Page 102 of The First Mistake

‘But look at my cake,’ shrieks Olivia. ‘Olaf’s all red.’

The colour has drained from Nathan’s face – his expression suspended in disbelief whilst all around him chaos reigns.

‘B-but how?’ he manages in barely more than a whisper.

A crippling heat descends upon Alice as she looks to Nathan, to Beth and back again. ‘Howwhat? What the hell’s wrong, Nathan?’

‘I ... erm, I just ...’ he stutters.

‘Are you okay?’ Alice asks her husband, as Linda reels off kitchen roll and starts soaking up the pooling liquid.

Nathan looks to Beth, his eyes blinking rapidly. ‘What? Erm, yeah ... yeah I’m fine.’

‘What’s going on?’ Alice can’t help but notice the change in the atmosphere. As if somebody had come in and wired five hundred amps into a socket. That somebody appeared to be Beth.

Alice looks to her, but she just shrugs her shoulders and smiles.

‘Nathan?’

‘God, I don’t know what happened there,’ he says, running a hand through his hair and attempting to laugh. ‘You look just like somebody I used to know and for a moment I thought you’d come back from the dead. I got the fright of my life.’

Beth smiles sweetly. ‘Oh, I can assure you I’ve not died. Unless, of course, I’m in some parallel universe, living another life, and I’ve come back to haunt you.’

Nathan laughs awkwardly. ‘Yes ... yes, maybe.’

Whilst Alice and Linda clear up the mess, Nathan and Beth stand rooted to the spot.

Alice’s sense of unease refuses to budge. The look on Nathan’s face was unlike anything she’d ever seen before, as if he reallyhadseen a ghost. Yet Beth is the epitome of calm, as if she has everything under control.

Alice knows the thought she’s trying so desperately hard to stop infiltrating her mind. It can’t be. It isn’t possible. She’ll settle for any other explanation thanthat, because if she givesthatroom to breathe, it will suck all the breath from her.

‘I’ll just go and change,’ says Nathan. ‘I’d better go and see if I can get Livvy a new cake as well.’ He leaps over the pool on the floor, where Linda is on her hands and knees, cleaning it up.

‘What’s gothimall of a fluster?’ she asks.

Alice looks to Beth, hoping for an answer, but she just smiles and says, ‘Here, Linda, let me help.’

‘Excuse me for just one second,’ says Alice as she follows Nathan up the stairs.

‘Jesus!’ he says as he looks down at his splattered chinos in their bedroom mirror. ‘I don’t supposethat’sgoing to come out.’

‘Are you going to tell me what that was all about?’ asks Alice, trying to stay calm, whilst under water her legs are kicking furiously to keep her afloat.

He turns on a kilowatt smile. ‘Honestly, nothing. That woman, your friend ...’

‘Her name’s Beth,’ hisses Alice. ‘Why do you find that so hard to say?’

‘Beth,’ he says, slowly and deliberately, ‘looks just like a girl I used to know.’

‘An ex-girlfriend?’ presses Alice.

Nathan’s head drops. ‘Yes, actually she was. Back when I was in my early twenties.’

‘So what happened?’

‘We were together for a few months, had a great time, but then ...’ His voice trails off.

Alice waits. She’s not going to help him out.

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