The Art of Friendship

by Lisa Ireland

  Felicity shook her head. ‘I think that’s a bit extreme. And anyway, what would we say? We’re worried because our friend’s dog died and now she’s not answering her phone? And Greg’s here. Surely they’d question him. Imagine how humiliating it would be for everyone if nothing’s wrong. Greg would be furious and Jeremy would never forgive me for causing a scene. And Alli would be so upset. Maybe she’d never speak to us again.’

  ‘But what if there is something wrong? What if she’s hurt and afraid and we’re just here drinking champagne and pretending that we haven’t noticed that something’s amiss? How will we live with ourselves then? We’re supposed to be her friends.’

  Felicity’s eyes flashed with determination, or was it anger? ‘You’re right. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Stuff Greg. And stuff the humiliation. This is bullshit. I don’t know whether Greg’s actually done anything to her or not, but I know he’s a bully. He doesn’t fool me with his smarmy charm. He reminds me of my dad.’

  Libby raised her eyebrows.

  ‘Don’t ask. Well, not right now. It’s a conversation for another time perhaps.’

  ‘Okay.’ Libby shivered and rubbed her hands up and down her bare arms, wishing that she’d had the foresight to grab her wrap before coming outside. ‘So what are we going to do?’

  ‘I think maybe you’re right. Maybe we should go around there. But how are we going to do that without being noticed? We can’t just walk out of here. Georgina’s relying on us.’

  Libby nodded. ‘Can we tell her, do you think?’

  Felicity blew out a frosty breath. ‘I don’t know. I love George, she’s like a big sister to me, but I often feel like she thinks I’m a bit of a twit. She’ll probably just brush us off and tell us not to be silly. You know she and Richard think the world of Greg.’

  Libby fought to keep her teeth from chattering. It was freezing out here but they couldn’t risk going back inside and having their conversation overheard. ‘Okay, let’s just keep it between us for the time being. You definitely need to stay here and keep the kitchen running, so I should be the one to go. But what if she doesn’t answer the door, then what?’

  ‘Then we’re back to square one, I guess.’ A sudden look of realisation dawned on Felicity’s face. ‘Oh! I have a key to her house. She gave it to me last year when she and Greg took the girls skiing in Aspen. She never asked for it back and I keep forgetting to give it to her.’

  ‘Do you have it with you?’

  ‘Sure. It’s on my key ring. But I don’t know whether you should go alone.’

  ‘I’ll be fine. Greg’s here and not likely to suspect anything. If Alli’s fine, then there’s no drama, and if she’s not, I’ll call for help. You know we probably are overthinking this, but I’d prefer to err on the side of caution. Let’s go inside and grab the key. I’m freezing my tits off out here.’

  Felicity let out a loud guffaw. ‘God, Libby, I never imagined you speaking like that. You always seem so proper.’

  Libby reached out and touched her arm. ‘There’s a lot of things you don’t know about me yet.’

  Felicity smiled at her and for the first time since they’d met Libby felt like the expression was genuine. ‘You and I haven’t really had a chance to get to know each other properly. That’s something I’d like to change.’

  ‘Me too. Now, let’s get this key. I’m going to need you to cover for me.’

  ‘Okay.’

  Felicity walked back into the kitchen and across to the storeroom, emerging with her handbag. She pulled her keys out and worked Alli’s house key off the ring. ‘Here you go. Call me as soon as you can and let me know what’s going on, okay?’

  Libby nodded. ‘No worries. I’ll just go talk to Cam and I’ll get going.’

  Even though the entrees were now coming out, there was still a fair bit of movement in the room. As Libby made her way towards their table she noticed Cam was out of his seat and standing at one of the VIP tables near the stage. As she drew closer she realised that he was at the Claybourne Grammar table. Great. More polite banter with John Quinlan wasn’t high on her list of priorities right now, but she needed to keep things looking light and normal in order to leave the function without suspicion.

  She touched Cam’s shoulder. ‘Hey.’

  He turned and smiled his awkward, caught-in-the-act smile, and when he stepped back from the table she could see why. He was talking to a gorgeous woman dressed in red. It took her half a second to realise it was Kit.

