Kate stepped out of the bakery and into the daylight. It was uncharacteristically mild for the time of year and the heat of the sun warmed her face as she headed towards a small stone wall that stood near the church. Leaning against it, she caught her breath and with her mobile precariously balanced under her chin, she juggled her sandwich out of the paper bag, while waiting for her sister Eve to answer the phone.
‘Hi there,’ Kate said, as she took a small bite of the sandwich. ‘How are you doing?’
‘Yeah, I’m fine.’ Eve’s tone was warm, genuine and just for a moment, Kate closed her eyes, and tried to work out whether she was happy or sad. ‘Me and Maxy, we’ve been out in the garden. He has a new ball to play with. Don’t you, boy?’
‘I’m so pleased you’ve got him.’ Kate smiled. Getting Max had been a really good move. At least now, Eve had company during the day and being an assistance dog, Max was trained to help Eve with all the things she needed.
‘You didn’t come today.’ Without warning, Eve’s voice had gone from happy, to needy. She sounded lost and vulnerable, and Kate felt her heart leap with anxiety.
‘Eve, I started my new job today.’ She tried to sound excited in the hope that Eve would be excited too, even though by working full time she’d see less of her sister than she had before. A thought that neither of them had liked.
‘Of course you did.’ Eve sighed. ‘We wondered why you didn’t call in earlier, didn’t we, Max?’ She directed the conversation at the dog, but then sighed. ‘So, how’s it going?’ she said to Kate.
Kate took another small bite of the sandwich; she could hear the disappointment in her sister’s voice and every instinct told her to drop everything and run to Eve’s side. ‘Are you okay, because I could come you know, if you need me to?’ She looked up at the church clock, and quickly calculated how long it would take her to get there, to nip Max out and get back again. But she knew that if she did it this once, it would become the norm and before she knew it, she’d be popping over during every lunchtime.
‘I’m fine, Kate. I’m just moaning…’ Her voice trailed off and Kate wondered just how fine she really was. ‘…We’ll be fine, won’t we Maxy.’
‘Has Zoe been in to see you today?’ Kate changed the subject. Zoe was Eve’s carer who called in twice daily to ensure that Eve was washed and dressed and that Max was walked and fed.
‘Of course she has. She gets paid to come here.’ Eve laughed, ‘Now, tell me all about the new job. How’s it going?’
‘Well, it’s really good,’ Kate began, cautiously. ‘I’m loving it. The owner seems a bit scary, although I do think his bark might be worse than his bite.’ Screwing up the paper bag, Kate looked for a waste bin and sighed when she immediately couldn’t see one. ‘The lady who works in reception, Gloria, reminds me of Grandma. And then there’s Ben…’ For a second, she gazed into the air as she thought about Ben. ‘He’s the owner’s son. Similar age to me and get this: we have to share an office.’ She began to laugh, spotted a waste bin and began walking towards it. ‘Well, to tell the truth, I’ll be sharing with him and two others, but the other two guys are out most of the time. They work on surveillance.’
‘What, four of you in one office?’ Eve began to laugh. ‘I can’t see you enjoying that, especially if the other three are really messy. Do they have any idea how OCD you are?’
‘Eve, I am not, I just like things to be clean and tidy; there is a difference.’ She threw the paper bag into the waste bin. ‘And Ben’s desk is tidy. It looks polished to within an inch of its life. So that’s a good start. Isn’t it?’
‘You like him, don’t you?’
Kate stalled. ‘What… like who?’
‘You like, Ben, Kate, why else would you mention him repeatedly? Is he handsome, sexy, do you want to—’
‘Eve… enough.’ She laughed. ‘I don’t want to anything. I live with Rob.’
Eve groaned. ‘Kate, you might live with Rob, but do you love him?’
Kate thought back to the night before. The hushed phone calls, the aggressive manner. And then, that morning when he’d tossed her shoe into the air and even though she was sure he hadn’t meant to hit the wine glass, he had and now the wine was all over the carpet. ‘Eve, it isn’t that easy.’
‘Of course it is. You either love him or you don’t.’ Eve paused and Kate could hear the background noise of her fussing Max. ‘And ask yourself this. What exactly do you get from this relationship because I know what Rob gets out of it,’ Eve continued. ‘He gets free board and free lodging. An all-inclusive deal. That’s if and when he decides to come home.’ The words struck a nerve with Kate. It was true, Rob did use the house as a hotel, he did live an all-inclusive existence and Kate tried to remember when he’d last contributed to a bill, or to the cost of the household shopping. Shaking her head, she once again looked up at the clock while trying to ignore the truth in her sister’s words.
‘Now, tell me more about you and Ben sharing this office.’ Eve continued and for once, Kate was pleased she’d changed the subject.
‘There is no me and Ben,’ she laughed, made her way along the road and checked that her car was still in the parking space where she’d practically abandoned it just a few hours before.
‘Come on spill the beans. I can tell you like him, and to be honest, who’d blame you? Rob isn’t very nice to you, Kate. And I’d hardly call him husband material, would you?’
‘Wow, back off,’ Kate snapped as Eve’s words hit every nerve in her being. ‘Rob might not be perfect. I know that. But unless I’m mistaken, he never did anything wrong to you. Did he?’
