Page 18 of This is Where I Leave You

Luke had always been different though. He was not a fool, and she had had to work for a change to land him as her boyfriend. Trouble was though, once she won her challenge, she lost interest and inevitably, started to hump someone’s leg like an overexcited terrier. But now, two years after they broke up, she still couldn’t quite get him out of her head. She was bored with bed hopping and the attention she got from men had lost its shine somehow. So here she was, working with Luke and desperate to make him love her again. Except, if he wasn’t in the office, or answering his phone, it would be pretty impossible to crack his hard shell. Still, his dad liked her, she had an ally there. Adjusting her cleavage so that it was more precariously placed in her bra, she slicked on some lip gloss and sashayed to her desk to put a plan into action. She would make herself indispensable and push her way into Luke’s life, work, and eventually heart.

CHAPTER 18

Marcus’s door slammed, causing the glass to vibrate. Marcus stopped talking, phone still in hand and stared at Angela. Man, Friday night! He had forgotten. Angela strode over to the desk and grabbed the receiver out of his hand, replacing it into the cradle with a quiet click.

“You were not there on Friday. I specifically told you where to come, I left a note and a message with your secretary. Just what do you think you are playing at, Marcus?”

Marcus was aghast. Not to mention the scene she made coming into his office, she had also just put the phone down on an important client. He had no excuse, he had just gone home after Cady’s on Friday, showered and drunk beer into the early hours, a pity party of sorts, relief that he had told Cady how he felt, and dread and fear about what her reaction would be. It now being Monday, and having still not heard a peep from her, he was guessing that the news wasn’t good.

Angela’s perfectly threaded eyebrows were arched high now, lips pursed at his obvious lack of grovelling, apology, or movement at all.

“I have to tell you something, I don’t want to discuss it here, so after work, come to mine please. It can’t wait. I won’t be ignored, Marcus, so just deal with it.”

She pivoted on her Manolos and thundered back to her office, slamming the door on its already screaming hinges.

Sighing, he slung his office chair back. Great, he thought. In love with my dead best friend’s wife, and meanwhile I have Glenn Close careening round the office, bunny in hand.

Determined to change his fortunes, or at least get a final answer, he dialled Cady again. The mobile had been switched off since Richard’s death, and the land line just rang out, but it was still worth a try. After Cruella had said her peace that evening, he fully intended to swing by Cady’s on his way home.

“Hello?”

A man’s voice answered Cady’s phone. Marcus for a second thought it was Richard, and then felt his heart plummet slightly when he remembered. A mix of relief and guilt, and sorrow that his mate was really gone.

“Er..hello? Is Cady home please?”

Luke whispered into the phone. “She is asleep upstairs, but who is it calling? Are you a friend, I could use some help…”

***

Priscilla stiffened as she passed Richard, sat at the telephone table in the hall. The police had found Richard’s car. She was dusting anyway so could move around easily and earwig as she worked, floral apron tied over her simple skirt and blouse. Dick had taken some time off from the office so they could work on their marriage, but it being only the first working day, they were still skirting around each other, unsure of how to deal with their new dynamic.

Having had years of him working long hours and Priscilla raising Richard and running the home, when Richard left Priscilla was crippled with empty nest syndrome. After all, when you put your life into being a wife and mother, what happens when no-one depends on you anymore? Dick was never there, and save for cooking his tea and ironing his shirts, he never noticed her either. She could have pulled a naked chef number off, boobies a go-go over the stove and he would still have paid more attention to his beef bourguignon.

As she brushed the yellow duster over her knick-knacks, listening to the phone, she was relieved by what she heard. Richard’s car had been found parked up safe and sound, quite nearby, next to a modern apartment block. Priscilla pondered this information. Georgina had said that Richard was leaving Cady that evening, it must have been his new place. Dick replaced the receiver and looked across at his wife.

“The police are happy for us to remove the car since we have the keys and are next of kin. It has a fair few tickets that will need dealing with, apparently. We can drive it back here, get the garage to collect it and deal with the sale.”

Looking at her husband, she pulled her coat from the rack in the hallway. “Do you think that he had an apartment there?”

Dick nodded.

“I was wondering the same thing, maybe they have a reception, those new flash apartment blocks usually do these days, doormen and the like. Let’s go for a walk first eh, before I go get it? I need a bit of fresh air first I think.”

Pulling her coat around her, she headed to the door, her husband in tow. They were both silent on the walk, neither really wanting to undertake the task in hand. It was set to be another difficult week.

***

Cady awoke to the smell of fresh bacon. Her tummy gurgled and groaned under the freshly washed fragrant covers. Propped up in bed supported by a huge mass of pillows, she felt like the Queen of Sheba. Luke had brought her home that Saturday morning and had not left since, choosing instead to sleep on the sofa. He was like Mrs Mop, doing her shopping, washing her bed sheets, cooking, cleaning, and generally keeping her company. To be honest, she was so tired and depleted of everything that she had just let him. She had pretty much slept for the entire weekend, and now she must admit to feeling pretty great. Hungry for the smells wafting from her kitchen, she swung her legs out of the spare room bed and reached for her robe, which Luke had also washed and hung on the back of the door. She walked to the bathroom, glancing at the closed master bedroom door. She really would have to open that door sometime and sort out the other rooms too, after all, she had a baby coming soon, and there was a lot of work to be done before then. Grimacing at the cold bathroom tiles, she opened the cabinet to search for a tie for her hair. She did look better, still pale, but she looked rested at least. Living in bed for the past couple of days had not done her hair any favours though, her blonde hair was a tangle of loops and swirls, stuck at right angles all over her head. She ran a comb through it as best she could and scraped it into a clip at one side of her head. Better than it was. A quick brush of the teeth and she started to float downstairs to the aroma of breakfast. Halfway down the stairs and she could hear Luke talking. Was someone here?

“Victoria, I told you, stop bloody calling me! I don’t work for you, remember, Dad knows where I am, I can work from here, so just…what? Oh Victoria, seriously?”

Cady stopped at the kitchen alcove, suddenly feeling like an intruder on the conversation. Who was Victoria? Client? Didn’t sound like a client. He wasn’t married, surely? He had been here all weekend!

Luke was furiously shaking his head at the caller on the phone, obviously disagreeing with her rant, and it was a rant and a half, Cady could tell that much from her tiny tinny tones, carried from the mobile around the room. Luke sat down at the breakfast stool, swigging from a cup on the counter. He looked so..at home here, it was strange, Richard had never looked that relaxed, and he had been minus a nut job phone conversation. Luke made an unexpected fast hand gesture at the phone, causing Cady to erupt with laughter. Definitely his wife then.

***

Looking at her son’s car, Priscilla felt her heart do its regular imploding thing. She actually felt her organ skip a couple of beats, as though momentarily giving up, remembering that her only child had gone forever, and deciding that pumping blood in that moment was not worth the effort, like how other people felt about cleaning their windows or going to church. Grasping Dick’s hand tighter, she covered her heart with her other palm. Today had not been a good day. Having discovered where Richard’s car was, Dick had gone to retrieve it, pocketing their son’s keys and hailing a cab.

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