“And how are things with you two then?”
Joe knows all about my former relationship with Buckie. He’s my twin, so of course I was going to confide in him. He told me at the time to be careful that I didn’t get my heart broken. He knows me too well. It was him I turned to when that did in fact happen.
“Well…um…we’re kind of seeing each other now.”
“Kind of? Zara please be careful. You know what happened last time. I don’t—”
“He loves me Joe,” I cut him off.
“Okay, and I assume he knows how you feel too?”
“Mhm. He does. We were a pair of fools. We both felt that way back then but were too stupid to realise it. We’ve had time to talk about it and we both came to the same conclusion. The timing would never have been right then. He was about to embark on an amazing career and if he’d stayed because of me, he would never have got to where he is now. And likewise for me. I don’t think I’d have come as far in my own career if he’d been here. By not having any distractions we both did well for ourselves. And now we can be a couple and reap the rewards together.”
“Well as long as you know what you’re doing. I like Buckie, he’s a great guy but if he hurts you again, he’ll have me to deal with.”
“Ooh that’s fighting talk Joe,” Nessa says from behind me as she comes into the kitchen with Euan in her arms. He’s only a few weeks older than Freya. “Who are you fixing to fight with then? Hi Zara. Sorry nature called for young Euan here,” she says strapping him into his swing next to the table.
“That’s okay, lovely to see you sweetheart.”
“Buckie,” says Joe holding up a fist and smiling at me. “Just telling Zara that he better not hurt her again or he’ll have me to deal with. They’re an official couple now.”
“You told Nessa? Joe, that was a secret. I’m so embarrassed.”
“We have no secrets sis, even other people’s.” Joe looks at Nessa for agreement and she widens her eyes at him as though silently telling him to shut up. It was a momentary action, but I saw it.
“What was that?” I ask wagging a finger between them.
“What?” Joe asks looking genuinely puzzled. He looks at Nessa who bites her lip and looks down at the baby in his swing.
“Nessa?” She’s making me feel paranoid now.
“Grub’s up guys,” Val announces bringing our lunch to the table. Her appearance cuts through the tension that has suddenly built around the table.
“Thanks Val,” we all say in unison.
“Bon appetite folks. If you need anything else, give me a shout. I have my menus to plan for next week. I’ll be in the lounge.”
As soon as she’s out of earshot, I fix my attention back on Nessa. Cocking my head and raising my eyebrows, I make it clear I know she’s hiding something from me.
“Joe I’m sorry. I didn’t get the chance to show you this before Zara got here. When Freya got up this morning I was flicking through Facebook when I was feeding her. I saw a celebrity story on the OK! Facebook page. I was going to tell you when you woke up, then I forgot all about it.”
Nessa looks at me with pity in her eyes and pulls her phone out of her pocket. After finding what she’s looking for she hands it to me, and it takes me a few seconds to register what I’m seeing. The caption says it all, and now I know why Nessa was as apologetic about it.
Owen Buchanan and Annalise Shears Canoodle at LAX After Blockbuster Premiere
“What the hell is this,” I say holding up the phone so that Joe can see the photo.
I’m shaking like a leaf, and I feel as though I’m going to throw up. My appetite has taken a serious nosedive too, which is a shame because I was hungry until now. The photo shows Buckie and Annalise in an embrace at the airport. She has her cheek on his chest, and he is almost resting his chin on her head. My mind is working overtime trying but failing to come up with an excuse for what I’m seeing. But the evidence is pretty damning.
“I’m going to fucking murder him.”
“Joe,” Nessa scolds him motioning to the children.
“Sorry Nessa but…” He shakes his head. “God can you believe this? How on earth can this surface after I said that to you? I’m going to assume this is news to you?”
“You think? What the hell do I do with this? Isn’t it typical of me? Stupid caring Zara gets sucked in again. After what that twit Stuart did to me, I swore I would never let myself be in that position again. And yet here we are again.” I slump back in my chair trying but failing to fathom out any of this shitshow that is my life now.
“You weren’t to know this would happen and maybe it’s a lot more innocent than it looks. I mean photographers can take photos of the most mundane thing. Then all they do is slap a juicy title on it and hey presto you have a celebrity gossip story.” Nessa moves to the chair beside me and puts her arm around me. “Look, I read a lot of online celebrity magazines when I was in my last few weeks of pregnancy. That’s why I still see them on my Facebook feed. I got to know which stories looked real and which were clickbait. To me that’s what this is. So he hugged her at the airport. Maybe they were only saying goodbye. I mean they both live there. It’s only natural that they’d travel back on the same flight. Wait until you’ve spoken to him before you make any rash decisions that you might regret.”