The Playdate (43 page)

Five minutes later she left Tesco with her wine, and found herself behind the student again as they both made their way
through the backstreets of East Oxford. He was doing that strange walk again. Bouncing along on his oddly extended legs, his upper torso bobbing with the motion. It gave him the impression of being both physically awkward and arrogant. His strides were so much longer than Saskia’s that by the corner of Hurst Street, he had disappeared out of sight.

Saskia stopped to look in an estate agent window, perusing her reflection in the glass for a second. With the early evening sun behind her head, it looked like she was wearing a halo, the white-blond tips of her hair melding into its rays. She flattened down the stomach area of her pale blue summer dress, wondering if Jonathan was missing her yet. With a sigh, she checked the property values. Hubert Street seemed to be holding its own. That was good. Something, at least, for Jack’s sake. Oh no. She looked herself in the eye, in the window.

Jack.

He would be waiting for her right now, desperate to know her decision.

On impulse, she dived into the news agent next door and searched through the boys’ magazines to find one she hadn’t bought him yet. That would distract him for a while, anyway, till she decided what to do. Because if she did it, Kate would kill her. If she didn’t—well, things were bad enough as it were for her nephew.

At the last minute she grabbed some cough drops for her presentation to partners on Monday morning, and headed back outside into the sun.

As she set off, popping a cough drop in her mouth, there was a sudden movement to her right.

Saskia jumped.

What the hell was that?

A large black shape at waist height was shifting between two parked 4x4s.

Walking as fast as she could, she waited till she was at a safe distance to turn around to check.

A black-clad backside peeked out from between the cars. She recognized the slice of white, flabby skin that lay above it.

The weirdo. What the hell was he doing?

Saskia peered back a little. The student was crouched down between two cars, his back to the pavement, facing a row of houses across the road.

Why was he being so surreptitious?

She surveyed the house opposite him. It looked like a normal residential house. No piles of bikes or posters in the window to suggest students. A well-painted red door. Cream curtains half-closed. Faint classical music drifted out of an open sash window. A figure crossed in front of the window. A woman in her thirties with a brunette bob.

Who was that? Was he watching someone? A woman?

She heard a little click, and then another.

A camera?

Oh, that was gross.

Suddenly, before she could help herself, Saksia felt a tickle of cold air at the back of her throat behind the cough drop—and coughed.

She saw the student move. A flag of spiky hair began to rise above the car’s hood.

“No, I’ll get some pizza,” she exclaimed, walking off and talking into her hand as if it were a phone, only realizing too late that a woman pushing a stroller was coming straight at her, staring at her curiously.

Saskia dropped her eyes and her hand, and continued toward Hubert Street as quickly as she could. She better tell
Kate. Although, God knows where that would lead. As if they needed any more problems.

Saskia turned in to Hubert Street, trying to shake off a growing sense of unease. Kate’s wide-fronted Edwardian house looked pretty in the evening sunshine, she thought, the freshly whitewashed windowsills sparkling, the burnt-orange passionflower that Helen had planted trailing around the front door. Saskia glanced at the house next door, to which Kate’s was semi-attached. It looked like the unidentical twin. Whereas Kate’s frontage was tidy, her bins set back behind a wooden fence Richard had erected for her and stained a pale lilac Helen had chosen, the one next door was undoubtedly a student house. It was worn and tired; its windowsills also painted white, but this time, the paint sloshed cheaply over the joins and onto the windowpanes. Bikes lay in heaps, chained together. A gray trash can was half-open, its black trash bags bursting out, the faint smell of rubbish detectable from here. That was the best thing about living in a village outside town. No bloody students. Not for the first time, Saskia wished Mum and Dad had worked harder on Kate not to rush into buying when she moved from London. That they hadn’t been so scared of her bloody moods, they might have made her check more closely who lived next door.

Steeling herself, as she always did on arrival at Hubert Road, Saskia walked up to the door and lifted her finger to ring the bell.

“Hello,” a deep voice said behind her from the pavement. It was flat and quiet. The
oh
was pronounced as
aw,
with a long, Scandinavian vowel.

She turned to see the weirdo walking in the gate next door. He looked at her impassively from behind his glasses.

“Hello,” she said, as chilly as she could, ringing the bell again.

She felt his eyes still resting on her.

Creep.

He’d probably followed her up the road, taking photos of her backside.

To her relief, Jack flung open the door straightaway, grinning.

“Hey, Jackasnory!” she exclaimed in relief, walking inside and shutting the door. She held her hands slightly forward, in case he wanted to hug. She was never sure these days. Did boys of nearly eleven hug?

Luckily, her nephew was in the mood. He came straight to her, wrapping himself tightly around her waist. She put her arms round him and moved his body gently from left to right. He stayed there happily. Or was it desperately? She wasn’t sure anymore.

“God, you give the best cuddles. Did you win?”

“Two-nil!” Richard shouted from out of the sitting room. “And he’s in the reserves for a junior league team next week.”

“Oh, are you now? Smartie bum.” Saskia grinned, pushing Jack back to see a beaming, upturned face.

