Almost perfect, p.27
Almost Perfect, page 27
‘Okay, I won’t touch you. But please listen to me, Georgie. Let me explain–’
‘There is nothing to explain,’ she said, hugging herself and shaking her head. ‘You’re married. There’s nothing more to explain.’
‘Georgie,’ he sighed. ‘I never meant for this to happen, I never meant to hurt you, or anyone.’
She just stared down at the carpet, still hugging herself. She was rocking slightly, back and forward.
‘Georgie?’ he said gently. ‘You have to understand, things were . . . well, things haven’t been right between my wife and me for a long time.’
‘Did she know?’ Georgie snapped.
‘Know what? About you and me?’
‘Did she know things weren’t “right”?’
He frowned. ‘I’m not sure what you’re getting at . . .’
Georgie lifted her head, but she didn’t make eye contact. He could see the pain in her eyes; her lashes were all wet, stuck together, her cheeks tear-stained. He wanted to hold her so badly.
‘Did she know your marriage was in trouble? Was she unhappy too? Was she looking for a way out?’
He didn’t know what to say. ‘I don’t know . . .’
Georgie groaned. ‘Let me put it another way. When did you decide your marriage was in so much trouble? Before or after you met me?’
This was some kind of a test and he didn’t know the right answer. He could only tell the truth. It was all that was left now.
‘I’d been unhappy for a while, we had some . . . issues. I hadn’t thought about leaving her, not really. Not until I met you.’
‘Oh shit!’ Georgie cried. She covered her face with one hand, while clutching her stomach with the other as she doubled over.
‘Georgie, what’s the matter? What’s wrong, are you okay?’
‘No!’ she sobbed. ‘How could you do this? How could you make me this person?’
‘What, honey . . . Georgie, what person? What do you mean?’
‘The other woman.’
‘What?’
She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and took a deep breath, but she kept her head bowed. ‘You made me into the other woman. And I’ll never forgive you for that, Liam. Never.’
He felt sick. He could hear the resolve in her voice, as though she was making a vow.
‘Georgie, I know I’ve done the wrong thing. But I’m trying to fix that now. I want to fix it, I want to do what’s right.’
‘Then leave.’
‘I am going to leave her.’
‘No!’ Georgie exclaimed. ‘You can’t leave her, you mustn’t leave her. If you want to do the right thing then you have to go back to your wife and never see me again.’
‘No . . . I can’t do that.’
‘Well you’re not going to have a choice.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I never want to see you again.’
‘Georgie, don’t do this.’
She lifted her head and looked directly into his eyes. She was disgusted with him, he could see it plainly.
‘Get out of my home, get out of my life. Don’t come near me ever again.’
‘Georgie . . .’ His chest was aching. He wanted to touch her, to hold her, comfort her. To tell her they would get through this, he’d make it right, she had to trust him. But she was looking at him as though she hated him, and he couldn’t stand it. He hadn’t realised how incensed she would be. He thought that once he explained he intended to leave Anna, that he was choosing her, she would be okay. Yes, it would be a shock, and he expected some anger. But Georgie loved him, she would forgive him, ultimately she’d want to be with him.
Again she dropped her head, hugging herself, rocking. He didn’t want to leave her but they were getting nowhere. Perhaps if he gave her some time to process it, get over the shock. It was probably best if he got out of her way now, stopped fuelling the hatred she seemed to have developed out of nowhere. It would be impossible for her to hate him forever. He knew Georgie, she didn’t have the capacity to hate.
‘I’ll go now,’ he said gently. ‘I don’t want to upset you any more tonight. If you want to call me, it doesn’t matter what time it is, even if you just want to yell at me . . .’ He waited for some kind of response but she didn’t move, her head was bowed, her hair shielded her face.
‘So, if I don’t hear from you, I’ll phone you tomorrow, and we’ll work out where we go from here.’ End on a positive. That was a strategy he’d learned in business. Talk as though the deal was done and only a few minor details had to be ironed out. Failure was not an option.
