The Other Wives Club

by Shari Low

  Tess didn’t comment. Quite frankly, she could have shagged Brad Pitt last night and she’d still be pissed off with Drew for spending the day sightseeing with Mona.

  ‘So anyway, Max and I are going to go play a bit of basketball up on the sports deck. You’re welcome to join us if you fancy a bit of exercise. Didn’t want to leave you on your own.’

  ‘Thanks for thinking about me, Piers, I really do appreciate it.’ Oh the irony – Mona’s husband was looking out for her a damn sight more than her own. But basketball? She had the sports co-ordination of a drunk baby deer, but the cabin suddenly seemed claustrophobic – the notes, the dilemma, the reminder that Drew had pissed off with Mona. ‘I’ll meet you up there – just give me ten minutes to change.’

  ‘Great, love, see you then.’

  ‘Oh, and Piers – shall I call Sarah and see if she’s around? Not sure if she had anything planned for this afternoon.’

  ‘Erm, sure. Up to you. I’ll erm… see you later.’

  When she put the phone down she had a niggling feeling that she was missing something about this whole situation. She just had no idea what it was.

  Mona

  ‘How’s the calzone?’ Mona tinkered with her spinach salad, wishing for a moment that her life was not one that was deprived of carbohydrates.

  ‘It’s great,’ Drew replied, washing it down with a white wine that had come recommended by the very efficient head waiter. ‘This was such a good idea.’

  ‘Ah, but I thought you hated sightseeing,’ Mona teased.

  ‘There’s sightseeing and then there’s this. I’m not sure the two variations of tourism are in any way related.’

  Mona kept a lid on her jubilation as she held her glass up in a toast. ‘To doing Rome this way.’ Drew’s eyes crinkled as he returned the gesture. If this restaurant had rooms upstairs, she would, she realized, quite happily take him upstairs and show him a side to Rome that wasn’t fit to be displayed in front of the masses of nuns that seemed to populate the city.

  The day had gone exactly to plan, without a single hitch. She’d woken him with a phone call at seven, invited him to come along with her, and after an initial hesitation, she’d sealed the deal with four words. Lazio. Football. Press. Conference.

  By an absolute stroke of luck, she’d noticed when she was checking the news online last night that the Lazio team were announcing the signing of a British player at the Stadio Olimpico that morning. A few phone calls back to the office, and a few favours called in, and their names were put on the press list. She arranged a limo to collect them at eight, which got them through the morning traffic and to the stadium six kilometres outside the city for the press conference starting at 10 a.m. She had no idea what was going on and could have cared even less. All that mattered was that Drew was absolutely in his element. Football. She sometimes wondered if anything even came close in importance to the majority of Glaswegian males. Men who were generally laid-back turned into passionate firebrands at the sight of a ball. Gruff guys who didn’t cry when their children were born dissolved into tears when their team picked up a cup. She tried to compare it to the feeling she got when a new pair of Jimmy Choo’s arrived, but how could twenty-two men chasing a ball even begin to compare to a structural work of art?

  Anyway, it led to them spending a couple of hours in a room with fifty blokes, clamouring for answers to their questions. The admiring glances they threw her way didn’t go unnoticed. But then, a body-skimming red dress teamed with black six-inch peep-toe shoes and a large floppy black sun hat were clearly not standard attire in a football ground.

  Drew was so pumped up with enthusiasm when they got back in the car that she found herself swept up in the excitement of it all. Perhaps if she equated it to a pair of Manolos, a pair of Jimmy Choo’s and the latest Louboutin’s all arriving on the same day…

  Working to her agenda, the limo then took them into Rome, where they drove around the Coliseum and then on to the Piazza Navarone, viewing the sights from the comfort of the air-conditioned car. Now, they were eating a late lunch off exquisite china at a table outside on the square, sheltered from the sun by a thick awning, being served by dashing waiters in smart uniforms.

  It was perfect.

  Almost perfect.

  Time to move this up a gear.

  She leaned forward and put her hand over his, noticing that he didn’t flinch. Good start.

  ‘I’ve missed this,’ she said, pitching it halfway between wistful and friendly. ‘I know we see each other every day in the office, but this is different. It’s so good just to spend time together with no phones ringing.’

