Ladies Who Launch (2 page)

Angie’s eyes started glittering with tears. ‘It’ll be great having you to keep me sane when the baby comes. Sorry, it’s my hormones. I’m all over the
place.’

Selina leaned over the table and gave her friend a comforting rub on the arm. ‘You soft thing.’

Angie sniffed and Selina whipped a serviette out of a holder on the table. She handed it over and said, ‘Doesn’t seem like a year and a half since
that
cruise, does
it?’

Angie shook her head.
That
cruise had changed both their lives. If it hadn’t been for
that
cruise, Angie probably would have left it far too late to get pregnant, not
realised what a fabulous husband she had in Gil because she was too busy staring into a rose-tinted past and as for Selina … well, she wouldn’t be half as bright and strong and smiley
as she was today. They were both much happier women for their paths crossing again after so many years apart. Two decades to be exact.

‘Have you any more of those prawn sandwiches in that Marie Celeste sauce?’ a portly cleaner shouted over to Patricia.

‘It’s not Marie Celeste, Meg. She were that queen that got her head cut off,’ someone else shouted back.

‘That’s Marie Antoinette, Sandra.’ A silky, younger voice with refined rounded vowels. ‘The
Marie Celeste
was a ship found deserted.’

‘Was it the
Flying Dutchman
?’

‘Sandra, you daft cow, how can the
Marie Celeste
be the
Flying Dutchman
?’

‘Ze standard of education in England is crap.’ This from the very tall woman with the long hair. ‘I sank Gott my formative years vere spent in Germany.’

The fit of giggles Angie fell into drove away any lingering tears.

Selina picked up a pastry filled with cheese and red onion. It was warm and crumbled against her teeth.

‘I was telling Cheryl about us last week,’ she said. ‘She’d had a row with her partner and was upset, so I sat her down and forced her to have a cup of tea with me. I
felt very sorry for her. I recognised her “if we split up I won’t be able to cope by myself” look.’

‘Poor lass,’ sighed Angie. In saying that, she wouldn’t know how she would cope if she and her husband Gil split up. He was rock solid, kind, loving – she’d been so
much luckier than Selina in her choice of man.

‘Oh, she’s okay now. I saw her on Monday and she told me they made up.’

‘That’s good. Anyway, what did you tell her about us?’ asked Angie.

‘That we were best pals at school but lost touch and then met up on a cruise the year before last. And how my life is very different today because of our adventure.’

‘Our
adventure
is putting it mildly,’ laughed Angie. ‘And are you really crediting me with your divorce?’

‘I am.’

‘Please.’ Angie puffed out her cheeks. ‘Zander being an arsehole made up your mind for you.’

Selina popped a truffle in her mouth and purred. ‘That was one voyage of discovery and a half. Do you ever think that divine forces were at work? I mean, what were the chances of two old
school-enemies both cruising together and both failing to get back on the ship in Malaga?’

‘It’s crossed my mind a few times that we were chess pieces of the gods that day.’ Angie lifted her cup to her lips and sipped at the tea. It was very good quality; the owner
didn’t use those cheap tea-bags that exuded a lot of colour but no flavour.

‘I’m so glad that Zander didn’t come ashore to welcome me back. I’m not sure what I’d have done if he had.’ A picture flashed up in Selina’s mind of Gil
bouncing over to throw his arms around Angie when they caught up with the ship on the island of Korcula. She’d felt a few emotions when she realised her own husband wasn’t there:
humiliation, hurt, disappointment. But they churned and mixed in her stomach and an unforeseen chemical reaction took place. By the time the tender boat had reached the ship, her gut was filled
with anger, resolve and a determination to never again let Zander Goldman crush her spirit.

‘I’m presuming you didn’t tell Cheryl the whole story,’ said Angie, biting deep into a mini rum truffle tart.

‘Are you kidding? We’d have been there all day. I gave her the heavily condensed version: the Chinese knicker woman, the nutter taxi driver in Dubrovnik …’

Angie grinned. ‘I’d forgotten about him. What on earth did he use to honk his horn?’

‘I’d rather not think about that when I’m eating,’ replied Selina and shook her head slowly from side to side. ‘That was both the best and the worst holiday I ever
had in my life. Who knew so much could happen in seventeen days?’