But he badly wanted to hold her. He loved her, he hated seeing her so distraught. And knowing he’d been the cause of it . . . He reached his hand out cautiously to brush her hair from her face. But she flinched, jerking away from him. He sighed. ‘Okay, I’ll go. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.’
He stood up wearily and stepped back to the door, looking down at her. She still hadn’t moved. He watched her for a while, but it was no use. He opened the door and slipped out, closing it quietly behind him.
Monday
‘Good morning, The Reading Rooms, Louise speaking. How can I help you?’
‘Louise, hi, it’s Liam MacMullen.’
‘Hi Liam,’ Louise returned guardedly. She didn’t know what had happened between him and Georgie. They hadn’t heard from her all weekend, and she hadn’t arrived at work yet. Normally she’d be here by now, and Louise and Adam had been wondering if she might have gone away with Liam after all.
‘I don’t suppose, well, I was hoping to speak to Georgie if she’s around?’
‘She hasn’t come in yet, Liam.’
Louise heard a loud sigh. ‘Have you spoken to her?’
‘Not this morning.’
‘Did you talk to her or see her at all over the weekend?’
‘No,’ Louise hesitated. ‘I thought maybe she was with you.’
‘No,’ he said gravely.
‘You haven’t seen her at all?’
‘Sorry, I did see her Friday night,’ he explained. ‘I tried calling her all over the weekend, I’ve even been to the flat a few times but she doesn’t answer.’ He paused. ‘I’m worried about her, Louise.’
‘What happened Friday night?’
Another sigh. ‘We had a fight. It was pretty bad.’
‘Oh,’ Louise murmured. This was awkward. ‘Did you break it off with her, Liam?’
‘No, no,’ he assured her. ‘She’s the one who doesn’t want to see me any more.’
What the hell did he do to her? ‘Okay,’ Louise said briskly. She didn’t want Liam’s version anyway, she’d wait until she talked to Georgie. ‘Well, one of us’ll go over, we’ve got keys to her place.’
‘Do you mind, could you ask her to call me?’ he said. ‘Or could someone call me so I know she’s all right?’
‘Sure Liam.’ He gave her his mobile number and she wrote it down. ‘I’ll talk to you later, bye.’
Louise hung up and speed-dialled home. Nick must have been sitting on the phone because he picked up straight away.
‘Hi, Nick, it’s me.’
‘I know, I haven’t forgotten.’
‘What, the sound of my voice?’
‘To call the dishwasher guy. I was just about to.’
‘I’m not ringing about that,’ she said, exasperated.
‘Oh, what’s up?’
‘Liam just phoned.’
‘And?’
‘Apparently he and Georgie had a fight on Friday night and he hasn’t been able to get on to her since then, he’s even gone round there and she doesn’t answer.’
‘Okay, I’m on my way.’
‘Drop Grace off here, will you? I don’t want her with you, in case . . . anything.’
‘Yeah,’ he swallowed. ‘Shit Louise, you don’t think–’
‘No, no I don’t. She’ll be all right. I’m sure she’ll be all right.’
Nick realised his hand was shaking as he pushed the key into the lock of Georgie’s door. He’d been gripped by an overwhelming sense of dread since Louise’s call; he hadn’t been able to get out of the house fast enough. The whole time he kept telling himself she was not like their mother, she wouldn’t go that far. But she was like their mother, everyone said so. Nick had kept a close eye on her when she was younger, but she seemed to cope fine out on her own, and with the business. He had felt more at ease as the years passed. He had convinced himself eventually that Georgie was made of stronger stuff than Gillian. He’d only worried she may never find someone for herself, and then Liam had come along. She’d seemed so happy lately, so settled. Nick had really had the feeling this might be the one. He was not an aggressive man, but if Liam had hurt her, if he had pushed her to . . .
The door swung open and he burst through, calling her name. He quickly scanned the living area. ‘Georgie!’ he called again, striding down the hall to her room. And then he saw her, or at least a tuft of coppery hair sticking out of the tangled mess of bedclothes. He walked over and yanked at the doona.
