Page 13

Pete

Pete’s phone vibrates in his back pocket for the third time, and he pulls it out to see Natalie’s name on the screen.

It rings off before he can answer, and he sees notifications for multiple missed calls, all from Natalie.

‘Excuse me,’ he says to the water board representative.

‘I’m really sorry, I’m going to have to return this call.

I’ll be five minutes.

’ The water guy nods and Pete steps away, pressing his phone to his ear.

‘Pete?’ The phone doesn’t even ring before Natalie picks up.

‘Everything OK?’

‘Pete! Finally, I’ve been trying to get hold of you all afternoon.

’ Her voice sounds thick, the way it does when she’s been crying, and Pete feels his heart sink.

What is it now? Every day she seems to call him to rant about something that really could be ranted about when he gets home.

Irritation scratches at his insides as he glances over to where the guy from the water board is waiting, his own phone in his hand.

‘I’m at work, Nat. I’m in the middle of something really important.

’

‘Can you come home?’ There is a hint of annoyance in her voice and Pete finds himself reciprocating.

‘Natalie, I can’t just walk off site.

I’m in the middle of a meeting with the water company, and I’ve got another meeting before I leave.

’ Pete has had this meeting with the water board booked for weeks; he can’t just leave.

If he leaves now without getting everything approved, not only is he going to hold up the entire project, but he’s also going to have to speak to Vanessa and tell her.

Pete has somehow managed to avoid Vanessa since that awful evening at her flat two weeks ago, despite the numerous messages from her personal email.

The last email just read please , and even now his stomach turns over at the thought of it.

‘Is it one of the kids?’ Pete signals to Dave, his foreman.

If it’s one of the kids, he’s going to have to go.

Maybe Dave can get the sign-off in his absence, just so long as he doesn’t have to tell Vanessa there’s a delay.

‘No, it’s not the—’

‘Then what is it, Nat? Because if I leave site without sorting this out, I’m going to have to go to Vanessa and tell her the entire project is delayed, for God knows how long.

’

‘Well, if you come home, you can tell her immediately,’ Natalie says, ‘seeing as how she’s here, at our house, right now.

’

Pete’s mind is going nineteen to the dozen on the way home.

Why the fuck is Vanessa at my house?

He should have responded to her emails, he thinks, even if he just reiterated the fact that there can never be anything between them ever again.

Is she throwing me off the contract?

His heart goes cold at the thought.

This contract – it’s the making of him and his business.

If she throws him off, then …

Not only are there financial implications, but there’s also his reputation.

There’ll be speculation as to why he was removed, and that brings his thoughts to his biggest fear.

Has Vanessa told Natalie what’s been going on between them?

As he pulls onto the driveway the front door swings open and Natalie stands there, her arms folded across her body.

He can’t help but notice she hasn’t washed her hair today, and she’s wearing the same jogging pants she’s worn all week.

‘You said Vanessa is here?’ Pete asks, as he reaches the threshold.

He smiles, an attempt to hide the panic currently firing through his veins, as he tries to read her expression, to see if there’s any hint at all that Vanessa has dropped a bomb on his life, but Natalie just looks as she usually does.

Tired and pale.

‘She’s through there,’ she says, standing to one side to let him inside.

‘In the kitchen.’

His heart in his mouth, Pete slides out of his jacket and heads into the kitchen, frantically trying to figure out how to play things.

‘Hello, Pete.’ Vanessa smiles at him as if the last time he saw her wasn’t in her bedroom, as he told her he didn’t want to sleep with her any more.

It’s been a struggle to avoid her at work, and he does wonder if he was the only one who could feel the tension between them in the design meeting last week.

‘I did try to call you, but for some reason I couldn’t get it to connect.

’

Natalie steps around him, moving towards Vanessa, and as she does Pete notices for the first time that her eyes are pink and swollen.

He casts a frantic glance towards Vanessa, half expecting Natalie to slap her round the face.

This is it , he thinks, as panic claws at his insides, and he tries frantically to come up with a reasonable excuse to counteract whatever Vanessa has told Natalie.

