The Model Wife (20 page)

Straightening his tie, he headed across the newsroom. She was still talking. At the sight of him, she put her hand over the mouthpiece.

‘Hi Luke, can I help?’ she said briskly, then back into the phone, ‘Just a minute.’

‘Just wondering if you fancied a drink after work.’

There was a long pause then she said, ‘I’d love to. But I’m busy.’

‘Oh. OK.’ Huffily Luke turned his back.

Too out of sorts to try anyone else, he went straight home after work to find Brigita occupying Poppy’s normal spot on the sofa in front of
Property Ladder
.

‘Everything OK with Clara?’ he asked her, more for something to say than because he really cared about the answer. Which wasn’t to say he didn’t adore his youngest child; he just couldn’t get too excited about the minutiae of raising her.

‘Oh yes, Daddy. Since I come she is so much better behaved. I think before she is a little mardy, no? But I teach her some manners.’

Luke studied Brigita. No one could remotely call her pretty with that sallow skin and slightly stringy hair, but she did have rather magnificent breasts. He slapped himself down. Fancying the nanny was too much of a cliché even for him.

‘You don’t mind doing all this babysitting?’ he asked.

‘No. I need t’earn as much as I can so me and me boyfriend can buy a house in ’artlepool. So the more work I do the better. And it’s nice to see Mummy enjoying herself. When I started, she always seem to ’ave a monk on, but now it is all much better.’

‘Good, good,’ said Luke, not having a clue what she was talking about.

After Brigita had gone, he poured himself a whisky, watched his rival Paxman on
Newsnight
, noting with envy his still thick head of hair. Maybe he’d had a weave. He wondered if he’d ever bump into him at Dr Mazza’s. Talking of which, he must make another appointment.

He went to bed, but sleep wouldn’t come, so he went down to the kitchen and was pouring himself another drink when Poppy burst through the door. She was pink-cheeked and smiling, wearing a purple silk slip dress with a fake fur waistcoat over it and thigh-high green suede boots. Luke’s heart stopped at the loveliness of her. He realized he’d forgotten how beautiful his wife was.

‘Oh, you’re still up,’ she said.

‘Insomnia.’

‘Poor you.’ She kissed him on the cheek. ‘Shall I make you a camomile tea?’

‘Where have you been?’ he asked, surprised at the sudden neediness in his voice.

‘At a party,’ she said, grabbing a Ryvita from the breadbin and taking a bite. ‘Launch of some deodorant.’ She pointed to a bag she’d deposited on the counter. ‘Look, a free one for both of us. Don’t say I don’t spoil you.’

Luke walked up behind her and wrapped his arms round her waist. ‘How come you’ve been going to so many parties recently?’ he muttered into her hair. To his surprise, he felt her stiffen.

‘I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that,’ she said.

But Luke didn’t really care what the answer was, just as he no longer cared that Poppy wasn’t looking for a job. He was distracted by the feel of her breasts in his hands. Cupping them, he kissed her on the back of her neck and was rewarded by her twisting round and kissing him full on the mouth. Twenty minutes later, they were naked on their bed, both breathing heavily.

‘That was lovely,’ Poppy said.

‘It was great,’ Luke agreed. Certainly, Poppy had been far more passionate than usual. Maybe it was because she was drunk. Still, Luke wasn’t complaining. At last, he felt his eyelids grow heavy, his breathing start to slow.

‘Luke,’ she said, wrapping herself around him, ‘you know you asked about why I was going to so many parties?’

‘Uh,’ he said. ‘I’m half asleep now, darling. Let’s talk in the morning.’

28

That same evening, Thea and Rachel were sitting in a vegetarian restaurant in Islington, sharing a thali. Rachel seemed to have doubled in size since Thea last saw her, she’d also had a scan and knew she was expecting a boy.

‘Isn’t it amazing?’ she breathed.

‘Incredible.’ Thea tried to sound as enthusiastic as possible about the black-and-white picture of a piece of ectoplasm. ‘Who do you think he looks like?’

‘Dunc, I hope.’ Rachel eyed the paper lovingly. ‘Bastard.’

‘Sorry?’ That’s what Thea had always thought of Dunc but she was surprised to hear her friend say it.

‘That’s what I’m calling the baby until Dunc deigns to marry me.’

So much for Rachel being cool about marriage. ‘So he’s still holding out on that?’ Thea said emotionlessly.

‘Mmm. Says he can cope with being a father but being a husband is just too grown-up. Doesn’t seem to care it’s upsetting my mum and upsetting his mum that their first grandchild will be born out of wedlock.’

