Page 132 of The Last Love Song
‘Ouch! Let me get my bag at least.’ Con led her towards the door, before throwing her out into the corridor. A few seconds later, Lulu’s pink Chanel clutch was launched at her, and the door slammed in her face.
Just what the hell did he see in his wife anyway? She was a simple girl from an Irish backwater. And she wastheLulu Bradley – a movie star who would have men queuing around the block for hours just to spend five minutes alone with her. Con could have had it all. Who did he think he was to treat her like that?
Lulu resolved that if she couldn’t have Con Daly, then Sorcha couldn’t either.
If she did this in the right way, she’d get some decent press too.
Even though it grated on her to admit it, Sorcha had to concede that Helen had been very good to her over the past forty-eight hours. Without her help, she dreaded to think what she would have done.
By the end of the week, Sorcha was sitting up and feeling like she might just live to see her twenty-second birthday after all.
There was a brief knock and Helen appeared with a breakfast tray. As always, she was perfectly made up and dressed in an expensive trouser suit.
‘How are we this morning?’ Helen studied her as she placed the tray on Sorcha’s lap. ‘Looking better. Good.’ She walked to the window and drew back the curtains. ‘Another beautiful day. Eat up your breakfast and I’ll run you a bath. A soak in the tub’ll make you feel a hundred per cent better.’
Sorcha nodded and Helen left the room. She wondered if the director of Metropolitan Records had missed her true calling – she’d have made the most wonderful matron. Sorcha drank her orange juice, then pushed the cornflakes round the bowl. Her appetite had not really returned – in fact, the sight of food still made her feel queasy.
‘Well, that was a pathetic effort, Sorcha.’ Helen declared as she re-entered. ‘How are you ever going to regain your strength if you don’t eat?’
‘I’m sorry, I just can’t, Helen. I feel sick.’
‘Go on wid ya,’ she smiled. ‘I’ll let you off. Have your bath and maybe afterwards you could come downstairs and sit in the sunshine.’
Sorcha slowly padded into the bathroom, where Helen had filled up the tub with sweet-smelling bubbles. She gazed at her face in the mirror and sighed. Sorcha was pale and haggard, with big dark rings under her eyes. It was hardly the way she wanted to look as she attempted to patch up her marriage.
She stepped into the water and slid down, her entire body submerged under foam.
In a few hours’ time, Con would be getting up and going through his usual pre-concert routine, something she had once been a part of. She fondly recalled the times she’d stood onthe side of the stage as he played to his thousands of fans, then smiled as he dashed off to towel down, give her a hug and tell her how much he loved her...
Half an hour later, Sorcha sat on the terrace, the hot sun calming her nerves. Helen had gone to Hampstead Village for supplies, insisting she tuck a rug over Sorcha’s knees before she left. She closed her eyes and dozed.
Sorcha was woken by sounds from the kitchen. She stood up and walked inside. Helen was unpacking the shopping.
‘Have a nice rest?’
‘Yes, thank you.’
‘Good. You look much better today. I don’t know what you like to eat, so I bought lots to tempt your appetite.’
‘Helen, I just wanted to thank you for looking after me. You’ve been very kind and I don’t know what I’d have done without you.’
‘Oh, it was nothing,’ she replied brusquely, stowing cans of soup away in the larder. ‘I’m sure you’d have done the same for me.’
‘Actually, Helen, I don’t know that I would have. Look, what I’m trying to say is that of all people, I didn’t expect you to care what happened to me. Can we put the past behind us and start again?’
Helen stopped with a tin of baked beans in her hand. She turned and looked at Sorcha, an expression of mild surprise on her face.
‘Oh, Sorcha, the thing I did to you...I...’ Sorcha was surprised to see Helen looking a little emotional. ‘That was a long time ago. What happened before...well, we were kids. It was another life. I can’t even reconcile who I am now with the girl I was then.’
‘Agreed, you have changed a fair bit.’ Sorcha grinned, relaxing a little.
‘I’m quite upset to think that you felt I was harbouring some kind of childish grudge against you. We’re adults now, it was in the past and very much forgotten.’
‘I’m glad. And I really am sorry for the way I behaved towards you.’
‘Sorcha – I mean this when I say it – there really is no need for you to apologise.’ Helen gave her a curt nod. ‘Well, that’s that then.’ She continued to stow away food.
‘I’ll be fine by myself now, you know. I’m feeling lots better. Why don’t you go home? You must have lots of things to do.’
