Unfaithful (23 page)

“Well, let me know if you need anything.”  Laura helped Rebecca into her coat.

“I will, thanks for listening,” Rebecca kissed the other woman on the cheek and wrapped her scarf around her neck. She pulled her hat tightly down around her ears and walked into the cold night air.

“Are you sure you'll be ok getting home?” Laura asked in concern.

“I'll be fine. I'm just going to walk to the supermarket to pick up a few things for tonight's dinner and then I'll get a taxi home from there.”

“Ok, dear, take care.”

Rebecca huddled deep into her warm winter coat. It had been an anniversary present from Mark a few years previously. She'd had her eye on it for weeks and had tried it on dreamily in the shop, but the price was a touch too exorbitant for her usual tastes.

Mark had watched her face one day when they'd been window shopping in town and had surprised her with the coat, all wrapped up in delicate layers of tissue paper. She'd been thrilled. Even now, it was still her favourite coat.

The cold wind whipped her scarf around her face as she made her way briskly to the supermarket. She could see the bright welcoming lights of the shopping centre up ahead. She was longing to be inside its comforting atmosphere, where she could lose herself in the anonymity of the other busy shoppers.

The heat hit her cold face as the automatic doors to the shopping centre opened wide to greet her. She took a few moments to adjust her eyes from the darkness outside to the almost blindingly bright lights inside.

The shopping centre was quite busy for that time of the evening. Probably the last of the office workers popping in for a shopping pick me up on their home from work, Rebecca mused.

She wandered into Debenhams, the large department store. She spent a happy time browsing through the baby section. She picked up and cradled some teeny tiny baby booties and felt her heart swell with love for her unborn baby.

She patted her tummy gently and thought of the little bundle that was growing inside. Why does life have to be so bittersweet sometimes, she sighed to herself.

There were times during the past few months when she'd wished she'd never discovered Mark's affair. She longed for the comfort of her old life and wished that she could have stayed in her oblivious bubble, but she knew that was the coward's option. She had to be true to herself and what’s more she wanted to do the right thing for herself and her baby.

She meandered around the shop; wandering through the kitchen section, the bathroom department and the clothing department. She couldn't resist treating herself to a new fleece and cotton pyjamas and oversized bed socks.
It's amazing how quickly a pregnant woman forgets about high fashion to focus on comfort,
she smiled to herself. Fleece pyjamas, baggy tracksuits and huge underwear were her favourite fashion items these days.

She walked by the beauty section and was immediately assailed by a perfume assistant who wanted to spray her with the latest scent by Dior. She'd sprayed Rebecca before she'd even had a chance to decline and within seconds, Rebecca could feel the familiar nausea building.

She hurried to the bathrooms but thankfully the nausea had passed by the time she got there. She walked outside and decided to get a drink of sparkling water in the cafe which always calmed her upset stomach.

Rebecca paid for her sparkling water and walked to the empty window seat. She enjoyed nothing more than people-watching and the cafe was situated on the second floor, which lead to perfect viewing of the late-night shoppers below.

She slowly sipped her water and relished the soothing fizz of the bubbles in her mouth. Her stomach was beginning to calm down again and return to normal. She was even contemplating indulging her new craving of lemon cheesecake which she couldn't get enough of lately. It was probably the main reason that her waistline had expanded so quickly during the past month. She had gained seven pounds in four weeks, much to her horror when she had been weighed by her nurse the previous week, but her nurse had insisted that it was normal at her stage in pregnancy.

She finished her sparkling water and rummaged around in her handbag for her purse. Then she got up and wobbled to the dessert counter, leaving her coat on her chair to prevent another customer from claiming her spot.

She'd noticed that she was wobbling quite remarkably when she walked these days; one of the latest developments of her pregnancy. Mark had taken to calling her “duckie” which she found quite funny and couldn’t help smiling at the nickname.

The waitress kindly offered to bring her cake and ginger tea to her table for her, probably noticing how awkwardly she was moving. She sat down heavily, noticing that two women were sitting at the table directly in front of her, which had previously been empty.

They were talking quite animatedly so didn't really notice her as she reclaimed her seat. Rebecca demolished her cheesecake in just a few bites, noticing that the two women in front of her were only drinking coffee, nothing to eat.

She envied their flat stomachs and clear skin for a moment, but consoled herself with the thought that there would be plenty of time for diet and deprivation afterwards and that she should enjoy the excuse of being able to eat whatever she wanted during her pregnancy.

She savoured the refreshing smell of the hot ginger tea. She wrapped her fingers around the hot mug and enjoyed the comfort of the heat through her fingers. She continued to curiously observe the two women sitting in front of her. They were certainly having a heated debate about something.

She had always been quite nosy, especially when it came to the conversations of strangers. She was fascinated by how other people lived their lives. Harmless fun is what she would say when Mark chided her for her eavesdropping.

Rebecca suddenly had a flash of recognition as she continued to observe the two women. Where had she seen that wild, curly blonde hair before? The young woman's hair was particularly distinctive and unusual when most women these days would do almost anything to have their hair fashionably poker straight.

She'd never been bothered with her hair herself, preferring to keep it short. All that faffing around with conditioning treatments and straightening irons didn't appeal to her one bit. They didn't seem to appeal to the other woman either. Her hair was standing in unkempt curls around her face. She pushed her hair out of her eyes suddenly, and Rebecca had a sinking flash of recognition. It was Shona, Mark's mistress!

Rebecca started to panic. She wanted to run out of the cafe as fast as she could, which wouldn't be very fast in her current state. She couldn't bear the thought of the other woman's pitying looks. Then Laura's words rang in her ears. “You owe it to yourself.” She took a few deep breaths and sipped her tea, trying to steady her nerves. Her mind was racing. Should she confront her? How would she approach her? She didn't want to create a scene in such a public place.

