Читать книгу Sunshine on a Rainy Day: A funny, feel-good romantic comedy - Bryony Fraser, Bryony Fraser - Страница 12

Since I’d got back to work after our wedding, school had been frantic. Yet another education rejig was on the cards, which meant our latest student reports had to be rewritten, handed to the pupils, then re-rewritten with their feedback taken into consideration – I’d been in school until ten every night that week. I was looking forward to Friday night in front of the TV, inhaling burritos under a blanket with Jack.When I saw him on Friday morning, I asked him if he fancied the burritos, or something else – my treat, I’d pick it up on the way home.

‘Zo, it’s the Henderson party tonight. At the shop? God, we really need to get a calendar up in here.’

Oh no. I loved Jack’s shop, loved hanging out there with him, looking at his gorgeous shoes and wondering if I could get Dad into any of them. But his staff were another matter. Paisley, Agatha, Jonjo, Gabben, Mint: Mint was the worst, always trying to touch my hair and saying how amazing my skin was. Nooope, no, thank you. I did everything I could to support Jack in his career, but a Henderson party after the week I’d had? To make matters worse, I had a sneaking suspicion that Jessica would be there too. Jessica, the Chief Financial Officer of Gillett – the company which had bought Henderson a few years ago – seemed constantly to watch Jack like he was the last cheeseburger on the grill and she hadn’t eaten in days.

‘I’m so sorry – please can I skip this one? It’s been such late nights all this week.’

Jack looked disappointed. ‘Are you sure you can’t come? Even for a little while?’

‘What about if I say I’ll try?’

‘That’s a no then.’

I stepped into him and tried to wrap his arms around me. ‘I said I’ll try.’

He stepped away. ‘And I know that that means you won’t be there.’

‘I don’t know what else you want me to do!’

‘You could try actually turning up?’

‘Jack!’ I stepped back too, acres of dangerous space opening between us. ‘I’ve had the week from hell. I’m cross-eyed with tiredness. I just want to hang out with you, not your staff with their names and their agendas and their conversation.’

‘I’m sorry I’m asking you to hang out with people who have names, Zoe. I’ll be careful to only introduce you to abstract concepts from now on.’ He turned away, heading out of the kitchen.

‘I’ll see you later?’ I called after him.

He opened the front door. ‘I won’t hold my breath.’

I’d fallen asleep by the time Jack got back that night. After a tense weekend with him, both of us stepping around each other to nip any potential argument in the bud, Benni’s cheerful smile was a welcome sight on Monday morning. Miks, however, gave her a suspicious look. ‘That never bodes well, does it?’ he muttered.

Benni arrived at my desk. ‘Ah, Zoe, that lab order form you were waiting for has come in. If you’d just like to follow me to my office.’

Miks lowered his head onto his arms, and in muffled tones, said, ‘You’re so unconvincing. It’s actually depressing.’

Once I’d closed Benni’s door, I said, ‘Is Miks alright?’

‘He’s fine, darling, but I think he and his girlfriend are splitting up. It’s fine, though, he’ll be fine.’

‘Mmm. If you say so. What’s this order form I’m meant to ask for?’

‘Darling.’ She frowned at me. ‘Now, how much did you mean it when you said marriage wouldn’t change you?’

‘This is a really worrying conversation, Benni. A hundred per cent?’

‘I’m glad you said that.’ She smiled at me and pushed her computer around so I could see the screen. ‘Check out the Physics teacher who’ll be visiting us from our sister school in Manchester. Part time, but still …’

On the ‘Our Staff’ page of our Manchester school’s website was the most handsome Physics teacher I had ever laid eyes on. I loved Jack completely, from his wonky toenails to the tip of his sandy beard, but my god: this guy looked like he’d been created in a lab. A lab I would definitely like to experiment in, if things were different. If I was single. He was a young Idris Elba genetically spliced with a sexy librarian.

‘I know, right?’ Benni smiled at me.

I realised I was fanning myself. ‘He is … very refreshing,’ I said, nodding at the screen, my eyes drawn back to him. ‘Not your usual type, though. And I’m a married woman, might I add.’

