‘Jesus, is that the time? I must get back,’ said Maddy, edging her way out of bed while checking her watch.’
It was a week later and Maddy was at the Midland hotel with Aaron.
‘Relax,’ said Aaron, moving over to her until she could feel his breath on her back. ‘It’s Sunday and Becky isn’t due back till this evening, is she?’
‘Yes but…’ Maddy began but stopped when she felt Aaron lift her hair and plant tiny kisses on the back of her neck, sending shivers all the way down her spine. ‘I’ve got loads to do before she gets back,’ she continued till Aaron cupped her breasts and began gently stroking her nipples. She relaxed as she lost herself to the exhilarating thrill that swept through her body.
‘Have I ever mentioned just how gorgeous you are?’ he whispered.
Maddy giggled. ‘Once or twice,’ she said.
Just as she was beginning to surrender the sound of her mobile phone ringing seemed to pierce the air and she reached over to the bedside table to grab it.
‘Shit! It’s Annette Willoughby, the editor from Glimmer magazine,’ she said on seeing the name on the screen.
‘Ignore it,’ said Aaron.
‘You’re right,’ said Maddy, replacing her mobile on the bedside table. ‘Who the bloody hell rings on a Sunday, anyway?’
‘Exactly,’ said Aaron.
It was a while later before Maddy and Aaron were showered, dressed and ready to leave the Midland hotel. Aaron ran her back home in his BMW and for the duration of the journey Maddy sat back in her seat, making the most of the opportunity to rest before she got home.
While Aaron drove, Maddy decided to check her phone, alarmed to find a message from Andy, which had been sent an hour and a half earlier. His mother had been taken ill and rushed to hospital. Unsure of just how ill she was, he wanted to go and see her as soon as he could but preferred not to take Rebecca with him just in case it was bad news. He asked if it would therefore be all right to bring Rebecca back as soon as possible.
Maddy rang him straight away, ‘Andy, I’m sorry, I’ve only just got your message,’ she said. ‘I’m on my way home.’
‘OK, I’ll bring Becky back now,’ he said.
‘How is your mum?’
‘I don’t know,’ Andy replied. ‘They haven’t told us anything yet.’
‘Aw, well, please give her my good wishes, won’t you?’ said Maddy. ‘I’ll see you in a bit.’
She cut the call and put the mobile back in her handbag.
‘Bad news?’ asked Aaron, taking his eyes off the road for a moment and raising his eyebrows quizzically.
Maddy quickly explained what had happened. When they arrived home she gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek and turned to get out of the car.
‘Is that all I’m getting?’ he asked, pretending to be affronted.
‘Sorry, love, but they’ll be here any minute and the house is a tip.’
Maddy waved him goodbye and rushed up the garden path. She opened her front door but, rather than the fresh homely smell that usually greeted her when she walked in, there was an unwelcome odour of unemptied bins and alcohol.
She raced through the house, disturbed to take in the state of the place. Somehow it hadn’t seemed that bad on Saturday morning when she’d had Aaron distracting her. In the living room the cushions had been scattered wantonly about the furniture rather than arranged neatly. Her cardigan lay draped over the arm of the settee, a pile of DVDs was stacked haphazardly on the coffee table and the smell of stale beer filled the room.
Maddy sniffed the air as she wandered round the room trying to detect where the smell was coming from. To her consternation she found two empty lager tins at the side of the sofa, one of which lay upturned in a small pool of beer where the dregs had leaked out of it.
Her mind switched back to Friday night. She had stayed in with Aaron, watching a film while they ate Chinese takeaway and drank beer. Feeling tipsy by the end of the night, she had gone to bed fully intending to clear up the mess the next day. But the following morning Aaron had grown bored waiting for her to get ready so they could go out for the day. At his insistence she’d left most of the mess from the previous night, thinking she would have plenty of time to clean the place up when she returned home on Sunday.
She bent to retrieve the discarded cans and rushed through to the kitchen to put them in the bin. But here the smell was worse. The bin hadn’t been emptied for several days and, as well as the greasy odour of Chinese food, there was another, stronger smell coming from the bin. Something had obviously gone off since she’d last emptied it.
