Page 25 of Wanting Daisy Dead

Georgie

Oh. My. God.

As Mother Teresa utters her damning words, accusing Lauren of coming on to Professor Montgomery so he’d give her higher marks, I gasp. Audibly. No one expected sweet, bereaved Teresa to come out with that. The woman is officially my queen!

I want to laugh out loud, and shout ‘Preach it, sister’, but even I wouldn’t do that; it would be rude. And I would be showing my hand. Something I can’t do – yet.

It takes a few minutes for the embarrassed silence around the table to be gently filled up again by the mumble of voices. Teresa is soon back to tackling her terrine, and a distressed Lauren is grabbing her fake designer clutch and sprinting for the bathroom. Run, bitch. Run!

That’s when I turn to Dan. ‘Did you hear that? Teresa just accused Lauren of coming on to David Montgomery.’

He doesn’t respond, but his jaw tightens and his eyes slide left to right in acknowledgement.

‘Told you she’s dodgy. Now do you believe me?’

He shifts in his seat. ‘Don’t get carried away, Georgie,’ he sing-songs under his breath.

‘I’m not getting carried away,’ I hiss. But I am.

‘Shhh.’

I will put up with a lot of things, but I will not be shushed.

This is too important, and needs to be discussed.

‘Dan, do not fucking shush me!’ I’m keeping my voice low, and Alex is now charming the table with stories of his new Bernese mountain dogs – ‘We have two, we call them the twins’ – and everyone is just melting.

Maddie is particularly enjoying his company and lapping it up, just like a little cat.

‘Lauren lies about everything. She was Daisy’s friend and she was coming on to her boyfriend. Always complaining about Daisy only getting high marks because she was sleeping with the teacher – and all the time she’s trying to sleep with the fucking teacher, to get better marks!’

‘Okay ... Okay,’ he’s saying in a way that suggests more shushing.

‘I need to talk to you,’ I say through gritted teeth. As far as the rest of the table is concerned, I’m whispering sweet nothings into my husband’s ear. But he’s turning away from me, refusing to engage, and I hate him all over again.

I glance over at Alex. He’s been so nice to me tonight, and he’s promised not to say anything about me lying that I was in bed the night Daisy disappeared, but still – can I trust him?

I get the feeling we’re all ready to blame each other to save ourselves.

Alex is no different, and if I’m the next one they’re going to lay the blame on, who’s to say he won’t pile on with his evidence of my guilt?

After all, I lied to the police, and I lied to Dan about where I was, and the only person who knows I wasn’t in bed asleep the night Daisy went missing is Alex.

I watch him discreetly from across the table.

He’s still good-looking, and I can’t help wonder, what if?

The mind-boggling prospect of that sliding-doors moment, choosing between two different men, two different lives.

Driven by naivety, hormones and a fear of being alone, my future was decided at the age of eighteen.

A gorgeous billionaire with big brown eyes and a four-million-dollar stucco mansion in Saratoga Woods (yep, I googled him), or Dan?

Oh, to wind back that clock.

If I’d gone with the Alex option, my business would be making caviar canapés for ladies who lunch, not birthday tea for kids’ soft-play parties.

I know, I tell everyone my business is gourmet catering, but that isn’t exactly working out.

The business wasn’t taking off, so when Candyland Kids Soft Play called to ask if I’d do a six-year-old’s pirate party, I said yes.

I thought it was a one-off, but it was only the beginning of the living Disney hell I find myself in .

.. Let’s put it this way, my upcoming events are two Lion King toddler teas, a Little Mermaid princess party, and a Pocahontas -themed finger buffet for tweenagers.

We’re not short of money. Dan’s hedge fund job brings in a good salary plus bonuses, but I hate being dependent on him; it makes me itchy.

At the age of seventy-four, his father left his mother for a much younger woman, and Dan’s inheritance is now being spent on a thirty-year-old Beyoncé lookalike.

The fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree, and watching Dan watching the young waitress right now, I don’t need a crystal ball to see my future. So I do need a job.

But the priority right now is us both getting through this weekend without being arrested or exposed.

I need to stop focusing on the negatives and appreciate what I have, and my mind returns to its happy place – Lauren being handed the Bitchiest Best Friend of the Year Award from Teresa just now. It was delicious!

I give a great big beaming smile to Mother Teresa. I want to hug her. Meanwhile Lauren’s back from the bathroom and attempting to explain why she ripped the hair from Teresa’s now-deceased daughter’s head.

‘Dan,’ I say under my breath.

‘What?’

‘I wasn’t going to tell you this, I was saving it to confront her with, but I can’t keep it to myself a minute longer – Lauren did a lot worse than stealing Daisy’s coursework,’ I blurt.

‘Georgie, you can’t start saying stuff. You don’t know —’

‘I do. I saw it with my own eyes. I was in Lauren’s room earlier and—’

‘Stop, now!’

‘Don’t you dare speak to me like that.’

I take a large swig of wine and slam my glass down to let him know how angry I am. Then I lean in to him, and whisper in his ear, ‘Come outside with me a moment.’

‘No. I don’t want a scene.’

‘Stop being such a dick and come outside with me. If you don’t, I’ll stab you with the butter knife.’

‘Enough of the sweet nothings, my little viper,’ he replies under his breath.

‘Just going for a breath of fresh air,’ I announce to anyone who cares. Nobody does.

He gets up and follows me out, and once we’re in the hallway goes to the exterior doors and tries to open them.

‘They’re stuck. I can’t get them open,’ he’s saying.

‘Idiot. I don’t want to go outside in the freezing cold. I just wanted to get out of there and into the men’s toilets.’

‘Is this a new kink or something?’ he asks optimistically.

‘No ... I need to tell you something, and the toilets are a safe zone – there’s no recording equipment in there.’

He rolls his eyes; the irritation has returned. ‘I’ve just left a very nice starter and the champagne is flowing, but you’ve dragged me away because you want to bang on about Lauren in the gents?’

‘It’s huge , Dan.’ I grab his hand and drag him into the doorway of the toilets.

‘I don’t Care ...’ He tries to back out, but I’m clutching his lapel so he can’t. He’s terrified of tearing his suit.

‘So you aren’t interested in what I have to tell you?

’ I say. ‘Even if it puts Lauren in the spotlight and saves you? Dan, what I’ve discovered about her gives Lauren a strong motive to kill Daisy.

That’s why I don’t want it recorded now, because what I have to tell you will blow everything apart.

I want to confront her with this when it’s being recorded. ’

‘That’s why we’re in the gents’ toilets?’

‘Yes, because what she did gives her a motive and will take the heat off us ... especially you !’

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I see something move in the mirror in the gents, the reflection of someone moving past the door.

I put my finger to my mouth to warn Dan, then I take a step into the corridor to see who it is .

Someone is standing just around the corner – watching, and listening – and even from here, I can see exactly who it is.