‘Did you tell Cheryl that you ran off with my boyfriend when we were at college and married him and that’s why we fell out?’

‘Yup. But I also told her that having neither passports nor clean pants was a unifying experience.’

‘On that note,’ said Angie, wriggling in her seat. ‘I may have to pay a visit to the loo. Sel, how can you eat a cheese sandwich straight after a chocolate truffle?’ She
wrinkled up her nose in disgust and Selina chuckled.

‘It all goes in the same pot,’ she said, rubbing her flat stomach.

‘And I used to think you were posh,’ tutted Angie, hoisting herself up to her feet.

‘That Fillit Bong makes my nose bleed,’ came a voice from the throng of cleaners. ‘The flavour is bleedin’ awful.’

‘Flavour, Wenda? You’re not supposed to drink the stuff.’

‘Smell, I mean. It’s supposed to be Sea Spray. Sea Spray my arse. More like Cat Spray.’

Selina’s eyes floated upwards as she remembered riding on the tender boat with Angie, heading back to the cruise ship the
Mermaidia
, knowing that the nearer she travelled to
Zander, the more apart she grew from him.

Back on board, Selina had shooed Angie off to get a well-needed shower and then prepared to tick off the first job on the mental checklist that she had written for herself. Her head might have
been held high, but inside embarrassment was pulsing through her as she approached the desk to inquire if there were any vacant cabins which she might move into. The receptionist, Sumeer, asked her
if there was a problem with her present cabin. She didn’t answer that she was sharing it with a heartless twat but replied instead that the room was fine, it was just that she would like to
move, if possible, into another one alone. She tried not to think what must be going through Sumeer’s head. He seemed to take it all in his stride though, either because he was being
gentlemanly and professional or had seen it all before.

If there was no vacancy, she would have to leave the ship at the next port – Venice – the following day and go home; there was no way she could share airspace with Zander again. She
closed her eyes and willed that there be a cabin free because she didn’t want to go; she needed a holiday more than ever now.

Sumeer returned a few minutes later with the delicious news that yes, they had a spare cabin they could let her have at a reduced price. Selina didn’t care if she had to pay double because
money was no object to her; at least she had that on her side. The room would need to be prepared, Sumeer explained. Selina replied that she would pack and return to Reception with her suitcase and
any documentation they might need.

The walk back up to her cabin felt so long and momentous and she found she was shaking as she slid her cruise card into the lock and the door flashed the green open light. Zander was sitting on
the balcony reading his book – a Jeffrey Archer; she had never forgotten the title:
False Impression.
His head had swivelled towards her; there was no expression on his face. He was
so handsome, always so handsome, and yet the sight of him with his perfect hair and perfect body had no effect on her at all. It was as if she was looking at a stranger.

There was no preamble to her announcement, which she delivered in a level and calm voice: ‘When we get to England, I’m filing for divorce.’

She saw his shoulders lift slightly as he huffed to himself. They’d been at this point many times before and yet she had never carried the threat through and he thought she never would, so
there was no point in even acknowledging her words anymore.

She badly needed a shower and a change of clothes, but that could wait. Item two on her checklist was packing. Selina reached under the bed and pulled out her suitcases into which she threw her
clothes by the armful; there were enough laundries on board, she’d iron everything later. Zander paid her scant attention, suspecting it was all childish dramatics for his benefit to which he
refused to rise. It was only when he realised she was sifting through the dirty-washing bag to remove her things that he asked her what the bloody hell she thought she was doing.

‘I’m moving out,’ she explained, as if it was obvious.

A hollow dry mirthless laugh came from his lips. ‘Yes, of course you are.’ He returned his attention to Jeffrey safe in the knowledge that after she flounced out she’d have to
come crawling back later with her tail between her legs because she had nowhere to go.

She was packed and ready to leave in just over five minutes. He let her get on with her ‘tantrum’ ignoring her, a curl to his lips which could have been annoyance or amusement, she
couldn’t tell.

‘You really are a ridiculous cow,’ he called after her as she struggled through the door with her two cases.

