Page 114 of Deep Blue Sea

Becky rattled off a few names, a few snippets of gossip that meant very little to her. ‘And do you remember Lydia on the picture desk? Big girl with bad eyebrows? She’s moved to France.’

‘Don’t tell me,’ said Rachel. ‘To open a chocolate shop?’

‘Nope. To get away from that shit of a husband.’

Rachel frowned and shook her head. ‘Mild-mannered Stuart? He was the blandest man I ever met.’

‘Yes, well bland, old mild-mannered Stuart was a bigamist.’

Rachel almost choked. ‘A bigamist?’

‘Well, almost. For the last three years he’s had a girlfriend tucked away in Reading. Bought her a flat, went down on one knee, got her in the family way, the whole nine yards.’

‘Incredible.’

A waitress tapped Becky on the shoulder to indicate that her table was ready. ‘I should go,’ she said quickly. ‘How long are you in town for? How about a nice long boozy lunch?’

‘Not sure yet. But that would be lovely.’

‘I’ll Facebook you,’ she said, already moving away from her.

Liam was standing on the pavement under a street lamp.

‘Where’s Alicia?’

‘She had to go,’ he said as they started walking off in the direction of the tube.

‘She’s pretty,’ said Rachel after a minute.

‘Yes, she is.’

‘And clever.’

‘That too.’

‘Why did it finish between you two?’

‘Just because she’s pretty and clever doesn’t mean that we were right for each other,’ he said without looking at her.

‘Is she why you came to Thailand?’

‘Not really.’

‘Not really?’ said Rachel with a jolt. ‘That’s a change from “I wanted out of the rat race”, as you’ve always insisted.’

Liam glanced up and frowned. ‘No one thing made me change course. It was a few things. I hated my job, I looked at the partners above me and I knew I didn’t want to be that person, sitting it out till sixty-five, waiting for retirement before I could actually start living. Yes – Alicia and I ended our relationship, but it was just another excuse to leave, not the whole reason.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

‘About what?’

‘About Alicia.’

‘Does it matter?’

She folded her arms across her chest and fell silent.

‘So what did your friend have to say?’