I step into the cool kitchen, relieved to be out of the unseasonably warm sunshine, and make my way into the hallway, looking behind me as I step off the tiled floor onto carpet, entering the living area. The room is immaculate, with no sign that two boisterous twins live here. Rupert told me about his godchildren, and I realize that I haven’t seen any sign of the children for the entire afternoon. I can only assume that Sadie has a nanny, that they are tucked away out of sight, another reminder that this is a whole different world to the one I inhabit. I wonder for a moment if that’s how it would have been, had Rupert and Caro had children together, before allowing myself to imagine for the briefest of seconds how it would be if Rupert and I had children together.
Casting my eyes around the room, I notice that a lot of the furniture in here is remarkably similar to the stuff Rupert has in his own living room, and I wonder whether Caro had extended her influence to Sadie’s house, or whether Sadie gave direction to Rupert after Caro died – or maybe they just had similar taste. Years of being best friends might do that to you, I suppose. I wouldn’t know, having not had a best friend since primary school. It’s things like these that I don’t feel ready to ask Rupert yet. There is a piano at the end of the room, and as I approach it, I see that the top is littered with framed photographs, most of them depicting Caro in some form or another. Caro holding a baby – presumably one of the twins – as Rupert stands to one side looking a little awkward, Caro and Rupert on their wedding day, Sadie and Miles either side of them, all four of them grinning madly at the camera. Sadie and Caro on a beach in bikinis, definitely a few years ago, I think slightly bitchily, their arms slung around one another’s shoulders. Sadie and Rupert grinning into the camera, faces smashed together, a party hat at a rakish angle on Rupert’s head. I fight down the envy that rises in me, at years of memories on display.
‘Em? I wondered where you’d got to – I thought you might have headed for the hills.’ Rupert appears in the doorway, looking a little rumpled and tipsy.
‘Don’t be daft.’ I cross the room in three steps, pushing myself into his arms and lifting my face. He kisses me, his tongue sliding into my mouth and I groan slightly against his lips. He pushes against me, his thumb flicking over my nipple through the thin fabric of my dress.
‘Follow me,’ he says, pulling me into the hallway and into the downstairs cloakroom, which is at least as big as mine and Mags’s bathroom at home.
‘Rupert,’ I whisper, feigning shock, ‘we can’t! Not here.’
‘We can.’ He turns me away from him, unzipping my dress as I lean against the square ceramic sink. He kisses my neck, his hands running over my breasts, before I hear a zip drop and I gasp as he enters me from behind, watching our reflections in the mirror above the sink the whole time.
After, as I pull my dress back on, conscious of my flushed cheeks and wayward curls, Rupert zips me back up, kissing the back of my neck tenderly, before wrapping his arms around my waist.
‘Has everyone been OK with you? I’m sorry I abandoned you; it’s been a while since I saw everyone.’
I turn to face him. ‘Everyone has been absolutely lovely. I’ve been made to feel very welcome.’ I can’t quite meet his eyes as I say it, but I’m not going to tell him that his sister-in-law called me by his dead wife’s name. ‘I just came in to use the bathroom.’ We both suppress a giggle, leaning against each other, our breath coming in tiny gasps as we try to keep quiet.
‘Meet me outside in five minutes.’ Rupert kisses me again, more deeply this time. ‘Make sure you grab some more champagne on the way out too.’ He winks.
I take my time to freshen up in the bathroom, fixing my hair and pouting into the mirror as I slick on some more lipstick. The wine has gone to my head a little, and I run my wrists under the cold tap to cool down. As I approach the kitchen to refill my glass, I see Amanda and Sadie at the counter, heads together, oblivious to my presence.
‘What do you think of her, honestly?’ Amanda is saying. It looks as though they are both cutting fruit for Pimms. I hold my breath, waiting to hear Sadie’s response.
‘She seems all right, I suppose. Not really the type I thought Rupert would settle for.’ Sadie pauses for a moment. ‘He seems happy, though.’
‘You don’t think she’s just after his money? She’s a lot younger than him and she hasn’t exactly got a career, has she?’
‘Well, neither have I, if you’re really honest.’ Both women snort with laughter, as if the idea of Sadie working for a living is a huge joke, which I suppose it is really, with that kind of money behind her. Despite the sharp sting of hurt, I wait for a moment, curling myself around the doorframe so that if either woman turns they won’t see me, unsure of whether to announce my presence or wait and see what else they say. My mother always said an eavesdropper