This is the moment when it all comes tumbling down.

But instead of Natalie slapping Vanessa and then launching herself at Pete, she simply reaches over and switches on the kettle.

‘Vanessa, can I make you a cup of tea? Coffee?’

‘Not for me.’ Vanessa says, not taking her eyes off Pete.

‘Why are you here, Vanessa?’ Pete asks, as Natalie looks at him sharply.

‘I mean, why didn’t you see me at the office?

’

‘You’re very elusive,’ Vanessa says.

‘I did try and catch you a couple of times, and like I said, my call to your phone wouldn’t connect.

I was passing by and thought I’d drop this file in to you.

’ She holds out a slim paper wallet.

‘Here. There are a few essential documents in there – it’s pretty urgent, so you might want to cast your eye over it now, before I leave.

’

It’s with some trepidation that Pete takes the file, as Natalie stirs the tea and hands him a mug.

‘Excuse me one sec,’ Natalie says.

‘I’m just going to check on Zadie and the baby.

’ She squeezes past Pete and leaves him alone with Vanessa.

Pete opens the file, his mouth going dry when he sees what it contains.

He feels sick as he shuffles through the photographs in the folder, his stomach rolling.

Vanessa, in various stages of undress, wearing the underwear he’d been so keen to rip off her just a week ago.

Vanessa, naked, her lips jammy with glossy red lipstick as she pouts at the camera.

Finally – worst, if at all possible – a photograph of Pete, lying in her bed, clearly naked as he snoozes after a particularly exhausting visit to her flat.

He can almost feel the blood drain from his face as Natalie’s footsteps move overhead, and then there is the muted cry of the baby.

‘Jesus, Vanessa.’

She blinks, watching him as he slides the pictures back into the file.

‘I just wanted to talk to you, Pete. You’ve blocked my number, haven’t you?

None of my texts are going through, and you could barely look me in the eye at the design meeting last week.

’

‘So, you came to my house ?’ Pete hisses, always aware of Natalie on the floor above.

He runs his hands through his hair.

‘I can’t believe you thought it was a good idea to just turn up …

Natalie and the kids are home, for Christ’s sake.

’

‘How else was I supposed to get hold of you? Maybe you should have answered my emails, Pete. We need to discuss things.’

Natalie’s voice filters down the stairs as she speaks to Zadie, and Pete’s heart lurches in his chest again.

‘We can’t talk inhere.

’ He takes her by the arm and gently manoeuvres her towards the front door, before raising his voice.

‘Thanks so much, Vanessa, for dropping this off. Let me see you out.’

Pete opens the front door and follows Vanessa out onto the drive, where he tries to give her the file back.

‘No, Pete, I don’t want it.

’ Vanessa takes a step back, her eyes going to the first-floor windows above their heads.

Pete follows her gaze.

There is no sign of Natalie, but he drops the hand holding the file, not wanting to make a scene.

‘Vanessa, I already explained to you this can’t happen.

Me and you – it’s over.

’

‘How can you say that?’ Vanessa’s eyes are glassy as she stares at him.

‘After everything?’

Pete swallows, the words sticking in his throat.

‘Ness, you can’t just turn up at my house like this.

It’s not right.’

‘What else was I supposed to do? I love you, Pete. I can’t believe you could be this …

this … cruel .’ Her voice breaks slightly, and Pete holds his breath.

Please don’t cry. There’s no way I’ll be able to explain that to Natalie if she looks out of the window.

‘I’m sorry, Vanessa.

I really am so, so sorry, but there is no us, there can’t be, I already told you that.

I know I’ve hurt you, and I hate myself for that, but this really is it.

Please don’t come here again.

Please don’t try and contact me unless it’s about work.

’

Vanessa’s mouth drops open in a soundless O, one fist pressed against her chest as if he has physically wounded her.

‘You’re making a massive mistake,’ she says, her voice rising.

‘You’re just like all the others, aren’t you?

You’re no better than my dad – using me and then casting me aside when you’re done.

