‘So talk to Maya,’ he reasoned.
‘I know, but…’
He cocked his head to the side. I knew he was right but I just wasn’t sure how to broach it with her. I hated confrontation at the best of times and Maya was a good friend to me.
‘By the way, don’t forget we have the school fundraiser next Friday night,’ I said, changing the subject.
He groaned. ‘Do we have to go? Can’t we just pretend that we’ve something on?’
‘No,’ I said firmly. ‘We need to support the school and besides, it will be good to meet some of the other parents.’
‘Are Maya and Hugo going?’
‘I think so.’
‘Well, I’m not sitting with them,’ Jay declared as he began chopping the meat on a board.
‘Look, hopefully, we’re not on the same table as them.’
‘I mean it, Liv,’ he warned. ‘I don’t want to speak to him.’
‘I know, I get it. I’ll make sure we’re not together.’ I prayed we weren’t seated at the same table and if we were, then I would need to subtly get us switched before World War Three broke out between our husbands.
46
MAYA
I stood in the kitchen, scooping protein powder into the smoothie maker when Hugo came in behind me. I pressed the button to blitz the ingredients together, the noise of the motor shredding through the morning calm. Once all the ingredients had been blended, I poured the shake into a glass.
‘Remember, we have the fundraiser at eight tonight,’ I reminded Hugo as I sipped my shake.
‘Oh, that’s tonight?’ he said, clearly having forgotten about it. ‘Do we have to go? Can’t we just donate the money and skip it? That’s all they want anyway.’
‘Come on,’ I cajoled, ‘you know we have to go. We have to make an effort. It’s important for Elliot that we do these things.’
‘I guess,’ he groaned, before grabbing his keys and heading out to his car without even saying goodbye.
Hugo’s contrition over the porn incident had quickly been forgotten and now he continued on like nothing had ever happened. He was still acting the same way he always did: breezing in and out of the house like I was a paid childminder for our son and practically ignoring me whenever he was at home. Iknow I wasn’t entirely blameless for the cracks in our marriage but why did he have to treat me like I was invisible?
That evening, Elliot was downstairs with the babysitter. I had arranged for her to come a little earlier so she could occupy him and I could take my time getting ready. I had poured myself a glass of Prosecco to start off the evening and was enjoying the process of applying my make-up and choosing the accessories to wear with my dress. I was looking forward to the night. At least Liv would be there so I’d know somebody and it wasn’t just going to be Hugo and me sitting awkwardly on our own. I also hoped to get to know some of the other parents. I stepped into my dress, surprised by how easily it zipped up; since I had stopped going to the gym, I was worried about gaining weight but so far, it was staying off. The dress had spaghetti straps studded with diamantes. I didn’t want to look overdressed but as the theme was Hollywood glamour, it was an excuse to go all out.
I was tying the straps on my high-heeled sandals when I heard Hugo’s tyres crunch over the gravel just before eight. I lifted the hem of my gown and headed downstairs, taking care not to trip. I reached the bottom step just as he came through the door. He didn’t even comment when he saw me, and my heart sank. What would it take to get him to notice me?
‘You’d better hurry; we need to be there now. The taxi is on its way.’
Wordlessly, he headed upstairs past me to get changed.
‘You look nice, Mummy,’ Elliot said, snaking his arms around my waist when I came into the kitchen.
‘Thank you, sweetheart,’ I said.
When the taxi came, we sat in the back seat and gave the driver the address of the hotel where the event was taking place.
When we arrived at the venue, Hugo and I entered the foyer and were greeted by a waiter carrying a tray of champagne flutes. We took one each and made our way inside. I looked around ateveryone gathered in the foyer. Most of the women looked like they were going to a funeral. There were a lot of black dresses and black suits and suddenly, I started to feel self-conscious in my slinky, gold, figure-hugging dress, but,No, I told myself,act confident.
A gong sounded for us to take our seats so we made our way inside. I saw a sea of white-clothed, circular tables with silver candelabras and extravagant floral centrepieces. Fairy lights had been strung across the ceiling and on the stage, a banner read:
St Fintan’s Fundraiser 2025
