The Time Bubble Box Set 2, стр. 275

Preparing myself for the dramatic piece of acting I wasabout to try and pull off, I picked up my mobile, which had now reverted to anS9, browsed through my contacts until I found Gary’s number, and pressed.

He answered really quickly, within one ring. He wascertainly on the ball today.

“Hey, gorgeous – how’s it going?” he asked. That was apromising start.

I’d had good practice at putting on my sickly voice forphoning into work the past few days. Now it was time to play the damsel indistress. Putting on the most miserable-sounding voice I could muster withoutactually sobbing, I got straight to the point.

“Oh, Gary, it’s not going well at all,” I replied. “It’sRob. You know that girl Emma that lives next door? Well, I’ve just found outhe’s been cheating on me with her.”

“The bastard!” exclaimed Gary. “I knew he was up tosomething. That’s why he hasn’t come down the pub for months.”

“Well, that’s news to me,” I replied, adding, “He goes outevery Sunday, supposedly to do the quiz with you in Port Mahon.”

“First I’ve heard of it. What an arsehole. I’m so sorry,Amy. Is there anything I can do?”

“Could you come round?” I said, actually managing to producequite a convincing sob. “I’m feeling really upset.”

“I’m on my way,” he said. “I’ll be there in five. I’m onlyjust up the road.”

After he rang off, I started to have doubts about what I wasplanning to do. I had no qualms about making Rob’s life a misery, but Gary wasa decent chap and I wasn’t sure dragging him into all of this was entirelyfair.

Still, he fancied the arse off me and would be up me like arat up a drainpipe under the right circumstances. And that was today. Yes,maybe I was just using him to get back at Rob but it’s not like he wasn’t goingto get some benefit from it.

Rob, of course, had no idea that I knew about him and Emma.He was really going to be in for a shock.

Casting aside my doubts, I needed to put the finishingtouches to my upset persona. I only had a couple of minutes, so I grabbed anonion from the fridge, and took it over to the kitchen surface next to thesink. I grabbed a chopping board and knife from the drainer and got to work.Quickly I chopped the onion up, and then stuck my face right down by thechopping board to breathe in the fumes.

It stung like hell, but had the desired effect – my eyeswere running like waterfalls. Right on cue, the doorbell rang. Grabbing theboard, I swept the chopped onions out of sight into the kitchen bin, placed itback on the side and made my way to the hall.

Before answering the door I made a brief diversion into thecloakroom to rinse my hands and check my look in the mirror. Big, puffy redeyes looked back at me. Perfect.

Opening the door, I was pleased to see Gary looking as buffas ever, in his postman’s uniform. Despite the freezing weather he was stillwearing shorts – what was it about postmen and shorts in all weathers? I reallyought to ask him, but I had other things on my mind right now.

“Oh Gary, thank you so much for coming,” I blurted out in asdramatic a voice as I dared. “I can’t believe this is happening to me.”

As soon as he was in the flat, I flung my arms around himand said, “Please, just hold me,” adding a few sobs in for good measure.

“I’m so sorry Rob’s done this to you, Amy,” said Gary, hisface out of view over my shoulder. “You deserve better.”

I pulled away so I could face him, but made sure he didn’tlet go. With his arms still around me and looking at my most needy, I replied.“I do.”

When I leaned in for the kiss, he didn’t reject me. Tenminutes later, we were in bed.

What had I been missing all these years? Sex with him wasamazing. It wasn’t just that he was fitter or that he was bigger where itmattered – which he was, by a considerable margin. He was just considerate,putting my needs first.

Not for the first time I cursed that night in the bar backin 2012 when Kelly had got in first. All of this could have been mine,legitimately, without the need to resort to all this subterfuge.

As we lay in the afterglow, daylight fading outside throughthe still-open curtains, I glanced across to the clock on the bedside table. Itwas a little after 4pm. Rob probably wouldn’t be home for a couple of hours yetso I needed to keep Gary here. I wanted Rob to find us in bed together, just asI’d found him and Emma.

As if he’d read my mind, Gary asked, “Where is Rob, now?”

“He’s gone,” I lied. “When I found out, he moved in nextdoor with her temporarily. He said I needed to be out of this place by the endof this week, then he and Emma were moving back in. She’s only renting a roomnext door.”

There was no reason that Gary should disbelieve this. Rob’stoiletries and things were still all around the room, but since I had said hehad only gone temporarily, that wouldn’t seem out of place.

“That’s good,” said Gary. “I wouldn’t want him finding us inbed together, even if he has been at it with Emma.”

I felt a pang of guilt about dragging Gary into this. Was Idoing the right thing? It was too late to back down now. I had come this far, Ihad to see it through.

“It would be no more than he’d deserve,” I said.

“Is that how you found out?” asked Gary. “Were they at it inhere?”

“Nothing so dramatic,” I said. “I was suspicious because hewas always fiddling around on his phone and always locked it before he put itdown. Sooner or later I knew he would slip, and, sure enough, he did onChristmas Day when he’d had so much wine at lunchtime he fell asleep in frontof The Queen.”

“So you took the opportunity to look at his phone?”