A man opposite us flashed a polite smile, suddenly reminding me where we were.
We were interrupted then by the Marketing Director starting her speech and all eyes turned towards the stage. I relaxed my grip on the wine glass and slumped down into my chair as the fight bled out of me.
18
MAYA
I woke up with a thumping headache, my whole body screaming in protest as I tried to peel my eyes open. Daylight rushed in and my head felt as though it would explode so I squeezed them shut once more. As the events of the night before came rushing back to me, I tried to recall how much I had drunk but my memories of the evening were fuzzy. A flashback of an argument with Hugo assaulted me. What had we been fighting about? Then I remembered the girl – the social-media girl – I couldn’t recall her name. An image of them laughing together over something assailed me, of Hugo’s leering eyes just waiting to devour her. I could only remember the events of the night up until a certain point and after that, everything was blank. I couldn’t remember getting home; I couldn’t even remember getting into bed. Sickly fear overcame me as I tried to remember what had happened next. How bad was it? Had we made a scene in front of his work colleagues?
‘Mummy, Mummy, why aren’t you awake yet?’ I heard Elliot ask.
I groaned and opened my eyes, shielding them from the morning light. ‘Hey, baby,’ I croaked. My head was thumping. ‘How was your night?’
‘Lauren letted me have three treats and I gotted to stay up really late.’
‘Wow, lucky you.’
‘Come on, Mummy, get up.’ He tugged on my arm. ‘I’m hungry.’
I checked the clock on my phone and saw that it was almost nine. I had slept it out for school. ‘Shit,’ I cursed, pulling back the duvet, feeling my stomach heave at the sudden movement. I willed myself not to be sick as I eased myself out of bed, feeling a sweat break out down my back.
Elliot looked at me wide-eyed and cupped a hand over his mouth. ‘You said “shit”!’ he giggled.
‘No, I didn’t, I said, “quick”.’
He wrinkled his nose and I knew he wasn’t buying it.
‘Come on, we’d better hurry,’ I said, standing up and heading into the ensuite. As I caught sight of my reflection in the bathroom mirror, I looked like a corpse. Last night’s make-up was smeared across my face. Panda rings of mascara crusted beneath my lashes. I splashed water on my skin, then made my way downstairs, wondering how I was going to summon the energy to get Elliot to school. He would be late, but if we hurried, it might not be too bad. He clearly sensed my weakened state as he asked for Coco Pops for breakfast even though he knew they were only a weekend treat but I didn’t have the energy to protest.
After I had dressed him in his uniform and he had brushed his teeth, we left the house. I kept my sunglasses on when we reached the school and held Elliot’s hand as we hurried up the path. We had just entered the reception when I heard somebody coming in after us. I turned around to see Liv and Finn squeezing through the door behind us.
‘It looks as though your morning is going as well as mine, huh?’ she panted.
‘Don’t ask,’ I replied, keeping my shades on. I noticed Finn was wearing his PE tracksuit. I groaned. ‘Don’t tell me today is PE day?’ I nodded towards Elliot, who was dressed in his uniform.
‘No, don’t worry. I couldn’t find Finn’s school jumper and the spare one that I bought him as a backup was nowhere to be found either. I searched the house high and low and do you know where I found it eventually?’
‘No idea.’
‘In the garden. Like, how on earth did it get out there?’ She shook her head despairingly. ‘Of course it was covered in dirt so that’s why he’s wearing his tracksuit. It’s only 10a.m. and I’m already exhausted.’ She laughed.
The secretary greeted us with barely disguised disapproval as she brought the boys down to their classroom.
‘I’m a bit worse for wear,’ I admitted as we left the school building and walked down the path together. ‘I was a bit late going to bed.’
‘Oh, that’s naughty on a school night,’ she teased. ‘Were you anywhere nice?’
‘At a work thing for Hugo.’ I felt my heart start to race as I thought about the night before. ‘They’re always so boring that wine is the only thing that gets me through but I’m paying the price today. I badly need a coffee; do you fancy grabbing one?’
‘Sure.’ She smiled.
I left my car at the school and we walked the short distance to the coffee shop that we had been in the other day. We queued up and ordered.
‘Let me get it,’ Liv offered. ‘You got it last time.’
‘Well, thank you,’ I said. ‘I’ll go grab us a table.’
Liv came down to the table after a few minutes. She handed me my matcha and she lifted her latte off the tray. She had bought me the same protein ball which I had ordered the previous day but she hadn’t bought anything to eat for herself. ‘Thought you might fancy one of these,’ she added. ‘But I can change it if you’d prefer something else?’
