Forever Is Over (136 page)

“
He
’
ll never love you like he loved me, Jemma. Whatever happens,
I
’
ll always be his first.
”

“
Just get out!
”

“
Thanks for the coffee. I
’
ll pop the scan photos in the post. I
’
m sure
Richie will be dying to see them
…
..I
’
ll see myself out.
”

I let her go. I was fuming, not with Kelly as much as Richie. He
was in big trouble. I vowed when he got back in that night, I was going
to kill him.

I was so ready for a blazing row
that I had already shipped the
kids over to Richie
’
s Mum
’
s in anticipation. I just told Dot that I had
a surprise planned for Richie and wi
th her being a diamond and him
being
‘
favourite offspring
’
, she agreed without a moments hesitation.
Dot was one of the only people that could handle Jamie. She was very
firm with him, but he seemed to respect
her for it. Dot was insistent
that Richie and I should implement her strong armed methods with
Jamie but would not have it that we had tried and failed. She was an
interfering busy body but a lovely one at that! She wasn
’
t content with
just knowing I had a
‘
surprise
’
planned that night either, but when she
pressed me, I just told her I wanted to book a taxi and take Richie for
a pasta and a bottle of wine. It was a Friday, so Dot said she
’
d keep the
kids and drop them back off on Saturday afternoon.

Most nights Richie was back from the Building Society by about
six, but to compound my fury that night, by seven o
’
clock, there was still
no sign of him. I poured myself a glass of white wine and then another
and by the time I heard the key in the door, I was on my third large
glass. It was almost half past seven. I heard Richie put his briefcase down in the hall.

“
Why
haven
’
t you phoned to say
you
’
d
be  late?
”
I
shouted through.

“
Sorry love, there was a till discrepancy. A fiver down. Stopped back
for ages running through the tills trying to find it, but I couldn
’
t. If you
give someone a fiver less than you should, they soon tell you about it,
but give them a fiver too much, it just goes in their arse pocket!
It
’
s quiet in here, isn
’
t it? Where are the kids?
”

“
At your mother
’
s?
”

Richie came into the lounge all suited and booted. I was as mad as
hell with him, but boy he looked sex
y after a few glasses of wine.

             
“
Why are they at my Mum
’
s? We
’
re not supposed to be going out
are we?
”

“
No, I needed to speak to you.
”

Richie laughed a little falsely to himself.

“
Can you not talk when the kids are here?
”

“
Not properly, no.
”

Richie failed to appreciate the level of my fury. He walked over
to the television and switched it on, grabbing the remote control and
putting some
‘
Sports News
’
channel on. He
’
s lucky I didn
’
t grab a chair
and smash the TV screen into a million tiny pieces, but managing to
control myself a little, I just snatched the remote contol off him and switched the TV off.

“
Oi! I was about to watch that!
”

“
Did you not hear me, Richie, I said I needed to speak to you?
”

“
About what.
”

“
Kelly.
”

Richie sighed.

“
Jemma, it
’
s been a long day and a long bloody week. It
’
s the weekend,
the kids aren
’
t here, can we not just make the most of a bit of peace and
quiet, just for one night and we
’
ll talk about Kelly tomorrow?
”

“
No, Richie, we can
’
t. She
’
s been here today.
”

“
Kelly has? To our house? What for?
”

“
To tell me things.
”

“
Like what?
”

“
Things I didn
’
t know. Things you never told me!
”

“
Such as?
”

“
Such as you taking your wedding
ring off when you met up with
her!
”

“
Jemma! This is just a small, insignificant piece of information about
that day. Why rake this up again now? It
’
s behind us. What good does
it
do dredging up tiny fragments of new information?
”

The time was right to drop the bombshell.