‘For Christ’s sake! What would have happened if Dunc had been born in 1920? Would he have refused to go to war because it was “too grown-up”. He’s what… thirty-three?’

‘He’s spoilt.’ Rachel’s face fell. ‘He’s had a cushy life with his mum doing his washing and cooking for him, then various girlfriends doing it, and now me. I’ve spoilt him, Thea. And he bloody knows he calls all the shots.’

‘No, he doesn’t.’

‘He does. I didn’t tell you this before because I was worried you’d judge me, but it wasn’t all quite as rosy as I made out when I told Dunc I was pregnant. He hit the roof. Told me I’d trapped him. And… I guess I had. So I made him all sorts of promises. Told him he wouldn’t have to change a nappy ever, that I’d do all the night feeds, that he’d never have to push a pram if he found it too embarrassing, that if it was all too much for him he could just leave.’

‘Oh,’ Thea said. It wasn’t that Rachel’s confession was a surprise – in the shocker stakes it was up there with finding out Elton John was gay or the Queen was rather posh. But hearing her confess so bluntly that she’d trapped her man gave Thea pause for thought. Wasn’t that what the bimbo had done to Luke? ‘But I’m sure he won’t be like that when the baby arrives,’ she said in rallying tones.

‘Well, I hope not, but he’s always going to have the option to duck out when times get tough. It’s not that I mind so much for me, it’s the bastard I care about. Being born into a world where his dad was more interested in alphabetizing his LPs than singing him lullabies would be sad.’ As usual, she did an abrupt Rachel U-turn. ‘Anyway, forget it. Boring. How’s your gran?’

‘Same as ever. I went to see her last weekend and she just stared into space and rocked. It was grim.’

‘Mmm. Must be.’ Like most people, Rachel wasn’t much good on doling out sympathy about an old, ill person she’d never met. Boyfriend troubles were so much easier to relate to. ‘And work?’

‘Still in disgrace.’

‘That swine Marco.’

‘Yeah, that shithead… but, you know, his behaviour apart, I think I’m just a bit bored.’

‘But you have the most exciting job in the world.’ Rachel always pointed this out, when Thea gently compared their salaries.

‘
Used
to have. But now all I get given are the most rubbish stories about councils cutting back on recycling and Jordan launching a new range of lingerie. I’m desperate to get back on the road again, but until I crawl my way out of the doghouse, that’s as unlikely as…’

‘As me and Dunc getting married. Why don’t you leave?’

‘Because there’s nowhere else to go. All the networks are cutting back. And because…’

‘Because Luke doesn’t work at another network?’ Rachel asked gently.

‘Rach! I told you. Luke and I are as dead as the dodo. I never even see him any more. In fact, he asked me for a drink this evening and I turned him down flat. You’d have been proud of me.’

‘Yay! Well done.’ Rachel grinned as Thea’s phone rang.

‘Oh sorry. Better answer this in case it’s the Prime Minister wanting to confess exclusively how he’s been having a ten-year affair with a donkey called Mabel. Hello?’

‘Thea? Hi there! It’s Jake Kaplan.’

‘Oh, hello. Are you back?’ She’d been keeping a very close eye on the Minnie website but there had been no more mention of a trip to Guatemala and she had dismissed all thoughts of sending out a team.

‘No, still in Guatemala City,’ Jake said, although he sounded as if he was out in the back yard having a sneaky fag. ‘Looks like I’ll be here for a while.’

‘Oh yeah?’ Thea felt a tingle of interest.

‘Want to know why?’

‘Of course.’

He lowered his voice. ‘Strictly between us, Minnie’s visit is booked for next week.’

‘Will she give us an interview?’

Jake sighed. ‘Probably not. But you might want to cover the visit anyway. Give us some much needed publicity.’

A knot of embarrassment formed in Thea’s stomach. ‘I don’t know, Jake. I mean, the work you guys do is amazing, but without Minnie talking to us it’s not really a big enough story.’ She paused, surprised at how much she disliked disappointing him. ‘Sorry.’

‘Look,’ Jake said, ‘I told you already. Minnie may not give you an interview but there’s still going to be a big story. The quicker you can get a team in placer the better.’

‘What’s the story?’

‘I can’t tell you in so many words. Just remember what I said about adoption.’

‘Minnie Maltravers is going to adopt a Guatemalan baby?’

‘Really?’ Rachel exclaimed, from behind Thea.

‘You didn’t hear it from me,’ Jake said. ‘But as I said you might want a team in place. Just in case.’ He paused and then added, ‘And if she
were
going to give an interview, it would probably be to the network that offered the most coverage to Guatemala Children’s work.’

