Page 78 of The Plot Twist

Allie looked hard at him. He didn’t look cross or especially surprised or concerned. ‘I’m not sure you do,’ she pressed. ‘Did he tell you about my story?’

‘You mean mine and Angie’s story?’ Martin chuckled.

‘Look, Martin, I’m so so sorry, I never meant to…’

Martin continued to laugh, and then waved his hand at her. ‘Allie, I’m teasing you. I know Will seems to have taken this badly, but I honestly don’t know why, and I think that says more about his relationship with us than it does about your creative process. We agreed to switch plots, remember? Why do you feel telling our story is so bad?’

‘Because it’s yours and Angie’s story, Martin,’ Allie protested, ‘and I wrote it without telling you.’

Martin looked puzzled. ‘No, you didn’t. We agreed from the outset, you gave me that brilliant serial killer plot line and I swapped it for mine and Angie’s marriage story. Or at least the happy version where we don’t end up almost divorced.’

‘You’re getting a divorce?’ Allie eked out in a hoarse and horrified voice. ‘I thought things were getting better?’

‘No! I mean, I can’t speak for how Angie felt in the past, but things are OK now, better than OK. And really that’s down to you.’

‘It is?’ Allie was struggling to follow this conversation.

‘Well, you’re the one who showed me what an idiot I was being. And you’re the one who told me I needed to fight for my marriage, not take it for granted. What was it you were always going on about? Grand romantic gestures? Not sure Angie would agree that I’m any good at those, but I’m getting better at not taking her for granted, making the effort and all that. She even said so herself last night.’

‘She did?’

‘Yes. I took her for a romantic stroll in Richmond Park at sunset. It was lovely. Not sure why we don’t do it more often.’

‘Because you live in south-east London?’ said Allie, not liking to think back to the walk she had taken in Richmond Park with Will. What on earth had made her suggest it as a date night for his father? She groaned internally and promised herself that no matter what happened with Will, she would never, ever share suggested date locations with a romantic interest’s parents again.

‘Well, that’s, erm, great, Martin. I’m really pleased for you. But are you sure you’re OK about my book?’

‘I think it’s rather sweet, actually. Angie does too. I told her. Well, actually, Will told her and then I filled her in on it all after he left.’

‘She doesn’t think I’m awful?’ Allie had a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach that even if she did manage to get Will to talk to her again, his mother would always think badly of her.

‘Not at all. You know what a fan she is of yours from the other night; I think she’s excited to be immortalised by you. By the way, I still want to get her books signed by you, as a surprise. What do you think of that as a grand romantic gesture?’ Martin looked expectant. ‘Would you be OK to do that?’

‘Erm, sure.’

‘We’ll have to keep it a secret from Angie of course, which I’m not so comfortable doing.’

Allie would have thought this quite a sweet statement if she didn’t know that Martin had already kept many, many other things from Angie over the course of their marriage. Allie mulled over these revelations. Angie knew about her story, Angie was excited to be written about, Angie still liked her. She knew she should have felt more relief than she did, but actually she really wanted Will to be OK with it all, Will to still like her.

‘Do you think it was worth coming?’ Martin said after a while, nodding over the road where the front of the Brinkman’s building was still just as lifeless as before.

Allie shrugged. ‘Depends. If we get to see Jake slink out with his tail between his legs and order restored, then yes. But I have a horrible feeling he’ll just wriggle his way out of the whole thing and get away with it.’

‘Do you really think so?’ Martin looked at her in surprise. ‘But there’s so much evidence against him.’

Allie raised her eyebrow. ‘Seriously, Martin? You’re going to question whether it’s possible that a straight white man gets away with years of abuse despite overwhelming evidence against him?’

‘OK, fair point.’ Martin had the good grace to look a little ashamed. ‘Look, something’s happening…’ Martin pointed over the road where the revolving doors of Brinkman’s had just started turning. ‘Is it … do you think it might be?’ He squinted.

‘Yes! Yes, look!’ Allie grabbed Martin’s arm with her hand and squeezed it. ‘It’s him! It’s Jake, look he’s coming out.’

Sure enough, a figure that seemed to match the description of Jake Matthews was slowly emerging through the revolving doors, there was a flash of movement and suddenly there he was deposited on the pavement. And it definitely looked like Jake, or at least a version of him. Allie couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but there was something changed about him, he seemed diminished somehow.

‘Does he look…?’ she started.

‘Different?’ Martin finished for her. ‘Yes. He looks …lesssomehow.’ They both turned to look at each other, for a moment neither of them knowing how to feel about witnessing what was surely the downfall of Jake Matthews.

‘What’s he holding?’ Allie asked.

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