Page 27 of Amazing Grace

‘Mark, is everything OK?’ she breathed into the phone.

‘Not really, no!’ Mark replied. ‘Archie has got a really high temperature, said he feels sick and he’s just crying and crying and saying he wants his mum. Can you pop round?’

Grace sighed. She knew that Archie would have to come first. ‘Of course I will. I’ll leave straight away,’ she said.

Vinnie walked out of the toilet and caught the tail end of the conversation. ‘Do you need to go?’ he asked.

‘I’m so sorry, Vinnie, but Archie needs me. He’s really poorly.’

‘That’s OK, love, I understand that your son comes first.’ He sounded really dejected. ‘But will you ring me later and let me know how he is? I want to make sure you’re both OK.’

‘Sure will, and I’m so very sorry, Vinnie, I’ve had such a great evening again. I hope we can meet up again soon.’

‘I’d love to if you would,’ he replied. ‘Let’s speak later and sort something out. It doesn’t matter what time you phone me, I’ll be waiting for your call.’ He took her face in his hands and looked deep into her eyes, then kissed her long and lingeringly on the lips.

‘Mmm…’ She heard a low guttural moan then realised that the noise was coming from her.

‘Until next time,’ he said, walking her towards the front door.

She picked up her car keys and handbag and headed for her own car, waving as he pulled away.

It took ten minutes to get to Mark’s house. As a family they had originally all lived in a new-build on a development, which Mark had chosen and she’d thought she liked. It wasn’t until after they’d decided to split up and sold the house that she realised she’d never really felt at home there. She could go for days without seeing a soul. Most people left to go to work in the morning and returned home without conversing with the neighbours, keeping themselves very much to themselves. That was hard when she was at home all day with a small child and no friends.

Mark now lived on the fourth floor of a modern apartment block, which was nearer to his work, and she had to park miles away from the front door. She rang the intercom and he kept her waiting for at least five minutes, and she had to ring three times before he clicked the latch.

Why didn’t he just open the door if he knew she was on the way up? But then she realised that it was part of his controlling behaviour. He liked to keep people waiting; he did it all the time. He was still trying to control her, even now. She wasn’t even sure he realised that he did it, but she figured it was part of his self-important persona.

Mark opened the door and stood back, letting her in. The room opened straight into the lounge, and Grace spotted Archie sitting on the sofa bed. Mark’s apartment had only one bedroom so when Archie stayed over he had to sleep on a sofa bed in the lounge, which meant that he never got to go to bed very early. For a head teacher, Mark’s own parenting decisions often left a lot to be desired. Grace always wondered how he had the nerve to question the parents in the school and make judgements about their parenting styles.

‘Hey, Mum!’ Archie said as she walked straight over to him. ‘You OK?’

‘I’m OK, darling. More to the point, are you?’ she asked him.

‘Yes, I’m fine thanks. I felt a bit sick but I think it was because Dad made me eat something I didn’t like for tea. I feel fine now though. And Dad’s turned the heating off so I’m not so hot any more! What are you doing here anyway?’

‘Your dad asked me to come. He said you were crying and wanted me,’ she said, glancing at Mark suspiciously as he walked into the kitchen.

‘Did he? That’s strange. I told him not to disturb you because I knew you were going out with your friend tonight,’ he said, with emphasis on the word ‘friend’.

So that was what it was all about. Mark just wanted to spoil her evening. It seemed like every time she planned to do something nice in her life, he spoilt it. He’d been doing it for years. He was like a naughty selfish child who didn’t want anyone else to have anything nice.

‘Where’s Lorraine?’ Grace asked, following Mark into the kitchen.

‘She’s staying over at her friend’s tonight so they can have a drink,’ he replied. ‘But while she is out of the way, have you thought any more about what I said earlier about us getting back together?’

‘No, I haven’t, Mark.’ Grace raised her voice at him in frustration. ‘You can’t just expect an answer from me to a question like that! It’s something that we would both have to think very seriously about before even considering it.’

‘Well, I know it’s whatIwant. When you realise it’s the right thing to do for our son, our son that you’re supposed to love with all your heart, our son that you’d do anything for, then perhaps you’d like to let me know.’

Mark had always managed to rile her. He was such a contradiction. Sometimes a self-obsessed, patronising jerk who frustrated her beyond words. If she didn’t agree with him, she was wrong. If she had an opinion, she was having a go at him. If she asked him to do something, she was nagging. But then there was nice Mark, the one who charmed the pants off her the moment she met him, who wined and dined her and won her over and proposed when they were expecting a baby. The Mark who said he’d love her forever.

The trouble with people who were constantly manipulative but nice from time to time was that for some reason, you remembered the nice moments more than the nasty ones. Human nature, she supposed. But it didn’t help when trying to make an important decision.

She walked back into the lounge and kissed Archie on the head, and he looked up at her with his baby-blue eyes. ‘Mum, can I come home with you? Now you’re here I just want to be with you.’

She looked at Mark. ‘Go on then,’ he said. ‘Take him back with you, as long as it’s not going to spoil your evening.’ He smirked at her.

‘It’s a bit late for that, as you very well know,’ she said through gritted teeth. ‘Come on, sweetheart, pop your dressing gown and your slippers on and let’s get you home.’

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