Deceit of Angels (4 page)

“I
expect you to take charge.”  Anna turned to Martyn.

“Why
must he take charge?” asked Christopher indignantly.

“Because
your head’s always in the clouds,” scoffed Martyn, grinning. 

Anna
smiled through her lonely tears.

And
she was lonely after they had left.  How still the house was.  At first, it was
hard to get used to it and often she would wander around the quiet, tidy rooms
like a ghost.  The emptiness she felt was made worse by the fact that usually a
married couple would feel delighted to have the house to themselves, but there
was no comfort in her marriage and she knew why.  Dave had destroyed her trust in
the early days when she had found out about his first affair.  That’s if it had
been his first affair, since she had never been sure when the betrayal had
begun.  The twins were just over a year old when Elaine had discovered it and
reluctantly told her, hoping that their closeness as sisters would soften the
blow. 

Although
denying it at first, she had been dumbstruck when he had confessed. 

“But
it meant absolutely nothing,” he had said.  “You’re my wife and I love you.”

“Then
why did you sleep with her?”

“I’ve
no excuse.  It just happened, that’s all.” 

At
the time, she was too weary, too burdened down with motherhood to argue and his
contrition, his reassurances that it would never happen again convinced her to
persevere with her marriage.  It was a sad fact that even if she wanted to
leave him, she would have nowhere to go, no money to live on.  She could have
taken the twins to her mother’s but her mother was seeing Greg at the time, the
man she would eventually marry and it seemed unfair to palm herself and two
small babies onto her.

The
next time she discovered his infidelity, the boys were twelve and the incident
had spurred her on to study for qualifications and enter employment.  She had
to plan her own future, knowing that if her husband betrayed her once more then
she would leave him without a thought.

The pub was full
and finding a place was difficult.  Anna wondered if going out on a Friday
night was a sensible thing to do, but Dave had insisted that a night out would
do her good.  The boys were away, he told her and they could go out when they
wanted to now.  They met Elaine and Terry inside and were relieved that two
seats had been reserved for them.  And it turned out to be a pleasant evening,
Anna finally relaxing and enjoying herself.

“Heard
from the boys yet?” said Elaine.                  

Anna
nodded.  “Yesterday.  Just a postcard from sunny Romania.  Seems they’re
working hard.”

“It
will do them good.  If anything they’ll come back with a load of stories.”

“Three
weeks two days and then they’ll be home.”

Elaine
looked at her askance.  “You’re not counting the days, are you?”

Anna
couldn’t help giggling.  “No not really.  But I do miss them.” 

She
looked across to the bar where Dave and Terry where waiting to be served. 
Terry suddenly left, obviously on his way to the toilet and Dave gave their
order to the barman.  It was then Anna noticed a woman with red hair to her
husband’s right, a woman with her back to him and yet seemed to be intruding
into his space.  Anna shook her head and wondered at the rudeness of some
people.  And then she saw Dave reach out and grasp the woman’s hand, almost
nonchalantly, both he and the woman only briefly turning to each other before
resuming their back-to-back position.  It was just a fleeting gesture, but Anna
knew what Dave was doing.  She gave a gasp and a pain shot through her chest,
making it hard to breathe.

“Are
you OK?” said Elaine.  “You look pale.”

Anna
didn’t dare look her in the face.  “I can’t take any more,” she
whispered.         

Anna boarded the
train and found a seat.  As the doors shut and the engine started to pull out
of the station, a rush of excitement gripped her insides.  She was on her way,
no turning back now. The trees and houses flashed by, her thoughts tumbled in
her head and she remembered the agonising decision she had made over the last
ten days.  It hadn’t been easy at all.

The
day after the terrible revelation in the pub, she had phoned the house in
Bishop Sutton, hoping that she could speak to Jason and ask if the position was
still available.  She guessed it wouldn’t be, but she had to give it a try,
before searching the paper for another place to live.  One thing she was
adamant about and that was she would not stay with her husband, even if it
meant the boys had to come home with her gone.  Her heart ached at the very
idea, but it couldn’t be helped, she refused to put up with his behaviour any
longer.

She
was more than surprised when Sharon answered the phone.

“Anna,
how lovely to hear from you again.”

“Goodness,
what are you doing there?  I thought you’d be long gone by now.”

Sharon
giggled.  “The person we finally hired decided she didn’t like the idea of
working on her own and quit after the first week.  So, I’m here for a little
while longer.”

“I’m
so sorry.  But I bet Jason was pleased.”

“Well,
he was glad for himself but sad for me.  So, why are you ringing?  No, let me
guess.  You’ve changed your mind and want to take the position?”

Anna
bit her lip.  “I know I have an unbelievable cheek…”

Sharon
chuckled again.  “I think the luck of the Irish must be with me.  I really must
go back to Dublin and I’ve decided to leave in two weeks’ time.  Jason has
asked me to sort out temporary cover from the Bristol office.  Now, how
surprised would he be, if he found you here instead?”

“He
would be surprised,” laughed Anna.  “But would he be pleased about it?  After
all, I did turn down the job in the first place.”

“Well,
he was very disappointed about that, so I think he’ll be delighted.”

“When
shall I start?”

Sharon
paused for a moment.  “It will have to be sorted quickly, I’m afraid.  He’s
away for five days the week after next, so could you manage a week Monday?”

The headmistress
was not pleased at all.

“You’re
leaving me, with still a month to go before the end of term?  You really should
give me four weeks’ notice.”

Anna’s
face blanched as she tried to explain, “I must take this job now or I’ll lose
it again.”

“Again?”

“Yes. 
I went for an interview a few months ago, but turned the job down.  I’m so
sorry to leave you in the lurch like this, but I have no choice.”

