaking her head, ‘Always takes a kid to make you see what a fool you’re making of yourself.’
Marian grinned back. ‘Well, you were a bit,’ she said. ‘If you don’t mind me saying so.’
‘More than a bit,’ Kathleen smiled, and glancing around the office she asked, ‘Well, what now?’
‘Fancy a coffee?’
She nodded. ‘I’d love one.’ And suddenly she looked so weary that Marian gave her arm an impulsive squeeze.
‘Let’s go to the café down the road,’ she suggested. ‘I could do with getting out of here myself.’
‘And Stephanie’s still upstairs,’ Kathleen added for her.
Marian smiled, and picking up her handbag, she followed Kathleen out into the sweltering heat of the day.
‘God, I feel exhausted,’ Kathleen muttered as they sat down at a window table in the cluttered café.
‘Hardly surprising, expending all that energy on a day like this,’ Marian said. ‘I thought for one horrible minute you were going to mash Stephanie to a pulp.’
‘I’d like to, believe me,’ Kathleen sighed, and as she combed her fingers through her short dark hair, Marian thought how attractive she was when she wasn’t scowling.
‘Hardly the answer, though, is it?’ she ventured.
Kathleen looked at her for a long time, resting her chin on her hands. There was a hint of amusement in her eyes. ‘How old are you?’ she asked finally.
‘Just twenty-three,’ Marian answered. ‘Two coffees please,’ she told the waiter as he approached.
Kathleen smiled. ‘You seem older. And that wasn’t supposed to be rude, I suppose it’s just that I’ve never seen anyone handle Matthew like that before. You don’t stand for much argument once you get going, do you?’
‘To be honest,’ Marian confessed, ‘I’ve never made a stand like that before. In fact, I’m pretty certain it was only shock that made Matthew do as I told him. If he’d bitten back, I mean really bitten back, I haven’t the faintest idea what I’d have done.’
Kathleen chuckled, then sat back as the waiter put their coffees on the table. ‘I didn’t mean to go off the handle like that, you know,’ she said when he’d gone. ‘No, that’s a lie, I did. I was bloody livid.’
‘I got the impression you were a little upset,’ Marian said with a wry grin.
‘It was seeing them together on the telly this morning that did it. You just don’t know how it feels.’
‘I think I’ve got a pretty good idea,’ Marian answered quietly.
‘Mind you, I could just about have stood that, but when Bobby rang up to say he’d seen it too, and called that bitch a cracker, well, that was the final straw.’
Marian compressed her lips into a thin, tight line. ‘Not very tactful, no,’ she said, thinking how like his father he sounded.
She watched as Kathleen stirred two sugars into her coffee, and tried to imagine Matthew married to someone like her. It seemed incredible, and not only because she’d got used to seeing him with Stephanie. Kathleen didn’t seem his type at all. She was so housewifely – and coarse. ‘You’ve been split up about six months now, haven’t you?’ she asked, in a gentle voice which only she knew was designed to try and take the edge off her own uncharitable thoughts.
‘Eight,’ Kathleen answered. ‘Well, that’s how long ago he left home. But things were pretty bad – no, fucking awful – between us for years, I just refused to see it. He never wanted to marry me in the first place, but I was pregnant with Bobby and he did the decent thing. I did it on purpose, you know. Got pregnant, I mean. I knew it was the only way I was going to keep him.’
Marian swallowed a mouthful of coffee. ‘If you don’t mind me saying so,’ she spoke up, after a pause, ‘I wouldn’t have thought that doing what you did just now would . . . Well, I don’t know Matthew that well, but . . .’ She shrugged.
‘I know what you’re trying to say, and you’re right. He hates scenes, so throwing one sure as hell won’t get him back. But where that woman’s concerned I just can’t help myself.’
‘You still want him back? Even though . . .’ Again Marian stopped.
‘He doesn’t love me?’ Kathleen supplied.
‘That’s not what I was going to say,’ Marian assured her quickly.
‘Wasn’t it? Well, it’s true, he doesn’t. And as for wanting him back, that’s the funny thing, I don’t really. Not any more. Well, I do, but I know it’s a lost cause. We were never suited, me and Matthew, he was much too sophisticated for the likes of me. It was just that I knew he was going places and I wanted a slice of the action. And now I’ve had it, well, it’s not really for me. I don’t fit in. I can live with that, but what I can’t stand is him being with that little tart. She’s the bitch who broke up our marriage in the first place.’
Marian looked her straight in the eye, and Kathleen laughed.
‘You’re a smart one for twenty-three,’ she said. ‘All right, he wouldn’t have been having an affair in the first place if things had been right at home.’
‘But it’s only natural to look for someone else to blame,’ Marian said. ‘We all do it.’
‘Do we? Who do you blame when things go wrong in your life?’
‘Myself, unfortunately. Then I collapse in a pathetic, miserable heap, and feel so sorry for myself I make myself sick.’
‘But you don’t go round making a public spectacle of yourself?’
‘I haven’t got the courage.’ And they both laughed.
