by Kaylie Kay
‘What are we watching then?’ she asked her daughter, who had firm possession of the remote control.
‘How about this,’ she said, stopping on a movie with a group of teens in the picture.
‘No,’ said Lewis flatly without hesitation. ‘That one,’ he shrieked as she scrolled straight past an animated film, but that was a definite no from her too.
Susan realised that the decision could take some time yet, and despite committing herself to relaxation in Jeff’s absence, she couldn’t quite resist her urge to clean up, just a little bit.
‘I’ll be back in a minute, I’m just going to clear up the kitchen.’ Neither of them seemed to notice as she left the room, both engrossed in the endless list of movies, unable to come to any sort of agreement.
The sun was just beginning to set outside, signalling that it was almost certainly time for a glass of champagne. Susan decided that the tidying up could wait just a couple more minutes whilst she opened a fresh bottle and poured herself a glass. She inhaled the bubbles before taking a sip, feeling instantly even more relaxed than she had done already.
As she stood at the sink minutes later she gazed out of the window, surprised to see that Luke was still working at the end of the garden. It was six o’clock, she confirmed with the display on the Rangemaster, surely he needed to be getting home to his new baby soon? Susan was clueless about their finances, not sure if he was paid hourly or otherwise, Jeff took care of all of that, but she was sure that this must be overtime.
‘Movie’s starting, Mum,’ called Sophia from the lounge.
Susan topped up her glass and carried it, and the bottle, through with her. Well she was sure the movie would be a long one after all!
The doorbell rang and the three of them all looked at each other, no one jumping to answer it. After a moment Susan stood up, feeling the effects of the champagne as she did so, noting the empty bottle on the side. She couldn’t work out in her fuzzy head who on earth would be ringing her doorbell at this time. The children had turned back to watch the end of the movie; it was just getting to the good bit and there was no danger of them moving.
Susan opened the door, wishing for a moment that she had a spy hole, like in the hotels, but reasoning that since the property was gated it wasn’t really necessary, no one could get in uninvited.
Luke stood on the step looking slightly awkward, shifting his weight from one leg to another.
‘I’m really sorry, I was working late, hoping to catch Mr Kennedy when he got home. Will he be back soon, do you know?’
‘Sorry, Luke, no, he’s away.’ Susan felt bad, wondering if he would have gone home hours ago if he’d realised that Jeff wasn’t coming back tonight. ‘He won’t be back until tomorrow evening. Anything that I can help with?’
She doubted very much that she could help with anything that he wanted Jeff for, especially now that the champagne was blurring her judgement. Her cheeks felt warm and she could feel herself being drawn to him, her face unable to compose itself, she felt her eyes widen.
‘Oh, no, I just wanted to talk to him about my hours, I could do with an extra day or two to get everything tidied up now that the trees are dropping their leaves. It’s okay, it can wait until he gets back anyway.’ He didn’t move; although nothing more needed to be said Susan had fixed him with her glazed stare and he must have felt the energy coming from her. ‘I can show you what I’ve been doing today if you like.’
It was almost dark and Susan couldn’t see as far down the garden as the hedge that he had been working on, but that didn’t matter.... as they only got as far as the summer house.
Chapter 22
Susan lay in bed the next morning deciding whether it had really happened or if it was just an alcohol-fuelled dream. Deep down she knew that it was real but chose the latter, deciding that there was nothing to be gained by regret, and trusting that Luke would be honourable in his silence. Funnily, the guilt that she’d had last time didn’t really come, maybe because Jeff hadn’t been here, or maybe because she wasn’t panicking so much about being caught out this time. Whatever it was she decided there and then that she wasn’t going to think about it anymore.
Despite her thumping head she managed to get herself moving, and was soon flying around the house putting everything back in its place; it wouldn’t do for Jeff to come home to this mess. After checking in every cupboard, she finally located the vacuum cleaner, which it seemed no longer lived where it had done the last time she had needed it, pre-Lucy. The children came and went as her chores continued, and she was beginning to feel like Cinderella, still in her dressing gown at midday, wondering how the last three hours had passed so quickly.
She showered, letting the water wash away all traces of Susan Harrison, she had to go now as Jeff was due home. She blow-dried her hair, spent time making sure that her makeup was perfect, and chose a smart casual Whistles dress to subtly impress him with when he got home.
An image of Janice came to her mind, and she quickly swapped the dress for something a little more eye-catching, one that she knew Jeff really liked. She had competition now, not that she thought for a minute that Jeff would have eyes for anyone else, but how could he think his wife was the most beautiful woman in the world when he looked at an equally, if not more, beautiful one every day at work?
She hadn’t thought to check her phone, she had been far too busy all morning, and it wasn’t as if Susan Kennedy’s social life had her phone ringing off the hook anyway.
He’d said he’d be home about three o’clock, a short meeting in the morning he said, then he’d be flying straight home. Three came and went, and so did four, before she finally located her phone, ready to call him.
Won’t be home until tomorrow morning, client has asked us to stay for dinner and couldn’t say no. Sorry xxxxx
There had been three missed calls and then he had obviously given up and texted her.
