Anton leaves for training and I leave the house and make the short walk across the cul-de-sac to Arabella’s. Again, her house is identical to mine and, unlike Miranda, she loves everything designer. I swear she buys something new for her home every week because there are always delivery vans parked outside from some of the premier designer home shops. She has such amazing taste. I am always jealous of her flair with the interior of her home.
However, since Anthony’s confession, there have been no more deliveries because I understand money is tight and yet that is now the least of their concerns.
As I wait for her to answer the door, I’m a little nervous. I’ve never been good with people’s illnesses. Relationship problems—yes, I could give advice all day long but this, well—its life-changing and I am in no way trained to dish out advice.
Arabella opens the door and I can instantly register the strain in her eyes as she smiles wearily and says, “Fleur, thank goodness, someone normal to talk to. Come in and I’ll make you a coffee.”
I follow her inside and we make our way to the kitchen, which is thankfully empty. I know her parents are still here because their large Jaguar is parked in the driveway, but I want some alone time with Arabella to check on how she’s bearing up.
She smiles as I take a seat at her breakfast bar and says in a whisper, “I’m in a living Hell, Fleur. As if it’s not bad enough that Anthony’s ill and facing bankruptcy, my parents descended on me with their usual amount of vitriol and aggressive behaviour.”
I glance at her sympathetically, and she sighs. “I keep on thinking back to that fortune teller we all went to. Despite how annoyed I was at the time; I actually think she was spot on.”
“Why do you say that?”
She laughs bitterly. “Because, quite frankly, I’m about to break several of those commandments. For one, I’ve never respected my father and mother and am liable to murder them both at any moment. Anthony has committed adultery, I’m absolutely sure of that, and there’s not an hour of the day that I don’t take the lord’s name in vain. I’m such a bad person and deserve all that’s happened.”
I stare at her with a fierce expression. “Stop talking. There is no way on earth you’re a bad person, just an extremely unlucky one. You can’t choose who your parents are and there’s no law that says you must like and respect them. Respect is earned and from what you’ve told me, yours definitely don’t deserve any. As for Anthony, the adultery thing is on him, if that is what really happened. Did you ever confront him?”
She shakes her head miserably. “How can I? For one thing, he’s never home and always working. If he does come home, he’s tired, irritable and appears to want to spend time with my parents over me. I’m not sure what I’ve done wrong, but whatever it is, Karma is throwing payback at me with a water cannon.”
Despite the serious situation, we both laugh and then I hear, “I’m not sure what you’ve got to laugh about, young lady. I’d have thought you would be trying to work out a solution to your problems rather than gossiping with friends.”
Startled, I glance up and see an extremely smart woman heading into the room. She is poised and immaculately dressed, with her almost white hair tied up in a chignon and her make-up apparently trowelled on. Resisting the urge to recommend she get her foundation colour tested because it appears at least three shades too dark for her skin, I say icily, “Good morning, you must be Arabella’s mother. I’m Fleur, her neighbour and best friend.”
I hold out my hand but she ignores it completely and looks down her nose, before saying, “Oh yes, the footballer’s girlfriend. Arabella told me you were staying here for a bit.”
Her eyes flash as she almost spits the words from her thin, angry lips and Arabella gasps and says in a shocked voice, “Mother, please don’t be rude to my friend.”
Shrugging, she moves toward the garden door and I snap, “Yes, manners cost nothing and it’s evident Arabella never inherited hers from her mother. Mind you, I’m not surprised because from what I’ve heard, you had minimal input in her upbringing, which I can now understand was actually a blessing in disguise.”
Turning to Arabella, I say sympathetically. “I see what you mean about your mother, babe. Bad luck, but at least you only have to suffer for a few more days, hopefully. Imagine living with her 24/7.”