‘He might not be my preferred gender, but I’m not blind. It’s always nice to browse the gallery, even if you aren’t in the market for a painting.’

‘You perv.’ I looked at him again. ‘How did you discover him?’

‘I didn’t – the Head told me about him. He’s on some kind of fast-track course, to extend his teaching skills. Part of some new initiative. They want to reshuffle all the core subjects and staff around a bit, have some of the Maths, English and Science teachers swap schools.’ She waved her hand, unconcerned about the details. ‘And …’ Benni was almost singing now. ‘Guess who’ll be sitting in on some of your lessons?’

I coughed a little. ‘I am a …’ I swallowed and looked at the screen again. ‘A happily … married woman?’

‘In which case none of us have anything to worry about, do we?’ Her smile had turned slightly wicked, but it melted away. ‘Oh, Zo, darling, I’m only joking. I know you’d never look at another man while you’re with Jack.’

‘Which, lest we forget those vows, is for the rest of our lives.’

‘Yes, yes, but it doesn’t hurt to look, does it?’

I looked at the screen one more time before I left the office, and thought, Just looking. Just looking.

Coming through the door from the supermarket early evening on Saturday, I saw Jack lying on the sofa, pizza box on his stomach.

‘Hey! What’s this?’

‘Don’t worry – there’s another one in the kitchen for you.’

‘No, Jack, we’re going out with Liz tonight.’

‘Oh god, really? Please can you invent an illness for me, I really don’t fancy it.’

‘Just one of the many blessings marriage conveys. We’re stuck with each other’s friends, I’m afraid. Just jump in the shower and you’ll be fine, come on.’

‘No, I’m serious, Zo. Please can you just tell her I couldn’t make it tonight? I’ve already eaten, anyway.’ He gestured at the half-empty pizza box.

I gaped at him. ‘Jack, we haven’t all been out together since the wedding. Can’t we please just try and look semi-convincing that we can bear to still be in each other’s company?’

‘I know we’re married, but we don’t have to live in each other’s pockets. You don’t want to be one of those couples, do you?’

‘Which I’m sure you’d be saying if the boot was on the other foot. We just had lunch with Iffy, didn’t we? If we were meeting one of your friends, I’d never flake out on a plan.’

‘Like the Henderson’s party?’ Jack sighed. ‘We saw her at the wedding; that was only a few weeks ago. I’m sure she can’t miss me that much. You go and have a nice time without me.’

‘It’s not about whether Liz misses you, it’s about whether I do.’

‘Zoe, this is one evening!’

‘Maybe it’s not,’ I shouted, then took a deep breath. I dropped my bag on the table, put my keys in the bowl, and held my head in my hands. ‘I don’t understand what you want, Jack.’

‘I don’t understand either,’ he said, looking baffled. ‘I thought I was just asking for an evening to myself.’

We both waited, feeling winded. I thought of all our recent arguments, the tension. I thought of our wedding day.

‘I think … I think this was a mistake,’ I said.

‘You think … what was a mistake? This fight?’

‘Jack,’ I said. ‘All of this.’ He looked at me, his mouth dropping a little.

‘Are you kidding me?’

‘No. Is it really that much of a surprise? Have you never thought that?’

‘What, in the month since we’ve been married?’

‘Yes!’

‘For fuck’s sake, Zo, everyone feels like that.’ He lifted his hands, then dropped them in exasperation. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’

‘No, everyone feels like that at some point in their married life, but not in the first four weeks,’ I said. ‘Not on their honeymoon. Not on the way to the register office.’

Jack gaped at me again, then stood up, stormed into the bedroom and slammed the door closed. There’d been a lot of that recently. Soon Upstairs Jan would be as pleased to see us as those voyeurs opposite.