‘Of course he hasn’t, but I love you, and we don’t like the way he treats you.’ She paused. ‘Do we Maxy? And let’s face it, Rob loves himself far more than he’ll ever love anyone else, he’s just unbelievably full of his own shit and you damn well know it. If I were you, I’d tell him to bugger off and find some other mug to put up with him.’
Kate shook her head. To Eve, life was literally that simple. Before the accident she’d have had three different boyfriends at any one time. They came and went like buses. Normally at speed and always at Eve’s request. And if they were nice, they might get to stay around for just as long as Eve needed them. Her whole attitude to men had been brutal.
‘Eve, Rob loves me.’ Kate said as convincingly as she could. She wished it were true. But couldn’t be sure. The change in his mood was more than obvious. The nights of him sleeping on the settee had increased without explanation and the time he spent away from home was becoming more and more suspicious.
‘Yeah, sure. Now… come on, humour me and dish the gossip. Just how tidy is this Ben?’ It was as though someone had flicked a switch and knowing that she’d said as much as she could get away with, Eve had changed the subject.
Kate laughed but didn’t respond. She just thought about Ben, and the expensive suit that he wore, the open neck shirt that gave him a casual but intriguing persona. Then, there was the smile that lit up his face as he spoke, but only for a moment before his gaze turned distant and thoughtful and even though he’d stolen her parking space that morning, he did seem to be considerate. That, along with his uncluttered desk and organised approach, made him tidy.
‘Yep, he’s tidy,’ she finally said, before picking up her water and sipping the ice-cold fluid from the bottle.
‘I knew it,’ Eve said triumphantly. ‘Lucky you. You get a new job and a tidy new man.’ Kate could hear the way Eve’s voice dropped, the despondency that suddenly crept in. ‘Kate, I’ve missed you today,’ she whispered, ‘Didn’t we, Max?’ The internal guilt surged inside Kate again. She already felt bad for leaving them to fend for themselves, but to hear Eve actually say it, Kate felt her heart break into pieces. The only saving grace was that Eve had Max and it was on days like today that even though Eve had resisted, Kate was glad she’d managed to talked Eve into getting him. Although still in training, Max could already retrieve the remote control or the telephone and had even managed to collect a newspaper from the specially designed post box.
‘I know you do, hon, but we discussed my going back to work, didn’t we?’ Kate looked back across at Parker & Son. She knew that Eve needed her and started to wonder if she’d made the right decision. ‘And watching daytime tv, was driving me senseless.’
‘Well, some of us don’t have a choice. We have to watch it whether we like it or not.’ Eve said softly and Kate once again closed her eyes and thought of how boring and lonely Eve’s daily life really must be.
‘Look, why don’t I pop over after work. We can take Max for a walk together, but I can’t stay long.’ Once again, her mind drifted to Rob. To the way he’d been acting the night before. The secretive phone call, the nasty attitude. None of it was conducive to a loving relationship and she knew that provided he actually came home, she had no choice but to sit down with him and have a conversation that neither of them was likely to enjoy.
* * *
Eve put the phone down and began to stroke Max. She was happy that Kate was coming over, pleased that her plan had worked and that even though Kate hadn’t known it, Eve had gently manipulated her into doing what she’d wanted. And now, Kate would come. She’d promised to be here just after five and if she played her cards right, Eve would be able to get her to stay much later.
Maybe it was a twin thing, but Kate was the only one who understood her. She was the only person who knew what Eve had been through. She’d slept beside her at the hospital. Refused to leave her side and had held her hand through all the indignity of being poked, prodded and jabbed by multiple doctors and nurses. The endless invasion of catheters, enemas and drugs had gone on for months, until every inch of Eve’s dignity had been stripped away and she’d found herself recoiling from everyone, except for Kate.
The weeks after James had died had been the worst. Everyone had mourned for him, including her, and even though everyone had been sympathetic that both she and Kate had been hurt, and that life as they’d known it had changed, neither had died and it had been made very clear to them both that James had suffered the most and that they should both be grateful for surviving. Only Kate had felt the hurt that she’d felt too and in the end, they’d clung together like limpets holding onto a rock which to them had felt like the natural thing to do. They were twins. They knew each other almost as well as they knew themselves. Although, from a very early age they had rebelled against the identical lifestyle that their mother had thrust upon them. Both had made a secret pact and had refused to wear the identical dresses, matching shoes or hair ribbons and they’d both gone out of their way to take their own path. They hadn’t wanted to do anything remotely similar and had even gone as far as to hang around with different friends, which had ultimately led to them having different hobbies.
Kate had been the geeky one with little or zero dress sense. She’d spent hours in her room and had read books morning, noon and night. She’d been the perfect student. The one their father had nurtured in the hope that eventually she’d take over the family firm.
Whereas, Eve had been the wild child. The one who’d worn all the pink, had all the weird and wonderful hair do’s, that had been dyed every colour. She’d been bright and creative and becoming a lawyer had been the last thing on her agenda and as soon as she could, she’d left school and trained as a beautician.
Stroking the black Labrador affectionately. Eve gave him a knowing smile. ‘We did it Max. We knew we could convince Kate to come, didn’t we, and now she is. Isn’t she, Maxy?’