‘Okay, Liam, calm down. I’m packing as fast as I can, but I have nowhere to go,’ Madeleine growled before pulling the phone away from her ear, as the constant and relentless torrent of insults and pleading flooded at her down the handset. She was almost sure that if she placed the handset on the sideboard and walked away for twenty minutes, not only would she still be able to hear his words, but he’d probably still be ranting on when she returned.
‘Have you thought about ringing that agent of yours? Surely she’d have some advice, some way of interfering, or isn’t she around any more?’
‘Yes, Liam, I know, I have tried to phone Bridget, many times. All I’ve been getting for the past week is her answerphone. Wait a minute, how do you know she isn’t around?’
He didn’t answer her question but replied, ‘Why don’t you move in with Jess? She seemed to be the one who wanted to come in and save the day.’
‘Don’t be stupid. How the hell can I move in with Jess? You know she only has one bedroom. It’s hardly an ideal place for me, my daughter and a puppy to live, is it?’
‘Well, you don’t have to leave, do you? You could stop being so pig-headed and we could get back together. No one would have to live anywhere else. I could come home. We could sort things out. We could start again?’ Liam paused and Madeleine knew he was waiting for an answer that didn’t come. ‘How about it, Maddie, darlin’? You and me, what do you say? I love you.’
Madeleine laughed.
‘Come on, Maddie, don’t laugh. It could be special. All of us, me and you, and Poppy, we could be a real family.’ He paused. ‘I know, let’s book a holiday, let’s go abroad, somewhere warm.’ Madeleine had heard everything now. He’d tried so hard to get her back. He’d promised so many times that things would be different. That he’d be nice to Poppy, that they’d all have a home, together. But Madeleine didn’t believe a word that he said, didn’t trust his promises and even if he got on his knees and begged, she’d never, ever allow him near Poppy again.
‘Oh, Liam. Only in your wildest dreams would that happen. What part of “I will never, ever trust you again” don’t you understand? Besides, I would never take Poppy abroad. She’s far too young.’
‘Maddie, darlin’, come on. You have no money. You can’t get hold of Bridget. Think of it as a greater force telling you that we should be together.’
Madeleine pondered his words and felt a sudden moment of panic. Moving the phone from one ear to the other, she stared at the chaos around her. There was an ever-growing pile of packing boxes and bubble wrap which formed expanding mini mountains at the edges of the rear lounge. Right in the middle of the chaos sat the rather lively Buddy who looked up at her, eager for her to put the phone down and play. Picking up one of Poppy’s discarded socks, he shook it and then held it in his mouth, while his chocolate brown tail wafted from side to side in hope and anticipation that Madeleine might join in the game.
Then, in direct contrast, at the opposite end of the room was a less than energetic Poppy, who seemed to have crawled into an empty box and promptly curled up with her teddy bear and blanket for an impromptu mid-afternoon sleep.
Looking at the chaos that was her life, her temper boiled. ‘You’re a real nasty piece of work, Liam O’Grady. Do you know that? I can’t wait to get as far away from you as possible. Oh, and while we’re at it, don’t you dare call me darlin’. You lost your right to call me that when I caught you shagging your scrawny arsed boss in the hallway of what used to be our home.’
She took in deep breaths in an attempt to control her temper.
‘You want to get away from me, do you? Fine, but you’ll come running. It’ll be you that begs me to take you back. You’ll see. You can’t even support yourself without me. What are you going to do, get movie rights on one of your books, write a best-seller, maybe? You keep saying you can, but we still need to see some proof, don’t we, Maddie, darlin’.’
The words ‘Maddie, darlin’’ grated and Liam’s gentle Irish accent had turned into a loud and deep continuous buzz like the hum of a dentist drill whirring away somewhere in the background of her mind. Madeleine tried to close out the noise, make the whirring go away and preferably push the drill while it was still spinning as far down Liam’s throat as she possibly could. The merciless image in the back of her mind made her snort as a sadistic smile crossed her face.
‘Do you know what, Liam? I might just write a best-seller, with or without movie rights, and when I do, don’t you dare come looking for bloody handouts because there won’t be any.’ She paused and took a breath. ‘Did you get that you asshole?’ Madeleine bellowed as she slammed the phone down, and then stamped over to where her daughter had peacefully slept through the entire onslaught.
Madeleine closed her eyes, wondering what she’d ever done to deserve Liam. He was supposed to have been a new start in her life. He’d promised her a lovely new beginning. Not a nightmare.
Had any of it been real? Had he cared about her at all? Had it been her fault that he’d needed to have sex with another woman?
It had been just before last Christmas when she’d literally bumped into Liam outside her flat. She’d stepped out of the gate and had suddenly found herself colliding with him, both landing flat on their backs in the snow. They’d both fallen with the grace of baby orangutans, all arms and legs flying in every direction. His trousers were soaked and she’d invited him in. They’d spent the next two hours with him sitting in her dressing gown while his trousers hung over on an old wooden clothes horse in front of an equally old and dilapidated gas fire.
The days that followed saw Liam visiting daily. He’d pop in for coffee, then coffee would turn into coffee and lunch and then within a very short space of time, he was there for most of the day making Madeleine question if he had a job. He’d been wonderful when her mother died, caring and comforting and helping her with the arrangements.
