‘Yes, just as you go back into the ED reception.The doors are locked, but if you let the nurse at reception know who you’re with, she’ll let you back through.’
Amber got the hint, saying, ‘Erm, sure,’ as she got up and opened the curtain just wide enough to let herself out.She should have crossed the ward in the direction of the doors, but something made her stop.Maybe curiosity.Or a premonition.Or the realisation that he’d already lied, coupled with a desire to get the full picture.Whatever the reason, she stopped, stood absolutely still, and listened as he rattled off an address in what she knew was a very posh part of Edinburgh.
Bernadette spoke again, and even on the other side of the curtain, Amber could hear something loaded in her words.
‘Next of kin?’
There was a pause that stretched.And stretched.Then a little longer.Before the man she’d just shagged sighed, and then reeled off a name that surprised her.Actually, it was more than surprise.This one probably fell into the ‘shocked the knickers off her’ category.Not that she was ever removing her undergarments for a bloke again after today.The NHS couldn’t afford it.
But still… It was all she needed to hear.Another piece of the jigsaw clicked in.Make that two pieces, because she also remembered his murmured words when they were loading him into the ambulance.
She followed Bernadette’s instructions and made her way to the doors, where a smiling triage nurse pressed a big green button to let her out.She considered just keeping going, but she’d left her handbag behind, and besides, she needed more than a partial confirmation of her suspicions.That’s why she bought a bottle of water, then, helped by the receptionist as directed, went straight back into the Emergency Department.By the time she reached his bay and went back through the curtain, Bernadette was gone.Excellent.That meant she could get straight to the point.She inhaled.Tried to keep her voice steady.Spoke in the same tone she’d used once before when she challenged a man she’d caught lying to her.Back then, Ewan had come clean.She wondered if this one was about to do the same.
‘Ray, I need to ask you something.Are you married?’
12
LILA ANDERSON – SUNDAY 21 FEBRUARY 2021
Since she’d walked into the wake at the function suite of the very grand St Kentigern Hotel in Glasgow a few moments ago, Lila Anderson had been waiting for someone to wrestle her to the ground and have her ejected.Thankfully, back at the cathedral, the traditional post-funeral line-up – whereby the family members stand in a line outside the church, and the mourners stream by, giving their condolences to each person – had been dispensed with, probably because of the chilly temperatures, the light rain, and the need to avoid keeping about two hundred VIPs waiting in the cold.That meant everyone had made their way back to the hotel in swift fashion, flooding the function room and overwhelming the person at the door who was checking the names on the guest list.Lila had just held her head up and swooped by as if she belonged here – which, in her mind, she definitely bloody did.She had been an intimate part of Kenneth Manson’s life for over seven years – the mistress who had catered to his every whim, who’d believed all the promises that he would leave that cow, Bernadette, for her.Of course, that wasn’t exactly how it had all worked out, and Lila felt her face flush to the colour of the soles on her Louboutin stilettos every time she thought about the night that had wrecked everything.Before her mind could slip back to the past, she distracted herself with a very necessary drink.
Without even a glance at the waitress holding the tray, she scooped up a medicinal glass of white wine and wandered over to a high, round, bistro-style table in the corner, where she could keep a relatively low profile while sussing out everything that was going on.As an added bonus, it had a mirrored wall right behind it, so she got the opportunity to check out her reflection and the satisfaction of confirming that she was looking incredible.She was a hundred per cent positive that there wasn’t another woman in the room that could come close.Her white-blonde bob was swept back in an elegant chignon, and her Chanel Red lips were a stark contrast to the grey smoky eyeshadow she’d diligently applied this morning.Not too much.Just enough to be utterly striking, while remaining effortlessly classy.Her Louboutins were the perfect accessory to her black Dolce & Gabbana skirt and jacket.In a twist that added to the satisfaction of the moment, she’d remembered this morning that Kenneth had bought the outfit for her in Milan, on a trip they’d taken there under the guise of a work thing.He was a guest lecturer at some university over there, but they both knew he’d only agreed to it so that they had an excuse to get away for a wild weekend – one of the many they’d enjoyed in the seven and a half years that they were together.
Almost eight years.More than one fifth of her life, spent waiting for that man to leave his wife.But she’d thought it would be worth it because despite their twenty-odd year age gap, she’d truly loved his fierce intellect, his sexiness, and yes, his arrogance too.And the gifts and the lavish trips were an added bonus.Of course, she hadn’t been stupid enough to dedicate herself fully to him in that time – there was no way she was spending birthdays and Christmases alone, and she needed at least three two-week-long holidays a year, so she’d had other relationships too.One boyfriend had even proposed to her, but of course she’d refused.She and Kenneth both knew that her dalliances were merely place holders until he left his wife.
