But Jade wasn’t laughing. ‘I am serious. I need Mark out of the picture before he goes for custody and you need payback – or at least to get your hands on that house again.’
‘Don’t be silly.’ But Jade’s face was deadly serious. ‘Seriously, this isn’t funny anymore. It’s twisted. Let’s talk about something else.’
‘No, I want to talk about this.’ Jade got to her feet, the wine in her glass sloshing over the rim onto the carpet. ‘Don’t you dare back out now! I’ve already started making plans on how to get Greg out of the picture for you.’
‘What?’ Maddie’s heart was thudding. Maybe she wasn’t hearing her properly. Maybe she was drunk already.
Jade loomed over her, her jabbing finger pointing and sharp. ‘You will not back out, Maddie! You have to help me. And one good turn deserves another. I don’t care who goes first—’
‘Woah! That’s enough! I want you to leave.’ Maddie was on her feet too, the two of them eye to eye.
Jade recoiled. ‘What?’
‘I said, get out. You’ve had too much to drink and this conversation is over. It’s not funny anymore.’
Jade stared hard at Maddie with eyes like ball bearings. A cold sweat filmed Maddie’s skin and for a second she thought Jade was going to lash out at her. She flinched as Jade lunged, but she was just reaching for her bag.
Jade stormed out, slamming the door hard behind her, making the keys on the nail swing like a pendulum.
Only then did Maddie exhale.
*
Maddie sat propped up in bed, sipping on tea and thinking about her conversation the night before with Jade. The morning sun was weak behind the curtains, but she felt safer in the gloom, less exposed. She couldn’t believe Jade was anywhere near serious. She must’ve just had too much wine and got carried away. We’ve all wanted to kill someone at some point when the anger and hurt took over. It had been a funny day by all accounts, what with breaking into Gemma’s house and everything.
She was worried Jade would’ve changed her mind about Maddie taking Ben for a swim. She’d been so angry and volatile yesterday. This thing with Mark was clearly stressing her out and she wasn’t thinking rationally about it anymore. Maddie could sympathise – she’d had moments of irrationality herself over the years when desperation overwhelmed common sense. She needed to be patient with Jade, help her to see that she had options.
She sent her a text to see if her play date with Ben was still on, but got no reply.
She eventually got up and started doing some laundry, but was feeling restless and fidgety, so got dressed for a run. Something she hadn’t done in a long time, but she had an urge to feel her feet pounding the pavement, her lungs bursting and her muscles stretching.
She managed half an hour before she realised that her fitness had nosedived. She let herself back into the building just as Mrs Aitkens shuffled from her house to check her post box in the entrance hall.
‘Hi, Mrs Aitkens. How are you?’ Maddie said, still out of breath.
Mrs Aitkens looked her up and down. ‘Exercise will kill you,’ she said and shuffled back indoors.
Maddie shook her head with a smile and pulled her key from the zip pocket on her running leggings. Then she noticed the white box sitting at the foot of her door like a present. It looked like a bakery box. She opened it and there was a huge cupcake inside. Red velvet, Maddie’s favourite.
At first, she thought it was from Greg because he knew she loved red velvet cake. Then she saw the torn piece of paper inside with one word scribbled in biro:
Sorry.
She opened the door and carried the box inside, feeling conflicted. Should she go and knock on Jade’s door? Talk it over with her and tell her she was the one who was sorry for telling her to leave so harshly? For not being patient and understanding what she was going through? She hated knowing someone was upset because of her. And Ben would be home. She needed to see him. She didn’t want anything to jeopardise her chance at spending some time alone with him.
She decided to go upstairs before she showered. She took the stairs two at a time, her pulse still elevated from the run. She knocked loudly, but there was no answer.
Luke poked his head out of his door instead. ‘She’s not in,’ he said unhelpfully.
‘Right, ok.’
‘You ok?’
‘Yeah, just been for a run, need to shower.’
He nodded at her. ‘Never been my thing, exercise, but each to their own.’
Maddie smiled and turned to head back downstairs.
‘Hey, if you fancy a beer sometime… not a date or anything, just it’d be good to… talk.’ He scratched his head, looking awkward. ‘Well, if you fancy it, I’m here most of the time.’ He nodded at her again and retreated back indoors.
Baffled at the offer, Maddie headed back downstairs.
After her shower, she made a strong cup of tea and sat at the table with the cupcake in front of her, her wet hair dripping down her back. She’d forgotten how hungry running could make her. Eating the breakfast of champions today though.
The cake was delicious, moist and soft and sweet with cocoa. She can’t have made this, Maddie thought. There was no evidence in Jade’s kitchen that she cooked anything other than heating up ready meals and shoving fish fingers under the grill.
The cake was finished in a few bites, then she went into the bedroom to dry her hair and get ready to pick Ben up for their swimming session, desperately hoping it would still be on. Jade still hadn’t replied to her earlier text though. Should she send another one? Maybe if the swimming session with Ben was off, she could see if Gemma would let Jemima go with her instead.
Half an hour later and Maddie was in agony,
