“
Is something troubling you
,
Rachel? I can see you
’
re not yourself.
”
His voice was gentle.
“
No, I
’
m fine,
”
she gulped.
Carl arrived just in time for lunch. He behaved as cheerfully and naturally as possible but Rachel didn
’
t respond to his efforts. He wondered if her parents noticed the strain between them. If so they never let on. Thank God for Jacob and Becky who chattered on all through the meal.
Then a text arrived for him. His father-in-law frowned at him, mobile phones being forbidden at the table. Carl excused himself and went outside to take it. It was from Zita
:
Missing you like crazy. Feeling very hot. Wish you were in my bed right now. Zxx
He smiled to himself and texted back
:
Hot for you too. Let me see what I can do
.
Cxx
Coming back into the dining-room he announced,
“
Sorry about that. Bit of a crisis
,
I
’
m afraid. I
’
ll have to go into the office after lunch.
”
“
Oh, no
,
Carl!
”
Rachel cried, exasperated with him. Could he not even spend one afternoon with his family?
“
Must be some crisis,
”
Alison said bitingly,
“
to drag you from your family on a Sunday.
”
Rachel could discern the dislike in her mother
’
s tone. She
’
d never been a big fan of Carl
.
“
I must say I
’
ve never known a politician who
’
s had to
go into the office on a Sunday afternoon,
”
her father commented
grumpily.
“
Sorry, but we go into summer recess on Wednesday and there are a lot of loose ends to be tied up.
”
“
Daddy, you said you
’
d take us to the beach,
”
Jacob whined, beginning to understand what was going on.
“
Sorry, kids. We
’
ll have lots of time on the beach in France soon.
”
He ruffled his son
’
s hair.
He left even before dessert
. “
See you at home later,
”
he said, kissing Rachel
’
s cheek, and then he was gone.
Zita had been feeling miserable all morning. She missed Carl terribly. He was so much larger than life that when he wasn
’
t there she had a great big empty hole in hers
.
Marcus was keeping his distance. All they did these days was fight – about her obsession with The Prick Dunne – as he called Carl. The fun had gone out of their relationship and she missed his friendship too
.
Feeling bored that morning
,
she had decided to go in to work. She was watching the film they
’
d taken at Rachel
’
s dinner party on Thursday night and seeing Carl there on the screen she
’
d become overwhelmed with longing for him. She
’
d texted him, never dreaming that he could come to her and yet here was his reply
:
Be with you in thirty minutes. Can
’
t wait
Cxx
Her stomach did a somersault and she rang a taxi and quickly cleared up before dashing home to meet her lover.
There was no champagne, no wine, no lovely dinner, but it was the best afternoon she
’
d ever spent. The sex was wild and they couldn
’
t get enough of each other. They were discovering new things about each other
’
s bodies every time they met.
“
That was sensational,
”
he whispered in her ear when at last they were both satiated. He stroked her hair gently.
“
You make me so hot. I want you every single day.
”
“
You can have me any
time you want,
”
she whispered back, kissing him gently.
“
I wish,
”
he sighed.
Leave your wife and come to me
!
she wanted to scream at him, but she held her tongue.
“
What will I do without you for the whole month of August?
”
he sighed again.
She hadn
’
t wanted to think about him going away. The thought of him playing happy families with Rachel made her feel ill. She would die without him.
“
Oh God, look at the time
!”
Carl yelled, hours later, jumping out of the bed.
She watched him get dressed hurriedly and
,
feeling miserable, kissed him goodbye.
“
I can see you on Tuesday night for a while, if you want,
”
he suggested.
“
Of course I want,
”
she replied, reluctant to let go of his hand.
He took her hand to his lips.
“
Till then
,
chérie
.”
He kissed it and then he was gone.
Rachel had felt the rest of the afternoon fall flat after Carl had left. She was aware of her parents
’
disapproval at Carl
’
s defection. Her father drove her home and she was surprised when he said he
’
d like to come in. She handed the kids over to Paloma
,
who took them off to the playroom
,
and joined her father in the living room.
