She hadn’t said goodbye. So instinctive was her reaction to the eyes staring back at her from the street that she immediately pressed the cancel button, her children’s faces instantly vanishing. Running to the bathroom, she pushed the door closed and fumbled, her fingers like sticks of jelly, as she attempted to remove one SIM card and replace it with the other from her pocket.
The moment she managed to wedge the new SIM in position, she heard banging at the front door. Opening the bathroom and moving back into the hall, she could hear Ivan’s voice saying her name. By the time she reached the front door and unhooked the latch, Layla’s cry was calling out from the bedroom.
‘What’s going on?’ he said as she opened the door, her cheeks hot, the sound of Layla’s screams rising from inside the apartment.
‘Sorry about the latch.’ She moved quickly to the bedroom. ‘Habit, I suppose. You’re back early?’
He placed his keys and gloves on the table in the hall.
‘Things didn’t take as long as I had expected them to. Who were you talking to?’
Her face was focused on Layla as she lifted her out of the cot.
Pretending to be distracted by the crying, she barely turned. ‘Hmm?’
‘Just now, at the window. You were on the phone.’
She tried to laugh. ‘That. Oh, I was making a movie. Don’t laugh, it’s ridiculous.’
‘A movie?’
‘Like a home movie.’ She couldn’t find the words quickly enough. ‘You know what I mean, I was filming the view and then saying where we were. Oh God, I feel so stupid. It’s just a little thing for Layla, I thought it might be nice when she gets older to have a memory of our first trip here together.’
Finally allowing herself to look up, she caught Ivan’s eye and his mouth twitched before forming a hesitant smile. ‘You sentimentalist.’
Kissing her on the forehead, his lips lingering on her skin a moment too long, he took Layla from her arms and she quietened almost instantly.
‘Let’s have a look, then.’
‘Sorry?’
‘The film. Let’s see what you got.’
She paused, her smile threatening to crack. ‘OK,’ she said, pulling the phone from her pocket, the sweat seeping through her palms.
‘Give it to me, then,’ Ivan said, though he was limited from reaching out by the way he was holding Layla.
She took a step back, keeping her eye on the phone, too nervous to make eye contact.
‘Shit.’ She looked at the screen before moving away from him towards the door. ‘It didn’t record. I’m such a Luddite, I must have not pressed the button properly. I’ll go and make us some tea.’