Once Bitten

by Oliver, Marina

  Justin seemed pleased at the thought of seeing Fay soon, and Judy's suspicions re-awoke.

  'You'll be in your apartment,' Judy said.

  'Yes, I'll clear out, but I must see Fay as soon as it's convenient for her.'

  'Oh?'

  He didn't seem to hear the note of reservation in her voice.

  'I've had a message about a new project which I know she will enjoy working on. Not a hotel this time, but one of my Omani contacts is planning to build a big country house here. He is married to an English woman, and he wants to live here while their sons are at Eton. He wants me to do the lot, interior decoration, garden landscape, as well as the house.'

  'Can you just build a new house like that? I thought there were all sorts of planning regulations and it all took ages to sort out before you can even begin to think of building?'

  'There are, but he already owns a dilapidated Victorian monstrosity that is too ruinous to consider repairing, so it should be easy enough to get permission to demolish it. It's not listed, no problems there, and that local authority is amenable to sensible suggestions for redeveloping the property. When this fair is over I will take you to see it.'

  'Fay as well,' Judy reminded him.

  'Fay as well, but so far I have only seen photographs, and I need to have a good look at the situation, so that I can judge what the planning people are likely to accept. Fay won't be involved until I have at least an outline plan.'

  'I imagine you need to be back in your office to work on that. Where you have all the necessary references, I mean. And don't you use drawing boards, or is it all computerised now?'

  He didn't reply directly, just smiled at her, and Judy wondered if he thought she was being silly. She retreated to Paul's study where she had a few last minute things to do. She was worried. Justin would be working with Fay again. He was thrilled with this commission, and she couldn't decide whether it was because it was an interesting one, or because he and Fay would be working together, seeing one another often, and, if they did have an affair going, opportunities to get together.

  *

  Was Judy the typical woman, blowing hot and cold, Justin wondered? She was so grateful for his help, asking him for it whenever it was needed without any reservations, always friendly, confiding in him her encounters with Mark. They had laughed together about Sadie's predatory nature, and her attempts to ensnare him. She had shown some resentment towards Barbara, but was that on her own account, or because she was supporting him? Could it be possible she was jealous of Barbara? If so, he would need to be very careful not to encourage her. He accepted he was coming to care for her more than was perhaps wise, and sometimes thought she was beginning to consider him more than just a friend. Then, without warning, she would be cold.

  She had accepted his initial refusal to go back to his apartment because he wanted to help at the craft fair, but now, because he had mentioned this new commission, she was urging him to go back again. Was she afraid of her feelings towards him? He was not a vain man, but he believed he could make Judy love him if he exerted himself to charm her. He didn't want that. Not yet, in any event. It was too soon for both of them, and he knew she was chary of another commitment. So was he. After having fallen so suddenly in love with Barbara, or what he thought was love, but now knew was infatuation, he dared not make another mistake.

  Judy wasn't a mistake. He stopped his thoughts abruptly. What he felt for Judy was not at all like the wild desire he had felt for Barbara. Most of all she was a friend, in a way a colleague, and they had lived amicably together in the same house for several weeks. Not that this was a basis for a deeper relationship. When he was a student he had shared a house with half a dozen other students, men and women, and had managed to co-exist with all of them. He had been friendly with the women without falling in love with any of them. But this was different.

  Was she afraid she was coming to care for him too much? That was one possible reason for her to want to send him away. If so, ought he to comply? He was going, he promised himself, as soon as the craft fair was over. Nothing irrevocable would happen during that time, surely.

  He gave it up, and began to make preliminary sketches for the new mansion. His client had emailed a load of photos of the Victorian wreck, and a brief map of the area and the land surrounding the house. There were lots of outhouses, and if he included them in the footprint of the house he would have plenty of scope to rebuild, and this would, he hoped, predispose the planners in his favour, since he would not be appearing to enlarge it. He soon became absorbed, jotting down ideas.