I met Liz at the bar, where she and her new squeeze Henry were waiting, drinks in hand. Liz had mentioned him for the first time when we’d confirmed plans that afternoon, but she’d also said I wasn’t to ask anything until I’d met him. I could see why – Henry sported his sunglasses on the top of his head, just in case I hadn’t got the message clearly enough from his chinos and pink shirt. What wasn’t clear was why she was with him in the first place. Liz hugged me, then he leant in, as if for a kiss, despite the fact I’d never met him before in my life and didn’t particularly fancy pressing my face against his. Before he could make contact, I pretended to look in my bag for my phone; by the time I looked up again he’d leant back, his face slightly mottled with indignation.

‘Ooh, I’d forgotten about this!’ Liz said, getting back off her chair to stroke my Chanel handbag. She explained to Henry, ‘Zoe’s parents gave it to her for her wedding.’

‘In fashion, are they?’ Henry said with a smirk. Liz flinched slightly, then her face settled again.

‘Every woman wants a Chanel, don’t they?’ She smiled at me. ‘God, it really is gorgeous.’

‘You’ll be giving her ideas, Zoe,’ Henry said, picking his teeth with a cocktail stick as he looked around the bar.

‘Is Jack on his way?’ Liz asked.

I was so repelled by Liz’s date for the night that I’d briefly forgotten that I didn’t have one at all. ‘No, he can’t make it. He sends his apologies, but he’s a bit under the weather. Too much work on at the moment.’

‘Sounds like bullshit,’ Henry smirked again. ‘Just didn’t fancy a night out with his wife’s cronies, I bet.’

The truth of this made me blush. Thank god the bar was too dark for Henry to tell. But Liz understood, and took my hand. ‘Do you still want to eat, or shall we reschedule?’

‘I’m here now! Let’s have a nice time.’ My eyes landed on Henry. ‘Or we can at least try the food,’ I said brightly, swallowing my dislike of our company.

A tall, slim waitress took us to our table, where the fourth place was whipped away like a rebuke. Henry looked the waitress up and down, then said he just needed to visit the little boys’ room, we’d have to excuse him, and followed her away.

‘Please, please tell me the sex is amazing, at least,’ I said to Liz as soon as he was out of earshot.

Her mouth turned down at the corners. ‘I had a theory that if I dated the worst man I could find, it might make me less fussy about only-slightly-flawed men.’

‘He really is the worst. In that way, you’ve done pretty well.’

‘Think about it, Zo. I broke up with Adam because he put on slippers the second he came in the house.’

‘Is that really why? That’s … that’s a fairly reasonable habit.’

‘No, I mean he used to take his slippers with him. To other people’s houses. The first time he met my mum, he took his slippers out of his bag before he’d taken his coat off.’

‘We’ve all got peccadilloes. Rather that than the toxic wasteland of this guy.’

‘I know! I know that now! But I broke up with him over it! And before that, do you remember Phil? I dumped Phil because he ate with his mouth open.’

‘No, that’s gross. I’m with you there.’

‘He’d just had dental surgery! He only had to do that for a week, and I dumped him for it.’

‘Mmm. Did he know that was the reason?’

‘I told him it was some other feelings stuff, but I knew he could see me flinching every time he ate. It was like going out with a massive bull.’

‘Oh yeah?’ I gave a heavy wink.

‘Poor Phil. He was really nice. And Adam was really, really nice.’ She sighed. It seemed like we both missed Adam, although she was the one who’d been with him for the last three years. ‘Anyway, I read this article in a women’s mag, about how once you date someone who’s totally wrong for you, it’s not actually a bad thing, because it can help you sort out in your mind what it is you actually want from a relationship. Particularly in your twenties, it can be hard to know what’s just sexual attraction, what’s just a reflection of how you want the world to think of you, and what you actually need.’

I nodded slowly, chewing on a breadstick.

‘I mean, you’re lucky – you found your better half. You knew what you wanted. But how do I know what works for me?’

I took a sip of my water. ‘Did Adam make you happy?’

‘So happy!’ she smiled. ‘But I decided one day that I couldn’t bear the thought of going to someone’s house in our thirties, or forties, or fifties, and Adam bringing out his woolly slippers. How humiliating it would be. I didn’t really think about how kind he was, or how funny, or how much my mum liked him, or my friends. Or me.’

