‘No worries at all. I must have taken at least one hundred photos before we even left the house this morning and I’m still worried I haven’t taken enough.’
I laughed politely.
‘I’m not joking,’ she added, tucking her bushy hair behind her ears. It was the way she did it; something about the action jolted my memory.Oh God, no, I thought as it hit me who she was.
9
LIV
Oh my God. My brain ran into overdrive as I held the woman’s phone in my hand, suddenly realising who she was as her image appeared on the screen while I took the photo of her with her little boy. It was her. The woman from our marriage counselling sessions. The one who went into the appointment after us every week.What the hell was she doing here? What were the chances of something like this happening?I needed to get Jay’s attention but he was completely engrossed in helping Finn to build a Lego house and was totally oblivious to the woman I had come face to face with. I tried subtly nudging him on his shoulder and when he turned around, I made eyes in her direction. He wrinkled his brow in confusion but then eventually, he caught on and when he raised his head to look at me, a flicker of recognition flashed in his eyes.
‘Oh, hi,’ Jay said awkwardly. ‘You’re the—’ He broke off, trying again. ‘Is… eh… your son starting here today too?’ I cringed as he stated the obvious but we were both caught off guard.
‘Ehm… yes,’ the woman stuttered and gestured to her son. ‘This is Elliot…’
‘This is Finn,’ Jay said, nodding down at him, and I was glad that at least one of us was able to talk because I seemed to have lost the power of speech. ‘And I’m Jay and this is my wife, Olivia.’
‘But everyone knows me as Liv,’ I rambled. ‘They only call me Olivia when I’m in trouble,’ I added and then wished I hadn’t because I sounded like a babbling fool.
She held out a slender hand towards Jay’s and shook it before turning to me. ‘I’m Maya. It’s very nice to meet both of you.’
At the top of the classroom, Ms Higgins clapped her hands together to get our attention.
‘Now, mums and dads,’ she trilled loudly. ‘It’s time for us to do some work. We’re going to have lots of fun today, aren’t we, boys?’
‘Oh, I think that’s our cue to go,’ Maya said and we were all glad of the excuse to get away from one another.
I bent down and placed a kiss on Finn’s silky hair. He seemed happy enough with his Lego. I was so proud of our little man for taking it all in his stride. As I straightened up, I saw Elliot pulling on his mother’s sleeve.
‘I don’t want you to go, Mummy,’ he was saying.
‘Oh, sweetie, I’ll be right outside the door. You’re going to be having so much fun, you won’t even miss me.’
‘Please, stay,’ he begged, climbing out of his seat and clinging to her. She hugged him and I noticed tears brimming in her eyes. It was an emotional day. I was glad I was keeping it together but it wouldn’t take much for me to unravel. I knew if Finn showed any sign of tears, I would get upset. As I looked around the classroom at parents saying goodbye to their children before filing out, Elliot was the only child crying.
‘Let’s go while the going is good,’ Jay whispered to me as Maya tried to soothe her son by telling him that everything was going to be just fine.
I swallowed down a lump in my throat as we left Finn, exited the school building and stepped outside into the sunshine again.
‘I cannot believe that just happened!’ I exploded as soon as we got outside.
‘Me neither,’ Jay said shaking his head as we stood on the path. ‘I mean, what are the odds? Of all the marriage counsellors in Dublin, trust us to end up with the same one as someone in Finn’s class! And isn’t it weird that out of all the bloody sessions they could go to, they go to the one right after us?’
‘It’s unbelievable. I thought I was going to die when I realised where I knew her from. Thank God you were able to talk to her because I was too shocked. You know we’re going to be seeing them for eight years – we’ve eight years of awkwardness ahead. There will be birthday parties and play dates, school fundraisers and parents’ evenings.’ I shuddered. ‘They know we’re in counselling… We know they’re in counselling…’ I held my head in my hands and groaned. ‘Oh my God, it’s going to be hell.’
‘At least we are both in the same boat. This is going to be just as bad for them.’
‘It’s too close to home. I haven’t even told my friends or family that we’re in counselling and now one of the parents in Finn’s class knows… You don’t think Julia would ever tell them anything about us?’ I asked, biting down on my bottom lip anxiously. ‘Do you think we should change therapist?’
‘Come on, Liv, we’re just starting to make progress; if we go to someone else, we’d be right back at the start again and we’ve both put too much work in for that. I like Julia and besides, she has a duty to respect her clients’ confidentiality.’
‘I know, you’re right.’ I sighed. ‘I wonder where he was today?’
‘Who? The husband?’
I nodded.
Jay shrugged. ‘He must not have been able to come.’
