Page 51 of The Girlfriend

L AURA BUZZED DANIEL’S FLAT FROM THE STREET.

SHE PULLED HER handbag in tightly over her shoulder; then realizing her palms were damp, she quickly dabbed them on her jacket.

It was a new sensation, being nervous about visiting your own son.

She gave a small wave through the glass door to Ian, whom she could see was at his desk, then finally an answer.

She smiled up at the camera and heard the door click open.

On the first floor, he’d left his front door open.

She knocked and peered inside for him. “Hello? It’s me.

” It felt odd not to be greeted, as though she was trespassing.

He came through from the kitchen and stopped still in the hall.

Laura was instinctively about to go and embrace him, but his folded arms and flat expression kept her at bay.

“Tea?”

“Yes, please.”

He turned and went back into the kitchen and she was left alone for a moment.

“Mint?” he called, and she followed and took a seat at the breakfast bar and watched as he made the tea. Neither of them said anything. He pushed a mug toward her, and then, holding his, leaned his back against the counter and looked at her expectantly .

“I’m sorry,” said Laura. “Truly, deeply sorry. They’d just told me you were likely to”—she paused, remembering the awful meeting—“not make it. In fact, you didn’t have a lot of time.

I was devastated and, knowing I was about to lose you, I wanted .

. . I wanted you to myself. To give you all of myself.

I wanted the last few hours to be like they were when you were little. Just us.”

“And then?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I woke up. At no point did you tell Cherry I’d recovered. And you told me she’d left me months before.”

“I know, I—”

“Did you not think I missed her? That I could’ve done with her when I was recovering?” His voice ached with hurt and she felt an urge to put her arms around him, but he wasn’t a child she could comfort anymore. And, anyway, she was the source of the hurt.

“Daniel, it wasn’t an easy decision. I agonized over it, even after you’d come round.”

“That makes it even worse. You held my future in your hands, tossing it this way and that.”

“No, you misunderstand—”

“At least, if you’d known for a fact she was bad news, it would make it easier to stomach.”

Laura took a deep breath. “Look, I know it’s been hard, and I should’ve been the one to tell you, but . . . well, this isn’t going to be easy to hear. . . .”

He stiffened. “What?”

“Cherry manipulated me out of the way yesterday. She faked a call to my PA, pretending to be ITV, and told me I had to be at a meeting yesterday morning. Meanwhile, she went to the house to drop the bombshell.”

Daniel put his cup down in exasperation. “Mum, she didn’t know I was alive.”

“No, you see, she did. She’d come to my office the day before.”

“Yes, she told me.”

Laura was surprised. “She did?”

“Said she’d gone for some closure. You hadn’t told her anything about my funeral, or where she could visit my nonexistent grave.”

She tried to ignore his sarcasm. “Is that all she said?”

“What else was there?”

“She threatened me. Told me she knew you were alive, and in revenge for what I’d done, she was going to take everything from me.”

He made a small exhaling noise, incredulous. “What?”

“I’m sorry, Daniel,” she said. “I know you like her, but she is bad news.”

“‘Revenge’? ‘Take everything’? How’s she going to do that?”

“I don’t know.”

He was staring at her in a way that made her feel uncomfortable. Hurt was etched across his face, along with something else he was trying to fight. Dislike.

“She came to the house yesterday morning to bring you some memorabilia,” he said. “Photos of our trip to Wales. She thought you might like them.”

Her heart missed a beat. “She’s clever, don’t you see? She’s playing you.”

The buzzer went. Daniel picked up the phone, listened, and held down the door release.

“Expecting someone?” she said apprehensively. She thought she knew who.

His look confirmed it and Laura sat up straight. “What are you going to say to her?” she asked.

There was a rap at the door and Daniel left. Laura could hear quiet murmurings in the hallway. A few seconds later, he came back, followed by Cherry.

“Laura,” she said demurely. “I hope I’m not intruding.”

Laura looked at her. She was as cool as you like, and not a trace of their previous conversation could be read in her face.

“He knows everything.”

Cherry looked puzzled. “About what you said to me? The lie?”

“No . . . ,” she began heatedly before pulling herself together. “About you. Coming to my office and threatening me. ”

Cherry looked at Daniel, wide-eyed. “I don’t know what she means.”

“Oh, come on. . . .”

“I’m sorry, Daniel,” said Cherry softly, “I know she doesn’t like me, doesn’t want us seeing each other, but I’m finding this very hard to deal with. Maybe we should rethink our plans.”

“What plans?” said Laura, anxiously looking at Daniel.

He was silent for a moment.

“Cherry’s moving in. Moved in.”

“She’s what ?”

“I’m not. I can’t cope with this.” Upset, Cherry turned to go. “Look, I’ll just get a cab, take my things home again.”

Daniel grabbed her arm. “No—”

“She’s moving in now ? You don’t waste any time, do you—”

“Mum!”

“Whose idea was it?” Laura demanded.

“What?”

“For her to move in?”

Daniel was losing patience. “Mine, of course.”

“Are you sure? Think back. Are you sure she didn’t plant the idea?”

“No.”

Cherry was in the hallway, dragging her bag to the door.

“Cherry, wait!” Daniel ran over and put his hand on the door to stop her from opening it.

Laura took a deep breath. She spoke awkwardly, under her breath. “Daniel, this is what I’ve been saying . . . about the money. There was the ticket too, remember? Telling you the flight to France was six hundred when it was only five. I saw the ticket. ”

She saw him hesitate.

“Daniel, please believe me. Everything I’m telling you is true.”

He looked at Cherry, who, she saw, was doing her best to look perplexed.

“Are you talking about when I came to your villa?” she said.

