Happily Ever After_ - Benison Anne O'Reilly [78]
I liked the fact she was thus occupied because she was too busy to shoot any poisoned barbs in my direction all day. I played the part of the dutiful daughter-in-law, helping out the caterers with drinks and nibblies and got lots of compliments for being so attentive.
‘Gee, Tony, you’re a lucky man to have two such beautiful and talented girls,’ said Uncle Tom, one of the nice relatives. Tony turned his eyes in my direction before saying, ‘Yeah I am,’ although not completely convincingly.
The best thing about the whole day was Andrew being in town. He helped me with the catering and we giggled together over a glass or two of champagne.
At about 5pm the function was winding down. Isabel was over-tired and her behaviour no longer befitted her regal dress. As a matter of fact she had pushed one of her second cousins over in a fit of pique when they had disagreed about the choice of DVD to watch. Time to go, I thought.
The trouble was I couldn’t find Tony anywhere. I was hunting around the upstairs bathrooms when I heard voices coming from Andy’s bedroom. The two brothers were arguing.
‘…It’s about time you decided. Ellie deserves better.’ It was Andrew.
‘I have, I told you. At the moment I’ve got enough worries getting my stuffed career back on track. Anyway maybe you should concentrate more on your own life. When are you planning to come clean?’
‘I’ll tell Mum and Dad at the time of my choosing, thanks, and it’s certainly not today.’
‘Hello, is everything alright?’ I called out in my best falsetto. All talk abruptly ceased.
‘Yeah, fine,’ said Tony, but I didn’t miss his subtle zip-your-lips gesture to Andrew as I entered the room.
‘I think we’d better go. Issy is starting to play up.’
‘Okay, I’ll just go and say goodbye to everyone,’ he said as he exited the door, flashing his brother another warning look.
‘Are you sure everything’s okay?’ I asked Andrew.
‘Yes, fine.’
I gave him a hug. ‘Have a safe trip back. It was lovely to see you.’
‘Yeah, you take care of yourself. You’re a good girl.’
No, not so good Andrew.
Issy was protesting about leaving the party when I returned downstairs, so Tony hoisted her on to his shoulders. After a brief struggle she relented - ultimately nothing was better than a piggyback ride from her daddy. We said our goodbyes and headed to the car. I’m sure some of the assembled throng thought we looked the perfect family, an advertiser’s dream.
I glanced at Tony, Isabel’s small legs (now looking rather grubby) tucked under his arms, and was hit by that sudden shock of recognition I’d often get about how handsome he was. The difference this time was that it was no longer accompanied by any sense of ownership, the pride that he was my guy. He was not ‘my guy’ and never really had been. You can never claim ownership of another human being. Tony had chosen to spend some of his life with me, but he had always remained a little bit remote, and I now felt I knew him less well than I had when we’d first got together. This day I could view my husband with the calm detachment of museum curator:
‘Ladies and gentlemen, if you care to cast your eyes in this direction you will see an excellent example of the male homo sapiens goodlookingus.’
Driving home, he breathed deeply and seemed about to say something significant - about his argument with Andrew maybe? But all that came out was, ‘If it’s alright with you I might go to the gym after we get home. I need to clear my head.’
‘Okay,’ I answered, when I should have said: ‘What do you need to decide, Anthony?’
Could he be having another affair, after all? Or was he planning to leave me? Or both? Or was it something else altogether; something that wasn’t yet on my radar? Andrew’s comment was just vague enough to keep me guessing.
That night, in bed, he started to kiss me and his hands roamed inside my pyjama top, seeking out my breasts. I had been expecting this but had been hoping against hope he wouldn’t try it on this night. I lay there, accepting his advances but