‘He was pretty good.’

‘Exactly. I just thought, at the time, that any imagined embarrassment over slippers was more important than how happy we were together, right then.’

‘And now you’ve got Henry.’

‘Yes! And he makes me so unhappy, almost all the time. He’s going to be the perfect cure. And here he is.’

‘What’s that?’ Henry said, pulling out his chair and sitting so wide-legged I wondered if he was about to start playing a cello for our entertainment.

‘Liz was just saying how perfect you are,’ I smiled.

Henry snorted. ‘Bloody hell! I turn my back for two minutes and you’ve got her making wedding plans. Sorry, you’ve got the wrong guy.’

Liz patted his knee and smiled back at me. ‘No, I think I’ve got exactly the right one.’

We stayed for only two courses – Henry didn’t want dessert, although I think he’d actually got some ideas in his head about how lucky he was going to get with Liz that night, after all that talk of the right one. Liz gave me a hug and asked me to send her love to Jack, that she hoped he felt better. I said, ‘Thanks, I will,’ and wished her luck with her theory. I left feeling utterly miserable, and sat miserably on the Tube home, before walking miserably up our street and into the flat. I thought all the way home about the crack in our relationship that I’d crowbarred wide open this evening. I wasn’t sure yet whether it was about to let in a tidal wave of pain or some sweet fresh air. And I didn’t know either, really, how much I’d meant what I’d said, but I’d take my lead from Jack. If he was ready to talk about it, it’s probably best that we did.

Jack was still on the sofa.

‘Feeling any better?’ I tried to sound sympathetic.

‘Oh hey, Zo!’ He sat up and smiled at me. ‘How was it?’

‘Fine. Liz sends her love,’ I said flatly.

‘Nice one. She alright?’

‘She’s got a prick of a new boyfriend.’

‘How bad?’

‘He wore his sunglasses on his head all night.’

Jack bit his fist.

‘She’s got a theory about being more tolerant of partners once you’ve gone out with someone terrible.’

‘Is that about Adam?’

I sat on the coffee table. ‘Liz reckons we’re lucky, having found each other already.’

‘And did you say, “Yeah, it’s lucky how my husband’s really making me know how important being sociable is, for my next husband”?’ I blinked at how accurate that was. Jack laughed, seeing my face. ‘Oh my god, I was joking!’ He pulled me off the table and onto the sofa, lying me down alongside him. ‘Look. I saved you some pizza.’ Inside the box were two slices of jalapeño pizza, which he fed to me while we watched the end of a terrible film, everyone firing guns and exploding.

He kissed my hair. ‘Did you mean what you said earlier?’

‘No. Sorry.’ I buried myself against him. ‘Hormones or something. I didn’t mean it at all.’

‘Phew,’ he said, kissing my hair again. ‘I’m sorry too. I love you, Zo.’

Maybe I had made a mistake with what I said earlier. I just needed to relax. I pulled his arms a little tighter.

As we relaxed into the sofa, there was a buzz from the front door.

Outside, Esther and Ava were waiting for me, looking worried.

‘What’s wrong? Is it Mum? Dad? Kat? What’s happened?’

Esther said, ‘Is Jack home?’

‘Yeah, we’re just watching a film. This is a bit late for you two to be out, isn’t it? What’s going on?’

Ava linked her arm with mine. ‘Nothing. Don’t panic. It’s ok.’

I brought them both into the flat and put on the kettle; Jack waved through the hatch, but saw from their faces they weren’t here for small talk.

‘Right, kettle’s boiling, you’re inside. What’s going on?’

Esther leant against the kitchen counter. ‘It’s nothing disastrous. But you know we had that thing at Kat’s work this afternoon? The family day for her ad agency?’

Ava chipped in: ‘It was nice, Zo, the company looks like it’s a good fit for her.’

‘Only …’ Esther looked at her, then at me. ‘Only we met Kat’s boss. The guy who’s just bought the whole company.’

‘And?’ I said, feeling baffled.

Ava stepped closer to me. ‘And it was Chuck, Zo.’