Okay, hope you’re enjoying yourself, we miss you xxxx
It wasn’t what she wanted to say, what she wanted to say was that she’d ‘just spent all morning being Cinder-effin-rella.’ That she’d just spent an hour getting ready for him, no one else was here to appreciate how lovely she looked. That she hoped Jaded Janice was choking on frogs’ legs.
Susan stopped herself running away with her angry thoughts, knowing that she was overreacting, but even so, she couldn’t help it.
‘Kids, get dressed, we’re going out.’ There was no way she was sitting around the house all dressed up, no way José.
‘Where?’ called Sophie from her room.
‘Bluewater.’
‘Yesssss!’ came the reply.
Susan doubted her son would be so enthralled about going to the shopping Mecca, he could be bribed though. She climbed the stairs to tell him, suspecting that he had his headphones on and hadn’t heard her.
She checked her purse, making doubly sure that the credit card Jeff had given her was in there. They were going to shop with no limits, and then have dinner somewhere really, really nice...on him. He may be in Paris, enjoying dinner at the Eiffel Tower or somewhere equally beautiful, with her, but they could have a nice time too. She was damned if she was sitting around here all dressed up with nowhere to go, like the mug that she felt.
The best part of three thousand pounds later, and exhausted, they made it home. The clock on the display told her that it was almost 10.30, and she was exhausted. The retail therapy had been just what she’d needed though, and her bad mood had lifted. Sophia was buzzing with her purchases, and even Lewis was happy, with enough Lego to keep him busy until next year; it had been a very successful shopping trip!
She hoped that Jeff wouldn’t question the big spend when the bill came in, but she was ready to blame it on her abandonment issues if he did. He had never questioned one before anyhow, although she didn’t recall ever having had such a blowout.
She felt so much better now, it was amazing how money really could buy you happiness, she thought. Now it
was like she’d taken a thousand deep breaths, and was ready to face the next day, getting poised for his return all over again.
Chapter 23
New York immigration had never been the friendliest, but today really was taking the biscuit. The grey-faced, bloated man hadn’t even looked at her as he took her passport, but she smiled at him anyway, if only to annoy him if he did.
‘Four fingers, right hand,’ he barked, and she robotically placed her fingers on the green scanner.
‘Camera.’ He pointed the small camera at her and she resisted the urge to pull a funny face, pretty sure that it wouldn’t go down too well.
He scribbled something on her crew declaration, the one she had filled out earlier to say she had nothing to declare, and thrust it, and her passport, back at her. This was the first time he had looked at her, boring through her with his unblinking eyes. Was that a scowl? It was like a real look of hatred, and she quickly walked off, glad to get away from him. She had a bad feeling though; why hadn’t he stamped the form like normal, like every other time, except in Chicago?
Her worst fears were confirmed as she handed it to the customs officer at the exit and he pointed her towards secondary inspection. Not again! What the hell?! Susan couldn’t help rolling her eyes, shoulders dropping, but doing as she was told, she had no choice.
‘Can you tell the captain I’ve been pulled in please, hon?’ she asked one of the crew who was walking towards her, on their way to freedom.
‘Oh no,’ the girl said with genuine sympathy, ‘hope they don’t keep you too long.’
Susan could only manage a shrug; in honesty she was feeling a little upset, and was hoping she wouldn’t cry in front of anyone. Once had been bad enough but now it was starting to feel personal.
‘We’ll hold the bus,’ the girl called after her.
Oh seriously?! Susan had been sitting waiting for at least half an hour now, watching the people in front of her be called up one by one to have a stranger go through their personal belongings. She had to admit, some of them did look a bit suspect, but not all, and she was pretty sure that she didn’t.
There were three of them searching bags, and she kept everything crossed that when it was her turn the friendly looking young one would call her. Quite frankly the other two scared her. But no, it had to be the worst of the three and she cried silently, as the butch looking woman with close cropped hair, and a face only a mother could love called her over.
‘Open your bag, ma’am,’ she ordered. Susan lifted her case onto the table and opened it. Butch signalled to the declaration that she was still holding and took it from her, seeming to understand a meaning behind the random letters that he had scribbled on it.
‘Anything to declare this time?’ she asked, making Susan nervous with her eye contact.
‘No,’ she said, wondering what she meant by ‘this time’; did she know about Chicago?
‘Okay, that was your chance to tell me if you did.’ She was shaking her head and raising her eyebrows like she thought Susan had lied, starting to unpack her case. She checked everything: pockets, toiletries, every nook and cranny. Susan almost had to say something when she was mauling her best underwear, as if she had never seen anything that wasn’t from Walmart before, and confirming her earlier suspicions regarding her sexual orientation.
‘Okay, you’re clean,’ she said finally, ‘you can pack up now.’
Susan looked at the jumbled pile of clothes and belongings and bit her tongue, struggling to control her anger. The officer took a step back and looked at her; she obviously wasn’t going to help, but it seemed she was going to enjoy watching her put everything back, find pleasure in stripping innocent people of their dignity.
‘Can I just ask,’ Susan started. This was probably a really bad idea. You never, ever questioned them, unless you want to end up getting the rubber glove treatment! She had started now though so she might as well go on, trying to sound as submissive as possible. ‘This is the second time I’ve been pulled in, is there a reason for it, or is it just random?’
