Page 23 of This is Where I Leave You

One month laer...

Cady awoke to the sunlight streaming through her window and smiled before she even realised it. She felt at peace for a change, which was an achievement judging by what the last few months had entailed. The door went downstairs, heralding Luke’s arrival for work; He had his own key and often came and went as he pleased. Shame he was involved, she thought to herself, before pushing the thought away. From the hushed phone calls and the odd arguments she had picked up on, he was obviously in some kind of relationship, and since she was a pregnant widow, what right did she have to pry?

She shrugged to herself and hauling her ever expanding body out of the spare room, threw on a dressing gown over her maternity nightshirt which read ‘Bump ‘n’ Grind’ and went downstairs to greet him. But it wasn’t Luke who stood at the bottom of the stairs to greet her. It was a woman. A woman dressed up to the nines in a leather skirt and miniscule t-shirt adorned with the word ‘bitch’ stood before her, glaring straight at her.

“Er, can I help you?” Cady asked, shocked at the fact that this strange woman had walked straight into her house. A sudden errant thought made her shudder. Was this the other woman?

“Yes, you can help me, you can stop taking up Luke’s time on this job, he’s here all hours, late nights…Luke has a life too, you know. You have to stop being a slave driver. We don’t all live off our rich husbands in la-la ladies that lunch land, you understand?”

The woman put her hands on her tiny hips and pouted at her, obviously challenging her to answer. Cady was aghast. At first she was relieved that it wasn’t Richard’s floozy, but she had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach now when she thought of Luke with this woman. What was wrong with her?

More to the point, what had Luke been telling this girl?

She thought of him, laughing with this woman while they frolicked about, semi-naked, drinking champagne, laughing at the poor knocked up posh princess. She mentally shook herself. Everything she had learned about Luke told her that he was a good man, the opposite to this woman, and why had she pictured them half nude? It so must be the pregnancy hormones….after all, she was with Marcus, wasn’t she?

The woman started tapping her heel on the wood hall floor and Cady realised that her inner monologue had been playing out on her face while the woman stood waiting for an answer. Clearing her throat, Cady placed her hand absentmindedly on her bump and looked the woman square in the eye, trying her best to look as calm and nonchalant as possible, not an easy feat in her condition.

“Look, Luke WORKS for me, as my employee. I am in a relationship, and as you can plainly see, I am in no state for sexual escapades, with Luke or anyone else for that matter. I am not up to this, so I suggest that you talk to Luke, and LEAVE. NOW.”

Victoria pushed out her small perky boobs and made for the door. Just as she was leaving through the open door, she called out, “He is mine you know, he just needs reminding how much he loves me. I don’t see you as a threat anymore.” Looking her up and down again, she snorted derisively and clicked clacked down the steps.

Cady sat down on the stairs, or rather reversed slowly onto it. She had let the woman rattle her; that was for sure. Why she was bothered, she had no idea. After all, why should she care what Luke did? She was with Marcus, and her baby was due in two months, she had so much to do, she had no time to think about Luke. Shaking her head, she went upstairs. Now the study was cleared of paperwork and books, she was going to claim the space for herself. She had always fancied writing children’s books, she was quite good at writing stories as a child, and she had nothing but time to fill now she had handed in her notice at the law firm, so why not. Maybe she would even take a few courses. Noting the empty bookshelves, save for a few of her own paperbacks, and the huge imposing oak desk, she closed the door. Time to go shopping, Cady, shopping for your new life. She needed to make a start on the baby things too, she had not ventured to the shops other than the supermarket and Mothercare for a few maternity clothes, and time was getting on now. The books all spoke of equipment, essentials and hospital bag must haves, and so far all she had dug out was her old dusty gym holdall. She really did need to open the letter from Richard too and turn on her mobile, that would take her mind of…mind off what, Luke? What the hell was going on! Hearing Luke come in and shout up hello to her, she raced off to the spare room to get ready. The master bedroom was another thing to go on the list she realised. She would fill that list so full that she had no time to think till the baby arrived, and then everything would be fine. She just knew it would. Luke would be

finished on the project, the bubs would be here, and she could start her new life. And maybe Marcus could be part of it too, at some point. She had kept him at arms length so far, so other than a few lunches and walks in the park, they had not seen each other, and she had tried to keep Luke and Marcus apart. Not for any reason of course, there was just no reason for the two worlds to collide.