The other woman hadn't even noticed her, let alone recognised her. Shona continued with her animated conversation, totally unaware of Rebecca's building panic. Rebecca supposed she looked quite different to that day in the office all those months ago. She'd been a lot slimmer then and had actually bothered making an effort, probably in some subconscious attempt to look good for Mark's other woman.

Rebecca finished her tea and decided to make her move. She gathered her belongings and approached the table in front of her. “Excuse me,” she said, falteringly. “I don't know if you remember me?”

Shona and her companion looked up at her in confusion. Rebecca could see a quizzical expression on Shona's face. It took her a few moments to recognise Rebecca and then the colour suddenly drained from her face. “Rebecca?” she asked incredulously.

“Yes, I’m Rebecca McNamara, Mark's wife.”

The two women stared at each other, while the other woman looked from one to the other, a startled expression on her face.

“This is awkward,” Shona's companion said eventually.

“May I sit down please?” Rebecca asked, surprised by her own politeness.

“Umm, yes, sure,” Shona pulled out a chair for her.

“I know you and Mark were having an affair.” Rebecca decided to get straight to the point. Shona didn't know where to look and squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. She actually looked like she might throw up. Her face had changed from pale to almost green.

“Look, I don't want any trouble.” Shona finally gathered her wits about her. “Our affair is well and truly over now.”

Rebecca stared at her blankly. She didn't really know what to say next and felt all the fight and the energy suddenly drain from her. This moment had played over and over again in her mind and this was not how she had expected the confrontation to play out. She'd expected their meeting to be angry and loud. She'd expected to be demanding answers from the other woman, but now that she was finally facing up to her, she was lost for words. “Why did you sleep with him?” Rebecca asked. “You knew he was married.”

Shona blushed. “It just happened,” she answered. “I tried to resist for a while, but he promised me that your marriage was over and he was going to leave you. He told me loved me and that he wanted to be with me. I was foolish enough to believe him. I'm sorry.”

Rebecca looked at her blankly. She didn't know what to say.

“Look,” Shona's companion said. “If it hadn't been Shona it would have been someone else.”

“Who are you exactly?” Rebecca didn't like the other woman's aggressive tone.

“I'm Penelope, and for the record, I was sleeping with Mark too,” she announced.

“What?” Rebecca was incredulous.

“Yes, and he was sleeping with Shona's sister.”

“I don't believe it,” Rebecca's mind couldn't process the information that she was hearing. “He promised me that he had only slept with one woman. He swore on our son's life.”

“Well, I wouldn't believe Mark's promises,” Penelope said. “I've wanted to tell you about his affairs for a while, but Shona persuaded me not to, especially now because of your condition.” She looked pointedly at Rebecca's swollen stomach.

“I'm glad I know,” Rebecca replied shortly.

“We truly are sorry,” Shona said, “we never meant to hurt you.” She saw the look of hurt and anguish on Rebecca's face. “Is there anything we can do to make it up to you?”

“Make it up to me?” Rebecca laughed. “My husband has been having multiple affairs and you, one of his mistresses want to know if you can make it up to me!”

“There's no point turning on each other,” Penelope interjected. “We are the victims in all of this. Mark promised each of us that he loved us, when he clearly didn't.

Obviously, you are the main victim in all of this, Rebecca, but instead of turning on each other, we should get together and punish him.”

“I have to get out of here,” Rebecca said abruptly. Her mind was in turmoil.

“Take my number,” Penelope reached into her handbag and pulled out her business card. “Call me.”

Rebecca snatched the card out of her hand and stuffed it into her pocket. She got up from her seat and wobbled out of the cafe, leaving Penelope and Shona staring after her in shock.

“Dear God,” Shona whispered. “We are going straight to hell when we die, that poor woman.” “I know,” Penelope agreed, “I must admit I feel sorry for her. She looks like a nice woman. I wonder what she's going to do.”

“I need to get very drunk, very quickly,” Shona said, “I have to escape from my own head. I cannot believe what just happened.”

“Yes, I could do with a vodka and coke myself,” Penelope jumped to her feet, “let's get this day over and done with.”

Chapter 28

“Hi Shona, can you give me a call when you get a chance, please?” Jackie tried to sound as light-hearted as possible as she left her umpteenth voicemail message on her sister's mobile phone.

Shona hadn't returned any of her calls or text messages since that fateful night when it was revealed that they were both sleeping with the same man. Jackie had visited her sister's house at times when she knew that her sister would be home, but Shona had refused to open her door. She'd even knocked on her landlord's door to check if he'd seen Shona and he'd looked at her in confusion as he informed her that she was home almost every evening.

Jackie knew how her sister was feeling. It made her shudder when she thought that they'd both been intimate with the same man. She felt like such a fool and she wondered if Mark had known all along that she was Shona's sister. Mark couldn’t possibly have known as she had used a false name during their liaisons. She wondered how long Shona would continue to ignore her and she worried that Shona might tell Colm about her affair.

Her sister had a very hot temper and clearly she was extremely upset about Mark. She dreaded the thought of Colm discovering her affair with Mark. The thought of losing her husband, her home and her children was unbearable.

“Don't you think you should eat something, darling?” Colm asked, interrupting Jackie's miserable thoughts.

“Pardon?” Jackie mumbled absent-mindedly.

“Food, darling, what would you like for lunch?” Colm looked at Jackie, wondering what was going on her head. She'd been very distracted recently and seemed worried and anxious. Every time the house phone rang, she jumped and almost ran to answer it before he got to it.