Then Hugo stood up, tossed his napkin on the table and left the room.
‘Are you okay?’ I asked, shocked by the whole thing.
‘I’m used to it,’ she said with a breezy wave of her hand as she sat there glugging her champagne, seemingly unfazed by this diatribe between the two of them. If Jay ever said something horrible like that, I’d divorce him, but it appeared to be water off a duck’s back for her. They were obviously well used to this toxic roleplay.
When the main course was served, Hugo still hadn’t returned to the table. I looked around to see if I could spot him anywhere but there was no sign. There was a raffle before the dessert and when he still hadn’t reappeared, I assumed he had gone home. The band started playing and some couples got up on the dance floor while others appeared deep in conversation. Jay pulled me up to dance and as we moved around the floor, I watched Maya as she helped herself to another glass of champagne from the bottle left in the cooler bucket in the centre of the table. When the song was over, we made our way back to the table. Jay’s arm was draped around my shoulder, while my arm slotted along his lower back.
‘Still no sign of Hugo then?’ Jay asked when we reached the table.
‘No, not since he walked out. This is typical of him. He’s probably gone home.’
‘He’d leave without you?’ I asked, shocked.
‘I don’t know why I bother bringing him to these things.’
‘Would either of you like a drink?’ Jay asked, clearly looking to escape.
‘I’ll have a Coke, thanks,’ I said. ‘I’ve enough of the bubbles.’
‘Could you get me a large glass of Pinot?’ Maya asked. ‘The bottle on the table is empty and I need something before I combust.’
‘Sure,’ Jay said, heading up to the bar.
‘Hey,’ I said, putting my hand on her arm when we were alone. ‘Are you okay? I thought things were better between you both?’ She had told me during their last session with Julia that Hugo had made an effort to engage and I had thought they were finally making some headway.
‘Hardly,’ she snarled. ‘It’s the same as it always is. Why did I ever think he would change?’
I cringed as resentment and bitterness festered into something dark and ugly whenever she spoke about him.
‘I’m really sorry,’ I went on.
Jay returned with the drinks and she clenched her fingers so tightly around the stem that I thought the glass might shatter in her grip. The band started playing Queen’s ‘I Want to Break Free’ and Jay ran onto the dance floor to play air guitar.
‘He’s just a big kid.’ I laughed.
‘At least he’s having fun.’
‘I hope you don’t think I’m out of order,’ I began tentatively now that we were on our own.
‘Go on,’ she encouraged.
‘I still can’t believe Hugo spoke to you like that. Are you sure you’re okay?’
Maya rolled her eyes and shook her head. ‘Thatwas nothing.’
‘But what he said about getting other men to sleep with you, that’s not okay. You can’t let him get away with insulting you. I’d divorce Jay if he ever said anything like that.’
Her eyes darted to the floor.
‘What is it?’ I asked. I was growing concerned about her. I was worried that Maya was in an abusive marriage and she didn’t even realise it. Perhaps she didn’t think there wasanything wrong because that’s how he always spoke to her. ‘This isn’t normal behaviour; you’ve nothing to be ashamed of,’ I continued, hoping she might open up to me.
‘There’s something you should know…’ she said eventually.
48
MAYA
I looked at Liv, deep into her blue-grey eyes, knowing that if I told her this, there would be no going back. Our relationship would forever be changed. All my cards would be on the table, there would be nowhere to hide and Liv would have to make a judgement on me. She might not like what I have to say. She might not see my side of the story or understand why I did it. There was a very real risk that I could lose our friendship.You don’t have to tell her, a voice said. I could keep it a secret and she need never know the truth.