  Easy does it. No big declarations. No emotional drama. Just an opening for him to take if he felt he wanted to. She congratulated herself on her restraint. ‘Do you want to go upstairs and make love until I’m limp?’ would have been her preferred option.

  ‘I know,’ Drew replied. That was it. No agreement. No further clarification. Just ‘I know’.

  She laughed, giving him the full benefit of fifteen thousand pounds worth of dental expertise. ‘Wow, that was a bit of an enigmatic reply.’

  He put down his knife and fork and flipped his hand over so it was now on top of hers. A combination of lust and anticipation caused her breathing to become just a little shallower.

  ‘Mona, I’ve spent almost every day with you for the last twenty years and I know what’s going on in your mind,’ he told her. She crossed her legs as two men of the faith walked past, hoping that their divine powers couldn’t tell them that she was sitting there so turned on she could orgasm with little or no effort. This was it. The moment of truth. Father, forgive me, because I’m about to commit a whole load of sins…

  ‘Oh really,’ she replied playfully. ‘So tell me.’

  ‘You want the truth?’

  ‘Absolutely.’

  He paused for a moment. Typical Drew, always considered, always careful to think things thorough before he spoke – unlike bloody Piers who had no edit function whatsoever on his gob.

  Drew’s stare drew her back to the moment. ‘I think you’re unhappy with Piers. I think you want to divorce him.’

  Ding ding, two for two.

  ‘Or at least you think you do, but for all the wrong reasons.’

  Whoah, hold on. She wasn’t sure what that last bit was about. ‘You’re right about wanting to divorce, but I’m not sure why you think my reasons are flawed.’

  Surely it was obvious? She realized she’d made a terrible mistake in marrying Piers. This last week had proven without a doubt that she and Drew should never have divorced. Neither of them was truly happy unless they were with each other. And they should just get on with making that happen. Soon. Sometime in the next five minutes would be good.

  ‘Because you’re having an age crisis again. You’re dreading that you’re nearly forty and instead of embracing it and realizing how beautiful and talented you are, you’re thinking that you need some change and excitement to make yourself feel alive again.’

  ‘No! That’s not it at all.’ How could he have got her so wrong? How could he have her down as some sort of shallow, age-obsessed thrill addict, looking for the next fix? Actually, in truth his theory might have a modicum of truth, but still, he was missing the whole bloody point here. Time to hit a home run. She switched her demeanour from flirt to sad and tragic. ‘Drew, Piers is having an affair. With his secretary. What a fucking cliché.’

  His eyes widened with surprise. ‘Oh, shit, Mona, I had no idea.’

  Anyone else would have taken that at face value but she knew him too well. His brow went down in the middle and he glanced downwards for a split second – he always did that when he was lying. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

  ‘You knew.’ It was a statement, not a question. It had never crossed her mind before, but of course he knew. There wasn’t an illicit sexual activity going on within a hundred miles of his office that he didn’t know about.

  ‘I did. I deci
ded it was none of my business.’

  ‘But you didn’t tell me?’ Her eyes fired with anger.

  ‘Come on, Mona, I was married to you and you’re the smartest woman I’ve ever met – there’s no way you wouldn’t know about it. I didn’t want to embarrass you by bringing it up. Like I said, it’s none of my business. So what are you going to do?’

  ‘Divorce him. And sure, those other things you said matter, too. I don’t want to be forty-five and single. I want to be married. I want to grow old with someone. But it’s got to be the right person and Piers isn’t it.’

  ‘I’m sorry this is happening to you, Mona. You know I’m here if you need me.’

  I do. Every day. Every night. And if those priests would avert their eyes, then right here and now.

  Instead of saying any of that she plumped for ‘Thank you.’ She’d done enough for today. Drew thought he knew her, but she knew him even better. Pushing him into a corner would be counterproductive. He had to take today’s information, process it, think it over, marry it up with the fact that his marriage to Tess was terminal, and then come to the only conclusion that he could – they were supposed to be together.

  It was only a matter of time.

  15.

