Take Two

CHAPTER 4

Billy brought the car to a halt outside the mansion block where Eddie had his flat. She saw Eddie’s black 5-Series BMW parked in the street. ‘Do you want me to wait for you, Miss Castle?’ asked Billy. When he’d first starting driving her, Carolyn had asked him to call her by her first name but he’d insisted it was company policy not to.

‘No, that’s okay, Billy,’ she said. ‘I’ll probably stay over, but I’ll send you a text either way.’

‘It’s an early call tomorrow,’ said Billy. ‘Seven o’clock in make-up, they said.’

‘I’ll be ready for you, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed,’ she said. ‘Have you got anything planned?’

‘Thought I’d take the missus out for a movie and a pizza,’ said Billy. ‘Once she gets over the shock of me getting home this early.’

Carolyn climbed out of the Mercedes and waved goodbye to Billy as she let herself into the block. Eddie had given her a set of keys two months into their relationship and she’d reciprocated by giving him the keys to her house in Notting Hill Gate. There was an old lift that rattled up and down between the floors but Carolyn never liked using it. Eddie’s flat was on the third floor so she walked up the stairs. The common parts of the building were expensively decorated, funded by a sky-high service charge. The carpet was a deep red and there were brass-framed watercolours on the walls and small brass lanterns hanging from the ceiling. She walked slowly up the stairs as she fumbled in her bag for the keys. She reached the third floor and tucked the bottle of champagne under her left arm as she opened the front door, quietly because she wanted to surprise Eddie. She kicked off her shoes and shrugged off her coat, dropped her bag onto a side table and then padded along the hallway to the sitting room. She could hear the television and expected to find Eddie sprawled on his sofa watching Sky Sport, but the living room was empty. There were two glasses on the coffee table, ice cubes melting in them. Carolyn frowned as she stared at the glasses. She tried to swallow but her mouth had gone suddenly dry. There was only one bedroom in the flat, at the end of the hallway. She turned and walked back into the hall, the champagne bottle swinging slowly in her left hand.

She heard the noises as she got closer to the door. Panting. Moaning. Grunting. She felt tears sting her eyes and she blinked them away. She reached out with her right hand but flinched as she heard laughter from inside the bedroom. A man and a girl. Carolyn’s heart was pounding and as she reached out again her hand trembled. She seized the handle, turned it, and slowly pushed open the door. The hinges squeaked and Carolyn’s breath caught in her mouth. She heard grunting, and the slap of flesh against flesh. She pushed the door wide open and stepped into the room.

Eddie was on his knees with his back to her. The blonde girl was kneeling, her head on a pillow as Eddie pounded into her, his hands on her hips.

Tears ran down Carolyn’s face as she watched Eddie make love to her. She was moaning and groaning and calling out his name. Eddie was grunting in time with each thrust. He still had his socks on, Carolyn noticed. Black socks with a blue geometric pattern.

There was a large ornate, gilt-framed mirror above the bed and when Carolyn looked up at it she could see Eddie’s face. His eyes were closed and he was gritting his teeth as he pounded. His upper lip was drawn back into a snarl. It was a look she’d seen dozens of times, the face he made just before he came.

Carolyn took a step forward as the girl lifted up her head. Her face came into view in the mirror. She was in her twenties — half Carolyn’s age. Her mouth was open and her face was bathed in sweat. She was young enough not to need much make-up, just a touch of mascara. Her cheekbones were as sharp as razors, not a blemish on her skin. She moaned his name again.

‘You bastard!’ Carolyn screamed. She threw the bottle of champagne at the mirror and hit it slap bang in the middle. Eddie flinched as the mirror shattered and the girl screamed as hundreds of shards of glass fell around her. Tears ran down Carolyn’s face and she wiped them away with the back of her hand.

‘What the hell are you doing!’ shouted Eddie. He grabbed his white toweling robe. ‘You shouldn’t be here! What do you think you’re doing?’ He put on his robe and tied the belt with a flourish. He pointed at the broken glass on the bed. ‘Look what you’ve done!’

‘What I’ve done?’ repeated Carolyn. ‘Who is she? Who the hell is she?’

The blonde woman was staring at the broken glass in horror. ‘You could have killed me!’ she shouted.

‘Chance’d be a fine thing,’ said Carolyn. ‘You shouldn’t have been here in the first place.’

‘You could have cut me!’ shouted the blonde. She turned to look at Eddie. ‘She’s crazy.’ She held up her right hand and stared at the palm. ‘Oh my God, I’m bleeding,’ she cried and dashed into the bathroom, slamming the door.

