Rachel jumped as a knock sounded at the door.
‘Don’t answer it,’ Tom whispered, their faces close.
They didn’t move, didn’t make a peep, though Rachel’s heart was beating so hard she wouldn’t be surprised if it could be heard all the way outside.
Another three knocks sounded, loud and clear. ‘Rachel, I know you’re in there, I just saw you walking into the building.’
It was Catherine. They gave each other a bewildered look.
Rachel sighed. ‘Fuck.’
‘Not any more.’
She burrowed her face into his neck to stifle a giggle.
‘Rachel!’ Catherine called again, like an angry schoolteacher, before thumping the door three, no, four more times.
Rachel lifted herself upright. ‘Okay,’ she sung out. She looked down at Tom, mouthing ‘Stay here’ as she climbed off him.
‘Where else am I going to go?’ he whispered.
She held her finger to her lips as she grabbed her robe from the hook on the back of the door and slipped it on. She stepped out into the hall, closing the door firmly behind her.
Rachel wrapped the robe around her as she hurried up to the front door and opened it. Catherine was standing there, poised to speak, but Rachel cut her off at the pass.
‘You saw me walk into the building? What, are you carrying out surveillance on the place?’
‘Don’t be so paranoid,’ Catherine said, sweeping past her, brandishing a bottle of champagne. Rachel groaned inwardly. How was she going to get rid of her? She closed the door and followed in her wake, down the hall into the living room.
‘I saw you running up the street as my taxi pulled up on the other side,’ Catherine was explaining as she dumped her bag in an armchair. ‘What took you so long to answer the door?’
‘I was just getting out of my wet clothes. I was drenched through.’
‘Yeah, I noticed. I tried to call out to you to wait, I had an umbrella. I left it out there on the landing, I hope it’s safe,’ she said, frowning as she glanced up the hall. ‘Your security door doesn’t seem to close properly, you know.’
Yes, unfortunately. Rachel tied the sash around her robe. ‘What are you doing here, Catherine?’
‘Do I have to have an excuse to visit my best friend?’ She leaned forwards to touch cheeks with Rachel and kiss the air. She’d been drinking, Rachel could smell it.
‘I have had the worst day,’ she said, tearing the foil from the neck of the bottle. ‘You remember that gold-digger, Alannah Cresswell, I told you about? Her settlement came through this week, and it’s customary for the partners to take the client out to lunch after such a big win. So I’ve just sat through two hours with that conniving little tart, while she flirted with all the partners and they lapped it up, because she’s blonde and perky, and they haven’t had to put up with her for the past few months.’ She popped the cork off the bottle. ‘So I decided to come and get drunk with you.’
Rachel shrugged apologetically. ‘Catherine, I can’t, I’ve got plans tonight.’
‘You’re kidding?’ Her face dropped. ‘How come you’ve suddenly got a social life? What’s going on?’
‘I’ve always had a social life, Catherine. You don’t know everything I do and how I spend my time.’
Like, for instance, that she was hiding a man in her room that very moment.
‘What are you grinning about?’ Catherine was watching her suspiciously. ‘You look like the cat that got the cream.’
‘Nothing,’ said Rachel. ‘Look, I suppose I have time for one drink, and one drink only, but then I really have to get ready.’
‘Well, it appears I’m the beggar and you’re the chooser,’ she said, a little miffed.
Rachel padded off into the kitchen. ‘I’ll get some glasses.’
‘I see you’ve tidied up a little around here,’ Catherine called from the other room.
Rachel had been somewhat more attentive to the housekeeping now that she was entertaining, so to speak, on a regular basis. She also found it quite therapeutic when she got twitchy waiting for the phone to ring.
‘Gorgeous flowers,’ Catherine remarked, leaning over a vase of tulips as Rachel came back with the glasses. ‘From an admirer?’
She couldn’t collect her wits in time, her face froze with her mouth open, but nothing came out.
‘Oh my God,’ said Catherine, watching her with a look of surprise laced with admiration. ‘I was only kidding, but they are, aren’t they?’
Rachel sighed, but she was still mute, apparently. Catherine grabbed a glass out of her hand and filled it with champagne.
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ she said, handing the full glass back to Rachel and taking the other one. ‘We really do have something to drink to now.’
She actually sounded genuinely pleased for her. It was a nice change.
‘It’s only early days, I didn’t want to make a big deal.’
‘Tosh,’ said Catherine. ‘It is a big deal, this is so exciting!’ She held her glass up in a toast. ‘To you and – what’s his name?’
Rachel froze again.
‘Rachel?’ Catherine prompted. ‘He does have a name?’
She glanced around, looking for a hint, a cue, something. Her eyes landed on the square of carpet in the doorway to the kitchen. ‘Matt,’ she said finally. ‘His name is Matt.’
‘Ma-tthew, please, Rachel,’ Catherine corrected her. ‘Matt makes him sound like a plumber. He’s not a plumber, is he?’
‘No, Catherine. But what would be wrong with that anyway?’
‘Well, granted, they do make good money, but please, you know the kinds of places they have to crawl into.’ She grimaced. ‘They say they never get it all out from under their fingernails.’
