Page 2 of Dancing Fools and All That Jazz

I put a finger to my lips. ‘We need to pay Janine first and then get out of here.’

We stand behind Fay waiting to hand over our money and my mind lurches back to Vince.

I knew – of course I knew – deep down. All the signs were there but I chose not to look closer. Why didn’t I confront you? Daft question. I didn’t have any proof until today.

Prickling with anger, the now-blatant clues slam into my head.

Your flat. All the nights you stay away in Birmingham.

No wonder you didn’t want me at your city centre pad, purchased with our joint savings (I bristle at the added injustice) just before I fell pregnant with the twins.

Our conversation replays from the first and only time I saw the damn place when you got the keys. What an innocent I was.

‘This is amazing. Views over the city too. We can come and stay here when there’s a dance show on at the Hippodrome…’

‘Monica, please. I will not mix work and pleasure. This is purely an investment and somewhere for me to stay midweek. Besides, can you really see me going to a dance show? No, I think not.’

‘Well, we can stay here if we go to the NEC or fly from the Midlands airport or…’

‘Monica, no. Now drop it.’

Fay’s loud irritated voice temporarily interrupts my thoughts.

‘Janine, you should really have given us each a full record of our payments…’

Payments. Credit card bills. It’s so obvious now. Vince’s oily voice reverberates, ‘Those are my work credit cards, Monica. For business expenses. Of course you don’t see them, they go straight to head office.’

I shake my head and picture the nicely furnished city apartment. A fleeting glimpse of Vince, naked on top of me, flashes unbidden across my mind. I feel nauseous. You did this with all those other women? My chest compresses and I barely notice Asha has come up next to me and started talking.

‘Monica, can you possibly show me the moves of the tricky section in the Adele number, the bit after the cross through? I missed the class when Clarissa slowed down the sequence and I just cannot get the hang of it. The way you move your arms full circle before the chassé turn looks so elegant, I want to be able to do the same. I hope you do not mind me asking?’

I stare vacantly at Asha’s mouth and dazzlingly perfect teeth – the reason Ruby has given her the nickname Gnasher-Asha, well this and the fact she’s a dentist – before rewinding her words in my head.

‘Yes, sure. Can I show you next week, Asha? I’m in a bit of a rush tonight,’ I mumble.

She studies my face and gives me a concerned smile. ‘Sure. Thank you, Monica. I hope everything is OK with you?’ Her eyes beg an explanation as she stands her ground.

I feel a flush of emotion and shake my head before looking anxiously past Asha to see why there’s a hold-up with the payments.

An argument has broken out between Fay and Janine about how much money she owes. I can barely focus on what they’re saying. I just want to get out into the fresh air.

‘Come on,’ I mutter under my breath, but now Ruby has gone and joined in.

‘Why are they charging us extra?’ Ruby asks.

‘I definitely paid more than that.’ Fay turns her back on Ruby to face Janine.

‘Fay, you were up to date, but now they’ve put up the cost of the airfares. Some sort of airport tax increase. It’s not my fault.’ Janine’s voice is quiet, and she doesn’t lift her eyes from her notebook.

I step impatiently from one foot to the other and realise Ingrida is now making a beeline for me, her face smiling and eager. I bow my head and look studiously at my watch, biting my lip. She takes the hint and returns to the back of the queue.

A dull buzz sounds from inside my handbag. I ignore it.

‘Is that your phone, Monica?’ Asha points to my bag.

I shrug, ignoring her and the persistent buzzing.

Buzz… buzz… No bloody wonder you never answered your phone when you were away. Well, two can play at that game. Come on, Ruby. I need to get out of here.

I march past Fay to interrupt the argument. ‘Look, it’s not Janine’s fault if the prices have increased, and it’s only fifteen pounds more. Janine, here’s mine. Ruby, are you coming?’

Fay firmly folds her arms, her glare turned on me.

Janine quietly reminds Ruby she still owes five pounds from the previous week.

Ruby rolls her eyes to heaven and pulls out the one and only note from her purse.

She jokingly clutches it to her chest and strokes it lovingly before reluctantly peeling it away and handing it to Janine.