  Livorno

  Sarah

  Sarah groaned as the daylight streamed in through the curtains. Why – despite her best efforts and daily wails of disappointment - had she been cursed with the habits of an early riser? She wanted to be one of those sexy, nocturnal beasts who lay in bed all morning and rose only to eat chocolate-dipped strawberries in bed at noon.

  She lifted the mobile phone beside her and checked the time: 7 a.m. Probably just as well she was awake, because Eliza was due to meet the others at 8 a.m. for a quick breakfast, before they all set off in a hired minibus for Pisa. She’d been invited but had declined. She already had other plans, and besides, spending a day with Piers wasn’t the best idea. Just thinking about him brought her annoyance flooding back. Shrugging it off, she focussed on bigger problems – like how to get Eliza out of bed.

  ‘Eliza, Kai called and asked you to meet him in ten minutes at the Waterfall restaurant.’

  It was a miracle on a par with Moses turning up, donning a pair of flippers and wandering right across the Med. Without Sarah even having to put a foot on the floor, her daughter was upright, in the bathroom, out of the bathroom with face washed and teeth brushed, fully dressed and clipping on earrings before she paused to look at her mother.

  ‘Why are you smiling?’ Eliza asked warily. ‘You never smile at this time in the morning.’

  Sarah said nothing; just let the realization slowly dawn.

  ‘OMG, you were winding me up! You were actually winding me up! Kai isn’t waiting for me, is he? Mum, how could you?’

  7a.m. – sleeping teenager.

  7.10 a.m. – incredulous teenager.

  Suddenly, all five-foot-ten-inches of sixteen-year-old came flying in Sarah’s direction, landed on top of her and began tickling her until they were both screaming with laughter.

  Only a loud rap on the door stopped them in their tracks.

  ‘If that’s guest services coming to complain about the noise, you’re in trouble, madam. I’m already on their hit list after missing the ship and that bloke Richard looks like a Bond villain. He could have me neutralized at any moment.’

  Eliza responded by throwing a pillow that hit Sarah on the back of the head. Daughterly love was painful sometimes.

  Fixing her expression to neutral, Sarah opened the door and was prepared to launch into a humble apology when she was confronted with Drew’s concerned face.

  ‘Are you two OK? I heard screaming.’

  Sarah stood by to let him in, then lifted the room service tray that she’d requested to be left outside the door at 7 a.m. The aroma of hot croissant made her slightly giddy. ‘Your daughter and I were wrestling. It’s what we like to do in the morning. Beats t’ai chi.’

  Bemused, he sat down on the sofa and accepted a cup of coffee from Sarah, who then took hers and crawled back under the duvet.

  Drew turned to Eliza. ‘Thought I’d better come check you were awake because we’re leaving soon. I want it on record that I’m only going because I’ve never seen the Leaning Tower and I’ve been assured we’re going straight there and straight back, only stopping for lunch. No trekking. No wandering. No dragging us off to other things.’

  Eliza high-fived him. ‘I hear you, Dad. I’m only coming because Kai and his parents are going there today too.’

  ‘Not because you love your father and want to spend every moment you can with him?’

  ‘That too,’ she added with an impish wink. ‘Back in a minute, just going to fix my make-up. It was done in a bit of a rush thanks to mommy dearest over there.’

  With a pointed glare at Sarah, she headed back into the bathroom.

  ‘Sure you don’t want to come? There’s plenty of room on the bus. Mona booked it, so it’s probably one of those rock tour coaches.’

  ‘Of course it is.’ She tried to keep the bitchiness out of her tone but she wasn’t sure she succeeded. ‘Thanks, but I’ve got other plans for today.’

  ‘Other plans?’

  ‘A… friend. Someone I met on board. We thought we’d go for lunch and spend some time together.’

  ‘A male friend?’ he asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.

  Her face flushed with embarrassment, which was clearly ridiculous. Drew was her very long ago ex-husband. He’d married twice since they split. He had no say in her life whatsoever. Yet, here she was, toes curling because she was telling him about meeting with another bloke. She gave her self-conscious gene a direct order to man up and stop being pathetic. Hadn’t it taken a lot of nerve to apologize to Nate for standing him up, explain the situation and then, straight out, ask him for another date? Yes, she’d asked a man for a date. Tonight the moon would be blue and there would be flying pigs performing figures of eight in the skies.