Arabella turns away and I see her shoulders shaking as her mother rounds on me angrily. “How dare you speak to me like that, you common slut? I’ve seen the bad press you girls get and now I know why. You may have ‘made it’ in your eyes, but you’ll always be a common little whore from a council estate with a mouth like yours. Breeding can’t be bought, my dear, and no amount of money your boyfriend may have will make up for the lack of yours. You know, I give you less than a month before he finds another plaything, and then where will you be?”
“Shut up!”
We turn in surprise to witness Arabella almost shaking with rage as she looks at her mother. “I’ve just about had enough of you and your superior ways. I’ve bitten my tongue until I think I need medical help, because these last few days have been excruciating. You have no right at all to speak to Fleur like that because she is one hundred times a better person than you will ever be. She’s kind, considerate, generous and loving. All the things you sorely lack and quite frankly, I’ve had enough.”
Her mother makes to speak and Arabella says loudly, “Just don’t. I don’t want to hear it. Every word out of your mouth is poisonous. All my life you’ve belittled me, pushed me away, looked down on me and made me feel as if I never measured up. Even when I married, you told me I’d got lucky and now, this has happened. You told me at every available opportunity that it was my fault. My fault! Was it my fault that Anthony lost all our savings and messed up his career because of his own stupidity? Was it my fault that he lied to me about spending a night in a fancy hotel with what appears to be another woman and is it my fault that he has some terrible, life-threatening illness that could end up with me as his widow? No, it bloody well isn’t. In fact, none of this is my fault, so shut the fuck up and apologise to my friend for being so rude.”
“Arabella!”
We all jump as the word ricochets around the room like Indiana Jones’s bullwhip. We turn towards the voice and I register a man standing there who I guess is her father, looking so angry I feel myself shaking. Her mother races across to him and cries, “Hugo, did you just hear the way she spoke to me? Deal with her at once because she has upset me greatly.”
I peer at Arabella and smile when I note the defiance in her eyes as she stands her ground, and then her father says in a cold voice, “Apologise to your mother at once.”
Arabella laughs bitterly, “Apologise for what exactly? You told me to always tell the truth, actually no, I don’t believe it was you because you never told me anything except how disappointed you were in me. No, any lessons I’ve learned have been from the various nannies, school teachers and friend’s mothers that I stayed with throughout my life. You know, I often wondered why you ever had me at all. What was it, a mistake? Is that what I am, a rogue sperm that dared go against the plan and ruin your lives forever?”
Her mother gasps and I watch with amusement as Hugo growls, “Enough. It’s obvious you’re unravelling. Are you on drugs? Is this what this is?”
Arabella looks at him incredulously and shouts, “Get out, both of you, get your things and get out. In fact, never contact me again because I have no parents. Do you hear that? No parents and sadly it appears that I never did.”
The room falls silent and is thick with recriminations and years of pent up emotion. Then her mother says angrily, “I think that’s a very good idea. Arabella, we’ve always tried to do our best for you, but you’re right, we never wanted you in the first place. Yes, in answer to your question, you were a dirty little mistake that has been my cross to bear ever since it happened.”
Hugo snarls, “Sophia don’t.”
Arabella turns white as Sophia sneers, “Don’t what, Hugo? Don’t tell our loving daughter that she was a mistake. An unguarded moment with the hired help.”
I stare at them in shock and Arabella turns as white as a sheet as Sylvia powers on regardless. “Yes, darling, how does it feel knowing you were the result of a dalliance with a servant? Goodness, we all make mistakes, and that was my biggest one to date. Well, obviously you take after him because the words that just spilt from your venomous lips sounded exactly like him when we sent him on his way with no reference. You should be thanking us for taking you on and giving you the best start in life. Hugo, as it turns out, couldn’t have children, so we decided to keep you. It was probably a mistake because there is certainly no love there. Just a constant reminder of him. Mark Edwards, the gardener with no ambition and no pedigree. A bit of rough that scratched an itch. Well, I think you’re old enough to learn the truth now, my dear, because, after that little outburst, I’m done with you. Yes, we will leave and with considerable relief at that.”
She turns to her husband and says haughtily, “Come on, Hugo, our job is done here. I need to get as far away as possible from this woman who is no longer my daughter.”
