Divided Loyalties (29 page)

‘Nice to meet you folks. Shauna should throw a party to introduce you properly to Abu Dhabi society. It’s been a while since you had a bash, Shauna.’ Darlene beamed and then
saw some new arrivals and made a beeline for them.

‘That’s Darlene Whitman and she’s the nosiest busybody in the Emirates. And I won’t be inviting her to any bash in the near future,’ Shauna informed them as she
waved at Jenna and Brett, whom Carrie and Dan had already met.

‘Darlene’s husband works with Rashid and he’s as quiet as a mouse and so nice. I feel very sorry for him with a wife like her. And she goes to every single party they’re
invited to and never hosts one in return,’ Monique explained, laughing at Carrie’s bemused expression.

‘This place is mad,’ Dan murmured a couple of hours later as he and Carrie sat on a swing seat in a corner of the garden and watched the guests chatting animatedly as though it had
been months since they’d seen each other rather than days or, in some cases, hours.

‘It’s all a bit frantic, isn’t it?’ Carrie remarked as she watched Shauna, Jenna and a slender Asian woman gesticulating vivaciously as they discussed the latest
gossip.

‘Would you like to live here?’ her husband asked as he took a long draught of beer.

‘For a couple of months maybe, but not for as long as Shauna has. It’s a kind of superficial lifestyle, isn’t it? All these parties and coffee mornings and social gatherings.
Shauna told me she often changes her outfits three and four times a day if she’s got a lot on.’ Carrie wrinkled her nose, brushing away some irritating insect that was taking a big
interest in her upper arms.

Dan laughed. ‘You might have to expand your wardrobe. You’ve about five outfits in
total
.’

‘
Exactly!
’ She grinned, kissing him on the cheek. ‘I couldn’t bear the hassle of having to worry about what clothes and what accessories to wear. They even try
to outdo each other in the jewellery stakes. Darlene isn’t the only one who commented on Shauna’s new “piece”.’

‘Shauna has a lot of jewellery all right,’ Dan said wryly. ‘I should buy you a couple of “pieces” while we’re here.’ He smiled down at her, his eyes
crinkling good-humouredly in his tanned face.

‘Don’t be daft! We don’t have to keep up with the Joneses like Greg and Shauna do. I’d prefer you to buy me a piece as a love token rather than a trophy to flash in front
of the neighbours.’ Carrie nestled into the crook of his arm and yawned. The humidity was getting to her and she was tired. Although the holiday was fun and exhilarating, the pace was
unrelenting. They were going to Al Ain the following day and Shauna and Greg had a full itinerary of things to do and see planned for the weekend.

‘Greg’s very driven, isn’t he?’ Carrie glanced over at her brother-in-law, who was deep in conversation with a stocky, balding man with a bad comb-over.

‘It’s paying off. He’s loaded. They’ve ten properties at home and land in Cavan. And he’s buying a place in Dubai,’ Dan observed laconically.

‘We’ve land in North County Dublin,’ Carrie retorted.

Dan laughed. ‘I suppose we have.’

‘And, more to the point, we’re a happy family. That counts for a lot, doesn’t it?’ She arched an eyebrow at him.

‘A hell of a lot. We’re lucky, aren’t we, Carrie?’ Dan’s blue eyes studied her intently.

‘You bet we are, Dan. I wouldn’t swap our life for all the jewels in the Orient.’

‘I guess we’re just two boring old codgers. Sad but true.’ He grinned at her, his teeth pearly white in the dark. His tan had deepened and he looked ruggedly handsome in his
maroon Lacoste shirt and beige chinos.

‘Well, you’re a dead
sexy
boring old codger and I wish we were at home so I could ride you ragged,’ Carrie murmured longingly, running her finger along the dark hairs
on his forearm.

‘Stop!’ he warned. ‘Don’t talk dirty to me, or I might jump on you and that would give good ole Darlene and her folks something to talk about.’

Carrie guffawed and didn’t notice that Shauna looked at her with a wistful envy in her eyes.

‘You’re very quiet. What’s wrong with you?’ Greg asked as he and Shauna undressed for bed.

‘I’m tired. It was a long day and a long night,’ she murmured, sliding her nightdress over her head.

‘I think Carrie and Dan are enjoying themselves. Sorry I can’t go to Al Ain with you tomorrow. Pierre rescheduled a meeting that I just can’t get out of.’ Greg yawned as
he stepped out of his trousers.