A couple were just passing in the corridor and from the look they exchanged it was obvious they had heard the comment. Selina felt ashamed, as she had done on too many previous occasions to
count. But this time she wasn’t going to cry or feel her spirits plummet; she wasn’t going to let his words sink into her like poison until she believed them. She parked the cases
outside the cabin knowing they’d be all right for a minute or so, then – with surprising aplomb – she stepped back into the cabin and closed the door.

‘And you, Alexander Goldman are the vilest man on earth.’ Her voice was calm and measured, which was a miracle because there were twenty years of repressed rage inside her, poised to
burst out of her like a jack-in-a-box with a broken spring. ‘I can assure you that the end of this sham of a marriage is finally here. I’d like to wish you well but I can’t,
because I don’t. What I do wish you is double the sort of misery you’ve given me.’

Still, he didn’t look in the slightest bit convinced that this wasn’t anything other than a show. He gave a ‘huh’ of derision and his eyes drifted back to Mr Archer.

‘It’s going to be a rough ride I think, divorcing, but ultimately worth it. The trouble is: I don’t know whether to cite adultery or unreasonable behaviour. Do you have a
preference? I think adultery. Naming and shaming will be very cathartic.’

She had his attention now, she was pleased to note.

‘Hannah Whitestock – did Andrew ever find out I caught you both
in flagrante delicto
? And I can’t imagine Sir Martin Brierley will be all that pleased to hear his
daughter exposed as the little tart she is. I found some of the letters she sent you, you know. You really should have checked they’d all burned in the garden incinerator, but unfortunately
for you they didn’t. I kept them as a little insurance policy for the day when I might need them.’

Selina almost wanted to laugh at the manifestation of fury on Zander’s face which not even the Botox could hold off. In twenty years, she had never seen him rattled before but it was a
sight worth waiting for.

‘You wouldn’t dare.’ His words carried a clear warning.

‘Now there’s a red rag to a bull.’
Wouldn’t dare? Ha!
The old feisty Selina was dormant not dead. Dragging a few names through some stinky, putrid mud was
exactly what she would do and enjoy every second of it. And from the way Zander’s eyeballs were bulging, it was evident he knew she had just picked up the gauntlet he had thrown down and was
about to run with it.

‘You bitch,’ he growled.

‘Oh, you ain’t seen nothing yet,’ replied Selina, taking with her that vision of his furious expression and wishing she could print it out and keep it. ‘See you in court,
bastard.’

The couple from earlier on were just coming back down the corridor the other way when Selina walked out. She smiled at them.

‘Morning. Isn’t it a lovely day?’ she said as she slammed the cabin door hard behind her. They answered nervously and politely that it was indeed, as if she was the Terminator
and they were afraid of upsetting her.

As Selina started to wheel her suitcases towards the lift, she started to quiver and a rush of euphoria swept through her. She’d done it – my GOD she had actually done it –
taken that first big step. She had seduced her best friend’s boyfriend and life had given her a twenty-year sentence for it, but now she was free. It was as if a great chain across her chest
had snapped and she could breathe to full capacity again. Even in the windowless lift, everything looked so bright her eyes hurt. She was euphoric and knew it must be the effects of shock but
didn’t care, it was better than any drug. She could have blessed her own stupidity for making her miss the ship in Malaga and shifting the track of her life. She only just managed to stop
herself jumping out of the lift and screeching with joy. Knowing her luck, the couple from the corridor would be there and Selina thought she’d given them quite enough to gossip about for one
day.

She left her case at the reception desk, went into the nearest bar and ordered a brandy. She felt heady, light as if she were a balloon filled with helium. The sensation made her brain fuzzy
more than the brandy did. Then she rang Angie’s cabin to tell her what she had done and Angie and Gil both rushed down to keep her company until the cabin was ready.

Her new cabin was much smaller than the one she had shared with Zander, and it only had a window and not a balcony, not that it mattered, because it was heaven at any size. As Angie helped Sel
hang up her scrunched-up clothes, Gil took it on himself to find the restaurant manager to sort out a change in her dining arrangements. Two people had recently left their table and so there was
room for Selina to join them every evening and enjoy the company of the merry people who sat with them.