‘Georgie! Wake up, it’s me, Nick.’ No response. He threw back the curtains to get some light into the room before pulling the covers away to reveal her head and shoulders, face down. As he turned her over he registered that she was warm, thank Christ. He smoothed her hair away from her face, kneeling up on the bed beside her. ‘Georgie, wake up.’
She groaned, but she was completely out of it. ‘Come on, Georgie,’ he said sternly. ‘Wake up.’ He gave her shoulders a gentle shake.
‘Don’t want to,’ she murmured, trying to roll back over, but Nick wouldn’t let her.
‘Georgie! Wake up!’ He pulled her up into a sitting position, supporting her with one arm while he held her face with his free hand. ‘Georgie, open your eyes.’
She screwed up her face and opened her eyes, barely, squinting. ‘It’s too bright,’ she moaned, closing them again.
‘Georgie, have you taken anything?’
‘What?’
‘Listen carefully to me, Georgie. Have you taken anything? Any tablets, any pills? Anything at all?’
‘No, of course I haven’t,’ she grumbled, shrugging him off. She looked around the room, still squinting, trying to adjust to the light.
Nick held her face up to his, peering into her eyes.
‘Nick! What the hell are you doing?’
‘I just . . .’ He suddenly felt choked with relief. He gathered her up in his arms and hugged her tight, he couldn’t help himself.
‘Nicholas Reading, would you cut it out! You’re freaking me out!’
He released her, sitting back to look at her.
‘You’re acting like I’ve come back from the dead or something.’
He winced. ‘Don’t say that.’
Georgie frowned at him. ‘Why did you think I’d taken something?’
‘Well,’ he hesitated, ‘I was just worried about you. We’ve all been worried. No one’s heard from you all weekend–’
‘What?’ She was shocked. ‘What day is it?’
‘Monday.’
‘Shit.’ Georgie rubbed her eyes. ‘How did you know . . .? What made you come over here?’
‘Liam rang the shop.’
She sat there for a minute, staring at the bed, her head downcast.
‘Georgie, what happened?’
Her eyes lifted to meet his, and Nick saw they were filled with tears. Her face crumpled and she started to sob. He moved closer and put his arm around her. ‘What’s the matter, sis, what happened?’
She said something but it was muffled against his shoulder. He looked down at her. ‘What did you say?’
She sighed tremulously. ‘He’s married,’ she repeated as her voice broke and tears streamed down her cheeks.
Nick held her while she cried and cried like a little girl. The dickhead. Why did it have to happen to Georgie? She couldn’t hurt a living thing if her life depended on it. She was too bloody trusting was the problem. He knew Louise was sometimes a little inclined to suspect the worst, but she’d obviously been right to have reservations about Liam. Nick should have listened to her, he should have paid closer attention to what was going on. He should have protected Georgie from this.
After a while she seemed calmer. She reached back for some tissues on her bedside table, wiped her face and blew her nose.
‘I’d better ring Louise, let her know you’re okay,’ said Nick.
‘I didn’t mean to worry anyone.’
‘It’s all right.’ He picked up the phone next to her bed but there was no dial tone. ‘Something’s wrong with your phone, Georgie.’
She sighed heavily. ‘It kept ringing. I pulled it out. I didn’t want to talk to him . . . I couldn’t . . .’
Nick replaced the phone on its cradle and turned to look at her.
‘He came over Friday night,’ she went on. ‘Did Louise tell you about the phone call on Thursday?’
He nodded.
‘So he showed up here not long after I got home from work. He looked terrible, I thought he was ill.’ She stared across at the wall. ‘That’s when he told me . . .’
Nick saw the tears creep back into her eyes. He put his arm around her, rubbing her shoulder. Georgie leaned her head against him. ‘He said he was going to leave her for me. He must think I was born yesterday.’ She paused. ‘Besides, even if he meant it, I couldn’t break up a marriage.’ She looked up at Nick. ‘You know that, don’t you? I would never have been with Liam if I’d known he was married.’