‘It’s all I have. But it’s yours. And as our numbers haven’t come up on the lottery – I’m assuming you’ve checked we don’t have that unclaimed winning ticket – I may just have to go and beg on Cheadle High Street or turn a few tricks to pay the extra next week.

’ She turns and winks at Bonnie and Cath.

‘Oh, you are terrible, Ruby.’ Bonnie and Cath laugh.

Fay’s face twists into a sneer. She looks at Ruby as if she’s something unpleasant on the underside of her shoe.

‘Got a problem, Fay?’ Ruby flashes Fay one of her massive white toothy smiles.

‘My problem is not helped by continuous interruptions, Ruby.’ Fay lifts her chin and turns to Janine. ‘Now look here, Janine. Your records are most definitely wrong.’ Fay grabs the notebook from Janine’s hands to examine the entries.

I feel sorry for Little Janine Young. Ruby added the ‘little’ because she’s both petite and also the youngest of our group at only twenty-three.

‘Sounds like a character in a nursery rhyme.’ Ruby had laughed when she first came up with the nickname.

‘Little Janine Young has lost her tongue.’ Poor girl.

In truth, anyone would be dumbstruck with Fay giving them the evil eye, let alone a quiet shy girl like Janine.

Ruby’s nickname, Frosty Fay, has never been so apt.

Janine has turned lobster red and is trying to stutter out an explanation. I would normally have stayed to smooth things over, but in truth I am relieved when Ruby leaves them to it and steers me toward the door.

‘Ouch. Just got frost bitten. Now it’s poor Little Janine Young’s turn,’ she murmurs.

‘What’s the matter with that woman?’ I glance back at Fay berating Janine as we leave the studio and step into the dark car park. ‘She prickles at the slightest thing, and she seems to really have it in for Janine.’

‘Don’t think she’s too fond of me, either.’ Ruby exaggerates Fay’s clipped tones, ‘“My problem is not helped by continuous interruptions, Ruby!”’

I smile as Ruby replicates Fay’s sneer perfectly.

‘Hey, Frosty and I will never be on the same wavelength. Her loss.’ Ruby shrugs.

Reaching my car, Ruby stops, grabs me and wraps her arms around me to give me a bear hug.

I swallow back a sob and with no warning, a wave of anger judders through my body, making me produce a guttural groan.

Ruby, sensing my teetering emotions, pulls back. ‘Sorry. No being nice. Stay furiously frigging focussed.’

I smile. Ruby’s language is as colourful as her bright clothing. When we first met, I’d found her swearing disconcerting, but I soon realised it’s part of her ‘say-it-as-it-is’ psyche. From her wide smile to her closely cropped hair and her sparkling teak eyes, I love her loud, brash manner.

Bonnie and Cath head for the vehicle next to mine and Cath calls in her lilting Irish accent, ‘You be sure to take care of yourselves ladies. We need you fighting fit to have any hope of winning this competition in Paris.’ She bursts into song as she’s prone to do with the slightest association.

This time it’s something about a night in Paris being like a year elsewhere.

I quickly get in my car.

Ruby jumps into the passenger seat, all ears. ‘Now, tell me. Vince. What have you found out and how?’

‘I have you to thank for that…’ I begin.

Ruby raises her eyebrows.

‘SE. I wouldn’t have known about SE. Would have had no idea it was a dating app if you hadn’t shown it me on your phone.’

‘Spontaneous Encounters. God, is that still going? I haven’t used it since Max and I hooked up again… sorry, go on.’

‘Well, Vince left his tablet. It was down the side of the settee – I found it when I was tidying. I mean, I thought it was James’s, and I was worried he’d been playing games instead of doing his homework.

So, I scanned through all those icons across the screen and there it was, the same dating site you used to use.

I was horrified. I thought, what’s James doing on dating sites when he’s only fourteen?

Especially knowing all the things you got up to with the blokes you met. I mean, no offence intended.’

‘None taken.’ Ruby’s eyes twinkle.

‘But then I realised the tablet was a newer model. It wasn’t James’s and then I saw Vince’s work stuff and I knew it had to be his. He can’t have realised he’d left it. Then it…’ My words dry up.

