United State of Love (4 page)

‘So there you have it. I am now going to be working for a relocation company and my first job is in Arundel. How ideal is that?’ Anna said to Mark and Luke as the three of them sat at the table, having finished their evening meal. ‘Thought it was about time I did something different. A new challenge.’ She crossed her fingers under the table at the lie, well, manipulation of the truth.

‘Well done, Mum.’

‘All I've got to do now is finish translating that document,’ said Anna, eyeing the green folder on the bookshelf. ‘I'm not going to put all my eggs in one basket. I'm still going to keep the translating work going.’

‘Perhaps I should do something like this Jamie's doing,’ mused Mark as he broke off a piece of garlic bread. ‘Sounds like he's doing all right. A nice house in Surrey that must be worth a bob or two. Working from home, just organising people. He must be raking it in.’

‘You're doing okay though, aren't you?’ asked Anna. Somewhere in the back of her mind alarm bells were ringing.

‘Oh yeah, everything's fine,’ responded Mark, then changed the subject swiftly. ‘Thought I'd visit my parents tomorrow.’

‘Oh, right,’ said Anna trying to keep up with the turn in conversation. ‘What about Luke?’ Mark looked blankly at her. ‘You were going to take him with you but he's got school tomorrow.’

‘I can have the day off,’ interjected Luke. ‘Well, that's if Dad doesn't mind me going with him.’ Luke looked at his dad expectantly.

‘Of course you can, son. Not a problem at all,’ said Mark.

‘But, Luke, I don't know if that's a good idea,’ began Anna.

‘Come on, Mum, it's only one day,’ argued Luke. ‘How is one day going to hurt? It's hardly likely to affect my future career prospects, is it?’

Anna looked at Mark for some moral support, but he just shrugged and said, ‘Don't look at me. I don't want to be brought into your row.’

‘Mum! Why are you being so difficult and starting an argument?’ said Luke grumpily. ‘You always do it. Anyway, I'm going with Dad tomorrow and that's that.’ To show that as far as he was concerned the matter was now closed, Luke clattered his cutlery down onto his plate and stood up. ‘Don't spoil everything.’ With that, he stormed off to his room, stomping on every stair as he went.

‘Luke!’

‘Just leave it, Anna,’ said Mark frowning, agitatedly tapping the table with his fingers. ‘It's only one sodding day.’

The following morning Anna saw Mark and Luke off. Well, just Luke really. She hated any bad feeling between her and her son and always liked to wipe the slate clean at the beginning of each day. She had rung Luke's school earlier that morning, excusing him on the pretence of illness. Thank goodness she could leave a message on the answerphone, it was much easier to lie to a machine than a real person.

‘Give my regards to your grandparents,’ said Anna, as Luke followed Mark out the door.

Luke gave his mum a smile and brief hug. ‘Yeah, sure. See you later.’

Closing the door behind them, she turned and looked menacingly at the laptop and the electronics folder containing the document that she was translating.

‘Right, here I come,’ she said, marching purposefully over to the offending items.

Often the thought of the work was worse than the actual act, and quite soon, she was working steadily through the text. The morning was productive but the afternoon proved less so. Not only was she feeling tired after yesterday's travelling and interview, but the phone seemed to be on a personal mission to disrupt her concentration as many times as possible. Four times it rang within an hour and each was a complete waste of time. Fed up with so many interruptions by people trying to sell her something, the last one being from an estate agent wanting to make an appointment – Anna rudely slammed the phone down on him – she pulled the phone out of the wall to make sure no one disturbed her again.

She did, however, receive a text message on her mobile.

Hey! Looking forward to seeing you next week at work. Maybe we could get some lunch? Tex.

She looked thoughtfully at her phone while wrestling with conflicting feelings. She was happy she had a job and she was happy that Tex had messaged her, but on the other hand, she was disappointed that the job involved working with him. Much as she liked Tex, now he was going to be a client she couldn't afford to get involved. Beautiful eyes and an orgasmic voice or not. In the end, she didn’t reply. It would be easier if she explained face to face.

‘That's really great, sis,’ said Nathan after Anna had finished telling him about her new job. ‘A bit sudden though. I didn't know you were looking for a change.’

