‘Let’s go out of the side door,’ I say to Jo. She nods in understanding and we weave our way through the tables. As I follow her, I almost collide with her when she suddenly stops. My stomach drops when I see what she’s staring at.
It’s Charlie. And he’s kissing a very attractive brunette.
5
Charlie must sense our stares because he pulls apart from the woman and turns to us. His shocked expression mirrors my own. The woman appears oblivious and obviously has no idea who I am. I assess her. She’s younger than me and is petite and attractive with big dark eyes and long conker-coloured hair. Charlie certainly has a type. She’s trendy too, more so than I am, in her short black skirt and black lace top, like a pretty Goth doll.
A whoosh of heat rises.
Charlie moves away from the woman, his face flushed. ‘Uh … Lena … Jo … hi. This is … um, Rosie, and, Rosie, this is Lena, my … er … ex-wife.’
‘We’re still married,’ I say coldly. ‘Separated,’ I add to Rosie, who smiles awkwardly. I turn back to Charlie. ‘Where’s Rufus?’
‘He’s gone back to the flat with Freddie. I’m about to go home.’
I feel like I’ve been punched in the stomach. Seeing Charlie with someone else hurts more than I’d thought it would. Foolishly I believed he was far from ready to date anyone else. I should have known they’d be around here after their gig.
‘Anyway,’ says Jo, ‘we’d better go. Our Uber is here.’ She steers me away from Charlie to our cab. I can’t speak as Iclimb into the back seat, but as we drive away I notice Charlie and Rosie staring after us.
‘God.’ I lean back against the seat. ‘He’s moved on quickly.’
‘Hon, it’s been over seven months,’ Jo says gently. ‘But he should have told you.’
I close my eyes to hide the film of tears, and nod, unable to say anything else.
She grips my hand, and we don’t speak until we arrive at my house. Once inside she goes to the fridge and pours us both some wine. ‘Do you want to talk about him?’ she says, handing me my glass.
‘No.’ I take it and gulp a mouthful. ‘I wonder if Rufus knows.’
A mix of emotions passes over Jo’s face. ‘Well, he should have told you first.’ She’s always liked Charlie and has never spoken ill of him, but I can see she’s struggling to keep her opinion in check.
We stand in silence for a few moments and her eyes go to Rufus’s recording equipment by the patio doors. Her face lights up. ‘Ooh, let’s hear this convo, then.’ She puts her glass on the counter, goes to the sound monitor and lifts it onto the kitchen table.
‘I don’t know …’ I feel bad about it now. They seem such nice people, and I’ve violated their privacy.
‘Oh, come on. You didn’t mean to record them. Don’t you want to know what they were talking about?’
I laugh. She knows me too well. And I could do with the distraction to stop myself thinking about Charlie with another, much younger, woman.
‘Okay, go on, then.’
She turns back to the monitor and rewinds the tape.
‘Not too far,’ I warn her, ‘or all you’ll get is owl and fox sounds.’
She laughs and presses play. Immediately Henry’s voice fills my kitchen.
‘… should we really try again?’
‘Rewind a bit,’ I say. ‘Budge over, let me do it.’
Jo steps aside and I rewind the tape a bit more, then press play. At first we don’t hear anything, just the far-off sound of an aeroplane, and then their voices ring out. Something about hearing it again in my kitchen brings me out in goosebumps.
‘… I don’t know, Mari …’
‘You promised me you’d take her. I’ve got everything ready. The room …’
‘I know … but … after what happened before … should we really try again?’
