Scotland. My heart falls. “Congratulations, it’s beautiful up there.” And I make sure to give her my best brightest smile. She doesn’t need to worry about me, not tonight.
If she’s moving with him to St Andrews, it means she’ll have to give up the lease on her flat. Emma has one of the last few council flats in Battersea. Almost opposite the park. these are like gold dust. A great central location and very cheep rent.
Later that night when all the guests have gone and I’m in the kitchen washing up, she comes in with masses of take away boxes still half full.
“It’s a really good job for Mike,” she says almost apologetically.”
“It sounds it. When does he start?”
“He has to be there in three weeks, it’s why we decided to settle things.” She holds up her left hand with the sparkling diamond. “But I don’t have to move immediately.”
She’s so sweet trying to reassure me. Considering they’ve been almost inseparable the last few months, she must be eager to go as soon as possible.
“Emm, darling.”
She stops me. “Really don’t worry. I have to give notice at the office.”
The office is her day job, the one that pays the bills while she waits for her acting career to take off.
It won’t help if she’s moving to St Andrews. There’s not much theatre work in smaller towns. As for film, forget it, it’s London or nothing.
“I’m going to retrain as a teacher,” she says. “Let’s face it, I’m thirty, if it hasn’t happened yet it’s not going to.”
“Won’t you miss it?”
She shrugs. “What? The cattle call auditions, the hundreds of letters chasing casting directors, accepting unpaid Fringe plays in the hope I’d be spotted? The endless rejections? No, I’m not going to miss it. It’s different for you. You have an agent who gets you paid work, you’re inAladdinfor God’s sake.”
Oh, that’s right,Aladdin.A two-month tour. Starting at the end of November.
“I’ll keep the flat until you get back and can get yourself sorted.” She says, guessing my worry. Or reading my expression.
“Oh, darling, don’t do that. Don’t stay for me. I’m so, so happy for you and the timing is perfect,” I say, turning away to wipe the counters and put leftover korma and sag paneer in the fridge. “My stuff can go into storage. I’ll start looking for a new flat tomorrow and line something up for when I get back from tour. It’s a good time for house searching. Lots of properties on the market in the low season.
Yes and everything will cost twice as much as this flat.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. You need to be with Mike. It’s a very exciting new adventure.”
We hug again.
Chapter Three
Wednesday 6 November
The next few days prove me right. There are lots of places to rent, none of them affordable. In the middle of all this, Mum keeps calling me. It’s the worst possible time to speak to her because things are so up in the air. However, it’s never easy to ignore my mother when she wants to talk to me.
“Hi, Mum, I’m just getting into bed.” I put her on speaker while changing into my pyjamas.
“Your step father is not happy about how you left things. You should apologise to him.”
“No.”
“That’s not like you,” she says sounding very reasonable. “Howard is a good man, and he is your stepdad he deserves respect.” My mother’s self-absorption and insensitivity are truly impressive.
I take a deep breath and ask. “Mum? Who was my biological father?”
“What?”