  *

  Justin was out, so Judy answered the door. It was Sadie, dressed as she had been when talking to Barbara. Judy was beginning to feel like a country cousin, comparing her own simple skirts and tee shirts with Sadie and Barbara and their fashion outfits.

  'Hi, Judy. Is Justin around?'

  'He's out with the dogs.'

  Judy fully expected Sadie to make some excuse and come back later when he returned, but she just smiled.

  'Well, no matter. I'm giving a party, Saturday evening, and hope you'll both come. Just the neighbours, some old friends, and a few other people I've met. Can I count on you?'

  'Thanks, but I'm very busy, getting everything ready for the fair. I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it.'

  She didn't want to go. The less she had to watch Mark fawning over Sadie the better. Not because she cared for him, but because now she despised him. Besides, he seemed to think she was jealous, and could not resist demonstrating to her how much Sadie meant to him. She found it embarrassing, distasteful, and would avoid it if she could.

  Sadie frowned. 'Never mind, I've already asked some interesting people, old friends, so do persuade Justin to come. He'll be going back to London soon, won't he? You'll miss him, no doubt.'

  'My sister and her husband will be back by then,' Judy said. 'I'll have plenty of company.'

  'My unknown neighbours!'

  When Justin came back and Judy passed on the message, he shrugged.

  'I suppose we'll have to go.'

  Did he want to go, Judy wondered. She was not totally convinced he did not like Sadie. She was blatantly sexual, and Judy suspected most men enjoyed looking at her as she flaunted her perfect figure.

  'You go. I still have lots to do, and I don't really want to socialise with Mark and have him making snide comments about me.'

  'You care too much about what he says.'

  Judy was incensed, and nearer than she had ever been to quarrelling with him. Even the suspicion that he and Fay were involved did not upset her so much as when he showed disbelief in Mark's attitude. He, of course, did not usually see how Mark behaved when they were alone, or hear what he said, and he no doubt thought she was exaggerating.

  'Oh do I? You know the sort of innuendo he makes about me, the ways he has of trying to belittle me. Can you blame me for not wanting to invite more of the same?'

  'No, I suppose not. Let's see how things go, whether there is much to do.'

  Judy nodded. That was fine by her. She would make sure she had plenty to do and Justin could please himself.

  *

  Judy was exhausted, and still asleep when Fay telephoned. Justin brought the phone into her room.

  'Sorry to wake you, but it's Fay.'

  Judy struggled awake.

  'Fay? Is anything wrong?'

  'I don't think so. Here, talk to her.'

  He backed out of the room, and Judy clutched the receiver to her ear.

  'Fay? How are you? Is everything OK?'

  Fay laughed. 'Of course it is, silly. I rang to ask if you could be sure to stay on for a couple more weeks.'

  Of course she would, but why?

  'Is there some problem with the flights?'

  'No, no problem, but the journey out was horrendous, cooped up in a plane for a whole day and night. We've decided to take it easy, come back by stages, and stay a few days at each of the stopovers.'

  'That sounds se
nsible.'

  'It gives us time to acclimatise, and we hope to spend some time in Hawaii and Los Angeles, at least, maybe other places too, depending on what flights we can organise.'

  'I'm envious!'

  Fay laughed. 'You'll do it one day, little sister. I suspect Justin has to go back to London, but unless you have fixed up somewhere for yourself, can you stay?'

  Judy breathed a sigh of relief. If Fay and Paul were planning to extend their holiday, things must be OK with them.

  'I haven't even started looking for a new flat,' she told her sister. 'Of course I'll stay on. Have a wonderful time.'

  'We will. Must go now. Lots of love.'

  Judy put down the phone and lay back against the pillows. Everything must be all right with Fay and Paul. Her sister wouldn't balk at a long flight unless she wanted to spend more time alone with Paul, visiting romantic places with him. Staying here was what she had planned to do in any case, until she found herself a flat.

  There was a knock on the door, and when she called to him to come in Justin appeared with a pot of coffee and some warmed croissants.

