United States of Love. Sue Fortin
sofa and unzipped her boots, relieved Mark had managed to get her home in one piece.
‘Here, let me,’ said Mark, kneeling down and gently pulling each of her boots off in turn.
Anna put her head back into the headrest and closed her eyes. It felt like her brain was swaying all on its own to the James Blunt track You're Beautiful that Mark had just put on. She was aware that Mark had sat down on the sofa beside her, but she kept her eyes closed and hummed to the music. Mark began humming too, which was most unlike him. She opened one eye and glimpsed sideways at him, sitting back in the same position as her. He looked at her and a big grin spread across his face. They looked at each other for a second and then they both burst out laughing.
‘Stop it,’ Anna grinned. ‘If I didn't know you better, I'd think you were taking the mickey out of me.’ She gave him a playful tap on the arm.
Mark caught her hand in his. ‘As if I'd do a thing like that.’
There, her hand was doing it again; it wasn't paying any attention to the warnings. Her hand was certainly being defiant. Anna closed her eyes again but opened them as Mark lifted her hand to his lips.
For a second, all the years of heartache fell away and a brief image of them on their wedding day, happy and smiling, flitted in front of her. Love and treachery went hand in hand with Mark, as immediately this image was replaced with the memory of his betrayal. This was certainly a sobering thought, in more ways than one.
Quietly and with an apologetic smile, Anna withdrew her hand. Mark gave a resigned half smile.
‘You're probably right,’ he said softly.
Anna nodded, shifting slightly in her seat to face him, resting her head on her hand.
‘Why are you back, Mark?’
Anna awoke the next morning with a thumping headache. It felt as if the whole cast of Riverdance were performing in her head, and her mouth tasted like it had an old sock stuck in it. It was a few seconds before she remembered the events of the previous evening. She groaned inwardly as she began to put together fragmented memories that came to mind, not necessarily in the order of events, but it didn't take her long before she got to that moment on the sofa with Mark.
‘Shit,’ she said aloud as she remembered him saying that he had come back for her. That he missed her, and could they possibly give things another try? It had poleaxed her. She hadn't known what to say, but somehow through the haze of the alcohol she had managed some clarity and had suggested they talk about it when they were both sober. Okay, she was buying time, but she needed headspace.
She reached over for her mobile and saw a message from Luke. It had come in last night, after she had gone to bed. A simple message saying goodnight and that he loved her. Anna sent one back, asking if he was okay, and to let her know if he needed picking up later.
Tentatively, Anna swung her feet onto the floor. She needed a cup of tea. It was then she remembered she was supposed to be taking her nephews out that morning. ‘Oh no,’ she groaned, but knew she couldn’t let Zoe down.
Pulling on her dressing gown and making her way downstairs, Anna was relieved to find Mark had already left. She didn't want to face him yet.
Zoe opened the front door to a rather delicate looking Anna.
‘Blimey, you actually look worse than me,’ Zoe croaked through her soggy tissue. She stood to one side to let Anna come in. ‘I take it whatever you ended up doing, you had a good night?’
Anna grunted and began to shake her head but stopped abruptly. It hurt too much. Her barely intelligible response to Zoe reminded her of Luke. Hell! When did she morph into her teenage son? ‘My head is killing me,’ she groaned and looked at herself in the hall mirror. ‘God, my eyes look like burn holes in a blanket.’
‘I'll put the kettle on.’
The clattering of feet on the wooden floor and the shrieking of three excited boys pierced the air.
‘Aunty Anna! Aunty Anna!’
‘Yay! We're going to the park!’
‘Can we go now?’
Anna was nearly bowled over as Jake, Alex and Henry threw themselves at her for a group hug.
‘Sshhhh! Boys! Sssshhh!’ pleaded Zoe, trying to calm them down and prise them away from their aunt. ‘You're going to wake Emily up.’ Too late. Emily didn't want to be left out of the fun and began crying. ‘Thanks a lot, boys.’
Anna looked at Zoe who was now pulling a crumpled tissue from her sleeve. She wasn't sure if Zoe was dabbing her eyes and nose because of her cold or because she was upset. This wasn't good.
‘Come on, boys,’ cajoled Anna. ‘Why don't you go in the garden for ten minutes? I'm not quite ready yet. Come on. And you, Henry. Here, I'll carry you. There we go. Come on, Jake. Alex. Let's go outside for a bit.’
Zoe looked at her gratefully before disappearing upstairs.
‘There's a cup of tea for you,’ smiled Anna as Zoe came back down carrying Emily. ‘Ooh hello, Emily darling. Did those boys wake you up? Never mind. Come here for a cuddle while mummy has a cup of tea.’ Anna took Emily before either mother or daughter could protest, and gently bobbing the child up and down, she wandered over to the window. ‘Look, can you see your brothers? There's Alex and Jake and little Henry. Aren't they having fun?’ She turned to her sister-in-law. ‘You okay, Zoe?’
‘Thanks, Anna. That's the first time someone's made a cup of tea for me in ages.’
‘Why don't I take Emily out as well? She doesn't seem too full of cold this morning. As long as you wrap her up warm the fresh air will do her good. What do you think, Emily? Want to come to the park? Mummy can have a nice, long soak in the bath, or sleep in bed, do whatever she fancies. Veg out in front of some cooking show.’
Zoe didn't even pretend to make a ‘oh, you don't have to’ or ‘it'll be too much for you’ type of protest. She didn't have the energy or the inclination, it seemed.
Having spent a good couple of hours at the park with the children then walking into town, treating them all to a McDonald's, Anna was glad to be back home. She really could do with a sleep. A boozy night, followed by an early morning and all that running around in the park had worn her out.
Any notion she had of a quiet afternoon was shattered pretty much as soon as she walked through the front door to her house. Luke jumped up from the sofa and turned to face her angrily.
‘What did you say to Dad?’ he demanded.
‘Oh, hello, Mum. How are you? Want a cup of tea? Oh, I'm fine thanks, Luke. A bit tired but I'd love a cup of tea,’ she said, annoyed at the abruptness of Luke's greeting.
‘Sorry,’ mumbled Luke. He went out to the kitchen and reappeared a couple of minutes later with a cup of tea.
‘Thank you.’ She took the cup from Luke and put it on the coffee table in front of her. ‘Now, what’s up?’
Luke flopped down into the chair by the fireplace. ‘Dad! He was supposed to be taking me out for a curry tonight and then we were coming back to watch the football.’
‘And now?’
‘He phoned to say he wasn’t coming back tonight because of you.’ Luke glanced up at Anna before reverting his gaze to the television.
‘Me? What have I done?’ What had she done to make Mark leave? She had no idea. ‘Did he say anything?’
Luke let out a sigh. ‘No, just that he thought it was best if he stayed out of your way for a bit.’
Anna could see the disappointment Luke was trying to hide behind