Ruby waits patiently.

I swallow and try again. ‘It hit me like a hammer. Vince was using Spontaneous Encounters.’

Ruby presses her lips together.

‘He couldn’t have known he’d left it at home. I mean, it was easy to open the app. The password was the same as our alarm code – the date we got married. What a joke. And then I saw them…’

‘Go on.’

‘All the encounters… A whole history. I was shaking as I hit the home button. He seemed to have several profiles. I clicked on one of them and there was a picture of him from years ago. It was taken on our honeymoon. I had been photoshopped out.’ I clench my fist.

Ruby squeezes my hand.

‘Honestly, I wanted to throw up. He was using another name. On this profile, he was Ben Johnson. I felt so repulsed I had a sort of tunnel vision; I could barely see the detail. But, Ruby, the dates, they went back years. And the lists of women he’d met.

So many. And as I took it all in, I realised these encounters were all arranged for midweek when he was away from home. ’

‘How many?’

‘At least ten. I started to count, but then one date struck me. The earliest entry. Ruby, it was…’ I choke out the words, ‘It was fourteen years ago. Just one week after the twins were born, when I was still in hospital.’ I thump the steering wheel. ‘One damn week.’

‘Frigging hell. The shit.’ Ruby shakes her head.

‘There were no other dates for a good few years – from what I could see – but then the numbers started increasing. First one, then two a year, then more. One part of me wanted to smash the tablet against the wall, the other part to examine every detail. Then mother arrived to look after the twins so there was no time to delve any further.’

‘Did you tell her?’

‘My mother? Heavens, no. Speak a word against Vince? She thinks he’s God’s gift. Besides, she was too busy moaning about having to drive over to sit with Joanne and James on her Cheshire Ladies’ night.’

‘What did you do with the tablet?’

‘I shoved it under my bedcovers and now I can’t think… I mean, what do I do? Ruby, I must look a complete fool…’

‘Foolish you are not.’

‘But I should have known. Hell, what am I saying? I did know… I immersed myself in my dress design, in dance, yoga, Pilates, running… anything but face up to it.’

‘Hey. You’re not the one at fault here. He needs to go.’

I rub at my brow and realise my teeth are clenched. It is easy for Ruby to have such clarity. She has never known the complexities of being married. She’s free and utterly liberated.

My phone starts to give a low buzz, vibrating inside my bag. Ruby grabs the bag, pulls out the device and switches the call to divert before throwing it back inside.

‘You need time to plan your next move. When’s the scumbag due back?’

‘Tomorrow evening, I think.’

‘OK, you’ve time to decide what you’re going to do. Do you want me to come round in the morning? I’m working from home again and can slip over to yours after the school drop off.’

I nod. ‘What would I do without you?’ A small wail of anguish escapes my mouth, and I bite my hand.

Ruby places a firm hand on my shoulder. ‘You’re going to be OK. Come on, Monica. Go home. Don’t look at that tablet again. Resist. Take a bath, have a stiff drink and go to bed. We’ll look at it together in the morning and work out what to do.’

I give a shudder and suddenly feel exhausted.

Ruby takes my hand and gently strokes it as we sit quietly for several minutes. A calm descends on me and I breathe deeply.

‘Please don’t tell anyone about this.’ I sniff and start to rummage for a tissue.

‘My lips are sealed.’ Ruby pulls a fresh pack of tissues from her coat pocket and puts them in my hand before opening the car door to get out. ‘Sure, you’ll be OK?’

‘Yes, I’ll be fine.’ I remove a tissue and blow my nose loudly, causing Ruby to jump back.

‘God, I’ve never known anyone blow their nose so loudly. That snort would give a demon a fright.’

We smile and I suddenly know I will be OK. Ruby has her life sorted – she’d never let someone walk all over her. Hell, I can be like Ruby.

‘Ruby, I really appreciate your help. See you in the morning. By the way, who was calling?’ I indicate my bag she’s placed back on the passenger seat.

‘Someone called Cheating Bastard .’ She winks at me, and we both laugh.