  'Sorry to burst in like that and wake you, but here's an apology. You look exhausted.'

  'How to make a girl feel great when she's just been woken up long before she's ready.'

  He grinned. 'Is Fay OK?'

  'Thanks for the breakfast. Yes, she's fine. Didn't she explain?'

  'She just asked to speak to you, and I didn't tell her you were still asleep.'

  Judy explained, and Justin looked concerned. Was it, she wondered, because he was realising he might have lost Fay?

  'Will you be all right here on your own? I really ought to start work after the fair.'

  She didn't know whether to be sorry or relieved that soon she would no longer have to try and conceal the feelings she was starting to harbour for him.

  'Of course I'll be OK. I was going to be here on my own anyway, remember, until Paul got involved, and sent you here.'

  *

  Judy enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, and a long shower which restored her to something like normal. She had just reached the kitchen when the phone rang again.

  'Hello?'

  'Judy, dear, is that you?'

  It was her mother, her voice quavery, and Judy felt immediate alarm. It was normally her father who telephoned her from Spain.

  'Mom? Is anything wrong? How's Dad?'

  'That's why I'm ringing. You know he's been waiting for his hip replacement operation? Well, they can do it next week, so we're flying over tomorrow. Luckily we managed to get a flight. Can you meet us at Gatwick? Fay said we could always stay with her whenever they fitted your father in.'

  ***

  Chapter 8

  They'd have to sleep in the main bedroom, Judy decided. Since Fay and Paul were not coming home for a while, that made the most sense. Then when Justin went back home, and her father was still in hospital she could move her mother into his room.

  Her father had been waiting for this operation for months, refusing to have it done in Spain. She was glad for him, but it could not have come at a worse time for her. There was a week to go before the fair, but she still had masses to do, time-consuming jobs such as printing out samples of the cards she was doing in small quantities, and had not given to Susie. Her mother would expect her to drop everything and be their chauffeur, but until the craft fair was over that was simply impossible. Dad would understand, but Mom didn't drive, and she would expect to be taken to London every day to visit him. She would have to take a taxi, or a private hire car. Judy was perfectly willing to drive her mother around after the fair, but not beforehand.

  She went into the master bedroom and began to make room for her parents to put their clothes. They wouldn't bring a great deal, and she was able to clear some hanging space in the fitted wardrobes. Then she emptied a couple of drawers in the chest, and finally went to make room in the bathroom cabinet for the multitude of patent remedies her mother always carried with her.

  Judy decided to take everything out of the cabinet, in case her mother mixed up Fay's medications and make up with her own, something she was only too likely to do even when she was not worrying about Dad. She fetched a cardboard box and began to transfer everything. Suddenly she stopped and stared at the small, unopened box she had just picked up. What on earth was Fay doing with a pregnancy testing kit, and since she had it, why had she not used it?

  Paul did not want children, Judy knew. Fay had always said she didn't either, and she and Judy had occasionally laughed together at their mother's probing questions about when she was going to be made a grandparent. So why the kit? Had Fay thought she was pregnant by another man, not Paul? Fay had not been able to take the pill, so had to depend on other forms of contraception. Paul would have been careful, Judy thought. Perhaps, if Fay had been having an affair with someone else, maybe Justin, things had gone wrong.

  The thought was painful, but it brought all Judy's suspicions flooding back. Then she began to wonder again why Fay had not used the kit. Had she discovered, before using it, that her fears of pregnancy were unfounded?

  Thrusting away her speculations, Judy finished emptying the cabinet and took the box into her own room, where she put it on the top shelf of her own wardrobe. That reminded her of the Valentine card in Fay's wardrobe, and she went to retrieve that too. Her mother, when she was for any reason upset, had a mania for tidying cupboards. While Dad was in hospital she would be upset and restless, and Fay would be unable to find things when she did come home, since Mom always had different ideas on the best places to keep things. The right hand drawer of the dressing table was, for instance, for some reason better than the left one for whatever the owner kept there. If Mom saw the card, which she was quite likely to, she would not rest until she discovered who had sent it. Judy would quite like to know that too, but she did not relish having to endure her mother's methods of finding out, before and after Fay came home.

