Page 6 of This is Where I Leave You

“I am not sure to be honest Priscilla; I don't actually know where my phone is at present. (It was stuffed under the spare bed, along with the letter from Richard). I never knew my dad. I saw mum before the funeral, but not since. We are not that close.”

“Hum,” Priscilla bristled, pursing her lips. She obviously had an opinion but chose to keep it to herself. Cady appreciated that. Hugging her hot mug to her, she sipped at the tea, wishing the nausea would pass. The bacon sandwich smelt delicious, her mouth was watering, but the thought of eating it left her cold. Priscilla seemed to notice her lack of eating. “Cady, dear, you need to eat.” She bent to pick up a stack of law magazines from under the coffee table. Seeing what she had in her hands, she wilted, sinking into the armchair.

“You can take those Priscilla, give them to Dick.”

Priscilla smiled up at her. “Thank you darling. And actually honey, Cyn and I came to see if we could pick up the things that Richard left to us, if that’s not too premature? We would just dearly love to be close to his things, if that makes sense.”

Cady nodded slowly. Personally, she could not bear to see his things, let alone be near them, but she kept that thought to herself. “Erm, sure, sure….the tea chest is in his study and the art is…around.” She gestured about the room vaguely, almost spilling her hot drink as she did so. She slumped again, clinging to the cup like a ship wreck survivor would to a lifebelt. Priscilla and Cynthia exchanged worried looks and then headed upstairs to get the things and tidy up.

Walking into the master bedroom, Priscilla exhaled sharply as she saw the king size bed, a picture of Cady smiling out from a silver frame on one dresser, next to a Steve Jobs autobiography. This must have been Richard’s side, she thought sadly. Cady’s side had been made, but Richard’s was left tousled. She could still make out the head imprint on the pillow. The urge to draw that pillow to her and breathe in the scent of her son overpowered her, and she clasped her hands behind her back to stop herself. She got a flashback of Richard as a curly haired toddler, all dimples and chocolate covered cheeks. She must have sniffed that boy’s neck ten times a day from birth till the day he made her stop. “Mum, I’m 15! For heaven’s sake, stop sniffing me!”

She smiled at the memory; if she could have bottled that scent she would have inhaled it every day since. Cynthia jolted her from her daydream by entering the room.

“She has not slept in here since, has she? You can tell.”

Priscilla nodded. “Poor child, she does not know what to do, does she? Do you think it’s true, Cilla, was he seeing someone else?”

Priscilla looked at the photo on the dresser and then around the room. It was so masculine, all browns and blues and nothing feminine at all, no dresser, trinkets, just a few books and expensive fitted wardrobes. The only hint that a woman ever lived here was that picture. She sniffed and looked at Cynthia kindly.

“He was his father’s son, Cyn, I will bet my Chanel he was.”

The two women left another hour later, Priscilla’s driver stuffing their Range Rover Vogue to the grilles with Richard’s possessions. Cady felt utterly shattered, drained of whatever energy she had. Time to reattach to the outside world, she supposed. Plugging the land line back into the wall, it rang instantly, making her jump. Heart racing, she lifted the receiver to her ear. “Cady? Cady? Is that you?”

Shit. Georgie sounded mad. “Hi, George, yeah it’s me. You back?”

“Back? Am I back? I have been back since last night. Where the fuck have you been? Both your phones were out, I knocked last night and got no answer, all the lights were off, Jesus! I am so pissed off with you! Are you ok?”

Cady suddenly laughed at her irate friend. “Sorry, sorry, I know, I have been a bit out of it, and I never heard you last night, I went to bed early. Sorry hun. You coming over? I could actually use your help.”

“Come round? You really are a cheeky cow, Cady, wanting a favour after I have been running round like a blue arsed fly.”

Silence hummed down the line. Cady grimaced. She had been a bit bad to let her friend worry, she had been great through all this. Maybe asking a favour was a bit cheeky.

“So, I have white or red here. Chinese, curry? I will be there in 30 minutes. Get the glasses out, plates warmed and arse in gear. Ok?”

Cady smiled into the phone. She loved her friend to bits.

“Ok, arse gear engaging now.”

“Good, and take a shower, cos I bet you look like a bag lady and I am not staring at that sight all night,” Georgina chuckled, “and find your mobile. We will deal with any messages together, understand?”

“Deal.” Cady replaced the receiver and sniffed a pit. Yeuch, George had a point. She stripped off, threw her clothes straight into the washer, and headed upstairs, leaving the door on the latch. No chance on the phone though, she would just pretend to have lost it. That was a job for another day.

***

Cady giggled as Neve Campbell ran from Ghostface, straight up the stairs, past the exit. “Seriously, why don’t they just run out of the front door, first thing I would do!”

“I know!” George agreed, stuffing another prawn cracker into her mouth. They were both sat cross legged on the sofa, a Chinese buffet surrounding them, a bottle of pinot grigio open on the coffee table. “These slasher flicks give us chicks a bad rep, casting us as big boobed bimbos who faint at the first sight of a bit of blood..I mean, sheesh!”

Cady suddenly got a clear image of blood in her mind. From that night, on the pavement…so much blood, and the noise……she gulped and reached for her glass, draining the contents. She noticed Georgie studying her, prawn cracker hanging from her bottom lip. “I’m fine George, don’t worry.”

Georgina covered her best friend’s hand with her own. Cady attempted to grin at her, but it showed on her face as a pained, twisted grimace.

“You want to talk about it Cade? You never did say what happened…”

“NO! Er..no, I don’t.”

George left it there. She knew not to push her friend. They had been mates that many years that they each knew what the other was going to do before they moved a muscle, she knew that Cady would talk when she felt ready. IF she ever felt ready.

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