  ‘Oh!’ she said, taken aback.

  Kit smiled impassively. ‘Hi, Libby.’

  ‘Hello. I didn’t realise you were coming. John said –’

  ‘I didn’t think I’d be able to make it, but I had a change of plans at the last minute.’

  The shock of seeing Kit momentarily pushed all thoughts of Alli to the back of her mind. She stood next to Cam searching for something to say that was conciliatory but not intimate.

  Cam placed his hand lightly on her back. ‘I guess we should go take our seats for dinner, Lib. The entrees are coming out now.’

  It occurred to her that Kit turning up was actually perfect. Who better to ask for advice about Alli’s situation than a family violence educator? She offered up a silent prayer of thanks before answering Cam. ‘Ah, actually I have to do a couple of things, but I’ll be back soon. Kit, can we have a word?’

  Kit shook her head. ‘Perhaps later, Libby. Now’s probably not the best time, seeing as dinner’s being served.’

  Libby took a punt, hoping that maybe Kit knew more about Alli’s situation than she’d previously let on. ‘I won’t keep you long. Alli asked me to pass on a message.’

  Kit’s demeanour changed immediately. ‘Oh, okay. Sure.’ She turned to John. ‘You don’t mind, do you? I shouldn’t be long, but please don’t wait for me to eat if our meals come.’

  John glanced up at Libby and then back at Kit. ‘Are you sure you’re okay?’

  Libby resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Anyone would think she was some sort of violent criminal. But there was no time to comment or defend herself now. ‘Let’s just pop out to the foyer for a moment.’

  Kit followed her as she strode purposefully towards the exit, waving and smiling at people she knew and claiming committee duties whenever anyone tried to engage her in conversation. Unfortunately there were several people in the foyer when she and Kit entered. There was no way she was going to risk talking about her concerns within earshot of others. ‘This is important. Do you mind coming to my car?’

  Kit gave her a suspicious look. ‘Is this really about Alli, or do you want me in a confined space so you can rant at me about what a shit friend I am?’

  ‘It’s about Alli. Believe me, I wouldn’t have asked you unless I was desperate.’

  ‘Fine.’

  Neither of them spoke again until they were seated in the car. ‘I’m turning the car on so we can run the heater, okay? I don’t want you to worry I’m about to kidnap you, seeing as your boyfriend seems to think I’m somehow unstable.’

  ‘I don’t want to get into all this again, but as far as John’s concerned can I just say who can blame him? You haven’t exactly shown him your reasonable side, have you? The only times he’s ever met you, you’ve argued with him. And you behaved like a total tool at the party.’

  ‘You’re right. But this isn’t the time. I need you to tell me if there’s something I should know about Alli and Greg. Did she tell you something the other night? Or . . .’ It suddenly dawned on Libby why Kit’s conversation with Alli might have been so animated. ‘She’s a client at the centre, isn’t she?’

  ‘You know I can’t disclose that information to you.’

  ‘Not even if she might be in danger?’

  Kit swung her head around to look at Libby. ‘What do you mean? What’s happened?’

  ‘I don�
��t really know. She didn’t turn up here tonight and she’s one of the key members of the committee. She was last seen at three thirty this afternoon and at that time she had every intention of being here.’

  ‘So no one’s been able to contact her?’

  ‘Felicity had some texts from her around four and she seemed okay then, but the troubling thing is that a hairdresser who was supposed to do her hair told Felicity that when she arrived at Alli’s house she overhead a huge fight and that even the dog was yelping. When she rang the doorbell no one answered.’

  ‘Shit.’

  Libby’s heart rate increased. Obviously Kit didn’t think she was being ridiculous, which was both gratifying and worrying at the same time. ‘That’s not all. When she didn’t turn up here at the agreed time Georgina called her and she didn’t pick up or respond to texts. Eventually George called Greg, who said Alli was too upset to come because their dog had died.’

  ‘Oh fuck.’

  ‘What? God, Kit, tell me what you know.’

