Page 45 of The Plot Twist

Will, reading her flush for something else, leapt in with an apology. ‘Sorry, stupid idea. I didn’t mean to presume.’

‘No, it’s not that, it’s just…’ Allie struggled to think how she could possibly explain any of this to Will without him feeling in some way that she was using him. ‘I just don’t feel confident sharing anything with anybody at the moment.’ She gave him a weak smile.

‘Understood.’ Will smiled back but there was an awkwardness hanging in the air between them now.

‘I didn’t know your dad was a writer?’

Will seemed to tense at the question and once again Allie wondered whether he really didn’t want her getting close.

‘Used to be,’ Will said firmly. ‘Hasn’t written anything for ages. And definitely not in your genre so I’m not sure why I mentioned it.’ He flashed her a tight smile.

Allie wanted to ask all the questions. But she got the sense his dad’s career, or lack of, was an uncomfortable and off-limits topic. She sipped her coffee, frantically trying to think of something light and breezy to say. ‘So,’ she eventually began, ‘what else do you like to do in your spare time, other than reading?’ She cringed as she spoke, this was nothing like the easy carefree flirtatious banter she had been aiming for, more like uncomfortable filler, a follow-up interview question.

‘I love cooking, obviously, but I don’t think that counts as a hobby.’

‘Why not?’

‘Well, because of my job?’ Will looked at Allie as if she had not only missed the point but was totally unaware that a point was there to be noticed. ‘Erm…’ Will frowned. ‘I like films?’ he eventually offered. ‘Actually, there’s a retrospective on Japanese arthouse cinema at the BFI, do you fancy going to see something?’ He sounded hopeful and turned his grey eyes on her with the full force of their allure.

Allie was momentarily floored by the pull of his gaze. She cleared her throat and imperceptibly shook her head to clear her mind. Was going to the cinema on her list of approved activities? Did it scream comfortable boyfriend/girlfriend dynamic? Or would the dimly lit backseats of the BFI be the perfect place for some tantalizingly placed hands, some passionate kisses before the lights came up at the end? She paused, not only considering whether this aligned with her aims but also whether she really could stomach an arthouse retrospective when her grasp on cinematic culture rarely strayed past romantic comedies. She looked up at the ceiling as she made her decision. ‘Sure, I’d love to,’ she said. Low lit, steamy passion would be a good way to pass the time if the retrospective ended up being as unappealing as it sounded.

Will put his hand on her back again and leaned in to whisper, ‘I’ll bring the sweets, and I promise if it’s too boring we’ll make a run for it. You just say the word, I’m in your hands.’ If the allure of sweets was not enough to make Allie shiver with desire, the kiss that Will then placed just below her ear did exactly the trick. And, as if by magic, the chemistry between them was back.

ChapterTwelve

Everything pointed to the fact that Allie was nailing this. She was writing again, Martin was regularly messaging her with anecdotes about his attempts to reignite the romance in his marriage; albeit these were long-winded emails rather than the brief imagination-inspiring voice notes Allie was hoping for. But she wasn’t going to complain. She’d arranged another date with Will, and Tessa had agreed to meet with her so that Allie could hand over a flash drive with her new draft on it. The twenty-something Tessa was completely bemused by this request but had seemingly decided to humour Allie in her ancient ways, completely unaware that Allie had an ulterior motive in getting her to meet face to face. And even Martha had invited Allie round for Sunday lunch with her and Ruth, apparently purely because she wanted to see Allie, not because she needed to lecture her about something or felt Allie to be incapable of feeding herself. Still, Allie decided she’d do a brief overview of her financial situation ahead of Sunday, just so she couldn’t be blindsided about pension contributions and mortgage rates.

So, it was completely understandable that this blissful state couldn’t last. And when Allie answered her phone to a panicked-sounding Martin, she quickly realised that those brief halcyon days were definitely behind her.

‘Disaster!’ boomed Martin down the phone.

‘Oh, hello Martin, nice to hear from you. I’m fine, thanks for asking, yourself?’

‘Yes yes, very funny,’ barked Martin. ‘Allie, I need your help.’

Reluctantly, Allie asked, ‘Why? What’s happened?’

‘Angie knows.’

This was the news that Allie had both been dreading and also, if she was being honest, hoping might happen one day. Because secrets could never be good in a marriage, and from everything Martin had told her about Angie, she sounded pretty awesome, and therefore deserved not to be lied to by her husband of thirty-eight years.

‘Oh,’ she replied, in what even she would admit was a useless summing up of all the emotions that this hammer blow of a reveal should conjure.

‘This is a disaster. What do I do?’

‘Well,’ she played for time, ‘is it really a disaster?’ She could hear Martin spluttering on the end of the line. ‘I mean,’ she continued quickly, ‘we discussed this, she was going to find out sometime. And if everything you’ve been telling me is true, you two are getting on much better at the moment?’ Allie restrained herself from inserting a comment praising herself for this state of affairs. ‘Maybe this was the best time for her to find out,’ Allie said with more certainty than she actually felt.

‘Oh god. Maybe? I don’t know. But what should I do now?’

Allie racked her brain and wondered whether she ought to have had more serious training in marriage counselling before embarking on this kind of writing relationship. ‘How did you leave things with her?’

‘I didn’t. I mean…’ Martin floundered. ‘Well, I was out and had my phone turned off. When I turned it on I had a message from Angie.’

‘Okaaay. So what did you say when you called her back?’

‘I haven’t.’

‘What do you mean you haven’t?’ Allie asked incredulously. ‘Martin,’ she was now severely pissed off, ‘do you mean to tell me that you rangmerather than yourwife??’

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