Second Time Around (32 page)

All her fears disappeared at that. Cal was ten times the man Louis was. She scrambled to her feet. ‘Real man?’ She laughed in his face. ‘Real men don’t need to screw
around to prove themselves. Real men don’t need to force themselves on women.’

Louis raised his eyebrows, a sly grin on his face. ‘Oh, please, you love it rough, you love it all. You’re a randy little slut, Jess, and don’t pretend otherwise.’

Jess raised her hand to slap him and then let it drop to her side. He’d probably enjoy it. She pulled herself up to her full height, came to stand in front of him and looked him in the
eye. ‘Get out, Louis, and don’t come back.’

He folded his arms. ‘Or what?’

Despite everything, she could see this was exciting him, and she decided it was time to douse that flame, once and for all. ‘If you don’t go now, I’ll make a complaint to the
board.’

He laughed. ‘Saying what? This has nothing to do with the office, although I have dreamed of bending you over my desk.’

‘You’re right,’ she conceded. ‘The affair has nothing to do with work. But intimidation, harassment and violence afterwards, that’s a different thing.’

‘You exaggerate your own importance,’ he sneered. ‘You’re a freelancer. They don’t care about you.’

‘If I was the only one I’d probably agree,’ she said, her confidence growing, ‘but I’m not, Louis, am I? You’ve put yourself out there quite a bit.’ She
shook her head and assumed a disappointed expression. ‘Silly. Careless. Haven’t you heard that you should never shit on your own doorstep? I wouldn’t be the only one complaining,
and you know what? From what I heard last night, I’m the least of your worries.’ She saw a flicker of fear in his eyes. Maria and Eve were right. Louis was, like all bullies, weak and
spineless behind all the bluster. Jess went to the door and opened it. ‘Now get out and don’t bother me again or I promise your days at the
Gazette
are
numbered.’

‘Bitch,’ he spat, and strode out of the flat and down the stairs, banging the front door behind him. Jess sank into the nearest chair, trembling, all her bravado gone.

But she’d done it. She’d confronted him. It was over. On Monday, Jess would send Louis a formal email, copying it to Personnel, saying that, due to her growing workload she would no
longer be able to write for the
Gazette
. No doubt there would be a lot of speculation as to the real reason she’d left but, while that was humiliating, she hoped it
would save another girl from the same fate.

The doorbell rang, echoing through the hall and making her jerk up in the chair. He wouldn’t have come back, would he? She went to the window and peeked out, sighing in relief when she saw
Cal’s car. She hurried down to let him in. He stood, unsmiling, on the doorstep, her jacket in his hand.

‘You left this behind last night.’ He shoved it at her and turned to leave.

‘Hey, stay for a coffee,’ she said, alarmed at his abruptness.

‘I think it’s best if I go.’

And then she realised that he’d obviously seen Louis leave. She shook her head. ‘Cal, I want to talk to you.’

‘Sorry. I have to be somewhere. Bye, Jess.’ He turned away and walked down the path without a backward glance.

‘Cal!’ she called but he didn’t even turn around. She stared after him in disbelief. That was it? How could he possibly misinterpret the situation, knowing how afraid she was
of Louis?

‘He must have seen something,’ Katie insisted, swallowing a couple of painkillers with a mouthful of coffee and putting on her sunglasses.

‘We’re inside and it’s not even sunny outside,’ Jess pointed out of the café window at the grey sky. Despite her misery she couldn’t help smirking at her
friend’s sorry state. She was glad she’d had the foresight to drink so much water last night.

‘It’s bright,’ Katie complained, ‘and my head hurts. Did Louis kiss you in the doorway? Cal must have seen you together.’

‘All Cal could have seen was Louis leaving after I threw him out.’

‘Oh, well done you! I was going to give out to you for seeing him alone.’

‘Believe me, that wasn’t the plan. I told him to meet me here but he came to the flat instead and attacked me.’

‘Again?’ Katie paused, her mug halfway to her mouth.

Jess shook her head. ‘He dragged me upstairs and pushed me into the flat and I fell. I was sure that he was going to rape me.’

‘Fuck’s sake! How has he been getting away with this? What did you do?’

‘I stood up to him, Katie, just like Maria said,’ Jess told her, feeling really proud of herself. ‘I told him if he came near me again, I’d report him and I’d be
the first in a long line of women doing the same.’

Katie pushed her glasses up onto her forehead and looked at her in surprised admiration. ‘Good for you. What did he say?’