  Kit ignored her question. ‘Where is he, do you know?’

  ‘He’s here.’

  ‘Okay, that’s good. She’s safe for now. He doesn’t suspect anything, does he? You didn’t ask him anything that would alert him?’

  Libby shook her head. ‘No. Felicity and I have kept our suspicions to ourselves.’

  ‘That’s good.’

  ‘So what should we do?’

  ‘We need to go check on her right away. If we can’t get her to answer the door we’ll call the police.’

  Libby’s stomach churned. ‘We can get in. I have a key.’

  ‘Okay, that’ll work. I’ll phone the on-call counsellor and get them to bring up her file. It’ll be useful if we need to get the police involved.’

  ‘So you don’t think we’re overreacting then?’

  Kit shook her head. ‘Unfortunately not. Good call, Lib. Maybe she’s fine but – look, I really shouldn’t be telling you this, but there have been some worrying incidents lately and there’s been a definite escalation of behaviour. At the party I was trying to convince Alli to consider removing herself from the situation.’

  ‘Oh God, I feel sick. Literally sick.’ Libby opened the window and inhaled the cool night air. Once the nausea had settled a little she closed the window and began to reverse out of the car park. ‘I just can’t believe I didn’t notice something was wrong before. I liked Greg so much, and I was jealous, you know? I thought he was the perfect husband. He always seemed so attentive and I don’t know . . .’

  ‘Controlling?’

  God, how stupid had she been? ‘In hindsight, yes.’ She put on her indicator to turn onto the main boulevard. ‘But that never occurred to me before. And Alli has never said a bad word about him. Not like the rest of us. I’ve often had a moan about Cam to the other women, and Georgina’s actually quite funny when she imitates Richard. Even Felicity, who is still head over heels in love with Jeremy, says the odd thing. But not Alli. She never says a word. I can’t believe she didn’t confide in me. I thought we were friends.’

  ‘This isn’t about your friendship with Alli.’ Kit’s irritation was clear from her tone. ‘This is about Alli’s wellbeing. There are many reasons why she might have chosen to keep her situation to herself, including to protect you, so don’t go thinking she’s a bad friend because she didn’t confide in you.’

  ‘That’s not what I meant at all. I mean that I’m sad I haven’t been a better friend to her, that I’ve been so caught up in my own petty problems I didn’t notice that all the time Alli was going through something way worse.’

  Kit didn’t respond. Instead she started texting someone on her phone.

  ‘Are you texting the counsellor?’

  She shook her head. ‘Not yet. I’ll wait to see what we find when we get there. No point disturbing her weekend for no reason.’ She was silent for a moment and then she said, ‘I was texting John. I don’t want him to worry about me.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘It’s serious between me and him, Lib – I mean really serious. I want you to know that.’

  ‘Really?’ This was definitely a night for body blows. She hadn’t seen this one coming at all.

  ‘Look, I know you don’t like him, but I love him. I want to try to make it work with him. I thought, well, no matter what happens between us, I just wanted you to know that.’

  Libby wasn’t sure what to think. She couldn’t remember Kit ever openly uttering the ‘L’ word about a man since, well, ever. But there wasn’t really time to process the implications of that right now. They were almost at Alli’s place. Once she was sure Alli was okay she would think about what Kit had just said, and maybe ask her a bit more about the relationship. It seemed weird that Kit was making such a monumental life decision without her input.

  She reduced speed as they approached Alli’s house, coming to a complete stop out the front. ‘This is it. No lights on. Do you think that’s a bad sign?’

  ‘I really don’t know. It might just mean that she’s sleeping.’

  ‘Okay, well, let’s go find out.’

  They walked in silence, their high heels clicking on the sandstone pavers that led to the front door. A sensor light came on as they approached the house, startling Libby for a moment. Kit pressed the doorbell and stepped back. There was no sign of movement from inside, no sign that anyone was there. Usually Muffin would have been yapping excitedly at the door by now.

  Kit pressed the bell again, and again they waited. ‘I think we’re going to have to use that key.’

  Libby had it ready in her hand. Her fingers shook as she tried to insert it into the lock.