The
headmistress shook her head.  “Well, I’m very sorry about it too, but Phyllis
can fill the position until I find another secretary.”  She eyed Anna
curiously.  “Isn’t Bristol a long way to go for a job?  What about your
family?”

Anna’s
mind began to spin, the last thing she wanted was folk to know where she was
going and regretted that the location of her new job had slipped out. 
“That…That’s only the head office.  I shall be working at their branch in Leeds. 
They’re shipping agents.”

A
look of surprise passed over the headmistress’s face, but then she sighed. 
“Well, I suppose you must take every opportunity that comes your way.  I guess
this company will have links with Hull and Grimsby.  Sounds very interesting.”

Anna
murmured a reply and stumbled to the staff toilets.  There she stared at
herself in the mirror, noticing her sickly complexion.  All this subterfuge was
taking its toll.  She couldn’t tell Elaine what she was doing and every minute
she was afraid that Dave would find out.     

But
the decision was made and she spent the following week secretly packing her
case, hiding it in the cupboard under the stairs where she kept the vacuum
cleaner.

On
Monday morning, she saw Dave off to work as though it was another day.  The
taxi arrived and Anna placed the letter on the kitchen table, the one she had
written only that morning.  It was short and to the point, stating that she had
had enough and the redheaded slapper in the pub could have him.  

 Now
she was on the train and speeding along the tracks southbound, her heart
thudding in her chest.  When she reached Sheffield, she almost lost courage and
decided to get off and return home, but something compelled her to stay in her
seat.  Deep inside her, she knew this endeavour was important.  It was a
pilgrimage of faith and despite her fears, destiny was drawing her down to the
south-west of England.

The
journey was very much straightforward, except the nearer she got to her
destination, the weaker her resolve became.  By the time she emerged from the
station, her legs felt like jelly, her heart pounding like a drum roll.  And
then she saw Ben.  It was like meeting an old friend and greeting him with a
big hug, she allowed her emotions to bubble to the surface briefly, before
climbing into the Mercedes.  She listened with joy to his gossip about Mrs
Wilby and how they were planning a surprise party on Friday for Sharon.  Mr.
Harrington had left that morning for New York and had no idea what they were up
to.

Once
in the house, she was almost squeezed to death by the forceful greeting from
the housekeeper, who couldn’t stop talking.  Sharon rescued her and laughing
with delight, urged her out of the kitchen and up the stairs, with Ben carrying
her case one step behind.  Although qualms about leaving her boys surfaced
momentarily, Anna knew she must be positive.  She would let them know her
situation before they returned home so that they would be prepared and then
arrange to meet up with them before they left for university.  And if they
asked why she had separated from their father, then she would avoid the
absolute truth.  Why burden them with the sordid details?

Sharon
led her into a large and tastefully decorated bedroom, overlooking the back of
the house and hence the beautiful garden.  Anna almost let slip that it will be
lovely to have her own private space, but stopped herself just in time and
realised she must watch her tongue carefully, in case she inadvertently
mentioned her husband.  This could be a problem.  She must somehow, think of
herself as a widow.

“Well
Anna, I’ll leave you to get settled in.  I’m pleased you like your room.”

“It’s
perfect and it’ll be very easy to keep clean.”

Sharon
giggled.  “You’re employed as a personal assistant, not a cleaner!  We have a
lovely lady from the village who comes every day to clean the house.  You’re
not expected to do it.  The only thing we do, is our own washing, but there’s a
washing machine and dryer in the utility room for that.  You’ll find an iron and
ironing board in the cupboard.”

“Does
Jason do his own washing?” Anna asked curiously.

“No,
Mrs Thompson washes and irons his clothes.  She’ll do anything for him.  But
that’s the way it is with Jason.  He has a fatal charm about him.”

Sharon
left her to settle in and Anna unpacked her clothes, placing underwear and
woollens in the drawers and hanging up her skirts and blouses in the large
cupboard.  And then she checked her phone and saw that Martyn had sent her a
text.  They were fine and had just returned from a wonderful visit to
Bucharest.  She quickly replied and then switched it off.  Dave was bound to
phone her as soon as he read the note she had left, but she was determined that
the only calls she would take would be from her either her sons or her sister. 
She went downstairs for lunch. 

While
they ate, she found out some very interesting information regarding her new
employer.  First of all, he was married but was now going through a divorce. 
It seemed the marriage had been perfectly fine, even happy, but then events had
turned sour.

“She’s
a lovely lady is Mrs Harrington,” Ben admitted sadly. “Always laughing and such
fun to be with.  You always knew when she was around.  And as for Jason, many
thought him the luckiest man alive.”

“So
why did it all go wrong?”

Mrs
Wilby and Ben exchanged wary glances but then Sharon spoke up.  “It’s better
that she knows.  We’re not tittle-tattling just getting her acquainted with the
situation.” She waited for them to agree before continuing.  “We don’t know why
things went wrong.  Kiera was the accountant for Harrington Rhodes and
sometimes she would accompany Jason on his business trips.  It seems she fell
for one of the executives at a client company.”

“It’s
as simple as that.  We were all surprised but I guess these things happen,”
said Ben.

“And
I suppose, that was the end of their marriage?” asked Anna matter-of-factly.

Sharon
nodded.  “They separated a year ago.”

“She’s
Canadian, you know,” said Mrs Wilby brightly and then added quietly, “But it
was a very bad business.  He was married too, so that meant two innocent people
got hurt.”

“And
there’s no chance of a reconciliation?” Anna asked.

“Unfaithfulness
can rot a marriage,” said Ben.  “Even if they tried again, it would never be
the same.  Better that they divorce and start afresh.”