Jess shrugged. ‘What I expected. No one would heed me, blah, blah, blah. But, I scared him, Katie. It was obvious. He won’t be bothering me again.’

Katie frowned, taking off the glasses and resting her chin in her hands. ‘How do you know that he won’t try to shut you up?’

Jess had to laugh. ‘He’s the editor of a small newspaper, not the head of the Mafia.’

Katie shook her head. ‘I don’t know, Jess. He could stalk you or lie in wait and rape or beat you up.’

Jess looked at her, bewildered. ‘Last night you were the one encouraging me to stand up to him.’

‘Yeah, I know.’ Katie sighed. ‘But in the cold light of day, without wine, it doesn’t seem that easy.’

‘It really is,’ Jess said, feeling more confident since hearing what Eve and the very sharp and impressive Maria had to say. These women had worked in the company for years. Eve was
a respected journalist, having previously worked for a tabloid that had gone out of business. Maria, a political commentator, gave up her job to raise her young family and, now that her children
were at school, had accepted the less demanding position with the small local paper. The two women were respected by all their colleagues and, with them behind her, Jess felt sure that Louis would
leave her alone; he’d be stupid not to. And, whatever else he was, Louis wasn’t stupid. She looked over at her friend, who, hangover forgotten, was looking concerned. Jess squeezed her
hand. ‘I can’t begin to tell you how great it felt standing up to him.’

‘Good for you.’ Katie took refuge again behind her glasses. ‘Now, what about Cal?’

‘What about him? If he could be put off that easily, he’s obviously not that interested in me.’ Jess had looked forward to telling Cal of her confrontation with Louis, but
he’d got the wrong end of the stick and, without even talking to her, decided she was guilty. Of exactly what, she wasn’t sure. It took the good out of her victory and made her wistful
about what might have been.

‘Not interested?’ Katie snorted. Are you kidding me? He couldn’t take his eyes off you last night.’

‘Maybe, but this morning he seemed to have a change of heart.’

‘It’s a misunderstanding. Phone him or send him a text, explaining.’

Jess thought of the look of disgust on Cal’s handsome face and shook her head. ‘I tried to explain and he walked away. I’m not going to crawl, Katie. I’ve just rid myself
of one man who treated me like dirt. I’m not going on to another.’

Katie groaned. ‘Oh, come on, Cal is nothing like Louis. He’s a lovely guy.’

‘He is.’ Jess relented. ‘But he made his mind up without giving me a chance to explain. I deserve better than that.’ Katie grinned, making Jess frown.
‘What?’

‘It’s just nice to hear you valuing yourself.’

‘Was I that pathetic?’ Jess sighed, fed up of this weak image she seemed to have. Why hadn’t she inherited some of Mum’s spirit?

Katie took off the glasses and gave her a stern look. ‘Listen to me. You are not and never have been pathetic and, if Cal doesn’t realise what a great person you are, then it’s
his loss.’

‘Thanks, Katie.’ Jess smiled.

‘You’re welcome. Now, as I feel worse than death, I think food is in order.’

‘Curry?’ Jess smiled.

‘Perfect.’

‘Then, let’s go.’ Jess put her arm through Katie’s and led her out onto the street.

Suzie walked into the kitchen and gasped in horror at the sight of lines and shapes in black marker all over the floor. Her head started to throb and she didn’t know
whether she wanted to scream or cry. She’d had a lousy night, then trekked off to the supermarket this morning and staggered back with her bags, in the rain. And now, this.

Steeling herself not to go into the lounge and ask Bobby what the hell he thought he was doing, Suzie fetched the scrubbing brush and a basin of soapy water and set about cleaning her tiles.
Once it was done, she would have a cup of tea, calm down, then make the child his snack and explain, calmly, that he wasn’t allowed to draw on anything other than paper.

A low whimper made her close her eyes. Fuck it. With all the fuss, she’d forgotten to let the dog out, something she always did just before Bobby arrived. Mindful of the child’s
temper, she still kept Percy penned in while he was there. The poor animal didn’t seem to mind. This was the first time he’d made a sound. She abandoned her cleaning, and went in to the
dog, smiling when he wagged his tail in delight and rubbed against her legs.

