The Affair: The shocking, gripping story of a schoolgirl and a scandal. Amanda Brooke

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СКАЧАТЬ style="font-size:15px;">      ‘Recently?’

      ‘No, but nothing’s changed,’ Nina said, stopping short of saying that nothing had changed since the wedding, but she refused to play along with Sarah’s game.

      ‘Hmm,’ Sarah said.

      Nina had had enough. ‘Look, Sarah, for the first time in years I feel like I have a fighting chance to be happy, and for my family to be happy. It might take time, but with patience things will settle into a new rhythm. Don’t look for problems that aren’t there. Please.’

      ‘I only want what’s best for you,’ she said. ‘As lovely as Bryn seems, I would have felt a whole lot better if you had drawn up a pre-nup, like I told you to.’

      ‘Well, I didn’t, and strangely enough I still manage to sleep at night. If you really want what’s best for me, Sarah, don’t try to get me to worry about problems that don’t exist. I’m sorry, but I have to go. There’s a long, hot bath with my name on it and I’m looking forward to relaxing. Maybe you should give it a try.’

      Nina let out a frustrated sigh as she ended the call, but the sigh transformed into a groan when the phone started ringing again the moment she went to open the car door. The call was from a mobile number she didn’t recognize, and Nina was tempted to ignore it, but she went with her gut instinct which, despite Sarah’s doubts, turned out to be as reliable as ever.

      ‘Hello, Mrs Carrington?’

      ‘Well, it’s Mrs Thomas now.’

      ‘Ah, yes, of course, sorry,’ the man said. ‘Mrs Thomas, this is Rob Swift. I’m Scarlett’s form tutor.’

      ‘Is everything all right?’

      Nina had received many calls from school in her time, but it was usually during school hours when one of her children was ill. Neither Liam nor Scarlett had ever been a cause of concern, certainly not one that necessitated a call from a teacher out of hours. Not once.

      ‘I hope so,’ Rob said, but his tone didn’t instil confidence. ‘It might very well be nothing to worry about, but sometimes I think it’s better to nip these things in the bud.’

      After two difficult phone calls in quick succession, Nina dragged herself out of the car. The knot in her stomach twisted as she put her key in the front door. Inside the house, she imagined an idyllic scene where Bryn would be cooking dinner, humming to himself contentedly while Scarlett and Liam were upstairs in their rooms. OK, maybe it wasn’t idyllic, but at least her kids weren’t hanging around on street corners causing trouble. Scarlett had a stable family life and more support than ever before. If she was in trouble at school, she had no one to blame but herself. Sarah would have that ‘told-you-so’ look on her face when she found out, but Nina refused to take responsibility for this one. She could feel her blood boiling and when she stepped into the house, she would have happily screamed out Scarlett’s name but there was no way she would be heard above the commotion in the kitchen.

      ‘But you hate my friends! You’re only going so you can annoy me!’ screeched Scarlett.

      ‘It’s working then.’ Liam’s tone was light with just a hint of smugness.

      ‘I hate you!’

      Silence.

      ‘You do know it’s fancy dress?’ Scarlett said. ‘What would you go as anyway? A zombie or something, because that’s what you look like most of the time!’

      ‘In that case I won’t need fancy dress, will I?’

      ‘I’ve got a pirate’s outfit you could borrow.’

      ‘He’s not going, Bryn.’

      ‘I am. And thanks, Bryn—’

      Before Liam could finish, Scarlett said, ‘I’ll have it.’

      From the hallway where she had remained, Nina heard Bryn laugh. ‘It’ll be too big on you. The jacket would be more like a dress.’

      ‘Fine, that’s how I’ll wear it. Can I try it on now?’

      ‘Erm, sure,’ Bryn said.

      Bryn appeared from the kitchen first while Scarlett hung back for one parting shot at her brother: ‘Loser.’

      ‘Hello, I didn’t hear you come in,’ Bryn said, startled to find his wife standing statue-still by the front door.

      ‘I’m not surprised, given the racket those two were making.’

      Scarlett squeezed between them and, ignoring her mother, said, ‘Where is it, Bryn?’

      Bryn kissed his wife briefly on the cheek. ‘I won’t be a minute,’ he said, and followed Scarlett upstairs. Having temporarily lost her momentum, Nina went to check on Liam.

      ‘What was that all about?’

      ‘Eva’s throwing a Halloween party for her birthday and I’m invited.’

      ‘And are you going, or by some chance is this another way of winding up your sister?’

      Liam shrugged. ‘You keep saying I need to get out more.’

      ‘So you are going?’ Nina repeated. She wouldn’t put it past Liam to keep up the pretence and therefore the tension between the warring siblings right up to the last minute. It didn’t bear thinking about. ‘I would have thought a room full of people, especially Scarlett’s friends, would be torture for you.’

      ‘I know you might not believe this, Mum, but I can actually function in the real world. I think I definitely will go now!’

      With that, another of her children stormed off upstairs.

      Nina dropped her handbag on the kitchen counter. These weren’t big problems, she told herself; no doubt a similar scene was being repeated up and down the country. So why did the feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach persist as she slipped off her coat and headed upstairs?

      Liam’s door was firmly closed while the door to her bedroom had been left slightly ajar. One of the wardrobe doors was open and she could see reflections playing across the white gloss veneer.

      ‘What do you think?’ Scarlett was asking.

      ‘It’s a bit short.’

      When Nina slipped into the room, she found Bryn standing close to the door while Scarlett was on the other side of the room in front of the bay window. The curtains had been drawn and the only light came from a bedside lamp, draping Scarlett’s tall and slender body in shadow. Bryn’s pirate jacket was swimming on her and its cavernous sleeves hung down over her hands. She was wearing opaque black tights, which was lucky because the jacket only just covered her bum.

      ‘What do you think, Mum?’ she asked.

      When her daughter raised her arms and did a twirl, the jacket lifted up further. Nina was relieved to see that her school skirt had been hitched up rather than removed to give Scarlett at least a modicum of dignity.

      ‘It СКАЧАТЬ