Happily Ever After_ - Benison Anne O'Reilly [51]
Fortunately Edward remained Amanda’s superior, so on a few desperate occasions I went directly over her head to appeal to him. A classic technique of Amanda’s (who was childless, although she had a long-term partner) was the exasperated sigh whenever I had to leave on time to pick up Isabel. As a matter of fact, I began to suspect she might have deliberately organised important meetings for early or late in the day just to spite me, although maybe that was just paranoia on my part. As the afternoon meetings invariably ran over time, I’d be checking my watch every few seconds, fidgeting in my seat, before getting desperate and saying, ‘Look I really have to go’.
‘Well, I suppose if you have to,’ was the predictable reply.
I once overheard her saying to Edward, ‘I don’t see why we have to carry the can for all the mothers around here. Maybe they need to decide what they really want to do with their lives. It’s not like I can leave work early to look after my cat.’
She doesn’t even own a cat! If she did I suspect it would mistake her for a large rodent and try to eat her. The thing is she was quite stupid here, as Edward loves kids and this sort of complaint didn’t go over well with him at all. I think by this time he had his own opinions about Amanda, but ultimately was powerless to do anything about her just as long as she kept pleasing senior management by wearing those silk blouses with an extra button undone.
***
On the domestic front, it was all about appearances. We contracted some Croatian painters to complete the exteriors, and whilst they were very keen to take on what must have initially seemed a rather lucrative job, I’m sure by the end of the process they regretted ever submitting a quote. I suspect they had never had a more exacting client than Tony. Whenever he’d arrive home from work he’d do an inspection of the house and if anything wasn’t to his satisfaction, which happened about ninety percent of the time, he’d bail up Dusan, the guy in charge, and demand it all be re-done at no extra charge. I could never see the flaws that Tony apparently could see and couldn’t help wondering if the real problem my husband had with the house was the little woman standing next to him as he tore strips off those unfortunate tradesmen. There were many mutterings of discontent during those weeks and to avoid an outright rebellion I would try to make amends by offering the guys proper brewed coffee and chocolate biscuits for morning tea whenever I was around. It was a real shame as I thought them nice fellows and kind to Issy, too.
Yes, the irony was also not lost on me that as my dream castle neared completion - finally presenting a brightly painted façade to the world - the loving foundations upon which it was based were crumbling. Even my daily joustings with Amanda were preferable to the ominous silences that usually greeted me at home.
With that in mind I started working to improve my own façade, frequenting the company gym every lunchtime, and visiting Emma’s salon for facials, pedicures and waxing whenever I could.
One day when she was giving me a bikini wax Emma said, ‘Why don’t you let me give you a Brazilian?’
‘I’m not letting you look at my bits, thank you!’
‘What, you’d rather a complete stranger did?’
‘No, I don’t think I need one in the first place. It’s okay for you young ones but I’m a boring old mum. I’ve been with the same man for ten years.’
‘Well it might spice up your sex life.’
So I took up the idea.
‘Would you like me to get a Brazilian wax?’ I asked Tony one evening over dinner.
‘Why?’ he asked suspiciously.