‘That’s fine, babe. I quite fancied going to the gym anyway. Maybe a spin class.’ Maybe turning up at my boyfriend’s house and telling his wife it’s time to let him go. She didn’t say that last option out loud.
‘No, dinner’s still on.’
Her heart sank.
‘But your mum and dad are going to join us now instead of Josie and Val.’
Oh. That made it better then. Strange Mum and Dad didn’t mention it at the golf course earlier. Must have slipped their minds, or maybe Cammy had only just invited them. No matter. It was a better option than the original plan. And she could always cancel if events this afternoon got in the way.
‘That sounds good. Where are we going?’
He hesitated.
Damn. If it was somewhere she didn’t love, she was definitely cancelling.
‘Thought we’d go to Grilled. I know you love it there.’
Okay, so that was another result. It was her favourite restaurant and she always got some fab pics there, so at least it wouldn’t be a total washout. And with her mum and dad, it would be even better. Unless of course, she got a better offer – but no point showing that hand just yet.
Instead, she used her entire childhood and teenage experience of weekly drama classes to project enthusiasm and glee. ‘That sounds great. Can’t wait. Oops, have to go, another call coming in. Love you babe.’ She rang off, and looked at the other call flashing in front of her. The office again. Jeez, they were persistent today. And she was just as persistently ignoring them. Probably the area manager, wanting to make sure she was on target for this month. Of course, she was. It was only the fact that she was so bloody good at her job that gave her the luxury of being able to take the odd easy shift like today.
Some people found the life of a rep hard to adjust to because it was a pretty solitary existence, especially if, as in her case, the head office was down south. Lila’s job was to represent the company in the west of Scotland and central belt, so she spent four days a week out on the road visiting clients and one day a week working from home, doing admin and planning the following week’s appointments. She’d been doing it for so long it was an absolute breeze. Along the way, she’d picked up a few habits that made it all so much easier – like scheduling Glasgow meetings on a Friday so that she was close to home and could get away with pretty much taking the day off. The call sheet she would submit to the office would have her meeting with Dr Kenneth Manson, a few fabricated conversations with other doctors in the same hospital, a coupleof fake cold calls and a some other manufactured stops that would make it look like she’d had a busy day. Of course, she couldn’t get away with that all the time. The first week back after the Christmas break she’d work her ass off in Stirling, Edinburgh, and a few other smaller territories to make up for it. Balance. It was all about balance and making the system and circumstances bend to her best advantage.
Talking of which… She dressed, brushed her hair, reapplied her lipstick and headed out to the car. On the way past reception she dropped the key in the slot and registered a flash of judgement on the receptionist’s face.
‘My husband,’ Lila wittered, with a smile and a dramatic shudder. ‘He can’t get enough of me.’ She strutted on past, adding just a shade of an extra wiggle to her walk.
In the car, she checked the time. Two p.m.. There was a hospital just a mile or so from here – maybe she could fit in a couple of spec calls after all. Or she could completely fabricate this afternoon’s appointment sheet and take the rest of the day off. Maybe go get her nails done. Nip into House of Fraser for some new Clarins.
Or she could phone his wife again.
Or…
Maybe his wife would be home now. Perhaps she shouldn’t call. What if she just went over there and knocked on her door? What if she just calmly and honestly told his wife what was going on. She must know anyway. She must. Ken had fallen out of love with her so long ago she was probably desperate for him to move on and find happiness elsewhere. They could discuss it calmly, rationally, and make a plan for going forward.
Ken’s house was only about fifteen minutes from here. It wouldn’t be a stretch at all to get there, speak to her, get thisdone. And then… Cammy. He’d be home from work at six, so she could let him know, break it to him gently, and they could all just get on with their lives, be with the people they were meant to be with.
What was the alternative? Wait another seven years? She’d be heading for forty by then, and much as she didn’t ever see herself with children, if she changed her mind she might be too late.
That wasn’t what bothered her most though. It was spending more years without Ken in her bed every night, going on holiday without him, enduring special days without him there. It reminded her too much of her childhood. Dad’s job took him away so much that half the time he didn’t even make it back for Christmas. Mum tried to hide the fact that she missed him – hair done, lipstick on, face the world – but Lila knew. There was one year, the best year ever, when he’d walked in the door unexpectedly late on Christmas Eve and Mum had been so happy she’d danced for hours.
The circumstances were obviously very different, but Mum had her husband with her all the time now. Wasn’t it time that Lila had that too? It would work out so much better for all of them. She’d be happy. Ken would be happy. And she’d get to spend more time with Mum again because Dad would have a new golfing buddy. And even better, he was a heart surgeon, so they’d already have stuff to talk about. What were the chances? Her dad had a heart condition and she was marrying a cardiac surgeon. It was fate. Serendipity. Yep, this was the best outcome for all of them and it was up to her to make it happen.
She indicated left, and turned on to the expressway that headed out to the West End, to the house that she’d driven past so many times over the years, wondering what he wasdoing inside. In the early days, sometimes she’d just go and sit there, with a coffee and her favourite songs on the CD player, just watching the curtains, feeling close to him because he was a few feet away, but trying not to think about the wife that was in there with him.
This was her time to get the life she wanted.
She deserved it. So did Ken.
And if she wanted those obstacles and challenges gone, she was more than prepared to make that happen.
2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
13
Caro
It took Caro a while to decide where to start. In the end, geography made the decision. Of all the places that Lila visited, the beauty salon on Ingram Street was one of the more regular and it was only a five-minute walk from the tapas restaurant, a bonus given that it was a freezing cold day.