  ‘Here,’ Kit said gently, ‘let me.’ She pushed the door open and they made their way into the dark entry hall. Kit fumbled around looking for a light switch.

  ‘Alli, you here? It’s just me, Libby.’ No answer came.

  Kit finally managed to turn on the lights. ‘Where’s her bedroom?’

  Libby walked through the hall to the staircase at its end. ‘Upstairs. I’m not exactly sure where. Alli always entertains down here.’ She lifted her skirt and went to take the first step, but Kit grabbed her arm.

  ‘Take your shoes off.’

  Libby shook her arm free. Since when had Kit become so concerned about wearing shoes inside? ‘I’m sure Alli won’t mind under the circumstances.’

  ‘I’m not worried about Alli’s floor. It’s in case, well, just in case something goes wrong. We can’t run in these things.’

  ‘Why would we need to run?’

  Kit shrugged. ‘I don’t know, but I think it’s best to be prepared.’

  ‘Okay.’ She slipped her shoes off and left them at the bottom of the stairs before gathering up her skirt once more and taking the stairs as quickly as she could in her evening gown. The top floor was in darkness and once again they were forced to search for a light switch. Kit located one and flicked it on. They were standing in a large foyer-type area. There was a closed door to the right. ‘That must lead to the bedrooms,’ Kit said.

  Libby nodded and went to open the door. ‘Bloody hell, it’s locked.’

  Kit shrugged. ‘Maybe Alli’s locked herself in there out of fear.’ She started banging on the door. ‘Alli, are you okay? It’s Kit and Libby. We just want to check that you’re all right. Let us in.’

  No answer.

  Libby tried. ‘Alli, it’s okay. Please just let us know if you’re hurt. I know about Muffin, honey, and I’m sure you’re upset. Please let me in.’

  Still nothing.

  Kit stepped away from the door and lowered her voice. ‘I really don’t like the look of this. Maybe she’s gone out, but maybe she’s badly hurt. I think we should call the police.’

  Libby’s heart pounded. ‘Yeah, okay.’

  ‘I’m just going to phone the on-call counse
llor. It’ll only take a second and she can log in and access Alli’s file. There’s a chance we might need her to come to the station – or the hospital – to support Alli.’

  Libby’s stomach churned at the thought of Alli being hurt badly enough to need a hospital. ‘Can’t we do that?’

  Kit looked up from her phone. ‘Officially, I mean. It’s process. I can’t be Alli’s counsellor because we know each other socially. It’s better this way.’ She put her finger to her lips to stop Libby from talking and then started speaking to her colleague.

  While Kit was doing that Libby tried the door again. She looked carefully at the lock. Was it possible that all the doors in the house were keyed alike? She took the key she was holding and tried it. Eureka! It worked. ‘Hey, Kit,’ she said as she pushed open the door and took a step into the hallway. As her foot landed a piercing siren erupted.

  ‘Fuck!’ Kit called from behind her. ‘It’s a burglar alarm.’

  Later, when the police interviewed her, Libby would describe the next fifteen minutes of her life as surreal – a mix of slow-motion moments that she would replay in her head forever, and time on fast forward. Recounting the scene afterwards she found it hard to describe, the details slippery and fluid, tainted as they were by her fear. The order of events was still a jumble in her head. The alarm wailing, discovering Alli unresponsive in her bed, Kit shouting at Libby to call an ambulance while she frantically pounded Alli’s chest. The measured voice on the other end of the phone breaking through her sobs to calmly tell her help was on its way. The emergency operator sounded completely unfazed, like Libby was ordering a pizza. ‘You need to hurry,’ she had screamed into her phone. ‘My friend is dying.’

  Then the room was filled with people. The paramedics, the police, a woman she’d never seen before and . . . Greg.

  He’d burst into the room somewhere between the ambulance and the police arriving and demanded to know what was going on. His face crumpled when he saw Alli, grey-faced and bare-chested as the paramedics worked on her. ‘Alli!’ he screamed, and there was true anguish in his voice as he fell to his knees and began to cry.