Chapter 6

6

Perching on the edge of the bed, Megan balanced her plate of scrambled eggs, toast and grilled tomatoes on her knee and pulled her phone from the pocket of her jeans. She shovelled a forkful of egg into her mouth before hitting the Call button to ring her solicitor.

As she listened to the rhythmic tone of the call waiting to be answered, she looked out of the window. It wasn't the prettiest view, and if she strained her eyes, she could see into the top floor of the bank opposite, the staff members sitting on uncomfortable-looking plastic chairs pretending to listen to whatever was being discussed in today's morning briefing, but it was fine. She didn't need ocean views or the sight of mountains or hills. This was just right. Besides, in some small way, being able to see other people going about their daily lives made hers feel a little less lonely.

‘Morning, Perkin's Solicitors, Evan speaking. How may I help you today?' Evan's authoritative voice boomed down the line, a comforting mixture of confidence and friendliness.

‘Hi, Evan, it's Megan. Megan Trussel. I'm ringing to see if there's been any movement on the divorce petition, please?'

‘Megan! Hi. Yes, there certainly has! It's all written and being delivered today.'

Megan nodded. Lyle was going to find out she'd filed for divorce. Today. He'd find out today.

‘Okay, thank you.'

‘Can I help you with anything else?'

‘No, no. I don't think so. I think that's it. Thank you.'

‘No problem! Have a great day.'

Standing up, Megan placed her breakfast on the little desk below the television and stood at the window.

She looked down at the pedestrianised street below. Mums pushing buggies and dads carrying young children rushed down the street, checking their watches every so often, determined not to be late for the school drop-off. A man carrying a briefcase meandered slowly, stopping every so often and peering into shop windows. Had he left too early for work and was trying to kill time, or was he trying to savour the last few minutes of freedom before being shackled to a desk he'd rather not be sitting at?

Lyle was going to get the divorce papers today. He was going to know she wanted to divorce him. The final axe to their marriage served. She gripped hold of the windowsill. This is what she wanted. This is what she'd wanted for the last few years. To be free to start her life over. And yet, now it was happening, now she'd taken that step to end things formally, she couldn't help but feel a little pang of regret.

Stepping back, she lowered herself down onto the bed and sank into the plush duvet. This would be the first day of the rest of her life. Yes, that's how she needed to look at it. She should be excited. The world was her oyster.

She could feel a single tear sliding down the skin of her cheek and she reached up, using the back of her hand to rub it away. She wasn't going to cry. She'd done all the crying she needed to when she'd discovered what Lyle had been up to with Wagging Tails. She'd cried herself to sleep every night that week at the realisation that Lyle was never again going to be the man she'd married. Now was the time to celebrate.

She lowered her head to her hands and stared into the darkness of her cupped palms. It was time to celebrate; she knew that, but surely it was normal to spend time grieving for what could have been?

A sharp tapping on the door to her room broke the silence. Pulling it open, she smiled as the young girl who took care of all the housekeeping shuffled from foot to foot.

‘Shall I come back later?' She indicated the bucket of cleaning products by her feet.

‘No, it's okay, thanks, Lisa. I'd better get off, anyway.'

Lisa nodded as she picked up the bucket and walked into the room. ‘It's another lovely day out there today. It's going to be a hot one, I reckon.'

‘Is it?' Megan glanced back towards the window. Lisa was right, the sun was already high in the sky, having taken its place ages ago, probably. She hadn't noticed when she'd been looking earlier. Turning on the spot, she searched for her mobile. Where had she put it?

‘Are you looking for something? I'm usually good at finding things. Found a diamond ring in the room next door yesterday. They were ever so grateful as they'd only got engaged last week. Gave me a fifty-pound tip for that. Can you imagine having a spare fifty-pound just to tip someone for doing their job?' Lisa placed the bucket on the desk.

Megan smiled sadly. Yes, she could imagine it. ‘My phone. I can't remember where I put it.'

‘Is it the one in your hand?' Lisa pointed to Megan.

Looking down, Megan shook her head. Yep, there it was. ‘Ah, thanks. I don't even remember picking it up.'

‘One of those days today, then?'

Megan sighed as she slid her mobile into her pocket and picked up her room key. ‘Something like that. See you later.'