Thea thought. Minnie adopting a baby would be massive, whether she gave them an interview or not. OK, not such a big story that they’d send the anchorman to cover it, but if there was just the teensiest promise she’d talk to them then they had to have Luke in place. And her. Thea’s pulse throbbed. A foreign trip. A hotel. Sun on her back. And Luke.

Just like old times.

Oh stop it, Thea.

‘I’ll talk to my boss first thing tomorrow, then I’ll call you.’

‘Good. By the way, how are you, Thea?’

‘I’m fine,’ she said, ‘and you?’

‘Looking forward to seeing you again.’

Thea felt a jolt of outrage mixed with amusement. He was flirting with her again. She supposed it would be flattering if he didn’t resemble a denim-clad pixie.

‘Er, right,’ she said. ‘Good. I’ll be back to you as soon as I can.’

Dean wasn’t convinced.

‘So you’re saying if we don’t send a team then we stand no chance of getting an interview but you can’t promise the interview will happen.’

‘That’s right.’ Thea nodded, as her mobile started ringing. Without even looking at it, she switched it off.

‘But why the hell not?’ Dean was asking.

‘Dean, you know why. We’re dealing with a diva who never speaks to the press. But giving Guatemala Children as much coverage as possible will give us the best possible chance.’

‘I’m not sure Roxanne’s going to buy this. We’ve already gone over budget for this year. What are the shareholders going to say if we fork out all this money on footage of a bunch of kids on a rubbish heap and we don’t get Minnie?’

‘It’s the only way, Dean.’ Thea tried another tack. ‘They’ll be really cute kids, Dean. Cute and starving. The viewers will all have their hankies out.’

‘Talking of starving.’ Dean reached for the biscuit tin in front of him. ‘Shit, who’s eaten all the Jammie Dodgers? All right. We’ll do it. I’ll tell Marco to pack his bags.’

Thea felt as if her ears had been boxed.

‘Marco? Not Luke?’

‘You heard me. This is more of a Marco story. He’s the future face of the network. Luke’s got – what? – another year at most before it’s time he goes for early retirement. Focus groups show he has no appeal to our younger viewers.’

Thea knew Luke’s star was on the wane, but this was the first time she’d heard it stated so bluntly. Part of her crowed, Serve him right. Luke had thrown his wife over for a younger model, now the network was going to play the same trick on him. But still, he was a talent who didn’t deserve to be chucked aside. More importantly, she wasn’t travelling to the nearest bus stop with a shit like Marco. She hated that man more than she’d hated cabbage as a child, or JR in
Dallas
, or Lucy Randall at school because she’d laughed at the way Thea danced to her
Bugsy Malone
record. Doing Minnie with Marco would be about as much fun as a frontal lobotomy without anaesthetic.

‘Dean, I’ve agreed with Guatemala Children that Luke does the interview. Minnie’s a huge fan of his.’

‘You’re telling me Minnie Maltravers watches the
Seven Thirty News
?’ Dean raised a sardonic eyebrow.

‘Maybe her husband does,’ Thea said. ‘Anyway, that’s beside the point. Guatemala Children have told me it’s Luke or nobody.’

‘Oh bloody hell, Thea Mackharven, why did I ever let you come back from New York? All right, all right. We’ll send a team to Guatemala City. Including Luke. Plus a troupe of violin players to help with the sob factor. But if it doesn’t work, you are in big trouble. And you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.’

‘I don’t like you when you’re not angry,’ Thea said deadpan.

It wasn’t a joke, but happily Dean didn’t see that. He slapped his thigh appreciatively. ‘Nice one! Now fuck off and get me the megastar.’

As she shut his door, her mind was whirling like a fairground ride. So much to do. They should really get going in the morning. She’d have to tell Luke, organize a technical team, get the travel people on to the flights, call Jake… She remembered her phone – switched off in her pocket. Absently she pulled it out and turned it on. It started ringing.

Youhave one new voice message.

Probably Mum, she thought, yawning as she stuck the phone to her ear. She’d better not say she was about to slip out to Pret à Manger. She’d tell her she’d made a salad and brought it in in a Tupperware box.

‘Hello, Miss Mackharven. This is Corinne Stiller at Greenways home.’

Thea’s mouth went dry. Her legs turned to water. Instantly she called back.

‘Thea,’ Corinne was trotting out a well-reheared speech, ‘I’m so sorry to have to tell you, but your grandmother died peacefully this morning.’