Dressing in her nicest maternity dress, she pulled on her jacket and slinky (but flat heeled) boots and sauntered down the stairs to go shopping. And buy a notepad for that to-do list.

CHAPTER 21

Magda squealed at the window display. “Georgina, you hev to look at this! How tiny cute are these, eh?” She gesticulated wildly at the display of yellow and orange jumpsuits, draped across various cuddly giraffes in the shop window. George nodded and smiled briefly, before burying her head back in her Blackberry.

“Miss, no work today, ok? You hev to start buying for baby, little one be here in de spring, that is not long now. Be here before you know it, little baby shooting out your er, vag, you call, yes?”

George lowered the phone and raised her eyebrows. “Magda! Sshhh!”

She giggled at her maid despite herself. Magda had become a great friend to her recently, and she DID need to start getting ready for the baby. She had been trying Ben for a few days now though, and his phone was constantly off. They had not spoken much since her last France trip, and anxieties were starting to creep in, despite her hard shell. Ben had been pleased about the baby, and had promised to come over to the UK that weekend to form a plan for how the whole thing would work, where they would live etc. The contact since her return however had trailed off somewhat, Ben always complaining of being tired or busy, and their daily chats and texts had dropped to the odd e-mail, and now nothing.

She shrugged off the uneasy feeling in her stomach and smiling at Magda, they walked into the boutique and set to work. Twenty minutes later, they had bought half of the shop, burned some plastic and George felt better. She actually felt quite content and mumsy, which was not entirely as horrifying as she imagined. Laughing with Magda as the assistant started to box up their epic pile of purchases, her phone rang. Thinking it was Ben due to the Paris number, she answered.

“Oh hi darling, you won’t believe where I am…”

“Miss Elliott, it’s Ed Marshall here, from Marshall and Marshall. I am calling to tell you that your services will no longer be required on the contract any further, and we shall send your final payment today by bank transfer as before. And thanks very much for a job well done.”

George’s throat went dry, and she leaned on the counter for support.

“Er, thank you, that’s er,…is Ben, Mr Williamson available?”

Ed paused. “Miss Elliott, as I said, your services are no longer required. These instructions have come from Mr Williamson himself. He asked me to call you.”

George swallowed hard. “I understand, ah, thanks.”

Hearing the line click, she put her phone back in her bag. Magda was busy chatting with the shop assistant, both of them cooing over the little bundles of clothes and other baby paraphernalia. George’s ears buzzed and her head swam. Turning to look at the window, the display of jaunty giraffes caught her eye. Walking to the display, she pulled herself up into the window and grabbed one of the giraffes. That was when she lost it. Pulling the head off the stuffed toy, she threw it behind her and moved onto the next. She howled as though in pain as she proceeded to decapitate the toys one by one, screaming and crying as she went. Magda and Helen the shop owner stared in horror as the immaculately dressed pregnant woman proceeded to destroy the display piece by piece. Jumping down from the window, she sank to the floor and burst into racking sobs. Helen went to make a cup of tea for them all. With the amount that was available on her credit card, she was not worried about her stock, she was more concerned with looking after her now best customer. People have strange priorities in a recession. Magda sat by George and held her tight. No words were needed.

The tinkle of the shop door heralded the arrival of a new customer, and George was suddenly self conscious. Looking up at the arrival, she looked straight at a very pregnant, and very surprised Cady. Taking in the surroundings around her, she stooped with difficulty to pick up the discarded head of a toy monkey.

George started to cry anew at the sight of her friend.

Cady smiled. “Hungry girls? I am starving, fancy some lunch?”

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