‘I wasn't really. It just came up. A great opportunity,’ said Anna, holding her mobile to her ear as she looked out between the Venetian blinds at her living room window. She watched the Saturday evening shoppers and workers rush by, her road a convenient shortcut to the car park on the north side of the city walls. ‘Anyway, I was just ringing to see how Zoe is. We were supposed to be going out tonight.’ Anna wandered over to the sofa and began fluffing the cushions.

‘I'll pass you over.’ There was a slight pause and a rustling sound while the phone exchanged hands, then Anna heard her sister-in-law.

‘Hi, Anna, I'm really sorry but I can't make it tonight. I feel dreadful.’ Zoe sniffed. ‘I can't shift this cold I picked up from the kids.’

‘You don't sound too good,’ consoled Anna, trying to hide the disappointment.

‘I'm so tired, I really wouldn't be any fun tonight. Aitch-choo!’

‘Bless you.’

More sniffing. ‘Thank you.’

‘Well, you get yourself dosed up and into bed. I'll come by in the morning and take the boys out to the park or something.’

‘Oh, thank you, Anna. You're a star. That would be a great help. Nathan's working tomorrow, as usual. I'll see you in the morning. And sorry.’

‘Don't worry. Not a problem. We will get a night out sooner or later.’

Anna ended the call and flopped down onto the newly fluffed cushions. She had been looking forward to a girlie Saturday night. Something that she felt Zoe needed as much as she did herself. It had been a funny week, and she really wanted to chat to Zoe and get her take on the turn of events. That was the trouble when you lived alone, you didn't have anyone to sound out your ideas and thoughts with. Someone to reassure you that you were doing the right thing or, indeed, the wrong thing. That was something she really missed.

Anna was now faced with an evening alone. Luke had gone to one of his friends after school and was staying the night as they were having band practice followed by an X-box evening. Mark was going to Southampton that evening to see his old friend Gary. Mark had somehow managed to talk Anna into letting him borrow her car. Just as well she had never changed the insurance details when Mark went to America; her tired old blue Fiesta was still insured for any driver over twenty-five. This did have an upside too, mused Anna, trying to cheer herself up. Mark would look pretty funny in it, his six-foot frame scrunched up like a locust. So not cool.

‘Penny for them?’ Mark asked, coming into the living room. He was carrying two glasses of wine and passed one to her. ‘Been stood up?’

‘Mmm. You heard then. Should you be drinking if you're driving tonight?’

‘I might go over to Gary's in the morning instead.’

‘Why's that then? Won't he mind?’ Anna took a sip of wine.

‘No, he'll be fine.’ Mark smiled at her. ‘Cheers. I just thought seeing as Luke isn't here and you're all alone, that maybe we could go out tonight.’

‘Me and you? Out? Tonight?’ The suggestion had taken her completely by surprise.

‘Yeah,’ nodded Mark slowly. ‘That was the general idea of what I said.’

Anna eyed him carefully. Was this a good idea?

‘What's the harm in it?’ asked Mark, as if sensing her apprehension. ‘We've been eating together all week. It's just the same except we'll be at a restaurant instead.’

‘I suppose you have a point,’ said Anna, trying to reason with the thought.

‘Of course I do. Come on, get your glad rags on. It'll be just like old times.’

Anna couldn't make up her mind if the butterflies she felt in her stomach were excitement or nerves. She couldn't ignore the feeling that going out for dinner with Mark wasn't one of her best ideas.

‘Wow, you look lovely!’ he exclaimed as Anna came downstairs and into the living room.

It was the response she had hoped for. Had she been going out with the girls tonight, she may have just worn her jeans and one of her casual tops, but as it was Mark, she wanted to show him that she could still look good and hadn't fallen to pieces without him. She had opted for a black shift dress with bold, purple and red embroidered flowers around the neckline and hem, teamed with black patent high-heeled boots and a purple cardigan.

‘You look nice, too.’ In fact, Anna thought Mark looked gorgeous. She had always liked him in a dark suit and open neck shirt. Whether he remembered this and had purposefully dressed that way, she didn't know.