‘Have a good day,' Lisa called over her shoulder as Megan headed to the door. ‘It can only get better.'

Pausing outside the room, Megan turned and watched as Lisa began polishing the bedside table. Maybe she was right. Today could get better. Today and the rest of her life would be better now that she was officially divorcing her lying husband.

Megan hit the Enter key on Flora's laptop and watched as the cursor jumped to the next box in the spreadsheet and waited there, patiently flickering away as she searched the paperwork for the next number to input.

She leaned back in her chair and rolled her shoulders, trying to loosen the tension she told herself was due to spending the morning scrunched over the table rather than the phone call with Evan and the nagging apprehension as she imagined Lyle receiving the official-looking brown envelope and tearing it open to reveal the divorce papers.

The slight creak as the kitchen door opened brought her back to the present.

‘I'm not going to disturb you too much if I come and sit in here for my lunch, am I?'

Looking up, she could see Jay frowning as he held his lunch box up.

‘No, no, disturb away. Please.'

‘Thank you. It's too warm for me to be sitting outside.' He smiled. ‘I don't like the heat much.'

‘Oh, I love the hot weather. Although the heat here isn't the same as abroad.'

‘No, you're right. It's getting too humid here for it to be particularly pleasant.' Jay nodded towards the kettle. ‘Cuppa?'

‘Good idea.' Megan stood up. ‘I'll get them, though. I need to stretch my legs and give my brain a break.'

‘A difficult day with the numbers?' Jay raised his eyebrows at the laptop, and papers strewn across the table.

‘Yes. It's my own fault. I just can't concentrate today.' She flicked the kettle on.

‘Ah, one of those days then.'

Megan laughed. ‘You're not the first person to say that to me this morning! But, yes, I'm definitely longing for this day to be over already.'

‘Sorry to hear that. I hope it isn't anything that bad on your mind.'

‘Mmm…'

Should she tell him? Wasn't the saying something along the lines of ‘a problem shared, a problem halved'? Although it wasn't a problem – the divorce papers – it was a solution.

She spoke quietly as she watched the steam escape the spout of the kettle. ‘My ex will be receiving my divorce papers today.'

Jay whistled under his breath. ‘Are congratulations in order or commiserations?'

She poured the water into the mugs, the small mounds of coffee granules instantly dissolving in the heat of the water. ‘Definitely, congratulations, which is why I don't know why I'm feeling so weird about it all.'

‘Because it's the end of an era in your life. The end of something which was supposed to last forever. The loss of the future you thought you'd have.' Jay's voice was kind, his words a statement, not a question.

Sitting back down, Megan slid his mug across to him. ‘Yes. You sound as though you know what you're talking about?'

‘Thanks.' Jay took a sip of his coffee. ‘It's been two years since I divorced my wife.'

‘Oh, sorry to hear that.'

‘Don't be. It was my decision. Albeit a decision I was forced into.' He lowered his mug onto the table and unwrapped his sandwich. ‘She cheated on me. I only found out by accident, and I've got to admit it floored me for a few months. I didn't even let on that I knew what she was up to. I figured if I just carried on as normal, it might all go away, I might find out that she'd ended things with him, and we could get on with the rest of our lives.'

‘It didn't? I mean, she didn't end things?'

‘Nope.' Jay shook his head and laid his sandwich on the Tupperware box. ‘Quite the opposite. My wife introduced him to our daughter, who was four at the time. She came home, super excited to tell me that Mummy had taken her to a theme park and then proceeded to tell me how much fun Mummy's friend Patrick had been and that he'd even bought her an ice cream.'

‘Ouch. That's awful.'

‘Yep.' Jay rubbed his hand over his face before shaking his head. ‘And suddenly I knew that I couldn't carry on the charade of pretending we were a happy little family a moment longer. I found a solicitor the next day.'

‘Sorry, that must have been really difficult. Especially with a young child involved.'

She looked at him. The usual glisten of happiness in his eyes had been replaced with a dullness instead.

‘It was, but I know it was for the best. In the long term. I didn't want Mia to grow up thinking that was what marriage was supposed to be. And I just couldn't carry on living a lie any more.'

