EPISODE EIGHTY-SIX
Vanessa hurried indoors and dumped her bag in the hall. She knew her mother was out at her amateur
dramatics rehearsals. But Nicky was at home because she could hear pounding
music coming from her bedroom. She
hurried into the living room, thumbed through the phonebook on her mobile,
found Lisa’s number and called. While
she waited for the connection, she glanced upstairs through the open door to
make certain the coast was clear. When
she heard the ringing tones, she became more wound up.
‘Hello, Lisa speaking.’
She sounded as if she was talking through a mouthful of food.
‘It’s Vanessa here.’
‘Oh hi, Vanessa. Can I call you back?
I’ve just sat down to eat and it’s...’
Vanessa interrupted her. ‘I want to know
what’s going on..’
Genuine surprise from the other end. ‘Sorry?’
‘You know what I’m talking about.’
‘Sweetie, intuitive I may be, telepathy I don’t do.’ Lisa tittered at her own cleverness.
‘I was taking some photographs in Dunorlan park today.’
There was a slight pause, then Lisa recovered.
Her voice was sweetness and light.
‘Yes, it was a lovely bright day.
Bit cold, but it was sunny.’
Vanessa ignored it. ‘I was using a
telephoto. I got a lovely shot of two
lovebirds, clinging to each other as they walked by the lake. Then I recognised you both.’
Lisa laughed. ‘Well, we’re both over the
age of consent. And it’s a free world.’
‘But why Jason, of all people?’
‘I felt sorry for him.’
‘Felt sorry for the scumbag! What are
you playing at, Lisa? The guy’s a creep. A wanker!’
‘I think he’s sweet. When we played that
trick on him, I felt so guilty. Like I
wanted to mother him.’
‘It looked like you were doing more than mothering him this afternoon.’
‘Well, he’s quite sexy. I mean, you must
know that, Vanessa. You went to bed with
him.’
‘Yes, along with dozens of other girls.’
Lisa sighed loudly and deliberately.
‘Look, Vanessa, d’you mind if we talk about this another time? Only I’ve...’
Vanessa was determined Lisa wasn’t going to get off lightly. ‘I’m sorry, Lisa, but I went to a lot of
trouble to set Jason up like that. And
he treated my sister pretty badly. The
photos of him in drag will be in circulation by next week. No one’ll take him seriously again. Or anyone who goes out with him.’
Lisa’s voice suddenly had a harder edge to it.
‘Well, that’s where you’re wrong, sweetie. Jason happens to be a Rocky Horror Show fan, and those photos’ll just show what a cool,
fun-lovin’ guy he is.’
Vanessa screamed down the phone. ‘Why
are you doing this?’
‘I might ask you the same. What’s all
this revenge stuff?’
Vanessa clicked off the phone, hurled it across the room, making sure it had a
soft landing on the sofa, then burst into tears. She jumped when Nicky spoke.
‘Vanessa! What’s wrong?’
Vanessa could feel herself going red.
‘Oh, nothing. Just trouble with
my coursework.’
*
‘Haven’t you got your front door key? Marjorie said, noticing how haggard Ted
looked as he stood framed in the doorway.
‘Yes, but I thought...’
‘Oh, come in,’ Marjorie said impatiently.
‘Honestly, ted, you bring on half this trouble on yourself.’
She closed the front door and Ted put his suitcase down. Marjorie put on what she thought was her
softest, most forgiving, expression. It
came narrowly close to Gloria Swanson’s pose when she was expecting Mr. De
Mille’s close-up.
‘I’m sorry, Ted,’ she whispered. ‘Let’s
patch it up.’ She offered him her little
finger. Ted entwined his own pinkie in
hers and togther they chanted: ‘Make
friends, make friends, never, never break friends.’ Then Marjorie pulled him towards her and he
bounced lightly off her protruding stomach.
‘Ooh, what’s that?’ he said, after giving her a dutiful kiss.
‘The baby. He just kicked you.’
‘He?’
‘Donald called him a “he”. Donald says
he’s looking forward to playing football with him in the park.’
Ted stared at his wife, desperately trying to keep his expression deadpan.
IN EPISODE EIGHTY-SEVEN
Ronnie sees his children for the first time in years and Pran tells Alan
about walking out of his job.