It felt odd walking through the town centre, side by side. It had been so long since they had done that. Before, Anna would have automatically slipped her arm into his, or he would have put his arm around her shoulders or held her hand, but those days were long gone now. Having said that, Anna had gradually felt herself relax around Mark as the week had gone on. She was still unsettled as to what he was doing back in England, but actually having him physically present wasn't as unnerving as it had been originally. Maybe tonight, on neutral ground, they both might relax even more, and she might be able to wheedle out of Mark why he was here.

The restaurant in South Street was busy but they managed to get a table. There was plenty of noise and a good atmosphere, which would help fill any awkward silences between the two of them, Anna thought. But she needn't have worried, she realised, as the conversation flowed pretty easily, although Mark seemed to be asking most of the questions and avoiding talking about himself and America. The conversation had started off very generally, almost politely, as they talked about how much new housing was being built around Chichester, the recession, Luke, his school and, of course, in true British style, the weather.

‘Talking of the weather,’ said Mark, ‘do you remember that time we went camping, when Luke was about three or four? We went to Cornwall.’

‘Oh, will I ever forget it,’ chuckled Anna. ‘I've never known so much rain. I thought tents were supposed to be waterproof.’

‘They are, except someone didn't zip it up properly and left all my clothes by the door.’

‘That wasn't me!’ she exclaimed, laughing at the memory. ‘Oh, but weren't they soaking that morning? Every single thing was dripping wet. Oh God, and then Luke did a wee on your sleeping bag. Do you remember?’ Anna was really giggling now. At the time, Mark had been horrified.

‘How can I forget? He must have been saving that wee up all night. It soaked straight through the bag.’ Mark was laughing too.

‘It was such a horrendous night that we packed up and came home the next day.’ Anna was shaking her head and still grinning at the memory.

‘We were so Ray Mears, weren't we?’ said Mark smiling at her.

‘See, I told you that one day we would laugh about it.’ Anna was aware that she had had too much to drink. She wasn't really sure how much, as Mark had just kept topping her glass up. Time to abandon caution she thought, it was now or never.

‘Mark,’ she began, nervously twiddling the stem of the wine glass in front of her. ‘What are you really doing back here?’ She looked up at him for a response but he just looked back at her, studying her face, as if he was deciding whether to tell her something or not. Anna raised her eyebrows questioningly. ‘Well?’

‘Well…’ Mark moved his hand across the table until his fingers were touching the base of the wine glass Anna was still fiddling with. ‘Let's go home. I'll explain there, where it's more private and less noisy.’ He stroked the tip of her finger with his.

Somewhere at the back of her mind she knew her sensible voice was telling her to move her hand away, however, it appeared the hand was ignoring the distant advice. Her hand stayed exactly where it was, letting Mark's fingers slide the glass away to hold her hand fully.

‘Can I get you anything else? Sir? Madam?’ The waitress broke the silence, and Anna felt herself snap out from the spell she was under. Feeling flustered, she snatched her hand away from Mark's. The wine was sure making it difficult to think straight. Coffee. Yes, that was what she needed.

‘Can I have a coffee please? Black. Strong.’ Hopefully, that would sort her out a bit as she felt decidedly squiffy.

Despite the coffee, Anna didn't feel much better when they left the restaurant. Her brain and feet seemed to be having trouble communicating effectively.

‘Steady,’ laughed Mark, catching Anna's arm as she stumbled on the path. ‘Here, hold onto me. Big deep breaths. That's it. Come on, let's get you home.’

Anna had to admit that linking her arm with Mark's was making the art of walking slightly easier. A pair of flat shoes would have made it even more so.

Anna dropped back onto the sofa and unzipped her boots, relieved Mark had managed to get her home in one piece.

‘Here, let me,’ said Mark, kneeling down and gently pulling each of her boots off in turn.

Anna put her head back into the headrest and closed her eyes. It felt like her brain was swaying all on its own to the James Blunt track
You're Beautiful
that Mark had just put on. She was aware that Mark had sat down on the sofa beside her, but she kept her eyes closed and hummed to the music. Mark began humming too, which was most unlike him. She opened one eye and glimpsed sideways at him, sitting back in the same position as her. He looked at her and a big grin spread across his face. They looked at each other for a second and then they both burst out laughing.

‘Stop it,’ Anna grinned. ‘If I didn't know you better, I'd think you were taking the mickey out of me.’ She gave him a playful tap on the arm.

Mark caught her hand in his. ‘As if I'd do a thing like that.’