She was looking at her, a sneer on her face.
‘Because you got caught before. We don’t take kindly to people like you, Miss, you’ll be seeing more of us for a while yet.’
‘What?’ Susan struggled to understand what she was saying. ‘But I’ve never been stopped with anything before? I’ve never had anything I shouldn’t have!’ she protested.
‘Well it says here that you have.’ Butch was waving the declaration at her, that must have been what the letters meant. ‘If you think it’s wrong you can contact this department.’ She turned and took a leaflet from a pile on the desk behind her, putting it down on the table next to the case. The sneer had gone and Susan suspected, or hoped, that she might possibly believe her. Obviously, she was being confused with somebody else, now it all made sense.
‘Thank you,’ she said, carefully repacking her bag, putting the leaflet on the top; she would have to sort that out soon if she didn’t want to do this every time she came in!
The crew cheered as she got on the bus. She was sure that they hadn’t enjoyed having to wait for her, but they knew that she had been having a much worse time than them. She dropped, relieved, into an empty seat, taking her second phone out of her bag. Now that was all over and she could look forward to seeing Tony, she smiled.
Call me, it’s important x
The message was from Mark.
Chapter 24
They sat at their table for two, in the window of the restaurant, and watched as the Manhattan skyline slowly passed them by. Tony had surpassed himself this time, bringing her up to The View, the circular restaurant that revolved on the top of The Marriott in Times Square. Susan matched the buildings from the illustration on her cocktail napkin with the ones outside, recognising the gilded folds of the Chrysler Building’s roof. She was still awestruck, despite her numerous visits, by the giant structures that surrounded her.
‘Hey, Tony,’ a broad New York accent interrupted them.
‘Hey, Karl, fancy seeing you here.’ Tony was up and eagerly shaking the hand of a thirty-something man that she thought she recognised from somewhere. ‘Don’t tell me you’ve got a date, man?’
‘You better believe it.’
‘Awesome, where’s the lucky lady?’ Tony patted his smiling friend on the arm.
‘Like I’d introduce her to you,’ he laughed, before noticing Susan sitting down behind him, his face dropping. ‘Oh sorry, I didn’t mean anything, just that he’s such a good-looking guy, you know.’
‘Relax,’ Tony was amused as his friend tried to stutter his way out of making him look bad, ‘she knows what you mean.’ He turned and flashed his winning smile at her. She did know, she was under no illusions that someone like Tony was sitting around on his own between her visits.
‘Anyway, I’d better go, can’t keep the lady waiting. Thanks for the recommendation though, buddy, great place.’ Susan wondered how many other ladies Tony had brought up there. ‘Nice to meet you,’ he nodded at her, patting Tony’s arm as he walked off.
Tony sat down, shaking his head as he watched his friend walk away.
‘That guy, he gets so nervous with women, it’s no wonder he can’t hold one down.’
‘Not like you, huh,’ Susan quipped; she did love his confidence but that brief moment when she thought about him with other girls had knocked her from her pedestal slightly. She pulled herself together quickly though, what the hell was she doing? There was absolutely no room for those sorts of emotions in this arrangement! Get back in the moment, Susan Harrison, she scolded herself.
Hours later they strolled through Times Square, amongst its bright lights and digital billboards. The city was still wide awake as people made their way home from the theatres on Broadway, or to the next bar. Tony hailed a yellow cab, opening its door for Susan to get in first.
‘43rd and Lexington please, driver,’ she said, and he nodded his head. She loved the ease of getting around
here, the city built like a grid of streets and avenues, everything found by its position between them.
Tony put his arm around her and pulled her towards him. He smelt so good, even better than usual, she thought, impatient to get him back to the hotel. Of course, he had already been to her room when she had arrived, the routine never changed, nor did she want it to.
As Tony paid the driver five minutes later, Susan went on ahead to her room, surprised when she got there to hear the sound of her phone ringing. Mark, again, what on earth could be so important? She definitely wasn’t going to speak to him now, but she was beginning to think that maybe she should call him back soon, perhaps it really was something important.
The sound of the door opening snapped her out of her wondering, and she turned the phone off; the last thing she wanted was Mark to be disturbing her when she was with Tony!
‘Susan, I’m so glad you called me back, I’ve been trying to get hold of you.’ Mark sounded so relieved, she hoped he’d calm down in a minute though as it wasn’t very attractive. She liked her companions to be calm and confident, not needy and flustered.
‘Mark, I don’t use this phone at home,’ she said flatly. She had put him on speaker as she got ready for work. Tony had left a couple of hours ago, and now she was just putting the finishing touches to her makeup, hoping that it wouldn’t take too long to clear up whatever this was with Mark.
‘I know, but I was just hoping you might turn it on.’ He was still too excitable. ‘Anyway, it might be nothing, but, my wife found out about us.’
‘What?’ Susan stopped what she was doing, mascara wand held aloft. ‘How the hell, Mark?’ She was furious, how could he have let it happen? She took a deep breath; his wife was in San Diego, it wasn’t that bad, exhale.
