‘Oh, hey,’ Jade said, pulling up short.
‘Hi, how’s things? Got friends over?’
‘Er, no, that’s just music… you know…’ Jade shifted from foot to foot. ‘I’m, er, just going to get milk. I thought I saw you go out earlier?’
‘Ugh, yeah, lunch at my ex and his girlfriend’s house.’ Maddie sighed. ‘I got through it.’
‘Seriously? That’s how you chose to spend your afternoon?’
‘I know – but there was prosecco, so that’s something. I’m just… tired, I guess, and a little drunk and annoyed.’
‘Oh no.’ Her eyes flicked to the door.
‘Yeah, I mean, besides having to sit through a terribly overcooked lunch with soggy veg and lumpy gravy while my ex-husband fawned over his girlfriend and daughter, you’ll never guess what she’s just sent me.’ As Maddie was climbing out of the Uber, a message alert had come through on her phone. It was a WhatsApp alert saying that Gemma Scott had added her to a group called Greg’s girls. Maddie showed Jade her phone, ignoring the fact that Jade looked very keen to escape. ‘Look at this. His girlfriend has just created a WhatsApp group for me and called it Greg’s girls and I’m not even sure what to do with that.’
Jade looked at the phone screen. ‘For fuck’s sake, what a bitch! It’s like she’s rubbing your face in it.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘You know, we don’t have to kill him. Maybe we can kill her instead.’ She took a step towards the outside door.
Maddie laughed. ‘I was thinking that same thing earlier and it’s very tempting. Anyway, I need to have a bath and shift this headache. I drank too much prosecco and now have to go back tomorrow to fetch my car because I couldn’t drive home.’
Jade took a step towards the door, then paused and said, ‘I’ll come with you to pick up your car tomorrow if you like? Sort of like moral support.’
It might be nice to have some back-up. If Jade met Gemma and saw what Maddie saw, then Maddie would feel justified in hating her as much as she did.
‘Sure, that would be great, thanks. Say ten-ish? I’ll come up and knock when I’m ready to go?’
‘Great. Right, I’m off to the shop.’
‘Oh, I just met Mrs Aitkens. She was complaining about the music. Could you maybe turn it down a bit for her?’
‘God, she’s a miserable cow, that one. A right nosy parker. See ya!’
She rushed out of the building and Maddie realised that she hadn’t said if she would turn it down or not. Maybe she did have company over. That would explain the make-up and the fact that Ben wasn’t with her. But then why hadn’t she just said as much? Maddie felt a little put out that she hadn’t been invited to join in with whatever was going on upstairs. Not that she would’ve said yes, but it would’ve been nice to be asked. Unless it was a date.
Inside her own flat, the music was a persistent, dull thud, mirroring what was going on in her head. Maddie tried to block it out as she ran a bath. As the bubbles and steam puffed up around her, she typed a message in her new WhatsApp group with Gemma:
Thanks so much for lunch today. It was delicious. Please send my thanks to Greg too.
Maddie x
The reply was almost immediate.
Lovely to have you. Enjoy putting your feet up for the evening. You’re so lucky to have your own space. It’s soooo chaotic here with little Jem. G x
Maddie still wasn’t sure what to make of all of it. In person, Gemma treated her like an annoyance, a mosquito she couldn’t squash. And yet now she was trying to stay in touch rather than pushing her away. Was it a case of better the devil you know? Keeping her enemies close? Or just a chance for Gemma to get the occasional jibe in to remind her to stay in her box?
All this analysis was making her head pulse and she didn’t want to think about it anymore.
She undressed quickly, flinging her clothes on the bathroom floor, and lowered herself into the steaming bath. She held her breath and ducked under the water, letting it close over her face. She lay still, cushioned, floating, hearing her heartbeat in her ears as her lungs started to strain.
*
Maddie blinked into the morning light. The sleeping pill she had taken the night before to stop her brain from whirling had left her groggy and heavy. Dribble had dried on her chin and she could feel her hair sticking up because she had crawled straight into bed with it still wet from the bath.
One look in the mirror confirmed that she looked a sight. She took a long shower and wet her hair again, ready to style it into another Gemma-ready do. She refused to turn up to collect her car looking anything other than camera-ready.
Feeling more in control, she headed upstairs to knock on Jade’s door. The sound echoed through the cold hallway, which smelled damp and organic today. A door opened, but it was the flat opposite Jade’s. Luke’s pale face, this time wearing thick glasses, poked out, his dark hair still sticking up in all directions.
‘Hi, Luke,’ Maddie said.
‘Hey.’ He stood for a moment, seemingly unsure whether he should come or go, one foot hovering over the threshold. ‘Just on my way to check on Peggy downstairs.’
‘Oh, yes, I met her yesterday.’
He nodded. ‘Right, well, I’d better…’ He nodded at the stairs, then hurried off.
Maddie shrugged and knocked on Jade’s door again. Eventually it opened and Maddie caught a whiff of what smelled suspiciously like weed wafting through the door. Jade looked initially annoyed and Maddie realised she might have woken her up. She was dressed in a thick pink dressing gown.
‘Oh, sorry, did I wake you?’ Maddie said, stepping back.
Jade glared at her
