Page 22 of Wanting Daisy Dead
Maddie
I was terrified when Lauren came running in saying she’d seen Daisy.
The way she described her, face pressed against the window, her mouth moving but no sound.
It really got to me. It’s obviously tough for Lauren, she was her best friend, but Daisy and I were close at the beginning.
We met on the first day at uni, and spent freshers’ week running around Exeter.
It was the most fun I’d ever had, and in our own way we remained close, despite Lauren crashing in and becoming her bestie.
I make us both a cup of herbal tea and she seems calmer as we sit together on the sofa talking.
‘Where did Georgie go?’ I ask.
‘She disappeared. Georgie doesn’t do emotion.’
‘I know, but we were having a nice chat when you came in.’
‘Really? Are we talking about the same Georgie?’
‘Lauren, she’s okay .’
‘I know, you just need to break through that crust of ice to see that there’s ... another, even thicker one underneath,’ she jokes. ‘Did you see her on the beach earlier? She didn’t like you and Dan chasing each other.’
I feel embarrassed. ‘You know what he’s like.’ I take a sip of my tea. Georgie has always been jealous where Dan is concerned, but I wonder if Lauren’s trying to stir things up.
‘Yes, I do, and I know what she’s like too. Georgie sees women like you as a threat – women like you and Daisy.’
‘What do you mean?’ I ask.
‘Well, you were both the pretty girls, with long blonde hair, just his type back then – well, most men’s type.’
I hate it when people say stuff like this, so I just shrug. ‘I used to feel sorry for Georgie. Still do, really.’
‘Oh, Georgie can look after herself. I feel more sorry for Dan having her control his every move,’ she says. ‘She told me once that her father had affairs, and that’s why she sees other women as a threat.’
‘You’d think that would make her mistrust men , not women,’ I muse.
‘You’re probably right, Maddie. She doesn’t trust anyone, never gives anything of herself. Georgie has always hidden who she really is.’
‘Don’t we all? I’ve done a lot of therapy and I’m only too aware of how much I hide – even from my therapist!’
‘Maddie, you’re an open book, so sweet and pretty, and you’ve never been one for gossip. You just get on with life, don’t you?’
‘I’m not interested in gossip, and I hate it when people call me sweet and pretty,’ I add, without explaining why.
So sweet , pretty girl , gorgeous woman , beautiful lady ... The words unravel in my head, becoming random, meaningless letters on a screen. I imagine the accompanying voices – gruff old men, overly eager young ones, and the men who make you do things you don’t want to do.
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. It was a compliment, Maddie,’ Lauren says, like I should be grateful.
‘I know, and thanks,’ I hear myself reply.
Gratefully. ‘You and I were so different,’ I say.
‘You smoked and talked about books, carried a notebook, always planning your novel. You seemed so ... sophisticated,’ I add, avoiding the word ‘pretentious’.
‘I’d never met anyone like you. I remember you joining me and Daisy in the student bar, and when I asked what course you were on, you said, “English literature. I’m going to write a bestseller one day. ”’
She smiles at this. ‘God, I was a brat, wasn’t I? Funny, I don’t remember that. I can’t recall even meeting you ... I just remember Daisy.’
‘Yeah, well, I was the quiet one, no one ever noticed me with Daisy around,’ I say good-naturedly. ‘In fact, no one ever noticed me full stop.’
‘I’m sure they did,’ she replies insincerely. ‘What I do remember about you is that you were always happy. We all used to say that.’
Happy? As if I needed proof that no one really saw me.
‘I envied you your sunny disposition,’ she continues. ‘I still do, but not like Georgie, who envies everyone . She can never be happy because she’s always looking over her shoulder.’
Lauren just had to bring Georgie back into the conversation. She’s obsessed with her.
‘I think Georgie’s doing okay,’ I reply. ‘Her gourmet catering start-up sounds like it’s doing really well.’
‘Yeah, I give it a year. Georgie never wanted the hassle of work, that’s why she married Dan. She knew his hedge fund career would keep her in designer handbags and shoes for life.’
‘We mustn’t forget the recording, Lauren,’ I say quietly. I’d forgotten until she started getting really personal about Georgie’s marriage.
‘Oh, Georgie knows what I think of her. She’s too controlling. That’s why she was with Alex in the first term. He was easy to control. I reckon that was down to the dope ... Georgie encouraged him to take drugs too, because she liked to keep him compliant.’
‘I don’t think that she—’ I really wish she’d shut up; this is all being recorded.
‘Oh yeah, she did . She actually said that once. We were all having a few drinks and he started arguing with her, and I’ll never forget she said, “Quick, give him some more downers, he’s coming round.”’
‘That was just Georgie’s dark sense of humour.’
Lauren bristles slightly at my refusal to be sucked in. ‘I’m not saying she’s a bad person, Maddie. I just think she thrives on control – putting everything and everyone in their boxes. I have never understood the dynamic between her and Dan. They’re chalk and cheese.’
‘Are you okay now, after your scare?’ I ask, in an attempt to change the subject.
‘I’m okay. I know Daisy wasn’t actually there, Maddie.
I’m not crazy. I resented Georgie’s implication that I was making it up.
But she looked so real .’ She takes a sip of tea.
‘This weekend has totally disorientated me. The suspicion, the mistrust – I felt it this morning over breakfast, and later at the beach. It was obvious on the drive back we were all checking each other out, and when I dropped my notebook Georgie swooped on it to try to see what I’d written.
I feel like she’s watching me, and I’m worried she might say things about me . .. that aren’t true.’
‘Let it go, Lauren.’ She’s obviously deliberately saying what she wants to be heard on the podcast.
‘I can’t. Georgie’s held on to her grudge all these years. Someone told her that when she went home one weekend Dan and I had sex. She went absolutely crazy ... Threatened to do all kinds of terrible things to me ... and him too. All because someone said we’d slept together.’
‘Did you?’
The look on her face tells me it was true.
‘But they were a couple, Lauren. I don’t blame her for going crazy.’
She seems surprised at me pushing back on this. ‘Yes, but we were all kids, and it wasn’t like they were married. Daisy told me stuff about Georgie – she was so twisted, jealous of everyone. Still is. She’s probably even jealous of you .’
‘Wow, even me ?’ I say, trying for sarcasm, but I can never carry it off.
‘Yes,’ she says, ‘even you .’
I rest my case.
Her eyes suddenly slide across the room, like she thinks someone might be listening, then she leans in. ‘It was Georgie who killed Daisy, I know it was.’
‘Lauren, shhh, keep your voice down – we might be being recorded.’
‘Okay, I’ll whisper,’ she whispers.
‘Why do you say that?’ I ask under my breath, and for once I’m eager to know her thoughts.
‘Well, I shouldn’t tell you this ... and I didn’t say anything at the time because ... I didn’t believe it. But Daisy told me Georgie had threatened to kill her.’
Given Lauren’s dubious track record of exaggerating the truth, I’m not sure I believe this, but everyone’s fighting for their own innocence this weekend.
Lauren doesn’t care who she takes down, but she’d love for it to be Georgie.
And she isn’t whispering as quietly as I’d hoped, which would suggest this is being staged.
‘Georgie was always volatile. Back then she threatened to kill someone every day. Hell, she probably still does.’ I’m joking, but again my delivery falls flat. Besides, Lauren isn’t listening; she’s too intent on putting Georgie right in the frame.
‘No, no, you don’t understand. Daisy said the threat was for real, but at the time I didn’t realise the significance, until it all came out in the court case.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, the fact that, when she died, Daisy was pregnant. I think Georgie threatened to kill her because she’d guessed the baby was Dan’s.’