“
Tiny fragments of new information like Kelly
’
s pregnant?
”

I watched to see how Richie would react. I had hoped he would smile
or laugh hysterically, but he didn
’
t, he reacted just as Kelly predicted
he would, the colour in his face drained away and he muttered an
obscenity,

“
Shit!
”

My fury continued to mount. I had forgiven him for meeting up
with Kelly, tried to put the incident behind us, but once again he had
lied to me. It would impossible to come back from this one, my children
and Kelly
’
s child would be siblings. I needed to lash out. I had, what I
can only describe as an out of body experience. I looked down on myself
for a couple of minutes and saw this crazed, demented, wronged woman.
I grabbed Lladro, Nao, pottery, photograph frames, anything I could
get my hands on really and threw them, as hard as I could, against the
walls. I was crying, screaming and wailing language that would have
made a docker blush.

Richie left me to it at first, I wasn
’
t throwing anything at him, I
hadn
’
t even thought of doing that, so he just stayed on the settee looking
as placid as ever. He allowed all my favourite ornaments to be smashed
to smithereens, but as soon as I picked up a surviving piece of Lladro
and took aim at the television, he stood up, grabbed me by the wrist
and restrained me.

“
What do you think you
’
re doing, Jemma!
”

“
You cheating, no good, bastard! Get out my house!
”

“
Jemma, will you calm yourself down, you complete muppet! If Kelly
’
s pregnant it
’
s not my baby! Not unless my sperm have been
swimming around inside her like a load of bewildered goldfish for
about the last twelve years! I have heard of slow swimmers but that
’
s taking the piss!
”

“
You said you didn
’
t sleep with me at the Birch
’
s party and you
did!
”

“
For Christ
’
s sake, Jemma, I didn
’
t! I didn
’
t get Kelly pregnant
either, OK?
”

Richie let go of me with a bit of a pissed off push.

“
Why did you say
‘
shit
’
then, when I said she was pregnant?
”
“
Because I crashed a car, didn
’
t I, with her unborn baby inside. If
she loses that baby, that
’
s another victim I
’
ll have to deal with, as well
as those two teenage kids.
”

“
Promise me you
’
re not lying to me, Richie. Promise me you didn
’
t
sleep with Kelly.
”

“
I promise you I didn
’
t. I
’
ll even swear on our children
’
s lives.
”
I surveyed the damage .

“
Why did you not stop me smashing everything up?
”

Richie smiled.
“
Because I hate all the bloody Lladro!
”

“
Noticed you saved the tele!
”

“
I
’
m not soft!
”

“
Richie, go and grab a brush and shovel from the kitchen, seeing as
though you drove me to it, you can help me tidy up!
”

Richie went into the kitc
hen and then shouted through.

“
Where is it?
”

“
Under the sink.
”

“
OK. You
’
ll have to do the cleaning though, Jemma! I
’
m still in my
school uniform.
”

Richie always referred to his suit as his school uniform. He thought
children never really grew up, they just pretended better.
I looked at the
mantelpiece where my Lladro had been, I had just proved his point
about not growing up, but the pretence was still in need of some work
too. Richie came back in and passed me the brush and shovel. He had
definitely improved around the house, but it was still not difficult for
him to find excuses to pass the workload on to me. In this instance
though, he had plenty of justification. I went down on my hands and
knees and started brushing.

“
Who
’
s baby will it be then, do you think, if it
’
s not yours?
”

“
Did Kelly tell you it was mine?
”

“
Yes.
”

“
If anything had happened, could she even know she w
as pregnant
by now, if I
’
d have slept with her before the crash?
”

“
Possibly, if she was late for her period now, she
’
d have a good
idea.
”

“
There won
’
t be a baby though, Jemma, she
’
ll have just said it as a
way of getting back at you for marrying me. I suppose for us, because
we
’
ve been married for a fair while, it
’
s old news that we
’
re together,
but for Kelly, it
’
s still raw. I don
’
t approve of what she
’
s doing but I can
understand it.
”

“
True, I hadn
’
t thought of it like that. Do you think in time she
’
ll
move on? She
’
s Melissa and Jamie
’
s only blood relative on my side of the
family, other than me. I was going to take her with me today, to pick
Jamie up from nursery but then she kicked off so I sent her packing.
”