Page 37 of Sorry, Not Sorry
Delilah pulled the front door shut behind her and headed for the outside bin, holding the small sack filled with Arin’s soiled nappy at arm’s length.
After she reluctantly handed her phone to her nephew, the second nappy change had gone a lot more smoothly than the first and drooling over her mobile had kept him still long enough for her to strap on a clean nappy.
The morning and lunchtime with her family had passed quickly, and Delilah was feeling happier than she had in ages.
Her relationship with Salome and Farhan was back on track and they had shared their plan with her to enrol Arin into a local nursery for a few days a week, allowing Salome to look for a part-time PR job.
Delilah, for her part, had offered regular babysitting support to give the couple more quality time together.
As she lifted the lid of the grey refuse bin, Delilah caught a flash of movement in the corner of her eye and glanced up just in time to see Noah, head down, striding up the street in her direction.
Without thinking, she dropped the lid and ducked down behind the bin, praying he hadn’t seen her.
What the hell was he doing here in the middle of a working day!
Crouching into a tight ball with her back against the dividing fence, she pressed herself against the rough wood while her heart pounded furiously.
She hadn’t spoken to Noah since Zazie had admitted her plan to trick him into marriage, and Delilah was terrified of facing him when she knew he was being lied to.
At some point, she knew she’d have to come clean with Noah, but she wasn’t ready yet – and definitely not while she was clutching a bag with a soiled nappy.
When she heard the sound of a door slamming, Delilah counted to ten and then stood up cautiously, keeping a wary eye on the house next door while she opened the bin and tossed the nappy sack inside.
She brushed down her coat and hurried along the path to the gate.
With her eyes firmly fixed on the door to Noah’s family home, it was too late to stop herself from crashing headlong into Noah’s mother, who was approaching from the opposite direction.
‘ Oh! I – I’m so sorry,’ Delilah gasped, her arms flailing as she tried to keep her balance. ‘It’s my fault! I should have been looking?—’
‘Yes, you should ! You nearly knocked me over,’ Mrs West cut in sharply, holding on to the gate to steady herself. Her caramel-brown eyes, so like Noah’s, blazed with anger. ‘But then being considerate of other people isn’t your strong point, is it?’ she added furiously.
Delilah flinched at the jibe, but this was the first time in years the woman had deigned to speak to her, and she seized the opportunity to plead her case.
‘Mrs West, I know you’re very upset with me, and I don’t blame you,’ she said humbly. ‘What – what I did to Noah was unforgiveable and?—’
‘It was indeed unforgiveable.’ Mrs West cut into Delilah’s stumbling narrative once again. ‘But I’m not the one you should be saying this to.’
It was hard not to feel intimidated by the woman’s stony face and acid tone, but Delilah continued doggedly. ‘I – I know. I’ve spoken to Noah and apologised…’ She tailed off as Mrs West’s eyes widened with incredulity.
‘ You’ve spoken to Noah? When was this?’
‘Um… well, we’ve met a couple of times over the past few weeks.’
‘That sounds very unlikely. He hasn’t mentioned it to me.’
Bristling at the implication she was lying, Delilah fought the urge to point out Noah was an adult and under no obligation to tell his mother everything that happened in his life. But the news that Delilah was in touch with her son was clearly infuriating his mother.
‘You really have a nerve, d’you know that? How dare you have the gall to even breathe near my son after the way you treated him?’
Her nostrils flared and her face tightened with anger, causing Delilah to take an involuntary step back.
‘My Neville and I opened our home to you, but our trust was misplaced. I always suspected you didn’t have staying power, but I held my tongue for Noah’s sake.
I should have followed my instinct and persuaded Noah to finish with you before you hurt him so grievously. ’
Although Mrs West would probably have considered herself too refined to raise her voice, Delilah would have infinitely preferred being shouted at to the quiet, cutting tone laced with contempt.
By breaking Noah’s heart, she had created an enemy in his mother – not that there had ever been much love to lose from that quarter.
And yet, behind the verbal assault, Delilah could hear pain, and a tiny part of her understood the woman’s deep visceral reaction to the girl who had so badly damaged her son.
‘I hope Noah has made it clear he has a girlfriend now?’ Mrs West continued, and Delilah winced at the triumph in her voice. But remembering her promise to Noah, she drew on the advice she had offered Zazie only days earlier and kept her tone even.
‘Yes, he has. Look, Mrs West, about Noah and me. We – we’re just friends.’
‘ Friends! And you seriously expect me to believe that’s all you are prepared to settle for?’
‘Noah’s a grown man,’ Delilah protested. ‘He knows what he wants and – anyway, he’s happy with Zazie.’
‘Yes, he is. But, somehow, when it comes to you, my boy loses every bit of his common sense.’ She took a step forward and her voice hardened. ‘You are not to be trusted and I’m warning you, Delilah. Keep away from him! ’
Seeing the contempt in the woman’s face caused tears to spring into Delilah’s eyes and spill down her cheeks. Overwhelmed by the venom in Mrs West’s words and her own spiralling emotions, Delilah didn’t immediately register the sound of the gate or see Noah until he was standing beside her.
‘What’s going on? I saw the two of you through the window.’ He directed the question at his mother, who pressed her lips into a tight line and stared ahead with an expression set like concrete.
Delilah covered her mouth with a trembling hand, unable to hold back the tears cascading down her face. Noah glanced at her and his expression darkened. ‘What did you say to her, Mum?’
‘Nothing she didn’t deserve to hear,’ his mother said defiantly.
Noah looked from her to Delilah and then back again. ‘Can’t you see you’ve upset her?’ he demanded.
‘ I’ve upset her ? Have you forgotten so quickly how much she upset you – and not just you but all of us with what she did! I don’t know how you can even stand to look at her, much less…’
Noah’s eyes narrowed. ‘Much less what?’
‘I may be getting on, son, but I am not na?ve. I can see where this is going. First you start talking to her and the next thing I know, you’ll be telling your father and me how everything that happened before was just a big misunderstanding and she’s a lovely girl and not the nasty, self-centred madam she showed herself to be. ’
Noah stared at her in outrage. ‘ Mum! ’
Mortified, Delilah fumbled in her pocket for the tissue she’d stuffed there earlier and swiped it across her damp cheeks.
‘It’s okay, Noah. Please don’t fight with your mum because of me. She’s got every right to be furious. I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry for what I did…’ Her voice, husky with tears, broke as she looked pleadingly at Mrs West.
For a fleeting moment, the woman’s expression seemed to soften, but then her mouth tightened, and it was as if a mask had come down. ‘Are you sorry enough to leave my son alone now he’s happy with someone else?’
‘ Back off , Mum!’ Noah snapped. ‘You’ve got no right to speak to her like that. Come on, Del!’
To Delilah’s astonishment, Noah reached out a hand and she stared at him dumbly for a moment before slowly reaching out to take it, her skin tingling as his hand closed over hers.
Her legs suddenly felt weak, and they seemed to move of their own volition when Noah gently tugged her towards him.
She felt as if she’d been catapulted into a parallel universe as she found herself walking away with Noah while his mother stood open-mouthed on the pavement.