‘What’s new?’ Shauna said sourly.

‘Hey, don’t be like that, Shauna,’ he said irritably as he emptied his change onto the bedside locker and flung his trousers onto the chaise longue by the French windows.

‘There’s more to life than work, Greg,’ she snapped. ‘Look at us. You’re gone in the morning before I get up. You come home; we go out to a function or for dinner
with other people and spend the night talking to the world and his mother. We have five minutes’ chat, maybe, at bedtime and that’s it. We’re like ships that pass in the night. I
was just looking at Carrie and Dan tonight. They sat together for nearly an hour chatting and laughing, completely happy in each other’s company, and I envied them. I really envied them,
Greg,’ she said reproachfully. ‘We don’t have that any more, and I miss it.’

‘Oh, for fuck’s sake, Shauna, the hour of the night you pick to have a conversation like this. Your timing is
lousy
!’ He glared at her as he flung himself down on the
bed.

‘Don’t take the nose off me,’ she snapped back. ‘You asked me what was wrong with me and I’m telling you.’

‘Look,’ he said exasperatedly, ‘we’re not Carrie and Dan, we’re us, and I wish you’d stop ramming them down my neck as the perfect family and the perfect
couple. There were a lot of very interesting people at that party tonight; they should have mixed and mingled more when they had the opportunity. When are they going to attend a party like that
again? They can sit talking to each other at home any time.’

‘They did mix but they sat talking to each other as well, because to each other they
are
the most interesting people. That’s my point. They don’t need to go outside
their marriage to be entertained. They entertain each other.’ She didn’t try to disguise her frustration. Greg had hardly spoken to her, Dan or Carrie at the party, he’d been so
busy networking.

‘How boring for them,’ he said derisively.

‘Don’t be so superior.’ She couldn’t hide her disgust.

‘Shauna,
why
did you marry me?’ He sat up and eyeballed her.

‘I . . . I . . .’ she stuttered, surprised by his question.

‘Why did you marry me? What attracted you to me?’ he persisted.

‘I liked it that you were outgoing and fun-loving . . . different from what I’d grown up with,’ she admitted sulkily.

‘Well, I haven’t changed,’ he said coldly.

‘Yes you have, Greg, you don’t have time for
me
any more, you don’t have time for Chloe, all you care about is impressing the so-called big guys and making
money—’

‘Money so that you and Chloe can have a very comfortable lifestyle,’ he interrupted angrily. ‘What’s wrong with that, for crying out loud? I haven’t heard you
complaining before.’

‘There’s more to life, Greg,’ she argued.

‘You didn’t think so when we met first. You were into making money as much as I was.’ His eyes were like flints, hard and cold.

‘Things change. We’ve a child to consider. I’ve changed. My needs have changed,’ she retorted, trying not to let her voice shake. She hated having rows with Greg. It made
her feel sick. It reminded her of the bad old days when she had to stand up for herself to Noel. Even though she hadn’t flinched from it, it had always left her shaking afterwards. She could
feel that old familiar quiver in her tummy that brought her right back to childhood, and was half sorry she’d started the argument.

‘Yes, you have changed.’ Greg was snarling at her. ‘You’re never satisfied. You’ve turned into a moany, needy
nag
and I’m getting tired of it.’
He lay down and turned his back on her.

‘You’re a bastard, Greg. That was totally uncalled for.’ Shauna felt tears smarting in her eyes. She was shocked at his vehemence and his uncharacteristic viciousness.

He remained stubbornly silent.

Unwilling to let him see her cry she stalked into the en suite and closed the door behind her. They’d had their rows before but this was a new low. She rested her forehead against the cool
oyster-coloured tiles. He was right about one thing: her timing
was
lousy. There was nothing worse than having to pretend that everything was all right in front of visitors, when
everything was very, very wrong.

Greg lay in bed fuming. Was there no pleasing the bloody woman? He worked his ass off to buy her jewellery and clothes that cost an arm and a leg, and to provide her with
luxury homes and a great lifestyle, and what thanks did he get for it? Damn all. Instead he got plodding, boring Dan and Carrie shoved down his neck as role models for a marriage. If he had to
descend to their level of dull he’d hang himself, he thought angrily as he pummelled his pillow into a more comfortable shape.

