Page 54 of The Affair
‘Ha! Do I detect an uncharacteristic enthusiasm?’ Connie teased. ‘We’ll bring the turkey. They do delicious free-range ones at Sweeney’s.’
‘Great. I’m actually looking forward to staying put, for once. And you can help cook the bird – I haven’t the first clue.’
Connie hung up in a better mood than she’d been in for a while. Her vision, since Jared had moved into the village, had become so restricted, she’d barely had another thought in her head. But Caitlin’s call remindedher that she had so many good things in her life. She had a sudden burst of hope. Jared would surely give up and leave, now she wasn’t giving their connection any oxygen. Or he wouldn’t. And maybe she could gradually come to terms with that. Get used to him being around and ignore the threat that he might let the cat out of the bag. What had happened between them had been so unrelated to any sort of reality.Maybe, she thought,it can stay in its own secret bubble for ever.
She noticed she’d missed a WhatsApp from Neil.Coffee at Angie’s? 12? x
See you there. DON’T ask Jed xxxshe messaged back, remembering Neil’s suggestion at the bonfire party that they all get together to bond over Fiona Raven.
??? Wasn’t going to xNeil wrote.
They were ensconced at their favourite table by the glass doors leading to the wide green expanse of the recreation ground, Angie’s delicious coffee hot and fragrant in their cups. There was a noisy table of hikers in the corner, but no one else. Connie always wondered how the place stayed open.
Neil looked preoccupied, Connie thought, as she sipped the unfamiliar Ethiopian/Brazilian blend.
‘Why didn’t you want Jed to join us?’ he asked, after they’d caught up. He was looking at her closely and she began to squirm.
‘Preferred just us,’ she said.
He nodded but raised a questioning eyebrow. ‘Right. It’s just …’ he hesitated, looking uneasy ‘… there’ssomething you should know, Con. Jed and Brooks got tanked on margaritas the other night. I was in Cardiff on a shoot, and Jed asked himself over.’
Connie stifled a groan, keeping her face as neutral as she was able.
Neil took a deep breath. She noticed the small frown of concern. ‘Thing is, darlin’, when Jed was half-cut, Brooks said he got all confidential … sort of implied he’d known you in the past, sort of implied it was a little bit more than just “knowing”.’
The blood drained from Connie’s cheeks. The moment she had been dreading for what seemed like a lifetime had arrived. There was no way on this earth she could dissimulate. Not with Neil. ‘What exactly did he say?’
Neil’s eyes were wide with amazement. ‘Seriously, Connie?’
‘Tell me.’
He shrugged. ‘It’s all a bit unclear, because Brooks was pretty wasted too. But Jed apparently said something about an Italian tour and a hotel room in Warsaw? And …’ Neil seemed to wince ‘… he also implied he was really into you.’
Connie closed her eyes.
‘So it’s true,’ she heard Neil say.
She nodded.
‘Christ, Con. Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?’
She opened her eyes, letting out a long sigh. ‘Don’t know. Lots of reasons. It didn’t seem real …’
The hikers were scraping their chairs back, calling goodbye and thanks to Angie, drifting in clumps out ofthe main door, leaving a trail of cold air. Connie told Neil everything. As she did so, she saw incredulity burgeoning in his eyes.
‘Wow,’ he said softly, when she’d finished relating a potted version of the last few months. ‘I told Brooks Jed must be crazy.’
Connie felt, in the telling of her secret to Neil, that she’d been shamefully exposed, as if someone had suddenly stripped her naked in public. Her friend was staring at her across the small café table, but all she could do was shake, tears not far from spilling down her cheeks. She must have looked pale because Neil, without a word, got up and went over to the counter.
‘Can I have a glass of water, please, Angie?’
Angie glanced across to Connie. ‘Everything all right?’
Neil said, ‘Not really.’
‘Connie’s not ill, is she?’
‘No.’ He didn’t elucidate, and his expression must have warned her off asking more questions because she went quickly to get the water, which he set down in front of Connie. She grabbed it and drank the lot in a few gulps.
