Page 79 of The Half Sister

‘Okay,’ says Jared. ‘Let me talk to my contact at the adoption bureau and if she needs any further information, can I give her your number to call?’

‘Of course,’ says Kate.

‘Great, leave it with me for a day or two.’

‘Thanks Jared, I owe you one.’

‘Yeah, yeah,’ he says, as if she already has an outstanding debt.

She’d hate for him to think she won’t pay it – that’s the way it works in journalism.You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.‘We should get a date in the diary,’ she says before he hangs up. ‘Maybe grab a meal.’

‘That would be great,’ says Jared warmly. ‘If I trace your girl, it’ll be on you.’

‘Deal!’ says Kate laughing, momentarily forgetting that this isn’t someone else’s story she’s chasing. This isherlife. It’s funny how different it feels when it’s happening to you.

She gets in the shower and imagines the water, hotter than feels comfortable, washing away her troubles. She groans as it stings her eyes, reminding her how much she’d cried last night.

There’s a tap on the glass screen and she jumps, her heart skipping a beat.

‘Jesus!’ she says, as Matt’s smiling face peers through the condensation.

She wipes a circle with her hand, but even through the fogginess, he still looks like he’s been up all night. His eyes are heavy-lidded and his hair unkempt, making her suspect him of things she doesn’t want to suspect him of.

‘Surprise!’ he says, handing her a towel as she steps out of the shower. He tries to kiss her, but she turns her head.

‘You made good time,’ she says, coldly.

‘Good to see you too,’ he says, sarcastically. ‘I cadged a lift with Oddie – thought it might get me home quicker than waiting for the trains to start up this morning.’

Oddie?The Political Editor on theGazette?The thought of Matt being with a colleague from her own newspaper makes her feel better, though she doesn’t know why. She tries to convince herself that it means he’d never be foolish enough to do anything untoward in front of someone who knows his wife so well. But the very next minute, she’s consumed with shame; knowing that if he has, everyone in the office will know about it except for her.

‘Just the two of you?’ she asks.

‘And a couple of the others.’

There’s her nemesis – clumsily thrown in as a casual aside.

‘That must have been a fun ride,’ she says, reaching for her hairbrush and dragging it forcefully through her hair.

Matt laughs as he takes off his shirt, rolling it up and throwing it into the laundry basket. ‘It was aquietride,’ he says. ‘It was a long night and some of the newbies aren’t quite as robust as us.’

‘Why, what happened?’ she asks.

‘It was just the normal government press office debacle,’ he says.

Kate stares into the mirror as she vigorously rubs cream into her face. She can’t look at him, because if he’s lying, she’s going to know by the look in his eyes.

‘Did Jess go?’ she asks, as he puts his head under the shower and groans in pleasure.

‘What’s that?’ he says.

‘I said, did Jess go?’ Her tone is acerbic. ‘Was she one of the newbies?’

‘Er, yeah...yeah, she was there.’

‘How did she get on?’

‘Yeah, all right,’ says Matt, shampooing his hair.

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