“
Would you like a drink?
”
she asked him.
“
Of course not, I
’
m driving,
”
he replied, watching as she poured a gin and tonic for herself and curled up on the sofa.
“
Something
’
s troubling you and things are not right between you and Carl. Do you want to tell me about it?
”
He stood with his back to the fireplace as he
’
d always done at home.
She sighed.
“
Well, besides the fact that he
’
s never here, you mean
?”
Her voice was bitter. She stared into her glass glumly. She
’
d always run to her father with her problems b
ut this was one problem he couldn
’
t fix.
“
We had a terrible row the other night,
”
she told him, her voice almost
a whisper.
“
Do you want to tell me what it was about?
”
“
I did a terrible thing,
”
she admitted, feeling ashamed and embarrassed.
“
Carl was very late coming home and I was angry with him. I
’
d had quite a lot to drink and
. . .”
Now that she
’
d started the words were coming out in a torrent.
“
Anyway, I attacked him and threw a glass of wine at him. It splashed all down the wall of the den.
”
She stopped to take a sip of her drink.
“
Oh my God, Rach!
”
her father cried, shocked at what she was telling him
.
“
He accused me of drinking too much,
”
she said in a small voice
.
“
You are drinking too much
,”
her father stated sternly
. “
I
’
ve been worried about it for some time.
”
She looked at him in dismay. It shocked her to hear him say this.
“
But I only drink because I
’
m alone here
every night. Carl is so consumed by his work that he has no time for me any more.
”
She heard her voice wobble and was afraid she
’
d start crying. She took a deep breath.
“
And
,
besides
. . .
I think he
’
s having an affair
. . .”
“
What makes you think that
?”
“
I don
’
t know. It
’
s just a feeling I have.
”
“
Well, you may be wrong so let
’
s not jump the gun
,
but you really do need to sort this out between you. You have to sit down and talk with Carl as soon as possible
.”
She knew he was right.
“
And
,
Rachel
,
honey, you just have to cut out this drinking alone. That is not helping matters one bit. Think of the children. You must stop it at once.
”
She looked at him forlornly
,
knowing that what he was saying was true. With a sigh she put her drink down and got up and gave him a hug.
“
You
’
re right, Dad, I know. I will try and cut it out. Honestly! What I did the other night really scared me.
”
“
Promise me you
’
ll have a talk with Carl tonight, darling,
and no more drowning your sorrows in booze.
”
“
I promise. I suppose I
’
m feeling a bit adrift at the moment,
”
she said through her tears, nodding her head.
He held her close, rubbing her head as he
’
d always done when she was upset as a child.
“
I love you, Pops
,”
she said.
“
And I love you, Princess
.”
She smiled at the use of their pet names for each other
.
“
Now, I
’
m off
,”
he said.
“
Go ring that husband of yours and sort things out.
”
“
I will. Thanks, Dad.
”
He went in to hug his grandchildren goodbye before leaving, giving Rachel the thumbs-up as he drove away.
He was right. She made coffee and rang Carl
’
s mobile to tell him that she wanted to have a serious talk with him that evening. It was on voicemail – how strange. She then rang his office. As she dialled, she laughed bitterly to think that she had to ring for an appointment to talk to her own husband. His answering machine picked up.
“
Hi
,
Carl, I know you
’
re there. Can you pick up?
”
No response.
“
Ring me as soon as you get this, please
.”
She kept busy the rest of the afternoon
,
studying her wine manual. She wanted to do well at the exam tomorr
ow night.
Carl sauntered in just after seven o
’
clock.
“
Hi, honey. How was the rest of the lunch?
”
He leant forward to kiss her but she avoided his lips.
“
What
’
s the matter?
”
“
I
’
d like to know where you were till now
?”
“
I was in the office.
”
“
I rang there. Your answering machine picked up.
”
“
I was in John
’
s office. We were working together on something,
”
he lied glibly.