Rachel pulled a face, before taking a good gulp of her champagne.
‘So tell me all about him.’ Catherine put the bottle down on the coffee table and made herself comfortable in one of the armchairs. ‘Where did you meet?’
Oh, God, now she had to start making up details. Actually, the trick was probably to avoid making up too many details, keep it as close to the truth as possible. Then hopefully when it all came out she wouldn’t look completely ridiculous.
‘I actually knew him a long time ago, back at uni,’ said Rachel, perching on the arm of the couch, making it quite clear she wasn’t settling in.
‘Then I must know him as well.’
‘He wasn’t in your year.’
‘Still, I might know him. What’s his last name?’
Oh shit. Rachel glanced around the room for another prompt, trying not to look obvious. Catherine reached for the bottle again, and Rachel got a fleeting glance of the label. ‘Hardy . . . ing. Harding,’ she announced.
‘Matthew Harding,’ Catherine mused. ‘He’s not one of the Point Piper Hardings, is he?’
‘How would I know?’ Rachel watched Catherine refilling her glass. ‘Hey, I said one drink.’
‘I’m only topping it up,’ she dismissed. ‘Anyway, I haven’t heard of a Matthew Harding, he is working as a lawyer?’
‘Uhuh . . . for legal aid.’ This was turning into a miniseries.
‘That’d be right,’ Catherine shook her head. ‘You realise he’ll have no money to speak of, Rachel?’
‘See how much we have in common?’
‘What have I always told you?’ she sighed. ‘It’s just as easy to fall in love with a rich man as a poor one.’
‘I thought you didn’t like gold-diggers?’
‘That’s entirely different, I said fall in love, not take them for everything you can get.’ She sat forwards. ‘Anyway, seeing as we’re sharing, I’ve met someone too.’
Rachel blinked. ‘What are you saying? You’re married. Remember Martin?’
She shrugged. ‘The spark’s gone.’
‘There was a spark?’
‘Oh, there was something, certainly he used to be more enamoured of me, which helped. Now he just annoys me.�
�� She sipped her drink. ‘Then a few months ago, last year actually, I was at a conference, and there was this man . . . We’ve known each other a long time too, I think there’s always been a mutual attraction, but we were both married.’
‘You still are,’ Rachel reminded her.
Catherine ignored that. ‘So we got to talking, and turns out we were both feeling pretty disgruntled with our lot, and we commiserated, and well, one thing led to another as they say, and we ended up in bed together. It was pretty heady stuff, I think it caught us both by surprise.’
‘So, what? Are you telling me you’re having an affair with this guy?’
‘No, no, nothing’s happened since the conference. The situation is quite complicated.’
‘You don’t say.’
Catherine looked at her. ‘Listen Rachel, I’m an attractive woman, I’ve got a great body – and not just “for my age”. That’s such an insulting turn of phrase.’ She curled her lip, before taking a mouthful of wine. ‘I want someone who appreciates me as a woman. I want a bit of excitement in my life. I think Martin would get more excited if he could fillet and cook me.’
‘You know perfectly well he adores you.’
‘Well, he bores me,’ she shrugged.
Rachel was shaking her head. ‘So you’re going to dump him? Just like that?’
‘No, I have to wait for the right time . . .’ Catherine had a dreamy look in her eyes. ‘When all the planets align.’
This was turning Rachel’s stomach. ‘Isn’t that the doomsday scenario?’ she snapped.
Catherine stirred. ‘What’s that?’
‘If all the planets lined up there’d be chaos across the world.’
‘I don’t think so,’ she said. ‘Anyway, it’s just an expression. What I’m trying to say is that I have to bide my time, till the circumstances are right.’
Rachel couldn’t listen to any more of this. Catherine clearly had no shame, but how had it come about that she thought it was okay to say this stuff to Rachel?
Because Rachel didn’t challenge her on it. Oh, perhaps vaguely, on occasion, but not nearly enough. She got to her feet abruptly. ‘I really have to get ready now, Catherine.’
‘Oh. Well that’s all right, I’ll hang around.’ She stood up, picking up the bottle. ‘Let’s move the party into your room, I’ll help you pick out something to wear.’
‘No!’ Rachel blurted, standing in front of her to block her.
‘Why, what’s wrong?’
‘I just . . . I don’t like an audience while I’m getting ready,’ she insisted. ‘And besides, I haven’t even showered yet, and now I’m running late. I said one drink, Catherine.’
She sighed dramatically. ‘Fine, I know when I’m not wanted.’ She handed Rachel the bottle. ‘Have you got a stopper? You and Matthew can finish this off later.’
‘Thank you.’
She picked up her bag and Rachel walked her up the hall and opened the door.
‘I expect to meet him sooner rather than later,’ she said. ‘I get approval rights this time, so you don’t end up with another Sean.’
Rachel wouldn’t credit that with a response, she just turned her cheek to receive another air kiss from Catherine.
‘Ah, it’s still here.’ She picked up her umbrella where it stood propped by the door. ‘Bye then, talk to you soon.’