At least, that’s what she’d thought.It still made her want to scream that the sick, twisted bastard hadn’t come good on his promises.The aftershocks had come like tremors after an earthquake that night.After losing patience with waiting for Kenneth, she’d finally gone to tell Bernadette about their affair, only to find out that the mousy little thing had actually – slap her arse and call her duped – already left Kenneth.There had been a brief moment of elation at the prospect of her job being done.Kenneth was free.He could be with her.They could ride off into the sunset.Right up until the duplicitous bastard announced that he’d never been serious and didn’t want her.She was strictly ‘bit on the side’ material.Not a wife.And he’d never changed his mind about that.Instead, according to the grapevine, since his divorce, he’d spent his time shagging a selection of glamorous women while trying to win Bernadette The Frump back.What.A.Fool.
Meanwhile, she’d had a couple of videos go viral on social media, leading to a high-profile relationship with the captain of a French football team, and a stint on a reality TV show called Heartbreak Hotspot – a Love Island-style dramafest that put six men and six women who’d had their hearts broken on an island in the sun.For a month or so after she’d been voted off, Lila had been a publicity sensation – and yes, it had got her a free boob job and an invitation to the BAFTAs – but that had soon worn off and she’d been dumped yet again – this time, by the general public, who’d moved on to the next celebrity obsession and left her to dwell in obscurity.
Since then, she’d been forced to make a living as the membership sales manager at her father’s very prestigious golf club.Naturally, she was great at it.Coercing middle-aged men into parting with extortionate amounts of money was a talent that could also be utilised in the workplace.
She cast a side eye towards Bernadette, who was now sitting on the other side of the room, oblivious to her presence.There would never be a day when she would understand why Kenneth could possibly want a fifty-something-year-old woman who was dressed in polyester, instead of a thirty-something goddess in Dolce & Gabbana.Maybe he was on drugs.
As the memory of his rejection began to kill her vibe, she shook it off and scanned the room.It was definitely a stellar gathering and she recognised at least a dozen well-known faces.She also recognised at least one other woman that she knew Kenneth had shagged, before they’d got together.Not that he’d admitted that, of course.All she’d had to work on were rumours and the way certain women acted when they were in his company.The important thing was that not one of them came even close to Lila in looks, brains or class.
Was that what had motivated her to come today – one last two-finger gesture up to Kenneth, in case he was looking down on them right now?
Look at me, you absolute idiot.Look what you turned down.What you could have had.Losing me should be the biggest regret of your life.
She usually prided herself on acute self-awareness, but the truth was that she wasn’t quite sure what had made her come.Or maybe there were just so many reasons.
This should have been one of her life-defining moments.If Kenneth had chosen her, then she’d be the one in the centre of this sympathy party right now, and all these people would be consoling her.Not to mention she’d be a damn sight richer that she currently was.Last time she checked her bank balance, she was nudging into her overdraft, so she just didn’t look any more.She’d worry about it the first time her credit card got declined.
She also wanted to be here because, as far as she was concerned, after giving him eight years of her life, she belonged here.If all she was going to get out of this was a few glasses of wine, some free hors d’oeuvres and a place in a room filled with the kind of people she aspired to be, then she’d take it.
And the final reason… Urgh, these intrusive thoughts were definitely killing her wine buzz again.Being reminded of just how much Kenneth had taken from her made her stomach ache more than her last round of liposuction (this size 8 figure didn’t come easy).But the sad, pathetic, unpalatable truth was that he was the love of her life.There.That was it.In fact, he was the only love of her life.She’d never loved anyone before Kenneth or since.Not even the football player who’d been her rebound fling, or the Heartbreak Hotspot bloke who’d proposed a week after they met and then bailed when the publicity died down and he’d decided that, at twenty-four, he didn’t want a woman in her thirties.Great.Rejected and old.
Again, she shook off the negative vibes, vowing to enjoy every second of the best revenge against the men who’d discarded her.Right now she was in a room with the Scottish glitterati and that meant a plethora of wealthy, well-known people to network in.Kenneth always was the jealous type so she just hoped that he was watching, full of seething regret, in the afterlife.
As the waitress passed by, Lila swapped her empty glass for a full one, then hastily turned to face the other direction, because she spotted Marge, Kenneth’s very own personal Rottweiler, make her way over to Bernadette.Fuck.If anyone was going to get her tossed out of here, it was that old boot.One of Lila’s favourite things about her relationship with Kenneth, other than the sensational sex, the gifts, the lavish meals and the flash holidays, was that she’d got to torment that sour-faced battleaxe on a wonderfully frequent basis.She’d once strutted into Kenneth’s reception area, completely naked under her coat, and watched with absolute glee as – despite Marge’s obvious disgust and vocal objections – Kenneth told Marge to cancel all his appointments and then took her into his office and shagged her on every surface.And Lila had made sure she was gloriously noisy.
‘Not every day you see a beautiful woman smiling at a funeral.’
She’d been so lost in thought that she hadn’t even seen Murray Atkins coming from the other direction.
‘It’s not every day that a handsome guy hits a beautiful woman with a pick-up line at a funeral,’ she replied, with just the right amount of sass and coyness.This wasn’t her first rodeo.If there was a humanitarian award for attracting members of the opposite sex, she’d have her name on more trophies than Gandhi, Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama combined.
‘Touché,’ he responded, putting his glass down on the high table in front of her and making it clear this wasn’t a drive-by pick-up.