’ Tears spill over her cheeks, mascara pooling under her eyes, and Pete feels a flicker of anger.

‘You knew my situation,’ he says, guiding her towards her car now.

He needs to get her off his property before Natalie comes out to see what’s taking so long.

‘You can’t come to my house and threaten me, understand?

And as for comparing me to your father?

I want to stay with my family.

I’m nothing like your fucking dad.

’ He catches her features starting to crumple as he slams the car door in her face and marches back up the driveway into the house, his heart racing, asking himself that same question again.

What the fuck have I done?

‘Did Vanessa leave already?’ Natalie begins to descend the staircase, Erin in her arms, and adrenaline spurts through Pete’s veins as he realises he’s still holding the file.

Suddenly afraid she’ll ask to see what’s inside, Pete lets Natalie reach the hallway before he heads for the stairs.

‘Yeah, she just had to drop off some … confidential stuff.’

‘Weird she came here instead of just waiting for you at the office.’ Pete tries to figure out if there is an undercurrent to Natalie’s tone – if she is suspicious in any way.

‘I can’t believe that’s the first time I’ve ever met her,’ Natalie goes on.

‘She’s not what I thought.

’

‘Oh?’

‘Listen, Pete, while you’re here, I need to talk to you—’

Aware of the file, hot enough to singe the skin on his palm, Pete cuts her off.

‘I need to sort this stuff out. Sorry.’ Without waiting for Natalie to reply, Pete hurries upstairs to the spare room that sometimes doubles as an office.

Sitting at the desk, he opens the file again, his eyes running over the photo of Vanessa in her underwear.

It doesn’t attract him in the slightest any more – in fact, it makes him feel ill, sick with shame and guilt.

He slams it closed again and pushes his hands through his hair.

What the hell am I going to do with this?

He can’t take it to work – he could lose the contract if anyone there finds it.

If he throws it away, there’s a chance Natalie – or even Emily – could find it in the bin, and that really would be the end of everything.

He pauses for a moment, tapping his fingers on the desk as he thinks.

I could keep it. It could end up being the perfect insurance policy to hold over Vanessa.

A smile tugs at the corners of his mouth as he realises he might just have solved his own problem.

If he keeps the file and Vanessa carries on harassing him, all he needs to do is turn the tables on her.

He could threaten to post them online, or email them out to her clients, effectively blackmailing her into keeping her mouth shut.

He can say she’s been stalking him: she turned up at his house, threatened to tell his wife they had an affair.

He wouldn’t be lying, not strictly speaking.

Despite the idea of blackmail leaving a filthy taste in his mouth, Pete unlocks the bottom drawer of the desk and slides the file inside, before carefully locking it and heading back downstairs.

In the sitting room, Natalie sits slumped on the sofa as cartoons blare from the television.

She doesn’t look up as he enters.

‘Nat? Why is Zadie home? I thought the holidays didn’t start until next week.

’

Natalie drags her gaze from the screen, her mouth twisting as she looks up at him.

‘Maybe if you could spare five minutes to actually talk to me, you’d know.

’

‘Nat, I was working. I told you that. What happened? You said you had to go to school for a meeting.’

‘I don’t want to talk about it now.

’ She gets to her feet and pushes past him roughly, heading into the kitchen.

Later, Pete lies beside Natalie in bed, as she literally turns a cold shoulder towards him.

She hasn’t spoken to him all evening, and he had to ask Zadie what happened at school.

She gave him some story about the teacher being mean to her, and he’s still not any wiser as to why she’s been sent home.

Exhausted but wide awake, he stares up at the ceiling, picturing Natalie’s face as it twisted with disgust when he asked her about Zadie, before it morphs into Vanessa’s face, crumpling as he told her he was nothing like her fucking dad .

Maybe that was a bit harsh of him.

There is a pang of regret and he reaches for his phone.

He knows how she feels about her dad and that was a step too far, mentioning him.

I’m sorry about today.

I shouldn’t have said that.

Believe me when I say I really didn’t want things to end up like this.

Feeling like less of a heel, he rolls away from Natalie’s back and closes his eyes.