Derek claps his hands. “Let’s go on, then!” He gives me a pen and passes a stack of papers to me. “You’ll find a Post-it note next to all the lines to be signed.”
I start signing one page after the other, like a robot. I know that I should read everything, but I don’t have the strength. Thinking that Ashford and Portia are out there playing the happy couple while I’m here makes my blood boil.
“Did you move to your grandmother Catriona’s house in Mayfair?”
“No.”
“Are you still at Denby Hall?” Derek asks.
“No.”
“I can see you’re sad, dull… forgive me for saying this, but you look rather terrible.”
“Thank you, Derek. These are the words every woman would like to be told.”
“I didn’t mean to offend you, but I can see you’re not okay.”
“I’ll be better soon. About my grandmother’s house, I thought about it and I want to sell it. I don’t need it. I would have to live in a four floor Victorian town house by myself, because my parents won’t set foot in it. I would like you to deal with it on my behalf.”
“All right. The housing market is a bit flat at the moment, but this is a luxury property, and luxury always sells well. I can get in touch with some banks. They always have wealthy clients looking for valuable properties.”
I put the pen down on the table. “Am I divorced now?”
“Ashford must sign the documents as well, but I would say you will be very soon.”
“Good,” I say, getting up slowly.
“I’ll let you know about the house,” Derek says.
*
As my taxi takes me back to the hotel where I will stay for a while, I decide to stop by at Godiva’s and indulge myself with a box of chocolate truffles. Perhaps I will also call room service. I’m staying at the Mandarin Hotel, where I booked a suite with a panoramic terrace looking onto Hyde Park, a Jacuzzi and a giant television screen.
If I’m lucky, I’ll find a mushy film such asThe NotebookorLove Story. It’s all I need: chocolate, tears and romantic films. The perfectpmscombination.
Wait a second! Why didn’t I write anything in my period diary?
Because I had no period last month.
It’s impossible! How did I forget about it?
I need a chemist! Stop the taxi.
84
Ashford’s Version
She’s nowhere to be found. It’s as if she has turned into a wraith. I called her so many times, but the recorded voice says that her number has been disconnected. She must have changed it.
Derek knows nothing, he doesn’t know where she is. He only saw her once, last week.
She went to his office to sign the divorce papers.
Today, when he stopped by at Denby to give me the folder, I couldn’t believe what I saw.
I looked for Jemma’s parents at the farm in Derbyshire. I drove there, but they had already left.
The people who welcomed me said that Carly and Vance had left suddenly to be with their daughter, but they couldn’t give me an address.
