‘345 Fullerton Terrace, Belgravia,’ she whispered and Tim repeated it to the driver, then pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and gently wiped away some of the red paint from her lips.
‘Are you all right?’ he asked gently.
‘I just want to go home,’ she said, feeling humiliated and ashamed. She couldn’t make eye contact with him.
‘Do you know that woman?’
‘No.’
‘We need to call the police.’
‘No,’ Ellie repeated, more forcefully.
Tim waited for a further explanation but none was forthcoming. She could sense his frustration. She looked out of the window so she didn’t have to see the disappointment on his face.
‘Just who are you, Ellie?’ he persisted. ‘Why would someone want to do that to you?’
She remained silent for the rest of their awkward fifteen-minute journey to her home. As the cab pulled up outside her large, white, four-storey townhouse, she assumed that Tim was wondering how a PA could afford to live in such a sought-after postcode. But she was in no mood to admit the truth.
She got out of the cab while Tim paid the driver. By the time he’d been handed his change, Ellie had rushed up the steps to her front door and held out her key card to it. It opened to Andrei standing inside. He took one look at his emotional employer and was about to launch himself at Tim, still standing on the road, but Ellie stopped him as she entered, and Andrei shut the door, leaving Tim out in the cold.
Chapter 36
MANDY
Mandy could not get enough of her niece Bella, who sat in a high chair around her parents’ dining table, surrounded by a group of other small children who were all unable to comprehend the celebrations before them.
Bella’s chubby legs kicked with excitement as the lights dimmed and her mother entered the room with a pink birthday cake decorated with a large candle with the number one on. Everyone gathered around to sing Happy Birthday and Mandy caught eyes with her sister Karen, who was trying hard to hold back her happy tears. As Bella’s Aunty Paula helped her to blow out the candles, Bella blew a huge spit bubble and reached out to grab the cake.
Mandy adored all three of her nieces and nephews and she always jumped at the chance to play with them. Since they’d been born, she had spent more on designer label clothes for them than on anything she bought for herself. But she had a secret she was too embarrassed to admit: each time she bought something for them, she also purchased an identical one for the child she hoped to have. She had two suitcases and a holdall under the bed in her spare room crammed full of tiny outfits that would never be worn.
However, lately she was finding it increasingly difficult to be around the children – the thought of not being able to have a child with her DNA Match, as her sisters had, made her feel physically sick. Even if she soon met someone to start a family with, he would never be Mr Right because Mr Right was dead. She worried she wouldn’t be able to love a baby she’d had with someone else in the same way she might have loved a child she’d made with Richard. And she was quietly beginning to resent Paula and Karen for having everything she dreamed of. If Kirstin could find a nice girl to settle down with, she’d be next, and the wedge that separated them would expand yet further.
‘Right, missy, come with me,’ Paula said and grabbed Mandy firmly by the arm, frog-marching her out into the garden, and into the plastic Wendy house that belonged to Bella. Inside, they crouched to sit on the small furniture and Paula produced a pack of cigarettes from her pocket, a wicked glint in her eye. ‘Just what are you playing at?’
Mandy feigned innocence, though she knew exactly what her sister wanted to know.
‘Richard, your Match. You promised we’d get to meet him today. Then at the last minute you suddenly say he’s “busy with an urgent personal training booking”. Who needs a personal training session urgently? Come on now.’
Mandy swallowed hard. She’d told her family almost everything there was to know about Richard with one exception – that he was no longer alive. She stared at Paula, unsure what to say.
‘It’s been two months since you met the love of your life and we haven’t seen hide nor hair of him.’ Paula blew smoke out the open window. ‘So what’s wrong with him?’
‘There’s nothing wrong with him,’ Mandy said and took a deep drag. She hadn’t realised she’d needed a cigarette that badly until she felt the smoke hit the back of her throat.
‘Is there a massive mole on his forehead? Tattoos all over his body? Is he missing a limb? Is he a foot shorter than you? Is he black? You do know that even our old racist grandfather could get his head around Richard’s colour if he knew you were happy—’
‘No, no, it’s none of those.’ Mandy wished it were that easy.
‘You think we’re going to scare the poor boy off, don’t you?’
‘Well, you girls can be a bit full-on sometimes …’ Mandy wasn’t ready to share the story just yet, so said, ‘He’s quite shy. I’ll introduce him when I think he’s ready.’
‘OK, fair enough.’ Strangely Paula seemed satisfied with the explanation. ‘But let’s not leave it till Bella’s second birthday before I get to meet my brother-in-law-to-be.’
‘No, of course not,’ Mandy said, aware that her lies had an expiration date.
Chapter 37
