Then he conjured up Sylvie’s face. That day on the beach had been their first meeting, hadn’t it? Yet now it seemed like she had been his best friend for ever. He wondered what they were all doing now and glanced at his watch. Eight. They should be tucked up in bed, although he knew there was no guarantee – they could be doing farm-like things, frolicking on hay bales, riding on tractors or whatever it was people did on farms in Cornwall. He was fairly sure it was different from the farms he had seen in South Sudan. Then Sylvie would bathe them and curl up on their beds as she read them a bedtime story.
He looked across at Claudia, still twirling a bit of rocket on her fork whilst babbling on about something terribly important in the City. He should probably concentrate, after all she had had the grace to leave his groin alone for the last ten minutes.
‘…and so whilst I’m not one to office gossip, and I’d appreciate it if this went no further, but I think Marion may need to back off on the amount of time she spends niggling atRichard. It’s no wonder he’s spending more and more time in his city flat, if you know what I mean? I know he talks about how they have a wonderful relationship but if you ask me that is because he’s hiding something. I mean, who really isthathappily married? What is it now, umpteen years and like I said, all of those children, I mean it’s no wonder he’s looking elsewhere. And I’m not one to judge, but the man deserves a medal. I don’t know how he does it, always so cheerful and she really is a dreadful old harridan. Are you OK? You look funny.’
‘Um… yes, I’m fine. I thought you were Marion’s friend? That was the impression I got. She did arrange this date.’
‘Hohohoho, well, of course I am, but you know my connection is more to Richard and when you think about it, what is friendship these days? Everything is so fluid, isn’t it?’
‘Um, well, I see things differently.’
‘You know what they say, opposites attract. Now, what was I saying?’
‘You were saying, I believe, that you didn’t have high hopes for the Marksharps’ marriage. But I think I would rather change the subject.BothRichard and Marion…’ he shuddered inside a little at the lie, but from today on he would make it true, ‘…are my friends and I feel distinctly uncomfortable with what you are saying. I’ve known them for ever, at least since university, and I should imagine they are as strong now as they ever were. Now, tell me what else you like to do in your downtime apart from come to Cornwall and sail.’ He was proud of himself for managing not to add ‘and bitch’ – he was fairly sure that was high up on her agenda.
Claudia outlined the sorts of things she enjoyed, all of which seemed to involve vast sums of money, although he was relieved that making purses out of puppies didn’t appear to make the list. But then he supposed she was on her best behaviour.
As the evening came to a close he began to worry a little about how best to end it. He needed to make it absolutely clear that he wouldn’t be coming home with her or inviting her to his for a nightcap, but if she lived in Treporth Bay and had come by train then he felt somewhat responsible for getting her home safely.
As the bill came and he paid, Claudia gave him yet another knowing smile over the brim of her wine glass and he wondered how on earth he was going to phrase this, deciding the best way was just to come out and say it. The maître d’ helped her back into her coat and again she was as graceful in her movements as she was graceless in her interaction. No thank-you, no smile for staff. Not once, the whole evening.
They exited the restaurant, their cheeks hit by the brisk early October air. The days had been unseasonably warm so it was a shock when the evenings developed and reminded you that autumn was well on its way.
‘So, Alex…’ Claudia turned to him under a lamppost and looked up at him with her big brown eyes, ‘…thank you for a lovely dinner. Shall we go for a drink somewhere else or shall we…’
He was surprised she was being so reticent, but was grateful as it meant he didn’t have to start an awkward conversation, he just had to finish it.
‘Yes, thank you for your company. I’ve had a lovely evening.’ He paused for a second, waiting for lightning to strike him down, but it appeared, this evening at least, that God was on his side. ‘I’ve really enjoyed meeting you, Claudia, but I’m afraid I must get back to Penmenna for the babysitter.’ Another enormous lie. If anything, it would be odd going home to an empty house after so long and he knew Ellie would never forgive him if he rocked up at Sylvie’s house to claim her back before the morning.
‘The babysitter? Really?’
‘I’m afraid so, yes. But do let me drop you home.’
‘Fabulous idea, and you could come in for a coffee.’
‘No, I’ll just be dropping you at home, Claudia. I won’t be coming in.’
‘Another night then?’
The polite thing would be to nod in the affirmative and imply that yes there would be a second date, but as polite as Alex was (and quite frankly he felt he deserved a medal for tonight), there was a time when honesty trumped politeness and that time was right now.
‘Probably not, Claudia, You’re an amazing woman…’ that bit was certainly true, she was quite breathtaking; stunningly beautiful on the outside and mind-numbingly hideous underneath it, ‘…but I’m just not sure we’re compatible.’
‘Not compatible? Are you mad? Look at me!’ Her outrage was beyond palpable, it was virtually sonic booming from her as she used her hands to indicate her body. ‘What is wrong with you? No, don’t answer that. I was warned about you when my friend heard Richard’s stupid bloody wife had set us up. She said, that Alex, he may look like some kind of God – and trust me, you’re not all that, I could do so much better. Anyway, she said it was common knowledge that you had had some sort of breakdown after that Sudan thing, lost all professionalism and adopted that stupid bloody African child, I mean, who does that? I can’t believe I agreed to this! That’ll teach me to always look on the bright side! You have wasted my entire evening – do you know how much my time is worth? Absolutely fucking shambolic. Don’t think I’ll be keeping quiet about this. Oh no, the whole City will hear about this!’ She was spitting, her rage-strewn words tumbling over themselves in her fury.
‘I think that about sums it up, Claudia. However, you still need to get home. Can I assume you won’t be wanting a lift?’
‘No, I fucking shan’t. I’ve got friends in Truro, I’m going to do my best to rescue this waste of an evening.’ And pulling her phone out of her bag she gave him one long look of disgust and stalked off up Lemon Street, spitting venom about what an absolute waste of space Alex McKenzie was into her phone.
Chapter Sixteen
Alex had waited until nine o’clock. It was a Saturday morning after all and he didn’t want to be so early it was rude, but neither did he want to wait any longer so he pitched up at the farm eager to get Ellie and share the story of his hell date with Sylvie.
As he arrived he saw that everyone was already up and about, sitting around the wooden circular table in the garden and eating cake.
‘Cake for breakfast? That sounds like a grand idea. Can I join in?’ If he expected Ellie to race to him shouting, ‘Daddy, Daddy,’ with glee, over the moon to see her parent after her first night away since the adoption, then he was sadly mistaken.
‘Hey, Dad,’ came the lukewarm reply as she looked up from the big piece of paper she and Sam were drawing on as they ate. ‘This is crib – that’s Cornish for elevenses but you don’t have to have it at eleven, so it’s much better. We had breakfast hours ago.’