In the sink, Friday’s pots lay half submerged in water. She’d quickly dumped them there instead of taking the time to load the dishwasher while she’d rushed to leave the house with her impatient lover.
For several minutes Maddy rushed round the house trying to tidy as much of the mess as she could before Rebecca returned home. As she made her way through each of the rooms, she noted with dismay that a thin layer of dust also clung to the furniture.
Maddy had managed to make a good start on tidying up before the doorbell rang. She headed for the door, stopping in the hallway to check her appearance and smooth down her top. She was delighted to see Rebecca standing there with Andy beside her. As soon as Maddy opened the door Rebecca dashed inside, shouting bye to her father as she sped down the hall.
‘What’s got into her?’ Maddy asked, laughing.
‘There’s something she wants to watch on the TV apparently.’
‘Aah, right.’
‘She’s looking forward to watching her princesses DVD later too.’ He chuckled, despite the obvious strain he was under. It was a shared joke between them that Rebecca would watch the same DVD over and over till everybody but Rebecca was tired of seeing it. ‘Anyway, she’s all yours,’ he said, smiling. ‘I’m off to the hospital now. Maybe I’ll have a well-earned rest while I’m there. She’s worn me out.’
Maddy smiled. ‘You must be getting old, can’t take the pace any more.’
‘Dead right. She’s been a bundle of energy.’ Then he turned to go, saying, ‘See you next week.’
‘OK, see you then,’ said Maddy, adding, ‘I hope everything’s OK with your mum.’
‘Thanks,’ said Andy before walking away.
Before Maddy went to join her daughter, she briefly scanned the street, thoughts of the blue Astra now dominating her mind. But there was no sign of it, just a red car further up the road. But as she looked she thought she saw the bare outline of a driver inside it and he seemed to be wearing a baseball cap. Maddy dismissed the thought almost as soon as it had entered her head; she was obviously getting a bit carried away with herself. Instead of dwelling on it she shut the door and went in search of her daughter.
*
Gilly sat in his car watching Maddy’s home. He’d swapped the blue Astra for a red Honda Civic and parked a short way down the road in the hope that Maddy wouldn’t notice him again.
As he watched, Gilly saw a car drive up to the gate and a tall, good-looking man of about forty get out of it with a young girl. Then they walked up the driveway and knocked on the door. Gilly had never seen the man at the house before and he presumed he must be her ex-husband dropping her daughter off.
He saw Maddy answer the door, her hair loose and falling in waves round her pretty face. She was wearing fitted jeans again, which clung to her firmly rounded hips, and he felt the desire stirring within him, imagining himself grasping hold of those hips as he penetrated her and she screamed with delight.
The girl went into the house straight away but Maddy stayed there chatting with her ex for a while. Gilly felt irritated as he watched them sharing a joke and saw her flick her hair about, tantalisingly, and the ex was smiling, putting on the charm and trying to impress her with his humour.
The man obviously still wanted her. How could he not? She was stunning! Gilly could feel his irritation shifting up into anger. Wanker! Who did he think he was? She wasn’t with him any more so why the fuck did he still think he could have her?
And her! She was flirting too! Why? Why would she want to be fuckin’ laughing and joking with a man she had divorced? He couldn’t understand it; unless they were still seeing each other. That happened sometimes. Couples who couldn’t live with each other any more ended up splitting up, but the desire was still there and they still fucked. Sneaking around when they thought no one would know. The bastard ex, waiting till the daughter was at school before he popped round for a quickie.
I bet she’d be fucking him now if her daughter wasn’t there. Bitch! Slut! She’s just like all the other women. She might wear nice clothes and keep herself looking good but deep down she’s no different from all the others. Willing to do whatever it takes to get what she wants out of men.
He tried to bite back his anger. Maybe she wasn’t fucking the ex. Maybe she was just flirty like that. But he didn’t like it. He’d thought she was different from the other women. But she wasn’t that different after all…