Rachel closed the door and breathed out, leaning back against it for a moment as she listened to the click of Catherine’s heels on the terrazzo stairs fading away. And then, faintly, the sound of the security door on the ground floor. She would have felt more comfortable if she was sure it had actually locked, but she wasn’t going to run downstairs in her robe to check. She walked down the hall and opened the door of the bedroom. Tom was lying back on the bed, one arm tucked underneath his head. He looked across at her with an expression of melancholy, probably mirroring her own. She climbed onto the bed as he opened his arm out so she could cuddle in close into him.
‘Hi there, Matthew Harding.’
He sighed a kind of half-hearted laugh as he closed his arm around her.
Rachel looked up at him. ‘I don’t want to do this any more, Tom.’
‘I know.’
‘Did you hear Catherine talking about the guy she picked up at a conference?’
‘Mm.’
‘We’re not like that, are we?’
‘Of course we’re not,’ he said, kissing the top of her head.
‘Then I don’t want to have an affair with you any more.’
He shifted onto his side, bringing his face level with hers. ‘Listen to me closely, Rachel. I love you, and I chose to be with you. I just want you to remember that when the shit hits the fan.’
Her face dropped. ‘Now you think it’s going to go badly?’ she said. ‘You’re always trying to reassure me that it’ll be fine, as long as we handle it right.’
‘I hope so, but we can’t control everything,’ said Tom. He stroked her hair from her forehead. ‘I wish we could go away and live our own lives and everyone else could just mind their own business.’
‘What about the girls?’
‘I’m not talking about them, you know that. But I guess it’s time to start working on them,’ he said, resolved. ‘Come home with me tomorrow.’
‘What? No, I can’t do that.’
‘Rachel, we have to get the ball rolling.’ He propped himself up on one elbow, looking down at her. ‘We’ll have a barbecue in the afternoon. It’ll be casual, relaxed. You’ll just be an old family friend coming over for a meal.’
She looked at him doubtfully, and he leaned down to kiss her.
‘Do you want to hide like this forever?’ he asked.
Rachel shook her head.
‘Well, once we get the girls onside, we won’t have to any more. And I don’t give a damn what anyone else thinks.’
‘Okay,’ she said finally. ‘I’ll come. But here’s the deal – no flirting. No touching. No eye contact.’
‘No eye contact?’
‘I’m just saying that this time, and for the meantime, we have to behave the same way we’ve always behaved around them.’
‘Okay, but I’m pretty sure I’ve usually made eye contact with you.’
‘There’s eye contact and there’s eye contact, you know what I’m saying, Tom?’
‘Not really,’ he said, suppressing a grin.
‘Stop teasing.’
‘Okay, so that I’ve got it absolutely clear, we better sort out exactly what’s allowed and what isn’t.’ He shifted to position himself above her. ‘I guess, for example, this is not acceptable,’ he said, nuzzling into her neck.
‘Definitely not,’ she breathed.
‘What about this?’ he murmured in her ear before teasing her lobe between his teeth. That always did her in.
‘No way,’ she managed to say.
‘So I guess this is out of the question,’ he said, as his hand slid down across her belly, and then . . . Rachel let out a squeal.
He lifted his head to look at her. ‘Out of bounds?’ he said, a glint in his eye.
‘Tomorrow, absolutely. Today . . . go for your life.’
The next day
Tom would be back to pick her up any time now. He’d left over an hour ago to collect both the girls, and he was going to tell them that he’d run into Rachel yesterday, and she’d asked after them and so he invited her over for a barbecue. Then they would stop at the supermarket for supplies and come by her place on their way home. Rachel implored him not to overdo the details; she wasn’t comfortable lying to the girls, and besides, it just made it easier to get caught.
She was inordinately nervous. It was stupid, she loved Sophie and Hannah, she’d always got on well with them. And she’d always got on well with Tom, so it shouldn’t seem odd or strange, socialising with them as a family. But it occurred to Rachel that this was the first time she and Tom had been around anyone since they had got together. And she wasn’t sure how she was go
ing to handle it, if it would be obvious, if they’d slip up somehow.
But she had no more time to think about it, because that was Tom now, pranking her phone. She grabbed it, and her bag, and her keys, and hurried out of the flat and down the stairs. When she came out of the entrance, she could see his car parked across the drive, and Hannah waving from the back seat. That was a good sign. But as she drew closer she noticed that Sophie was sitting hunched over against the far window, her arms folded, her expression grim. It might not even have anything to do with her, but Rachel’s heart sank.
She opened the door and climbed into the front seat as Tom and Hannah both greeted her. Sophie remained silent.
‘Hi,’ Rachel said brightly. ‘Thanks for coming to get me.’
‘No problem, it was right on our way,’ said Tom, keeping his eyes firmly on the road. She sensed maybe he was a little nervous too.
‘It’s so great to see you both,’ Rachel said, craning around to look over to the back seat. ‘How’ve you been?’
‘Good thanks, Rachel,’ said Hannah.
Sophie still didn’t say anything.
‘Sophie,’ said Tom, ‘I believe Rachel’s addressing you as well.’
She sighed loudly. ‘I’m fine, thank you for asking.’
Rachel turned to the front again, catching Tom’s eye. But they both looked away quickly.
Three’s a Crowd Page 27