“I don’t understand. . . .” She blinked, hurt, then started rummaging in her suitcase.

“You think I tried to scam money out of you? I didn’t.

. . . Look . . . I’m sure I have it here somewhere.

... I kept it, a keepsake . . . it was our first trip together .

. . here!” She produced a piece of crumpled paper with a flourish. “My ticket!”

Daniel took it. “That’s all I ever asked you for, right?” continued Cherry.

Laura frowned at the piece of paper in Daniel’s hand. It looked the same, but the amount was six hundred.... “That’s not right. That’s not the ticket I saw. . . .”

“I need to go,” said Cherry, tears welling in her eyes.

“Not yet.” Daniel turned to Laura. “Mum, I think you’d better leave.”

“But can’t you see? She must have made that up, printed another one or something. She’s lying!”

He spoke quietly. “Mum, it’s not Cherry who’s the liar.”

Laura broke her gaze from him when she could feel the tears prick; holding her head as high as she could, she left the flat.

As she made her way out onto the street, Laura could feel Cherry watching her from the window. She daren’t look up; she didn’t want to see her gloating, triumphant face.

* * *

The dark was creeping in, casting the room in a reverential gloom, but Laura lay on the sofa, couldn’t muster the energy to get up and switch on the light.

In fact, she quite liked it, lying there, Moses on her stomach, purring rhythmically, both of them watching the shadows take hold.

It suited her mood. She knew she’d lost her cool earlier, but Cherry’s performance had gotten to her.

Now, lying here and looking back on it, she felt frightened at how much Cherry had controlled the entire incident.

She was probably enjoying it, reveling in the way Daniel was turning against his own mother.

She’d tried calling him when she got back to the house, but it had gone to his voice mail.

She’d left a message, asking him to call her back, but he hadn’t so far; she didn’t expect a response tonight.

In fact, she honestly didn’t know when she’d hear from him again.

The lift door opened in the hallway and Moses pricked his ears. Howard must have come up from the garage .

He came into the room and flicked on the light. Laura winced and covered her eyes.

He was surprised to see her. “What are you doing here in the dark?”

“Nothing. Relaxing.”

Howard stroked Moses, who was weaving in and out of his ankles. “Hello, boy.” He looked up. “Where’s Daniel?”

A knot formed in Laura’s chest. She’d have to tell him. “He’s moved back to his flat.”

Howard stood. “When?”

“Yesterday.”

“Was he not going to say good-bye?”

“It’s not as simple as that.”

He looked at her, waiting for more. Under pressure, she got up and moved into the kitchen. Poured herself a glass of wine from the fridge.

Howard followed. “What’s going on?”

“Daniel and Cherry are back together.”

He looked surprised. “What . . . After the way she dumped him?”

“She didn’t dump him. I told her . . .” There was a long pause.

“Yes . . . ?”

“When we thought he wasn’t going to make it . . . I told her he’d already died.”

Howard stared and then started to laugh, a wild, incredulous bark. The laugh dried up. “You’re not joking, are you?”

“She didn’t love him, I’m pretty sure.... I know she wants him for his money.”

He rubbed his hand across his hair, making it stick up. “Oh, my God.”

Laura topped up her wine. “Do you want some?” she said, indicating the bottle.

Still reeling, he shook his head. “What about when he woke up? Did you not think to tell him the truth?”

“Oh, Howard, how could I?” she said, frustrated at his lack of understanding. “And now he’s found out, through Cherry, who’s manipulated herself back into his life. ”

“ Cherry’s manipulated?”

“She’s a very clever, very determined young woman.”

Howard reached for the bottle and a glass. “Maybe I will have that drink.”

He looked at her and she wished he’d wipe the judgmental expression off his face.

“So when he found out, he felt the need to move back to his flat, and judging from your mood when I came in, he’s not best pleased with you,” Howard observed.

“He doesn’t see her for who she really is.”

“I think it’s you who’s not seeing.”

“But she’s—”

“Not her, you. Look at yourself. At what you’ve done.” He shook his head. “How on earth did you think you’d get away with this?”

“You’re forgetting. At the time, we didn’t think . . . The doctors told us he was dying. I just needed those last couple of days. As a mother, under the circumstances, I don’t think that’s too hard to justify, is it?”

“‘As a mother . . .’ He’s a grown man, Laura.

You don’t have to think what’s best for him anymore.

How do you think he felt when he woke up and you—Christ, me too—told him she’d left him.

Me, consoling with a load of bullshit about how she wasn’t worth it if she wasn’t going to stick around.

” He was angry now and slammed his glass down. “Does he think I was in on this?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, you’d better bloody tell him I wasn’t. No, don’t, I’ll tell him.” He sighed heavily. “Cherry’s okay. What exactly have you got against her?”

Laura flashed a look of exasperation. “I’ve told you. She’s after his money, his future, thinking she can just hang on to his coattails and get herself another life.”

“And you know this how?”

“Little things. She’s lied about stuff. Money. Fabricated excuses to get time off to go to France. But it’s more than that, it’s . . . I don’t know . . . a feeling. ”

“What, mother’s instinct?”

“Don’t dismiss it,” she snapped, hurt.

“You’re deluded. Just let go, let go of him.

” He looked at her with a new distance, as if he didn’t know her.

“Stop making excuses for your obsessive behavior. You’ve driven him away—you—and you’ve only got yourself to blame.

” He shook his head as he looked at her, as if hit by a great sadness, then left the room.

She heard him go upstairs, and after a while, the footsteps faded out.

She sat down and, pouring some more wine, found her hand was shaking.

She hadn’t said anything about Cherry’s threats, but she had a feeling Howard would’ve just thought she was being sensational, or what was it he’d called her? Deluded.