Page 54 of Amazing Grace

Grace sent a text to Mark and said that she’d like to see him on Thursday night, suggesting that he could take her out for a meal and to pick her up at seven fifteen, trying for once to take control. His cursory response agreed to the dinner, but said that she’d have to arrange a babysitter as he was far too busy and he would be there at seven thirty. Gritting her teeth, her next text was to Monica, asking if she’d help out by sitting with Archie for a couple of hours.

Thursday afternoon came round and she received a text from Mark to say that he’d had a hell of a day at work and that it would be nice if she could drive so he could have a drink. Once again, Grace tried out her new-found assertiveness, replying that she’d had quite a week too so it would be nice if he drove. He didn’t respond until early evening, once again leaving her hanging till the last possible moment, when he reluctantly agreed.

When Monica came round and saw her friend, she wolf-whistled. Grace was dressed in a red crossover top, which showed off her magnificent cleavage, a snug-fitting black pencil skirt, and black knee-high suede boots. She knew Mark had always had a thing for boots, even if it was nearly the height of summer.

‘Wow! You looka-may-zing! I hope Vinnie appreciates the effort that you’ve gone to.’

‘It’s not Vinnie I’m going out with, Monica, it’s Mark.’

‘You can’t be serious, Grace. What are you even thinking?’

‘Mon, you have to trust me on this, I’ve thought long and hard and I’ve made my decision. I’ll be back within two hours.’

At seven forty-five, fifteen minutes later than they had arranged, Mark turned up. Monica answered the door, glared at him, shouted for Grace and then shut the door in his face, but it was re-opened by Archie, who ran to the door, eager to say hi to his dad, who hugged him. It was clear that Mark had come straight from work as he was wearing his work suit and tie.

Grace came to the door and they both said goodbye to Archie, Grace giving her son a huge cuddle.

‘So, where have you booked?’ she asked Mark.

‘Booked? I haven’t booked anywhere. I thought you were booking somewhere.’

A great start,Grace thought, but she kept calm.

Mark walked straight round to his side of the car and let her sort herself out getting in. His phone pinged to signify he’d got a message, which he checked, and as he always had done, tilted it away so that she couldn’t see who it was from. He smirked as he read it, took a minute to respond, then realised that she was watching him and put it in the side pocket of the car.

‘Why don’t we head up to the Plough & Harrow,’ she suggested, knowing that they could normally get a table there at short notice.

‘I can’t believe you wouldn’t drive. I’ve had a really shitty week at work this week and I could have done with a drink, you know,’ he said.

‘Yep, my week’s not been brilliant either, to be honest.’

‘Yeah but a problem in your little job is nothing compared to the scale of the problems I have. I have the future of the country to think about, educating the little shits I have at my school. And the parents, for that matter.’

It was obvious that Mark was already irritated and, as usual, it immediately put her on edge. But she was determined this evening that she would not let him rile her.

They arrived at the pub and were lucky to be seated straight away at a table in the conservatory area. While they sat and looked at the menu, a silence descended upon them; clearly they were both finding it difficult to even think of anything to talk about. She thought of Vinnie and the hours they had spent chatting about their lives, their hopes, their fears, and felt a wave of sadness knowing that Vinnie didn’t even want to see her right now. The waitress came over and Mark ordered his food without even asking Grace what she wanted or even if she was ready. Sometimes she forgot quite how inconsiderate he was; and this was a time when he was trying to impress her and apparently woo her back!

She placed her order with the waitress and Mark said he was popping to the gents’. Uncharacteristically, he left his phone on the table, so after a quick look over her shoulder to make sure he couldn’t see her, she picked it up. She knew it was wrong, but couldn’t help herself. She flicked onto his messages and found the last one that had arrived when they were in the car.

Have a good time at your conference, hope you learn loads. Sorry you couldn’t join me on this holiday but look forward to having lots of sex when I get back!

His reply read:

It’ll be dead boring. I’d much rather be on holiday with you. I’ll be thinking of you as I’m in our bed at night, imagining how hot your tan looks. You can imagine what I’ll be doing while I’m thinking of you! Can’t wait to see your white bits!Xxx

So, that’s why he’d been smirking. Leopards really don’t change their spots, do they? He was just keeping all his options open, wasn’t he? What a bastard! Why she expected differently from him though, she couldn’t imagine. She knew now that the decision she had come to was the absolute right thing to do. For her, for Archie and for Mark. She’d been thinking about it all week. He’d always made out that the split was her fault and she permanently felt guilty about taking Archie away from his dad. She’d spent the week wondering whether Mark could ever change and whether they really could have a happy family life together, reunited. But she knew now that he wouldn’t change, and that for once she had to be strong.

She put his phone back in exactly the same place he’d left it and dropped Ruth a text to ask if she could do her a massive favour. Ruth responded in exactly the way she hoped she would. She also asked the waitress to hold their dinner order.

When he returned, she asked him what he was doing at the weekend, just to get the measure of what he had planned, considering that he was supposed to be trying to work hard to get her back. He said he was going to the pub to watch the rugby with his mates on Saturday afternoon then going out for a curry, and playing golf on Sunday. Grace noticed that he hadn’t even asked her what her plans were. Clearly he’d already slipped back into his old habits of doing whathewanted to do, whenhewanted to do it, without any consideration of her or Archie. They were just an afterthought in his life, as they always had been. And sadly, always would be. She’d been so focused on what she thought would be the right course of action, bringing her and Mark back together for Archie’s sake, that she hadn’t realised it until now.

The door to the pub opened and there stood Ruth. Grace acknowledged her with a nod, watching as she headed over to sit in a chair by the door.

‘Mark. I’ve considered your proposal.’ She looked up and saw he had a smug grin on his face. She had a feeling it might not be there for long. ‘Thank you so much for thinking of Archie and me, and how we could once again be a family.’

His smile became even bigger, if that was possible. ‘I’m glad you’ve come to your senses, Grace. You know it’s the right thing to do.’

She held up her hand to stop him speaking, using one of his typical moves back on him. It felt good.

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