Happily Ever After_ - Benison Anne O'Reilly [84]
It was one of our Wednesdays and I was pacing around like a cat on a hot tin roof, counting down the hours until we could be alone, when, at about 2pm, Pamela phoned.
‘I’ve got a bad head cold and I don’t think it would be a good idea for Isabel to come over this evening.’
I could tell she wasn’t making this up; her nose sounded distinctly stuffy. ‘Oh,’ I said. Obviously I didn’t disguise my disappointment well enough.
‘Why the big fuss? Can’t you manage to look after your own child for once?’
‘No, no. I just have a bit of work on but I can take that home and do it after she’s gone to bed.’ Another lie to add to the ledger but I could hardly tell her the real reason for my disappointment. I went into Alex’s office to tell him the bad news.
‘Oh no…What can we do?’
‘Not much I’m afraid.’
‘Could I come over to your place - late - after Issy’s asleep?’
‘No, I don’t think that would be a good idea.’
‘But I don’t think I can survive without seeing you tonight. Just think about it.’
‘Okay.’
So I went away and thought about it and almost said yes. Then I started thinking again. What if Isabel woke up in the middle of the night and came into my room, as she did not infrequently:
‘Hello darling, meet Mummy’s new friend.’
No, I didn’t think so. And would I really be able to relax and enjoy myself anyway, with my ear constantly half-cocked for the pad of chubby feet on polished floorboards?
I rang my mother and made up some cock-and-bull story about someone having some tickets to the movies that they were giving away and how Melanie and I wanted to go. It was probably about this time that Mum got to wondering, but she agreed to look after Issy and we got to snatch a few hours together, which was better than nothing at all.
And I’m glad I didn’t break that rule because if this ever comes out, perish the thought, I won’t have to lie about that. I never directly exposed my daughter to my loose morals.
Alex and I maintained our rules in the workplace too, although occasionally our discipline slipped.
One day he was leaning over me at my desk looking at some ad proofs, when he said, ‘You know there is absolutely no reason why I’m doing this except as an excuse to get close to you.’
‘I know. You have that divine aftershave on again. What’s it called?’
‘Dolce and Gabbana. You like it?’
‘Mmm…it does strange things to me.’
‘Really, I’ll have to wear it more often then. What do you mean again?’
‘You were wearing it on the team building weekend. Remember when we had to do that stupid activity where we had to squash up next to one another.’
‘Remember it - it was the highlight of my weekend. Well it would have been when I kissed you but I seem to remember that went a bit pear-shaped in the end.’
‘Yes…anyway, I noticed your aftershave then and was going to ask you what it was called but thought you might think I was being overly familiar. Seems a quaint notion now.’
‘It does rather…’ he said, leaning in extra close and raising his eyebrows at me in a very suggestive way.
Just then we heard a sharp knock on the door and quickly moved apart. It was Melanie.
‘Hi, Alex. Here are those minutes you wanted typed up Ellie. Can you check them over for typos?’
‘Yeah sure.’
‘Jesus that was close,’ I said after she’d left. ‘We’ll have to be more careful in future.’
***
Of course, there was my husband. What of Tony during this time?
He didn’t say much at all after my post-coital ultimatum. He saved that for the next time he returned from a trip away. I often felt he needed that time in the air to think. It was almost as if it was his natural environment and he felt ill at ease dealing with life down on earth.
I was at home in the kitchen when he arrived back. He put his bags down beside him and said, with no preliminaries, ‘What do you want me to do?’
‘What do you mean?’