‘Howareyou doing about it all?
‘I’m fine and he’s a cunt.’
‘Sabrina Swift!’
‘Cried the woman who practically invented the use of the C-word.’
They both sniggered. It was good to have a laugh together for once.
‘Mrs Batty is being hysterical.’ Caroline let out a little snort.
‘Why?’
‘She cleans my place straight after Dom’s now. Thanks again for the recommendation, by the way. She’s like a Henry the Hoover on acid. Anyway, she evidently splits up his socks into odd pairs and told me that the other day, she’d rubbed her false teeth around his toothbrush.’
They both laughed again.
‘I’m guessing you’re getting some action, too as you’re certainly not sounding as morose as usual.’ Sabrina began to rearrange the jumpers on the rail.
‘I’ve been fornicating with a personal shopper from Selfridges, as it happens. You know me, darling, I’m all about the extra. She’s only an eight out of ten, but who’s counting when the discount is twenty percent? Anyway, I’ll email the new TV offer over. I guess you are still checking your e-mail?’
‘Send it over, but I’m not making any promises.’
Sabrina could hear the vape getting blasted again. ‘I know you don’t mean that. You’d better not mean that. I’ve told them that you’re working with monks at a donkey sanctuary in Outer Mongolia during your time out. And, well, if the press get hold of that, we can revel in their stupidity. Plus, we’d be relieved of course that they are not going to find you, working a market stall in the depths of Cornwall with a ridiculous new short haircut. Anyway, ciao darling. Enjoy being a cashier and let’s talk soon.’
The call ended abruptly, and a message came in.Rini. Hope today was fun! Can’t wait to see you next week and dive into that spa hotel. It looks sublime. Complete bliss, in fact. Love you. DD XX
Chapter Twenty-Six
It felt weird going into the apartment and knowing that Conor was not going to be home for the night. Most evenings after they’d eaten, usually together, they’d sometimes put a coat on, sit out on the balcony, and have a drink and a chat. There was always a lot of laughter. Sometimes they went off and did their own thing or just retired to their bedrooms where they each had a television. Wherever he was in the flat, it was just nice to have a heartbeat in the same space. To know he was there. She had felt safe around him from the minute that she had met him. Probably because there wasn’t an instant attraction, and she had no qualms in being one hundred percent herself around him. After all, because they were sharing a bathroom and such a small living space, she could be nothing but authentic.
She ran a bath and turned on the television for company. She had bought herself a bottle of wine and was going have an early night, for it had been a long day on her feet and tomorrow she had to do it all over again. It was a bit nippy to sit out, so comfy in a tracksuit, she poured herself a large glass of Merlot and lay on the sofa with her feet to the balcony door so she could have a good look at what was going on in the darkness of the harbour. The nights had suddenly drawn in and she really wasn’t looking forward to the clocks changing. Kara had told her that Hartmouth, in fact all of Cornwall, was a quite different place out of season. With no sunshine and not as many tourists, it wasn’t quite the picture postcard destination that visitors or second homers imagined. The benefit of that, though, Kara had explained, was that the roads were clearer, and you could at least get a seat in your favourite restaurant.
Going to the kitchen to refill her wine glass, she found some left-over pasta in the fridge, she put it in the microwave then set about her feast whilst scrolling through the TV channels to find something light to watch. She rarely watched herself acting, but on seeing that her programme was on and now feeling a bit tipsy, she decided to give it a go– but got herself a pillow to put over her face if it was too cringey. She turned straight on to a prison scene where her screen son, whom she had taken the rap for, was visiting her. Thinking of it, where was he now? And where were the other few friends she had on set now she was in this predicament? She took a large glug of wine. It felt odd now to see herself with long dark hair and she cringed at how rough she looked. The dark bags under her eyes weren’t make up, they were real. She had been so busy and tired whilst filming those scenes, which was great for the character, but she realised now looking back that despite her pending wedding, if she had been honest with herself, she had not been truly happy with her life. She switched the TV off.
Yes, a couple of texts had come through the week after the wedding– the wedding she hadn’t invited them too, granted– but they’d soon stopped when she said she was keeping a low profile. She wasn’t really surprised. They were colleagues, not friends. They knew little about the real her, even after working together for five years. She checked her watch: nine p.m. She messaged her dad to tell him how well she had done on the stall and asked after her brother, then with food eaten and wine drunk and completely knackered from her day on the market, she nodded off in a dreamy slumber on the sofa.
She was awoken by the flat intercom incessantly ringing. Half asleep and thinking it was Conor coming home after all and not bothering with his key, she pressed to open the exterior door. Knock, knock, then a familiar voice, ‘It’s me. Let me in.’
‘Lowen? What are you doing here?’
‘Are you alone?’
‘Yes. What the—? You sound angry, is everything OK?’ Sabrina yawned and shook her head to try and wake herself. Lowen’s eyes were wide, she could smell drink on his breath. Her memory kicked in.
‘Angry? Of course, I’m fucking angry. Of all the hairdressers in the area, what on earth led you to go into Giselle’s and have your hair done? What kind of trouble were you thinking of causing me, eh?’
‘Woah, there. If you mean why did I decide to have my hair done byyourgirlfriend, I had no idea who she was until I overhead a conversation she was having with her assistant.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me this before?’
‘I haven’t seen you since. Besides, I don’t think that’s the issue, do you, Lowen? You’re the one who told me you were single. I’m the innocent party here! I was as shocked to realise who she was, as you obviously were when you found out I’d been there.’
‘Really? You’re such a good little actress, though, aren’t you, Sabrina Swift, so what do I believe, eh?’
Sabrina felt a surge of fear go through her from head to toe. ‘You’re drunk, Lowen, what are you going on about?’
‘So, I’m lying on a sun lounger in Marbella.’
