Page 56

Chapter 55

Anna

Margot is like the weather. You can’t be one hundred per cent sure what you’ll get from one day to the next. Catty, funny, resentful, theatrical, melancholic ... She slips into moods as effortlessly as she might slip on one of her designer dresses. But tears? No, that’s not her style. However, they’re already running when I open my front door. Her hair is piled up on her head and her skin is red and blotchy.

‘What’s wrong?’ I ask, failing to hide my surprise.

‘It’s Nicu,’ she sobs.

‘Has something happened?’

‘He’s walked out on me.’ She exhales sharply from her nose and a thick line of snot falls, resting above her upper lip. She wipes it away with the back of her hand. ‘He’s packed his bags, taken the kids and gone.’

‘Why?’

Now she’s sobbing too hard to be understood.

I invite her in, step out to close the garage door that Drew left open, then follow her into the lounge. I hand her a box of tissues. She grabs a bunch and wipes her tears, nose and hand. Behind her, I spy Drew descending the stairs. He catches a glimpse of the back of her head, scowls and creeps out, quietly shutting the front door behind him.

When I offer Margot a hug, she hangs on to me for dear life. Only weeks ago we were the other way around. I feel the dampness of her cheek against my neck.

‘Anna, I’ve messed up,’ she admits as she lets go of me and sinks into the sofa.

I sit next to her.

‘You have no idea what a terrible person I can be,’ she says.

Oh I think I do.

‘It can’t be that bad,’ I reply. And then I twist the knife. ‘It’s not like you’ve killed anyone, have you?’

She hesitates for the length of a heartbeat before shaking her head.

‘Then whatever could it be?’ I persist.

‘I don’t want you to think badly of me.’

The horse bolted from that stable a long, long time ago.

‘I’ve been cheating on Nicu,’ she continues.

‘Who with?’ I ask.

‘Someone I met online. On an app.’

She recounts how things haven’t been great between her and her husband for some time, and so she sought attention from others. I ask how Nicu found out.

‘That’s the thing, he didn’t. I told him.’

‘Wow,’ I say. ‘That’s brave.’

She shakes her head. ‘Brave has nothing to do with it. We’d been talking at cross-purposes. I was admitting to a fling with another guy, but he was talking about Brandon.’

‘Brandon?’ I repeat. ‘As in Liv’s husband, Brandon?’

Margot breaks eye contact.

‘What does Brandon have to do with this?’ I ask.

‘Liv’s birthday party on Saturday night. We kissed.’

‘You did what?’

‘Don’t judge me!’ she cries.

‘I’m sorry,’ I say, then wonder why I’m the one apologising. ‘You kissed?’

‘Yes ... well ... not exactly. It wasn’t what I’d call mutual.’ Her face reddens. ‘I kissed him and he pulled away. I was drunk, and Nicu and I’d had another argument before I left the house and Brandon was flirting with me ...’

‘That’s no reason to kiss your friend’s husband.’

Her tone switches to defensive. ‘I know, but it’s not like he didn’t offer me any encouragement, Anna. He was leading me on.’

I can’t explain why, but I feel disappointed by her behaviour. I shouldn’t, given what I know she’s capable of. But I thought I’d witnessed a different side to her when she found me in trouble. A nurturing side that was genuinely worried about another human being. And now she’s reverted to type. I half expect to hear Ioana’s voice chirp up with a ‘told you so’, but she maintains her silence.

‘And who is this other man you were having an affair with?’

Margot looks shifty. ‘It doesn’t matter. He doesn’t matter. Again, I was lonely and it was stupid.’

She admits it lasted a few months before she ended it when her mysterious other man began to fall for her.

‘And you definitely haven’t been having an affair with Brandon?’ I ask. ‘What happened on Saturday night was a one-off?’

‘Yes.’

‘Does Liv know about it?’

‘I have no idea,’ Margot groans. ‘I didn’t recognise the number of the person who sent Nicu the video.’

‘There’s a video?’

‘Yes. Someone recorded what I did but edited out the part where Brandon pushed me away and left me alone, looking like an idiot.’

‘The party was two days ago and you’ve not heard from Liv?’

‘No.’

‘I think if she knew, she’d have confronted you about it by now.’

‘Perhaps. Unless she was the one who recorded it.’

‘I think she’d be more inclined to slap you than take the time to record you.’

‘Well she’s never really liked me, has she?’ Margot argues.

‘Of course she does.’

‘Come on, Anna. You’ve turned a blind eye to all the things she’s done and said to undermine me. And we never got to the bottom of that envelope in her bin, did we? Some women are just naturally jealous of others.’

‘I don’t mean any offence, but look at her. I don’t think she has much to be jealous of.’

‘Well surprise surprise, you’re taking her side again.’

‘I’m not taking anyone’s side,’ I protest. But she’s not listening.

‘I shouldn’t have come here. I was expecting too much from my so-called friend.’

Margot picks herself up off the sofa and makes a beeline for the front door.

‘Sit down,’ I say. ‘Don’t go home like this.’

But before I know it, the door slams and the same whirlwind that brought her here carries her home again.