Page 12 of The Temp

‘Daisy was so bloody grateful.’ She actually cried out loud before bursting into tears, causing Mr Stanhope to yank back his curtain and glare at us. ‘It feels so good to do something positive for someone.’

Linda agrees, tells me kindness releases mood boosting chemicals in our brain, which makes us feel good about ourselves. So, in effect, being kind puts us on a natural high. ‘Oxytocin, serotonin and dopamine, to be precise,’ she explains. ‘I read it in a magazine. Has she got any experience?’

‘A bit, but I’ll need to train her up,’ I muse, inhaling an aroma of tomatoes, garlic and herbs as Linda pulls the lasagne out of the oven. ‘But that should only take a couple of days.’ Ripping two sheets off the kitchen roll, I dry the spatula, all the while gazing at my husband in the summerhouse as he chats with Keiko who is standing by the window, back to us. Probably giving him the third degree, knowing Tom.

I discreetly check Keiko out. Quite tall, not quite as tall as her ex, Chris, but not many people are six foot three. Keiko’s hair is short and white. A mature man who looks after himself. Perfect for Zelda. ‘Anyway, what’s Keiko like?’

Linda takes a deep breath, slamming a drawer. ‘That’s the thing. I was going to tell you before you dropped your bombshell about that perve trainer. But…’ Linda bites her bottom lip. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t say anything.’

‘Go on,’ I urge. A knot begins to form in my stomach. Linda is very perceptive. Good at reading people. I hope she’s not going to say she doesn’t like him.

‘I know him, Bells. We had a brief fling before I met Theo. I say fling but it was more of a one-night-thingy.’

The knot unfurls and Keiko regains his jewelled crown. I’m both relieved and gobsmacked. ‘Linda,’ I exclaim. No wonder she’s guzzling the wine like water. ‘You didn’t tell me, you rascal.’ It seems I’m not the only one keeping secrets.

‘I was too ashamed. I’d never done anything like that before and regretted it the next day. I even took the morning after pill and went to an STD clinic, just in case. Listen, don’t say anything to Zelda,’ she urges and I promise I won’t. ‘She might say something, you know how free-spirited she is. I don’t want Theo to find out,’ Linda explains, and I shake my head, agreeing. My sister isn’t the best person to confide in, which is why I didn’t tell her I’d hired a personal trainer, or about meeting Liam. It’s not because she’s a blabbermouth, nor that I don’t trust her. It’s just that Zelda sometimes lets things slip unintentionally. Mainly because she doesn’t care what people think. Apart from Mum. She definitely cares what she thinks and would never tell her about her affair with Chris.

‘You know what Theo’s like,’ Linda continues. We all do. Theo’s jealous streak is notorious. ‘I know it’s in the past and everything, but still. ‘Anyway, I don’t think Keiko recognised me, thank God. I just about recognised him myself, to be fair. His hair was different then – dark, curly. It was his voice that did it, he’s got a hint of a West Country accent and something about his eyes. I couldn’t even remember his name.’

‘Did you see him again?’

‘God, no. He rang a few times, wanted to meet up. He was down from Gloucestershire, or somewhere, for the weekend. A stag do, I think.’ Linda drains her glass. ‘It was just a bit of fun for me but I think he wanted more. Shhh, they’re coming.’

There’s a ruckus of movement, the door swings open, voices, laughter and the clatter of feet fill the humid kitchen, and then everyone is talking at once - my sister pulls me into a hug, and I inhale her mango-scented golden brown hair, tumbling elegantly over her shoulders. Linda is telling everyone off for not wiping their feet – her freshly cleaned tiles are ruined. Theo is holding Polly in his arms and stroking her long grey fur while Tom mutters something about a golf swing, and then I feel a gust of cold breeze as the door flies open again. In my peripheral, I catch sight of Keiko shouldering past Tom and Theo, heading for the sink in a waft of expensive-smelling aftershave.

I don’t take my eyes off my sister. ‘Introduce me,’ I whisper excitedly, digging my fingers into her skin. ‘I can’t wait.’

We pull apart, grinning stupidly at each other. Zelda curls a hand around Keiko’s arm. ‘Keiko, this is my sister, Bella,’ she says and as he swings round, drying his hands on a tea towel, I look up at him and my heart stops.

Chapter 10

A loud gasp rips through me and the kitchen falls silent, all eyes on me. My skin is tingling. I don’t think I can feel my legs. What is happening? Why is Frank here? I scrunch my eyes shut. Am I hallucinating? I must be. Maybe I’m having a post-traumatic episode. Can that cause hallucinations? Frank really did frighten me earlier with his threats and verbal abuse.

‘Hey, small world,’ Frank says to me and my eyes bolt open. No hallucination. This is really happening. Polly, clearly sensing the tension, meows and leaps out of Theo’s arms and legs it out of the room.

‘Do you two know each other?’ Zelda screeches, eyes racing from me to Frank, and then her expression changes. ‘Bella? Are you okay?’ Terror rockets through me, rendering me speechless. ‘She doesn’t look right, Tom.’ Zelda’s fingers are cold against my skin, giving me goosebumps.

‘She was fine in the car on the way here.’ Tom lifts his arm and looks at his wristwatch. ‘Maybe it’s her blood sugar levels,’ he says, looking at me anxiously. ‘We never eat this late. Darling?’ I look at him in a stupor, almost as if I don’t know who he is. And then they all weigh in with their diagnosis, as if I’m no longer present in the room. Their voices pound in my ears.

‘She’s dehydrated,’ Frank insists.

‘Overworked, more like,’ Linda chips in.

‘And not eating properly,’ Zelda adds, worryingly.

‘It’s exhaustion,’ Tom confirms. ‘I told her to hire a temp ages ago, but would she listen?’

Shut up, I scream silently, shut up, shut up, shut up!

‘Shall I get you some water, babe?’ I look at Linda’s unsmiling face. She’s twirling an onyx pendant of an owl between her fingers that’s hanging from a silver chain around her neck. ‘Bella?’

I can’t speak. Invisible hands snake around my neck, squeezing, squeezing, squeezing. I look at my sister, horrified. Frank a blur next to her in a blue polo top, beige chinos, white hair. White, for fuck’s sake. WHITE. Tom’s hand on the small of my back makes me flinch. ‘Honey?’

I hold on to Tom’s arm as if it were a cane. Dread winding around me like ivy. Frank can’t be Keiko. He can’t be. It’s impossible. He must be a doppelgänger, with the same voice and intense glare.

‘I’m sorry,’ I mutter, voice rugged. ‘I’m fine. Just felt a bit woozy.’ I shake my almost empty wine glass at everyone. ‘Probably this on an empty stomach,’ I add, and their expressions immediately relax, like deflating balloons. ‘I will have that glass of water, please, Linda,’ I say, and then the tension in the air loosens. Voices fill the humid kitchen again, pots and crockery rattle, water splashes into the sink; Linda asks Theo where Polly is and hopes he hasn’t let her out again.

‘Sure you’re okay?’ Tom asks quietly. ‘We could go home if you’re not feeling a hundred per cent.’ I shake my head, tell him I had a moment but I’m fine now.

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