He supposed he was lucky she hadn’t started on him about having a baby again. He’d bought himself some breathing space there. Nice and all as Hannah was, having her around 24/7 just
brought back bad memories of high chairs in restaurants, and a social life arranged around nap times and feeding times, and cranky crying when tiredness got the better of her. If there was one
thing this visit of Shauna’s family had confirmed for him it was that he emphatically did not want another child. He hadn’t the patience for children. He had no empathy with them and
that was the honest truth.

Chloe got up his nose with her whining, which seemed to be getting worse. When she was good she was gorgeous, but he didn’t
want
any more kids. Why should he have to apologize for
that? He wasn’t Saint Dan and the sooner Shauna realized that and stopped trying to make him feel like a heel the better.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like his brother-in-law, he mused. Dan was an OK guy and intelligent with it, but he was happy to work away on his market gardening business and spend time
with his family and as far as Greg could see that was the height of his ambition. He’d find that stultifyingly boring. He needed to push himself, to challenge himself to even greater success.
If he lost that hunger and drive he might as well give up. If Shauna loved him she’d accept that as part and parcel of who he was.

What a bummer of a way to end the evening. He’d been so proud watching his wife show off her new jewellery. She’d looked stunning with her blond hair swept up in a classy chignon and
that gorgeous crimson dress showing off her great chassis. He’d enjoyed seeing the flashes of admiration in other men’s eyes and the spark of envy in the women’s. This lifestyle
was his forte, this was where he shone, and it had given him pleasure to show Carrie and Dan how far he and Shauna had come. He’d thought his wife felt the same. She’d seemed to really
enjoy showing them all the sights and delights of this multi-faceted country.

And then she hits him with this! Out of the blue. How could he be so off beam? Couldn’t Shauna see that he only wanted the best for them? What was so awful about that? It was just as well
that he wasn’t going to Al Ain with them tomorrow. He wouldn’t be able to keep a civil tongue in his head with her, he was so pissed off with her ingratitude.

He heard the bathroom door open and Shauna padding over to the bed. He turned away and pulled over to the far edge of the mattress. Right now he wanted nothing to do with his wife. If
she’d kicked him in the balls it wouldn’t have hurt as much as this did. He attempted to focus his thoughts on the strategy meeting he had to attend in the morning. It was important
that he make a good impression. At least it would take his mind off his domestic problems, he thought grimly, wishing that he could go asleep. But sleep was hard to come by and he tossed and turned
restlessly, wondering how his and Shauna’s paths could have diverged so drastically without his even realizing it.

‘Happy Easter, Noel.’

‘And the same to you, Mrs O’Neill.’ Noel tried his best to appear cheerful but he was feeling very lonely indeed. The last week seemed to have crawled by. He’d developed
a heavy cold on his chest and hadn’t been able to go bowling or, even worse, take part in the Easter church ceremonies.

‘This is for you.’ His neighbour handed him a big Malteser Easter egg.

‘Good heavens! Er . . . thanks very much, but I’m afraid I don’t have one for you.’ He was completely flustered.

Mrs O’Neill gave a hearty chuckle. ‘It’s all right, Noel, I didn’t buy you one either. This is from Carrie and the children. She asked me to keep it for you until Easter
Sunday. She told me you had a great fondness for Maltesers.’

‘Indeed I do. Wasn’t that good of them, all the same?’ he exclaimed, touched at his daughter’s kindness.

‘She’s a great girl,’ Mrs O’Neill agreed.

‘She’ll be ringing me shortly. She thinks I was at half ten Mass—’

‘And you let her go on thinking it,’ his neighbour warned. ‘We don’t want her holiday spoilt worrying about a little cold.’

‘Oh now, it’s more than a cold, I’m afraid. It’s gone into my chest. And the antibiotics aren’t clearing it up. It could turn to pneumonia or pleurisy if it’s
not something more sinister,’ he said gravely.

‘Now stop that nonsense, Noel. You’ve got a cold,’ Mrs O’Neill said briskly. ‘Go inside and I’ll make you a cup of tea. Are you all right for your dinner
today? Did you defrost one of Carrie’s frozen ones?’

‘No, her sister-in-law Sadie is bringing me over a turkey dinner. That’s if I can eat it.’ He led the way into the kitchen.

‘You’ll be well hungry for it if you don’t eat too many Maltesers,’ Mrs O’Neill assured him as she bustled into the kitchen and put on the kettle. ‘Would you
like a slice of toast or a biscuit with your tea?’

‘Sure I’ll try a piece of toast. I’ve lost my appetite over the past few days, but I suppose I need to keep my strength up.’