Picking up her cup and holding it in both hands, Kathleen studied Marian’s face with her penetrating blue eyes. ‘You know,’ she said, after a while, ‘I always imagined Matthew ending up with someone like you, really. Older, of course, but calm and decisive and . . . well, strong, I suppose.’
‘Strong? Me?’ Marian exclaimed.
‘Yes, you,’ Kathleen smiled, and reaching across the table she tweaked Marian’s nose.
‘I know you won’t want to hear this,’ Marian said, ‘but Stephanie’s pretty strong.’
‘I expect she is,’ Kathleen sighed. ‘But I’ve got a bee in my bonnet about her, and I don’t suppose it’ll ever go away.’
‘Not even if you were to meet someone else?’
‘Not even then. And I know, because I have. But don’t tell Matthew, will you?’
‘Why? I mean, of course I won’t. But why don’t you want him to know?’
‘Frankly, I enjoy making him su
ffer. And he can handle it, so don’t look so worried. There’s very little in this world Matthew can’t handle.’
‘What about Samantha? Stephanie tells me he gets quite cut up about her.’
‘Yes,’ Kathleen said, nodding her head slowly. ‘I’ll bet he does. But it’s nothing to do with me, I swear it. Well, she knows I don’t go much on Stephanie, but I’ve never done anything deliberate to turn her against Matthew. If anything, I try to make her see him, but she won’t. She says she doesn’t want anything to do with him, and then refuses to talk about it. I suppose she’ll come round in the end. I hope so, for her sake; after all, he is her father and they used to be really close.’
Marian stared down at her cup, shocked by the sudden surge of emotion that had locked in her throat.
‘Like another?’ Kathleen offered.
Marian swallowed hard and looked up. ‘Yes. Yes, please,’ she smiled.
‘Everything all right, is it?’ Kathleen asked. ‘You’ve gone a bit pale.’
‘No, I’m fine,’ Marian answered, taking a deep breath. ‘I expect it’s everything that’s happened. I’m a bit like Matthew when it comes to scenes, I guess.’
‘Sorry.’ Kathleen squeezed her hand, then waved to the waiter. ‘So what do you do in Stephanie’s little set-up, then, apart from getting her out of scraps?’
‘I’m her secretary. And Bronwen’s her partner.’
‘Nice, is it? Do you like working for them?’
‘Truthfully, I don’t know where I’d be without them.’
‘And what about Matthew?’
Marian shook her head, confused. ‘What about Matthew?’
‘Well, do you get along with him?’
‘Sometimes,’ she answered, suddenly feeling as though the heat was stifling her. ‘But to be frank, he frightens me a bit.’
Kathleen threw back her head and gave a shout of laughter. ‘You don’t want to let Matthew Cornwall frighten you, Marian. He’s nothing more than a great big softy at heart. He just gets carried away with his work and forgets to be polite occasionally – I should know, I lived with it long enough. But you’d have to look a long way before you found a man more genuine, more kind and, dare I say it, more romantic, than my husband when he wants to be. Don’t tell him I told you that. But if you ask me, you’re safer the way it is, because if he did decide to turn on the charm, those eyes of his would have your knees turning to jelly. There are more broken hearts in Matthew’s career than there are films, and don’t tell him I said that, either. In fact he probably doesn’t even know about half of them.’
‘How can he not know?’
‘Because I made sure he didn’t. I can see the signs a mile off, and I used to have a quiet word with them before they went to work on him.’ She shrugged. ‘I don’t know why I bothered half the time, it’s not as if he’s an easy catch, he never was. In fact his only real affair was with Stephanie, and even then he came back to me. Well, to Samantha, really. But I knew then it would only be a matter of time. He never stopped loving Stephanie, even though he didn’t see her, that’s why I can’t forgive her. He never loved me like that.’
‘But in the beginning . . .’
‘I told you, I trapped him. And let that be a lesson to you, Marian. By doing something like that you might win yourself a husband, but you’ll never win the man.’
‘And the man you’re seeing now? Do you love him?’
‘In a way, yes. But there are very few men around to match up to Matthew. He’s got something, I don’t know what it is, but . . .’ She looked out of the window and Marian’s heart turned over at the sadness in her face. ‘This might sound odd, coming from me, but behind that fierce exterior is one of the few decent men in this world. He’s someone you can trust, someone you can turn to in a crisis.’ She paused, and for a moment Marian thought she was going to cry. But then, with a small toss of her head, she seemed to pull herself together. ‘Don’t fall for him, Marian,’ she said, turning back. ‘Please, promise me you won’t fall for him. He’ll only hurt you in the end.’
‘Me?’ Marian spluttered, a burning heat rushing to her face. ‘Why do you say that? I mean, he’s old enough . . . Well, he’s . . . He’s . . .’
‘Oh God,’ Kathleen groaned. ‘You don’t even know it, do you?’
‘Know what?’
‘I told you, I can spot it a mile off.’
Stephanie and Matthew were waiting in the downstairs office when Marian returned.
‘Where have you been?’ Stephanie cried, leaping up from her chair. ‘Where’s Kathleen?’ She put an arm round Marian’s shoulder. ‘What did she say? God, I’ve been so worried about you. She didn’t get violent again, did she? Oh Marian, you little nutcase, you shouldn’t have done that. Not that we’re not grateful, of course, but . . .’