Then the smile disappeared and was replaced with a meaningful stare.

“What?”

“Please?” he mouthed, holding his hands in the praying position.

“Oh,” She glanced through to the kitchen where Helen was lifting a pot. That was odd. Her mother hadn’t looked up yet and given her one of her cheery hellos.

“No. Not now. Later. You’ll get me into trouble, Snores. I’m still thinking about it,” she whispered, pushing him toward
the sitting room. “Later. Take this.” She gave him the magazine. “Go and keep Granddad company. Stop him from annoying me.”

Jack obeyed, as he always did, thrusting out his lip, to make her laugh.

Saskia looked at her mother again, moving around the kitchen, seemingly unaware that she had arrived. What was different about her? Her shoulders? They looked stiff. Rigid almost. And even from here, her face looked pinker than normal.

Saskia went to hang her bag on the balustrade.

There was a silver flash above her head.

She blinked, as her mind tried to process what her eyes had just seen.

She looked up again.

As she stood staring, her father walked out of the sitting room behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders from behind.

She turned and saw his jovial face as serious as it had ever been.

“WHAT. THE. HELL?” she mouthed, incredulous, pointing upstairs. She felt her mouth drop open of its own accord.

“Later,” he murmured, directing his head toward the sitting room, out of which
The Simpsons
theme song was now blaring.

And he headed off down the hallway, her big, strong dad, with such a look of terrible impotency, toward her mother, who Saskia now realized had been crying, that it was all she could do not to shout, “Kate?” and run off around Oxford looking for her stupid bloody idiot of a sister-in-law.

Atria Reading Group Guide

THE PLAYDATE

*     *     *

For the past few years, Suzy has been the only one in her neighborhood to reach out to her neighbor, Callie—a single, struggling mother caring for her sickly daughter. Although Suzy lives a seemingly charmed life across the street—with a successful husband, a lovely house, and three children—the two women become fast friends and confidantes. When Callie decides to return to work, it precipitates a series of bizarre and tragic events that reveal the dark secrets of a peaceful London neighborhood and the true identities of the strangers we think of as friends.

FOR DISCUSSION

1. The novel begins with
Callie and Suzy at a pond “far from the company of men.”
Considering how the story ends, in what ways is this opening scene ironic? Do you think the friendship between Callie and Suzy was a true friendship? Why or why not?

2.
“‘Yes. . . . we’re going to be happy here,’ Allen said, nodding his head. It sounded like an order, [Debs] thought.”
Discuss how relationships are described in
The Playdate
in regard to this quote. Are any of the couples happy? Do you think any of the couples are in love?

3. What were your initial reactions to Debs? How would you describe her character? Do you like her? Why is Debs so concerned with noise? Did your feelings for her change over the course of the novel?

4. What motivates Callie, Suzy, and Debs in their choices? What are they all ultimately looking for?

5.
Callie notices women watching her
walk to lunch with her boss and a famous client: “But I realize that they see me . . . as someone who belongs here.” In what way does belonging—or not belonging—play a role throughout the novel? Does Callie see herself as an insider or outsider at her job? As a mother? As a friend? Do you think any other characters from
The Playdate
could be classified as “outsiders”?

6. The novel alternates between Suzy’s, Debs’s, and Callie’s point of view. How did the shift in narrative affect your reading of
The Playdate
? Did it help create suspense? Did it make you question the characters’ reliability or true intentions?

7. Revisit the scene when
Debs realizes it is Suzy who has been calling her house repeatedly
–. Did you believe Debs as a narrator during this scene? Why would Suzy want to frighten Debs?

8. Do you think there is a hero or heroine in this novel? A villain? Why or why not?

9. Discuss the significance of the title. Why is a playdate so important to Callie? What does it symbolize to her? Why is Suzy so determined to keep Callie from making other friends?

10.
Suzy remembers the moment
when her
mother abandoned her with an aunt, a “monster.” Do you understand Suzy better, or sympathize with her, after having learned about her childhood? Do you forgive her for her actions?

11. Discuss the moment
when Rae’s real father is revealed.
Were you surprised? Why do you think Callie continues her relationship with Jez? Why do you think Tom chooses to stay, despite knowing that Rae is not his biological daughter?

12. Why is Jez so popular with the women in
The Playdate
? Do you think that he truly loves any of them? Why or why not?

13.
“Can you have an end to something that had no beginning?”
In what ways does Callie’s story have “no beginning?” Do you think her story has an ending? Is it a happy one?

14. By the end of the novel, all of the characters find their voices and speak their minds. What causes Callie to find the courage to face the truth? What allows Debs to overcome her anxiety? Do you think that Callie and Debs will ever be able to forgive Suzy? Why or why not?

ENHANCE YOUR BOOK CLUB

1.
The Playdate
discusses the realities of contemporary life—managing children, a job, a love life, friendships, and finances. Discuss with your book club the ways in which you handle day-to-day stress. Like Callie, do you rely on
friends for help? How do you know who can be trusted with your children? Swap stories, Web sites, and advice columns with your book club. Do you relate to Callie’s situation?