‘You’re not supposed to be back this early,’ Eddie said to Carolyn. ‘You said you were working late.’

‘Who is she?’ asked Carolyn, pointing at the bathroom door. ‘Who is that slut?’

‘She’s not a slut,’ said Eddie. ‘And no one said we were exclusive.’

‘What? Exclusive? What the hell does that mean?’

‘You and I have our moments, but let’s face it, you work all the hours that God sends and when we do go out it’s all about you and your bloody show. Zoe has time for me.’

‘And she’s half my age. Is that it?’

‘Don’t be stupid. That’s not what’s it about.’

Carolyn folded her arms. ‘Then tell me what it is about, Eddie. I thought we had something.’

‘We did. But so do Zoe and I. It’s your own fault for coming around without phoning first.’

‘And if I had phoned, what then? You’d have got her out of bed, would you?’

Eddie shook his head. ‘I’d have told you not to come.’

‘One of your famous migraines?’ Her mouth dropped open and she covered it with her hand. ‘Oh my God,’ she said. ‘You’ve done it before, haven’t you? All those times you had a headache, you were screwing her?’

‘Not just her, honey.’ He sighed. ‘Look, Carolyn, no one ever said we were exclusive.’

She took out his keys and waved them at him. ‘Then why do I have these? And why do you have the keys to my house?’

‘Because that’s what you wanted. It was your idea. And I did tell you, call first.’ He looked at his watch. ‘You should go.’

‘Go? What do you mean, go?’

Eddie gestured at the door. ‘Just go home, Carolyn. We can talk about this tomorrow.’

‘What? You want me to leave? Really?’

‘I think that’s best.’

Carolyn took a deep breath, trying to quell the rising sense of panic that was threatening to overwhelm her. ‘Eddie, look, we can sort this out.’ She nodded at the bathroom door. ‘Tell her to go.’ She forced a smile and pointed at the unbroken bottle of champagne. ‘The bubbly’s still okay. We can drink it together.’

Eddie shook his head. ‘You’re the one who needs to go.’

Tears began to run down her face again. ‘Eddie, please…’ She sniffed and wiped her nose with her hand. ‘I just need to talk to you. I don’t want to be on my own, not tonight.’

He shook his head again. ‘You need to go, Carolyn.’

‘I love you, Eddie,’ she said. ‘Please, don’t throw me out.’

‘You shouldn’t have come in the first place,’ he said. He took a step towards the door. ‘Don’t make a scene, honey. Please.’ He put a hand on her shoulder, trying to steer her through the door. She threw her arms around him and hugged him, pressing her cheek against his chest. ‘Please, Eddie. Let me stay.’

‘Carolyn, no.’

‘I’ll do anything, Eddie. Anything you want. Don’t send me away.’

Eddie untangled her arms and held her by the wrists. ‘You can’t stay, Carolyn. I’m sorry.’

Tears were running down her face and she sniffed. ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t phone. I’m sorry I broke your mirror. I’m sorry about everything.’

‘I know,’ he said. He pulled her into the hallway. ‘But you have to go.’

Carolyn caught sight of her reflection in a mirror by his coat rack. Her face was red and blotchy and she’d smeared her lipstick. She looked away, embarrassed.

‘Come on Carolyn. Don’t make this worse than it is.’ Eddie released his grip on her left wrist and opened the front door.

‘Eddie, don’t do this,’ Carolyn sobbed. ‘I need you.’

‘You don’t need anybody,’ said Eddie. ‘That’s your problem.’ He pushed her out of the door. She stood outside, her hands over her face, sobbing as he closed the door.

Still crying, Carolyn reached out to ring the doorbell, but then stopped. She took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. ‘You bastard,’ she muttered. She was suddenly ashamed of the way she’d behaved. At least a dozen things she should have said flashed through her mind but she knew it was too late — there was nothing she could think of that was going to change anything. She turned and walked downstairs and let herself out of the building. As she crossed the road, she took out Eddie’s keys and used the Yale key to scratch the full length of the driver’s side of his BMW, sneering as the key scarred the immaculate paintwork. She started to drop the keys down a nearby grid but began to cry as she realised she couldn’t bring herself to throw them away. A black cab was driving towards her with its light on and she flagged it down. The driver wound down the window and she managed to blurt out ‘Notting Hill Gate’ before she climbed in the back and burst into tears.