‘Ah, you’re gorgeous, Percy. Come on, boy, let’s go outside.’ The rain clouds had dispersed and the sun was out. Suzie sat on the step and held her face up to the warmth.
The light breeze was refreshing and she took a minute to ground herself and enjoy this rare moment of peace. ‘What am I going to do with this little fella?’ she asked Percy. He looked
up at her with sympathetic eyes and licked her hand, making her smile. ‘You don’t have the answers either, huh?’ A bloodcurdling scream came from the house and, jumping to her
feet, Suzie charged inside, the dog hot on her heels. Bobby was on his knees on the kitchen floor, wailing.

‘What is it, darling? Did you hurt yourself?’

‘You broke my house!’

Suzie shook her head in confusion. ‘What house?’ He hadn’t brought any new toys with him, and there certainly wasn’t a house here.

He flung a hand out at his marks on the floor. ‘My house.’

Ah, so that was it, although how the lines and shapes on the floor were meant to be a house she had no clue. ‘I’ve told you before, Bobby, we only write and draw on paper. Now go
back inside while I clean this up.’

‘No, my house!’ he yelled.

Percy came to stand in front of her. ‘It’s okay, Percy.’ But she was relieved to hear the front door. ‘In here, Noel,’ she called, although she knew he’d
follow the noise.

His head came round the door and he took in the state of the floor and his nephew crying. He took one look at her face and crouched down beside Bobby. ‘Let’s go and play a game
upstairs, mate.’

‘She broke my house,’ Bobby told him.

‘I’m sure she didn’t mean to.’

‘She did!’

‘Well, you can build another one later—’

‘At home with his daddy,’ Suzie cut in. Honestly. There was only so much she could take.

As Suzie went to sit down with a mug of tea, her mobile rang. ‘Ah, for feck’s sake, can’t I have any peace?’ she muttered irritably, scanning the room for the phone. She
spotted it on top of the fridge and cheered up when she saw her caller was Doug. ‘Hello? Connors madhouse?’

Doug gave a rich chuckle. ‘Having a good day?’

‘No, having a shite day. Oh, sorry but it has been really—’

‘Shite? Does that mean you don’t fancy dinner this evening?’

‘I’d love it, Doug, but I’m too tired to doll myself up and go out.’

‘Then why don’t I pick up some food and come over?’

Suzie thought about that. Noel was going out and it would be nice to have some company, especially his. She and Doug were such an unlikely pair, yet their shared memories and experiences had
created an unexpectedly tight bond. She found it laughable that her family believed he would date someone like her, and yet Doug had changed, just as she had. While she still saw the dapper,
immaculate charmer with a twinkle in his eye, she could understand Mandy seeing a sad old man. But a rich one, damn it, and she wouldn’t let her sister anywhere near him.

‘Have you nodded off?’

‘Sorry, I’m distracted. Sounds like a great idea, Doug. Is about seven okay?’

‘Perfect,’ he agreed, sounding really pleased.

‘Grand, see you then.’

By the time Keith arrived to collect Bobby, the kitchen was sparkling clean again, but Noel still told him what had happened as soon as his brother-in-law walked through the
door.

‘What?’ Noel said when his mother glared at him. ‘Didn’t we agree we’d be open from now on?’

She looked at Keith. ‘Honestly, love, I didn’t give out to the lad and he’s fine again now.’

Keith sank into a kitchen chair, looking despondent. ‘I wonder why he did it.’

‘I called Cal,’ Noel said, ‘and he has a theory. Bobby had been restless and Mam told him to draw a picture.’

‘That’s right. And he was grumpy and said he didn’t know what to draw—’

‘And you told him to make a house, right?’ Noel finished for her.

‘Yeah, a house.’

Noel smiled. ‘And he did.’

Suzie looked from one to the other and pointed at the blank sheets of paper. ‘No, he didn’t.’

‘Cal told me that autistic children tend to take things literally.’

Keith’s eyes widened as understanding dawned. ‘He didn’t draw one, he
made
one.’

‘Yes and it was brilliant,’ Noel told him. ‘It was like the floor plan an architect would come up with.’

Suzie thought back to the lines and shapes covering her floor and gasped as she looked from one man to the other. ‘Holy shit, you’re right. It was fucking amazing.’ Keith shot
a nervous look at the door and she clapped a hand over her mouth and grinned. ‘Oops, sorry.’

‘He’s a smart little guy.’ Keith’s eyes were full of pride. ‘Where is he?’

‘He got bored playing games and came down to watch Thomas.’

Suzie looked at her son in surprise. ‘I haven’t seen him, and the television hasn’t been on since he got here.’ She felt sick. Where the hell was Bobby? Had he gone
outside? Had he run away because she was cross with him?