She turns and leaves the room and Hugo shakes his head. Turning to Arabella, I’m surprised to see what appears to be tears in his eyes, as he says softly, “I’ll talk to her.”
Arabella says nothing and stares at him white-faced and in total shock. Then, out of the blue, he moves across and appears to hesitate before pulling her into his arms and saying emotionally, “I’m sorry, Arabella. You should never have found out that way. It was brutal and cold.”
She whispers, “It’s true then?”
He nods. “Yes, my darling, I’m afraid it is. Sophia, your mother, was a little indiscreet, several times, in fact. I blamed myself because I was always working and forgave her every time.”
“Every time?”
“Yes, Mark wasn’t the first ‘mistake’. She was wrong, though.”
“About what?”
“That we never wanted you. I did. You see, I learned early on in our marriage that I could never have children. When Sophia fell pregnant, I was angry, but the selfish part of me was ecstatic. I had a child. Not of my creation, but that didn’t matter to me. I loved you as soon as I saw you, but it was never going to be enough for you. Your mother is a hard woman to please and above everything and, despite what happened, I love her completely. I have spent my life trying to make her happy, so I went along with everything she said, and that will haunt me to my dying day.”
I feel uncomfortable as Arabella almost collapses in his arms as she sobs uncontrollably and her father looks over at me and smiles sadly. “I’m sorry, my dear. For what Sophia said to you and for getting caught up in all of this. Look after my baby girl because I won’t be allowed to.”
He pulls away and lifts Arabella’s face to his and smiles. “You will always be my beautiful, brave girl and I will always be your father. The dust will settle and I’ll be in touch. If you need anything, call me and I’ll arrange it. I love you, Arabella. I always have and nothing will ever change that. I accept we must leave; it’s not doing you any favours us being here. Anthony called us to help, which surprised me because up until then, he always maintained a distance from us. Perhaps you should find out his reasons for doing so because there’s something not right there.”
Arabella gasps, “What do you mean?”
He shakes his head sadly and then we hear a sharp, “Hugo, I need your help packing.”
Sighing, he turns away and says sadly, “Talk to him. Find out what’s really going on because I’ve a feeling he’s not being completely honest with you and as you now know, secrets can destroy everything.”
He leaves the room and immediately I take his place and pull Arabella into my arms as she sobs on my shoulder. “It’s ok, babe, I’ve got you. You’re not on your own.”
She says in a small voice, “What have I done?”
“The right thing. What happened here was always going to happen. You said your piece and found answers to why you’ve been treated the way you have. At least your father opened up to you. That was good, wasn’t it?”
She smiles sadly. “Yes, despite everything, that surprised me the most. Maybe it was a good thing because at least now I know and can build on something that was always going to come toppling down.”
I nod emphatically. “Today is the first day of the rest of your life. You can take charge and start building a better future for yourself away from somebody else’s shadow, which reminds me why I came in the first place.”
She looks at me with interest. “Why?”
“Darren texted me. You have an interview at the country club at two o’clock sharp. I’ll drop you there myself so, grab a drink, shower and change into your smartest dress and take charge of your life.”
I’m pleased to witness a little of the light return to Arabella’s eyes as she says in surprise, “An interview, me?”
I nod and grin. “Yes, and you’ll be the best god-damned receptionist that place has ever seen.”
Arabella laughs. “Beware the Ten Commandments, Fleur. You just broke one of them and Desdemona will be saying, ‘I told you so’.”
As the door slams, we stare at each other and Arabella laughs. “There goes another one.”
I grin. “I think even the almighty himself would have broken his own rule in that case. I think you’d be forgiven for that one.”
As we listen to the roar of the engine on the driveway outside, it strikes me that Arabella looks different somehow. It’s as if a huge weight has fallen from her shoulders and that makes me happy. She may be at rock bottom, but she’s a fighter. Perhaps she is more like her real father? I hope so because I sure as hell hope she’s got none of her mother in her.