Page 15 of You Lied First
‘And?’
Celine examines her nails. ‘Let’s just say Guy did something. Got in some trouble here, lost his job and had his visa cancelled, so they had no choice.’
‘Oh … do you know what it was?’
Celine pulls an imaginary zip across her mouth. ‘I could tell you, but I’d have to kill you.’ She laughs. ‘No, look. It was an internal matter at his work. Harassment of a junior employee is what I heard. Female, of course.’ She rolls her eyes. ‘The police got involved but Guy was never charged with anything. It was probably just wishful thinking on her part!’
I laugh uneasily. For it to be bad enough to have the police called …
‘Anyway, keep it zipped because it’s not something that they let be widely known.’
I immediately want to know how she knows. I don’t see Margot telling her, so it must be hearsay – unless Guy told her himself.
‘No, of course,’ I say. ‘I understand. But I wonder why her dad couldn’t just live with them? In Cheltenham, I mean. I’ve seen their house. It’s huge.’
‘Guy can’t stand the dad. He’d rather fritter away his inheritance so he’s the only alpha male in the house. Other peoples’ lives, eh?’ Celine laughs.
‘But things are okay between Guy and Margot, aren’t they?’
‘You saw them today at lunchtime. I mean, what do you think?’ Celine shakes her head and smiles. ‘Refusing to eat was typical Margot. And Guy, well, is Guy, as you’ve probably noticed …’
She doesn’t get to say anymore because Liv and Flynn appear around the pool. Flynn takes a running dive straight into the deep end and Liv holds her nose and leaps in after him before Sara’s able to warn her that the pool’s only five feet deep.
12
MARGOT
When Flynn and Liv come in, Margot’s cooking. She’s decided to make a creamy potato dauphinois laced with garlicky sautéed mushrooms to go with her fish and salad. The oven has heated up the kitchen to what feels like fifty degrees despite the extractor running so fast it sounds like it’s going to take off. Under her hair, Margot’s scalp feels wet with sweat and she keeps blotting her forehead with kitchen roll. If the others hadn’t had that stupid lunch, they’d probably be getting ready for drinks and dinner somewhere nice right now. Maybe that Indian they used to go to. It was always nice there.
Flynn and Liv have beach towels knotted around their hips and wet hair.
‘How was the beach?’ Margot asks. ‘Try not to drip on the floor, please.’
‘Sea’s quite cold but the pool’s lovely,’ Flynn says. ‘What’s for dinner? I’m actually starving.’
‘Flynn Forrest, I swear you never stop eating. I’ve got fish. Olivia, are you hungry, too? Do you need dinner?’
‘Yes, please, Mrs Forrest. I didn’t eat much at lunch, to be honest. Fish sounds lovely. Do you need any help?’
Margot smiles. ‘No. Thank you. I’ll just throw a few extra veggies into the salad and Flynn’s dad can barbecue the fish, so no problem. Thanks for offering.’
‘Cool,’ Flynn says. ‘Babe, you go on up, I’ll be up in a minute.’
Margot’s mum-radar springs to life. Her son has been glued at the hip to Liv on this holiday. She’s always had a very close relationship with him, but she can feel her influence starting to swing to Liv, and it gives her an unnerving feeling of being untethered. No longer needed. She turns to face him with a soft smile.
‘You all right, darling?’
Flynn’s face creases in the way it used to when he was upset as a child. ‘Yeah. But. Well … it’s Celine,’ he says. ‘I mean, is she going to hang around with us all the time?’
Margot tries not to show her own opinion. ‘Does it bother you if she does?’
‘I just … she’s … uh, I don’t know. I just don’t think it’s right. It’s our holiday, yeah?’
‘It certainly is.’
‘So … why is she always here?’
Margot blows air out of her mouth in lieu of the words she can’t say.Because your dad wants her to be.