Megan nodded.

‘So I understand that however much you may or may not have wanted the marriage to end, it's still a blow. You've suddenly got to navigate a life you thought you wouldn't lead.'

Megan wrapped her hands around her mug, drawing it close to her despite the warmth in the room. ‘Yes, that's precisely it.'

‘Did your ex cheat too?' Jay asked.

‘No, he didn't cheat. Not that I know of, anyway. He worked too much to have the time to cheat.' She took a sip of her coffee. ‘I found out he wasn't the man I thought he was. He'd changed too much.'

‘Ah.' Jay picked up his mug and held it across the table towards her. ‘Here's to new beginnings.'

Leaning forward, she gently clicked her mug against his and smiled. It was nice to be able to talk to someone who understood, who had been through something similar and really understood the mixed feelings. ‘New beginnings.'

The bell above the door into the reception area tinkled and Flora's voice wafted into the kitchen. ‘That's it. Careful! The last thing you need is to make it worse!'

Jay tilted his head and looked at Megan quizzically before leaning back in his chair and peering out of the open kitchen door. ‘Everything okay?'

‘Is that you, Jay?' Flora called.

‘It is. Do you need a hand?'

‘No, no. It's fine.' Percy's voice joined in.

‘Yes, please, Jay,' Flora said, her voice tinged with concern. ‘Percy's only gone and done his back in.'

Jumping up, Jay hurried out of the door.

Megan stood too, unsure whether she should go and help or if she wasn't needed. But before she could move, Jay and Flora appeared in the kitchen, both of them on either side of Percy, supporting him as he shuffled inside. Megan ran around the table to pull a chair out.

‘Thanks, lovely.' Flora nodded to Jay, and they lowered Percy to the chair. ‘I'll get you a hot water bottle.'

‘I don't need any fussing. I'll be as right as rain once I've had a five-minute sit down.' Percy groaned as he shifted position.

‘I told you, you were doing too much. The problem with you is you think you're still twenty years younger than you are.' Flora tutted as she pulled open a cupboard door and began rooting around.

‘You're a fine one to talk.'

‘Oi, Percy. I'm not the one trying to dig up a dried-out patch of mud, am I? I told you to take a break over an hour ago, but would you listen to me?' Flora shook her head as she freed a hot water bottle from beneath a pile of tea towels.

Shaking his head, Percy sighed. ‘No, I wouldn't.'

Megan watched as Flora walked back around the table to Percy and placed her hand on his.

‘I say it out of a place of love, Percy. You need to start looking after yourself. There's plenty of us here who can help. We've plenty of volunteers who would be happy to pitch in.'

‘Absolutely. Tell me what you need doing and I'll do it.' Jay nodded as he sat back down.

‘We've not got long, that's all. I need to get the groundwork done before I can lay the concrete.' Percy winced again.

‘You're not doing that. As far as I'm concerned, you're off duty for the rest of today and as long as you need to get your back right again.'

Flora ran the hot tap, holding her hand beneath the running water before filling the hot water bottle.

‘Ah no, don't say that, Flora, love. You know that I like to be busy. Can't stand the thought of sitting around.'

‘You should have thought about that before you went and injured yourself then, shouldn't you?' Placing her hand on Percy's shoulder, she gently pushed him forward before slipping the hot water bottle down against the back of his chair.

‘Aw, that's lovely. It feels much better already with that.' Percy relaxed back.

‘Good. Now, do you want a coffee or a cold drink?'

‘A nice coffee please, love.'

‘Jay? Megan?' Flora made her way towards the kettle.

‘No, you're all right, thanks. I'll go and carry on from where Percy left off.' Jay closed the lid of his lunchbox and stood up.

‘Is there anything you want me to do?' Megan asked. ‘I could do with a break from this lot, to be honest.' She indicated the pile of papers. ‘I could walk a couple of the dogs or something?'

Flora paused, kettle in hand. ‘Would you mind helping Jay please, lovely? All the dogs have been out already today, and we won't start the next round of walks until it's a bit cooler.'

‘Yes, okay.' Megan nodded. Anything to get away from the thoughts whirring around in her mind. Besides, clearing the ground would be quite therapeutic. Just what she needed.