He’d entered her life like a tornado that hadn’t seemed to leave.
Tears of frustration rolled down her face. She’d been so determined that he wouldn’t upset her. But the situation was impossible: she had no money and needed somewhere to live and somehow she had to find a way to make that happen fast.
‘Poppy, come on, baby girl.’ Madeleine carefully lifted the child’s warm body from the floor where she was sleeping. ‘Let’s get you up to your little bed.’
Poppy stirred. A soft gurgle followed by a snort and then nothing but soft, gentle, repetitive snores. Smiling down at her, Maddie carried her daughter through the hallway and up the stairs, to where the staircase split; she turned right and went up to where the first of the three bedrooms stood.
She watched as Poppy snuggled into her pillow. Her soft blonde curls fell roughly around her face, her sweetheart lips pursed, and her tiny fingers curled to unconsciously grab handfuls of Madeleine’s shoulder length hair, which Maddie carefully managed to release before kissing her daughter’s forehead and leaving her to sleep.
Madeleine walked back down the stairs. Tutting, she picked up the tea towels that Buddy had amazingly pulled down from the kitchen worktop and had now decided to chew. She flicked them towards the fun-filled puppy before throwing them at the laundry basket, where they now belonged.
‘Ohhhhhhh, Buddy, like I haven’t got enough to do.’ She wanted to chastise the puppy, but instead knelt down. ‘You’d play all day, wouldn’t you, little man?’ Buddy bounced around, his chocolate brown ears flapping up and down as his whole body sprang around in excitement.
A knock at the front door made Madeleine jump backwards. She landed amongst the bubble wrap, which popped and cracked as she fell heavily onto her bottom, making Buddy even more excitable than he already was. He bounded up and down the hallway, wagging and yapping in anticipation of the unexpected visitor.
The hallway sounded empty and hollow. It hadn’t helped taking the curtains she’d bought down from the doorway. She’d paid for them and she didn’t see any reason why she shouldn’t take them with her. Liam’s old curtains were in a box somewhere and she was adamant that if he wanted them re-hanging, he could do it himself. Repeated knocking on the front door echoed like a cymbal as Madeleine anxiously tried to catch Buddy who still ran around at speed. She placed him in his day cage before making her way through the maze of boxes that now filled the hallway to the front door.
‘Okay, okay, one minute,’ she tried to shout. She had to be just loud enough so that the visitor would hear, but quiet enough not to wake Poppy, whose room was at the front of the house.
She wasn’t expecting visitors and was puzzled. Fluffing up her hair, Madeleine automatically stared at the empty cream wall where her gilt framed mirror used to hang, fully expecting to see her reflection looking back at her before turning the three different keys that Liam had fitted to the front door.
‘Jess, oh my goodness, what a surprise!’ Her voice hit a high-pitched squeal as she opened the door and pulled her sister into her hold.
‘Thought I’d drop by and give you a hand,’ Jess replied as she marched past Maddie, waving a bag in the air. ‘I brought Poppy’s favourite muffins. Where is she?’
Madeleine closed the door. ‘You mean you brought your favourite muffins and Poppy is fast asleep, so shush.’
Maddie turned and followed Jess who had already set off at a fast and determined pace towards the kitchen. ‘I hope the kettle hasn’t been packed, I need coffee,’ she announced as she navigated her way between the boxes.
‘No, the kettle is not packed. It belongs to Liam, like most things in this house.’
The phone rang and Madeleine stopped to answer it.
‘Hello, yes, this is Madeleine Frost.’ She paused. ‘Of course not, ask away.’ Again she paused. ‘No, I haven’t seen her. I’ve been trying to call her for over a week.’ Her voice began to shake. ‘Yes, of course. Anything you need.’ Madeleine finished the call and looked up to see Jess’s worried face.
‘What’s wrong?’ She grabbed hold of Madeleine’s arm and ushered her towards the kitchen and a chair.
‘That… that was the police. It’s Bridget, my agent. She’s gone missing. Jess, I’ve been cursing her. I… I thought she’d gone on holiday without telling me. Do you think she’s okay?’
Jess shrugged her shoulders. ‘I don’t know, Maddie. Why were the police calling you?’
‘Well, they said she’d been reported missing and they’d got my number from her answerphone. I’ve been ringing her repeatedly.’
Jess put her arm around her sister. ‘I’m sure she’s okay and they’ll find her. Now, we have to sort you out, but first, you look like you need coffee.’ Jess turned and switched on the kettle.
‘What am I going to do, Jess? I don’t want to stay, but simply can’t afford to leave.’
‘You must go and see your dad. If fact, that’s why I came. I’m going to stay here tonight with Poppy and you, you are going to see your father. If he turns you away, then we’ll go back to plan A and you, Poppy and Buddy will just have to come and live with me. We’d manage somehow.’
Madeleine shook her head. She knew she couldn’t go to Jess’s, but her dad? Could she just turn up on his doorstep and ask him to put a roof over her head?
With coffee and muffins, she and Jess spent the next hour trying to work out what Maddie would say to her father, where Bridget might have gone, and then finishing packing up all the things that actually belonged to Madeleine.