  When Justin came to find her she was changing the sheets in the main bedroom. He said he had mixed a salad for an early lunch, and she had to explain what she was doing.

  'Why couldn't they have waited another week of so? Dad has to go to see the specialist on Monday. If they don't keep him in they'll expect all my attention until he is admitted, and afterwards Mom will expect to be taken to the hospital every day to visit him. I simply don't have the time or the energy.'

  'Surely they'll understand the craft fair has to take priority?'

  'They will have to, but they treat my painting as a hobby, not a serious business venture. I will have to listen to endless speculation about whether I can ever hope to make a living selling a few birthday cards, how foolish I have been to give up a secure job teaching, and what an idiot I am to have let a good prospect of a husband like Mark slip through my fingers. Not to mention comparisons with Fay who would drop everything to give a hundred percent of her time to them on the few occasions she saw them! Do parents treat their sons in the same way?'

  Justin was laughing at her.

  'Mine don't, but my father was an architect as well, so he understands the business. And parents never seem to want their sons to spend all their time looking after them. They have a living to earn, and daughters don't.'

  'Lucky you! Where's this salad? I must do as much as I can today. Once the parents are here I won't be able to get away easily to do any concentrated work. Oh, you must think I don't want to see them, and am a selfish bitch complaining when I only see them once or twice a year. I do want to see them, and I'm thankful Dad will soon have his operation, it's just come at the most inconvenient time for me.'

  *

  The flight was due in early evening, so Judy left before Justin had to change for Sadie's party. She had not wanted to go to the party in any case, and the arrival of her parents had given her the perfect excuse, Justin thought, grinning. Was her reluctance a sign of jealousy? Or was it fear of Mark? Justin's hands clenched into fists. He felt uncharacteristically violen
t. How he would love to knock that arrogant bastard down. He and Sadie were well suited. As he pulled on chinos and a thin white sweater Justin wondered how soon he would be able to escape from the party. He would keep an eye out for Judy's return, give her an hour to settle in her parents, and make the excuse to Sadie he had to do the pretty and go and meet them. With luck that would be before ten, so he would be spared what would probably be, knowing Sadie, the wilder excesses when people were tanked up on the booze he'd seen being unloaded earlier in the day from the local off-licence's van.

  He waited until he had seen several of the neighbours cross over to Sadie's door. Most of the guests were in the garden, and the noise level was growing when he finally let himself out of the house and went next door. The front door was hospitably open, Sadie nowhere to be seen, so Justin went through into the garden where he found Mark lavishly dispensing drinks from a table set up as a bar on the patio outside the drawing room window.

  'Hello there, neighbour! What's yours?'

  'A beer, please. Sadie is lucky with the weather.'

  'Yes, it's been too good to be true this year. It's bound to break soon. Let's hope not next week to spoil little Judy's venture into being her own entrepreneur,' he added, but with the sort of smile that gave the lie to his words.

  'There is a hall if the weather changes,' Justin said mildly, accepting the beer and starting to move away.

  'Where is the budding Leonardo da Vinci?' Mark asked.

  Justin turned back and looked at the man's smile. It was more of a sneer than a smile, he thought, and he forced himself to reply calmly.

  'She's gone to collect her parents from Gatwick.'

  'Her parents? Oho! Have they come to inspect you, make sure you are good enough for their little girl? They came over to take a look at me, when we first got engaged, you know. I hope you come up to their expectations.'

  'Did you?' Justin asked before he could stop himself.

  Mark began to look ugly.

  'They approved of me, buddy, with my nice safe career and good prospects. I'm not a jobbing architect living from one miserable little commission to the next, and bumming it for free accommodation!'