‘I know that.’
‘So I told him he had to go. After a while, I don’t know how long, the phone started ringing. I pulled it out from the wall, and I turned off my mobile as well. Then I went to bed.’
‘For the rest of the weekend?’
‘I guess,’ she murmured vaguely. ‘I got up and watched some old movie on TV at one stage. I thought it was the middle of the night.’
‘Have you eaten anything?’
‘I don’t think so. I don’t remember.’
Nick sighed. ‘You’re coming back to our place, okay? Stay with us a few days, till you feel better.’
Georgie nodded. ‘Okay.’
‘You go have a shower and get ready, I’ll plug in the phone and call Louise. Do you want me to make you something to eat?’
‘No, I don’t want to hang around here.’
Nick smiled faintly at her. ‘You’re going to be okay, Georgie.’
She nodded, swallowing back the tears that were rising in her throat again. But once she was in the shower, she couldn’t hold them back any longer. The pain was intolerable, that’s why she had slept all weekend. Every time she was awake she felt the pain afresh, it hadn’t eased at all.
The whole thing still felt unreal. She kept thinking Liam would turn up and tell her there had been problems at work, that’s all it was. He would tell her he loved her and that he wanted to marry her. Not that he was married to someone else.
How long had he been married anyway? Did he have kids? Georgie hadn’t thought to ask those questions. They hadn’t really crossed her mind at the time, but her few waking moments had been plagued by them. If he had children . . . Georgie couldn’t bear thinking about it. She couldn’t be the reason a family was torn apart. She would not be. She was never going to see Liam again. That was the only way. Because if she saw him . . . her chest tightened, squeezing more tears into her throat . . . if she saw him, her resolve might weaken. She couldn’t trust herself. He had hurt and betrayed her in the worst possible way, yet she desperately wanted to hold him the other night, to feel his arms around her. So she wouldn’t even let him touch her. And when he kept ringing, she was so tempted to pick up the phone and tell him to come back right away. Tell her all the terrible things about his wife, give her a reason to make it all right.
But nothing would make it right. Their whole relationship was founded on a lie. It was a myth, it wasn’t real because not one moment had been honest. Liam had no right to fall in love with her, if he was in love with her. How could she believe anything he said now? The only thing Georgie knew for sure was that she loved him, he was the love of her life, and now she could never be with him.
Morgan Towers
‘MacMullen.’
‘Hello, Liam?’
‘Yes . . . Louise,’ he said, recognising her voice. ‘Have you heard anything?’
‘She’s all right.’
‘Oh,’ he breathed. ‘That’s a relief. Thanks for letting me know.’
‘She was at the flat the whole time, but she’d turned off the phones, hibernating for the weekend. Nick’s taking her back to our place.’
‘I see.’ They must know. Georgie must have told them. He felt like a criminal. ‘Maybe, um, maybe I could try calling her later?’
Louise didn’t answer right away. ‘I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Liam. Perhaps you’d better leave it a few days.’
He swallowed. It would feel like a year. ‘Fair enough.’
‘Bye now.’
He sat still, holding the phone, staring down at his desk without actually seeing anything on it. He couldn’t work. He couldn’t focus. He used to be able to work through anything, but not any more. He noticed Stella walking past the frosted glass door of his office. He was about to call out, but he didn’t want to incur another lecture. He pressed the intercom and she answered immediately.
‘Can I see you for a minute?’
She appeared at the door of his office. ‘What do you need, Mac?’
‘Come inside, close the door.’
She did as he asked, then came to stand at the other side of his desk, watching him expectantly.
‘Take a seat.’
Stella sat down. ‘What is it?’
He hadn’t really thought this through. ‘Um, actually, I was thinking about lunch.’
‘Oh?’ She looked a little confused. ‘Well, you don’t have any appointments.’
‘Good, okay,’ he nodded.
‘Do you want me to order you something in?’
‘No, no, I was thinking of going out.’
‘Okay.’
‘Do you want to come?’