  ‘Yes. His name is Nate. He’s a cowboy. Or a cowman, really.’ Her blustering was becoming so embarrassing that her brain sent urgent signals to her mouth to close and desist. It wasn’t listening. ‘You met him the first day aboard, up at the bar. Remember? When I was doing the whole “vomit on my T-shirt” thing.’ Stop speaking. Just stop. But still the stammering and stuttering continued. ‘So, yeah. Erm… Nate. That’s who I’m, erm, meeting.’

  The whole time she was wittering away, Drew just stared at her with an expression she couldn’t read.

  It was a huge relief when Eliza finally came back out of the bathroom and rescued her. ‘Ready, Dad?’

  He put his coffee cup down and pushed himself up from the chair. ‘Ready, sweetheart. See you later, Sarah. Maybe we could have a drink when we get back? There are a couple of things I’ve been meaning to chat to you about.’

  ‘Erm, sure,’ she replied.

  For a long time after the door closed behind them, Sarah wondered what on earth he could possibly want to talk to her about.

  Tess

  ‘Anyone sitting here?’ Max asked Tess as he got on to the minibus.

  ‘No,’ she said brightly. ‘It’s all yours.’

  Cheery. Positive. That was going to be her mantra for today. Even if it bore no resemblance to how she was feeling inside. She glanced over at Drew, laughing at something Eliza said to him. It was great to see him having fun with his daughter, but she couldn’t help thinking that he was slightly manipulating his ‘superdad’ status to cover up the fact that he was completely pissed off with her.

  He’d returned from Rome with Mona only half an hour before they sailed last night – and yes, it did cross her mind that they might deliberately miss the boat as some kind of act of petty revenge – and then they’d endured a near silent meal for two in the steakhouse restaurant, before he went out for his late night run and she went to bed. She’d pretended to be asleep when he came back. What was the point of doing otherwise?

  This morning he
’d got on the bus and sat with Eliza, without even a glance in her direction. Dear Lord, he was treating her like some kind of delinquent kid. She got it. There were problems. She’d missed the boat. He had a lot on his mind. But he was taking this silent, brooding stuff way too far and – for once – instead of feeling terrible about it and wanting to fix it, she was happy just to sit there with the firm opinion that he was an arse. The minor act of mental rebellion made her feel a whole lot better about the situation.

  There was a flurry of activity at the door as Mona got on the bus, making a big entrance as usual, in a forties-style mauve tea dress and huge white hat, before sitting down directly in front of Drew and Eliza and turning to talk to them. Tess decided she resembled a mushroom. One of the poisonous ones that can cause sudden death on contact.

  Max leaned over and whispered in her ear. ‘How are things? Have diplomatic relations been resumed?’ He motioned to the back of Drew’s head.

  ‘I think it’s a temporary ceasefire, but I’m not holding out much hope of it lasting. He’s really upset with me.’

  ‘For what? You didn’t do anything wrong.’

  Not for the first time, she wondered what she would have done without Max on this trip. He’d gone from distant kind-of-relation to friend in such a short period of time.

  Her answer was abandoned as John and Penny arrived with two fractious toddlers. ‘Sorry, everyone,’ John apologized, ‘but these two are a bit grumpy this morning. We apologize in advance and recommend earplugs for the duration of the journey.’

  John slid in behind Tess, then lifted Lavinia onto the seat next to him, with Penny taking the opposite seats for her and Lawrence. Tess automatically turned and made faces at her step-granddaughter, cajoling her out of her strop and making her giggle. Lawrence spotted this, joined in, and it somehow kept them amused all the way to Pisa, a welcome diversion from the tension in the atmosphere as the air positively crackled with negative vibes. Drew was annoyed with her. She wanted to pull Mona’s hat down so she didn’t have to see that smug face. Mona hadn’t even looked at Piers, so there were obviously issues there. Sarah wasn’t there for her to have a laugh with. And Piers was still being unusually quiet. A fun day out for all the family.