“Aye, what a shame.” John nodded.
“I heard she hit the roof when he came in on New Year’s Day,” Trisha said.
I was suddenly reminded of one of the early texts Rowan had sent me. He said he’d had a shitty day and had wished he had stayed with me instead. I felt like I’d been kicked in the stomach, waves of guilt washed over me.
“How do you know?” I asked, feeling nauseous. I pushed my plate of food away.
“A friend of mine from dog training classes is their neighbour. I suppose it’s not really her place to say, but she knows I’m friendly with Rowan at work and she was concerned. She could hear them arguing even from her place, apparently.”
“It’s terrible when things get like that,” John sighed. “Rowan’s such a nice man.”
“Yeah, and that Christina is hard work.” Trisha nodded sadly. “I’ve only met her a few times, but my friend tells me she can be a bit of a cow.”
“They were really young when they had their daughter though, weren’t they?” Becca added. I knew she was thinking about the conversation we’d had in my living room the morning after New Years with Louise. I kept my head down but listened avidly.
“Oh yeah, Rowan was only seventeen. No one really knows what happened exactly, but from what I’ve pieced together it sounds like both their parents were very religious. Rowan said he and Christina met at some church thing. I think they got married as a cover for her, knowing no one would bat an eyelid if someone in wedlock got pregnant,” Trisha replied, sipping her drink thoughtfully.
“I get the impression they’re only together for Teegan’s sake these days.” John nodded, “I’ve heard the way Christina speaks to him sometimes.”
“She has a bloody cheek if you ask me, after what she’s done to him.” Trisha huffed.
Becca glanced at me. “What did she do?” she asked.
“A few years back, there was a whole fiasco about her having cheated on him,” John began. I felt my stomach fall, my skin prickled, and I felt suddenly cold. “No one really knows the details, just that it was all swept under the rug to keep his daughter from knowing.”
“I don’t think Rowan was surprised though.” Trisha spoke out, standing to wash her mug. “He was in here working the day after the shit hit the fan. He’d looked tired and stressed, but not really upset. I think he must have known about it for a long time before she slipped up.”
“That’s...” Becca trailed off.
“Horrible.” I filled in. She glanced at me, her eyes dark and sympathetic. There was a thud from above and hurried footsteps back down the stairs. Everyone quickly found something to busy themselves with.
Rowan returned to the room. He muttered his apologies, sitting back on the sofa next to John and reaching for his mug. I watched as he turned his nose up, disgruntled that his drink had gone cold whilst he had been gone.
No one had said anything yet and I knew it was just a matter of time before Rowan noticed and put two and two together. I didn’t want to be the first one to start pretending like we hadn’t just been gossiping about his private life, but I felt like I owed him. It was bad enough all that shit had happened; he didn’t need to know people at work were talking about it too.
“Has anyone been to that new restaurant that’s opened down the road yet?” I asked, feeling awkward as everyone, including Rowan, looked at me.
“There’s a new one?” Becca chipped in, looking at me quizzically.
“Yeah, it looks pretty nice. I was just wondering if anyone has actually been yet,” I mumbled, looking at the hem of my tunic.
“What kind of food is it?” Trisha asked, sitting back down and opening the Tupperware box on her knees.
“I’m not sure. Italian, I think,” I replied, shrugging. “I haven’t really had a proper look, I just noticed it had a big poster in the window saying it opened New Years Day.”
“We’ll have to go out there sometime.” Becca smiled, “So long as it’s not too expensive.”
“We could always make it a work’s do?” John added. “We can all give it a try that way.” Everyone muttered in agreement.
“Oh, Max, I’ve been meaning to ask you.” Becca turned to me, tapping my leg. I glanced at her.
“Yeah?”
“Have you found—” She paused, blushing as she realised everyone was listening in. “Um...”
“Have I found what?” I grinned, knowing it was probably something she had taken off at my flat whilst hooking up with Oliver and had forgotten to pick back up.
“My, uh... The tights I was wearing at New Years?” she mumbled quickly. Unfortunately for her, the others didn’t miss what she’d said.