‘Stephanie,’ Matthew interrupted. ‘Why don’t you let Marian speak?’ He turned to Marian, and Marian felt a slow paralysis creeping over her tongue as she remembered what Kathleen had said. ‘Well?’ he prompted gently.
Pulling herself upright, Marian unhooked her bag from her shoulder and went to sit down. ‘Kathleen and I have been for a coffee,’ she said. ‘We talked for a while, and that’s all there is to tell.’
‘But what did you talk about?’ Stephanie urged.
‘Oh, this and that. The weather, you know.’ She was acutely aware of Matthew’s eyes on her and wished he would go away.
‘Marian!’ Stephanie exclaimed. ‘She must have said something about what happened.’
To Marian’s relief, the phone rang, and when she answered it Bronwen’s voice came over the line, clear and bubbling and asking for Stephanie.
Stephanie was about to take the receiver when Matthew said, ‘Take it upstairs.’
‘Pardon?’ Stephanie said. Then, as he nodded towards the door, ‘Oh, yes. Yes, put it through to my office, will you, Marian?’
When she’d gone, Matthew rested an elbow on the top of the filing cabinet and silently waited for Marian to look at him.
‘Oh, the printer’s finished,’ Marian said, getting up from her chair.
As she passed him, Matthew caught her hand and turned her round. ‘Thank you,’ he said, his dark eyes smiling with sincerity.
Marian shrugged and looked at the floor.
‘And I apologise.’
She looked up. ‘What for?’
‘Leaving you to deal with it.’
‘As I remember,’ she said, grinning and blushing, ‘I didn’t give you much choice.’
He laughed. ‘Nevertheless, Kathleen’s my wife and it shouldn’t have been left to you to sort out the mess.’
‘I didn’t see it quite like that.’
‘Shall I ask how you saw it?’
‘Better not.’ Her heart was thumping so hard that she was sure he must be able to hear it. Her fingers started to shake but he didn’t let go of her hand.
‘Was she very upset? I mean, when you talked to her.’
‘Not really. She’d calmed down by then.’
‘Where is she now?’
‘Gone home.’
He nodded, and for a moment he seemed to withdraw into himself. When his eyes returned to hers she saw they were smiling. ‘You’re quite a surprise,’ he said.
‘A surprise?’
‘First you threaten to hit me, then you order me out of the office, then you take my hysterical wife in hand. And that’s after you’ve shown us all the best way to write a feature film. I’d call that a surprise. In fact, I could go further and tell you that I’m just beginning to realise you’re a very special person who’s been hiding her light under a bushel, but it would only make you blush.’
The air was locked in her lungs, and as a fire burned across her cheeks she felt as though she would drown in the wonderful lambency of his eyes.
‘What goes on behind those shy grey eyes of yours, Marian?’ he asked quietly. ‘What are you going to do next?’
Neither of them heard Stephanie’s footsteps
on the stairs, nor were they aware of her walking into the office until she said, ‘Sorry, am I interruping something?’
A bolt of guilt-laden horror shot through Marian and she tried to snatch her hand from Matthew’s. But his grip tightened as he turned to face Stephanie.
‘Bronwen’s coming back to London tomorrow,’ she said cheerfully, and Marian almost collapsed with relief when she threw out her arms and walked towards her. ‘Sorry about badgering you just now,’ she said, giving Marian a hug. ‘Are you all right? Is there anything I can get you?’
‘Actually,’ Marian answered, feeling suddenly dizzy as Stephanie pulled away and Matthew let go of her hand, ‘just as you came in, Matthew was wondering what I was going to do next.’ She turned to Matthew. ‘I’m going to ask you to make me a cup of tea,’ she said grinning.
His eyes flew open, then in a voice simmering with laughter he said, ‘Don’t push your luck,’ and stuffing his hands in his pockets, he walked out of the office.
‘I’ll make you one,’ Stephanie said. ‘And then I’ll tell you the good news Bronwen’s just asked me to pass on to you.’
As Stephanie swept off to the kitchen, Marian turned to the word processor and began leafing through the documents it had finished printing what now felt like a lifetime ago. She was still smiling at Matthew’s remark, and each time she repeated it to herself she felt a heady surge of euphoria. Although she had been shocked by Kathleen’s warning, she had assured her that this time she had read the signs wrong: she was simply overawed by Matthew, nothing more, and now that the awe was fading she was finding that she genuinely liked him. It was for Stephanie’s sake that she cared about being friends with him, because Stephanie had said often enough that she wished that was the case. Well now it looked as if it was going to be. She laughed aloud. Considering that it had started with her so down in the dumps, the day was turning out surprisingly well. Of course, there was always tonight, when she’d have to go home and spend yet another evening alone – but that thought was too depressing for the mood she was in now.
‘Here we are,’ Stephanie said, plonking a mug down on Marian’s desk. ‘Mm, that’s wonderful,’ she murmured, as a welcome breeze from the fan lifted her hair. She picked up a wad of crumpled paper from Marian’s desk. ‘What’s this?’ she asked.
