Please Forgive Me (12 page)

‘Well look, try not to stress about it too much, I’m sure it’s just a phase they’re going through.’

‘I sincerely hope so.’ Grace gave a deep sigh.

‘So how are things otherwise?’ she asked, changing the subject. ‘Anything strange at home?’ Then she winced, hoping that this didn’t sound like she was fishing for news of Adam or anything.

Because she really wasn’t.

Still Grace was no fool. ‘Well, seeing as you asked ... he’s been in touch again.’

‘Who has?’ Leonie asked trying to sound innocent, but inside her heart was racing.

‘Who do you think? Adam phoned again looking to find out where you were. And look, I know you’re my friend and my first loyalty is to you, but you have to realise what a terrible position all this is putting me in. Even though I’ve told him upside down and inside out that I don’t know, I think he knows full well that I do.’

‘I know, and I’m sorry…’ Now she felt terrible. It wasn’t fair to Grace but at the same time she prayed with all her heart that her friend wouldn’t have betrayed her confidence and told Adam where she was.

‘I haven’t told him anything and I’m not planning to either, but it’s difficult. He’s being very insistent. And to be honest Lee, I also think he’s worried. As far as he’s concerned, six weeks ago you just disappeared off the face of the earth.’

‘Yes, but with good reason,’ Leonie countered, not knowing what to make of this. She wasn’t sure whether to feel worried or relieved that Adam was still anxious to know her whereabouts.

‘Maybe, but you know I think you should at least have given things a chance to settle down before making such a rash choice.’

Now Leonie remembered why she’d been reluctant to phone Grace recently. She knew they’d end up having the same argument over and over again about her decision to leave.

‘It wasn’t a rash choice Grace – it was the
only
choice. And it looks like it was also the best one. Things are great here, I’m feeling much better and best of all I’m miles away from…everything.’

‘Well I wouldn’t be so sure it was the best choice Leonie,’ Grace interjected softly. Then she sighed. ‘I suppose I might as well tell you.’

Leonie’s heart skipped a beat. ‘Tell me …what?’

Grace paused for a moment before continuing. ‘Well, Adam mentioned it the last time we spoke, and I wasn’t sure whether to say anything, but well… Suzanne’s moved in.’

Leonie had understood right from the very beginning that Suzanne could be a problem. Well, perhaps not
right
from the beginning, but definitely within a few weeks of her and Adam’s return from Tunisia when they started seeing one another seriously.

Mostly because he never stopped talking about how brilliantly she and Suzanne would get along.

‘She’s going to just
love
you,’ he’d say, and every time he said it made Leonie more and more uncertain about this being the case. ‘You’re going to get along great.’

She’d been incredibly nervous from the outset when Adam told her he’d arranged for them to meet for the first time.

He organised for them all to go out for dinner in town, and Leonie hoped he’d book somewhere informal and easygoing, like Cactus Jacks or TGI’s. But then he informed her that Suzanne was ‘a little particular’ about the places she liked to frequent.

‘Particular in what way?’ Leonie queried, concerned that maybe Suzanne was a fussy eater, or perhaps shy?

‘Shy?’ Adam guffawed. ‘Not a chance!’

So all she knew about Suzanne so far was that she was ‘amazing’, not in the least bit shy, but at the same time ‘a little particular’. And of course there was the tiny detail of her being the most important person in Adam’s life up to now.

Not that Leonie was claiming any greater importance, but given that their relationship was rapidly becoming more serious, she’d like to think she took at least second place in his affections.

‘I’ve booked a table at Bang,’ he said, referring to one of the city’s trendiest restaurants. A bit of a celeb hangout, it wasn’t exactly the kind of place Leonie would have chosen for a first meeting. ‘She’s been there a few times, so I know she likes it.’

‘Great, well I haven’t ever been there, but I’m sure it’ll be lovely,’ Leonie said, agreeing to meet him and Suzanne at the restaurant at seven the following Friday night. It would be handy for her, as it was close to the office and she’d be coming directly from there.

But for the entire week leading up to the dinner, Leonie just couldn’t dispel her nerves. She couldn’t quite understand this, Suzanne would hardly be an ogre, but right up to the very moment she arrived at the restaurant, she couldn’t help but have a bad feeling about all this.

Although the fact that Suzanne seemed very eager to meet her should really have given her some comfort.

‘She has me driven demented, wanting to hear all about you, what you look like, the kind of clothes you wear – everything!’ Adam informed her. ‘And I told her that you were a wonderful person who makes me very happy,’ he added, kissing her on the nose. ‘Which is of course, the truth.’

That evening, Leonie was led to their table and found she was first to arrive, which at least gave her time to gather her thoughts and calm her nerves. What the hell was wrong with her? This was going to be fine; no doubt she and Suzanne would click on sight, and end up being firm friends from here on in.

‘Hey, you’re here!’ Adam boomed, and with a start, Leonie looked up to see that her dinner companions had arrived. Adam looked handsome as usual in light-coloured Levis and a navy Fred Perry shirt. Alongside him stood the famous Suzanne.

Leonie gulped. Tall and blonde, she was wearing a daringly low-cut top,
very
short miniskirt, vertiginous heels and an expression that could only be described as thunderous.

‘Hi,’ she said, standing up from the table to greet her, as Adam handed their coats to the maitre d’. ‘Hello Suzanne, it’s really nice to meet you.’

‘Hi.’ Patently ignoring Leonie’s outstretched hand Suzanne gave a flick of her expensively-styled blonde hair.

‘The traffic was just crazy, wasn’t it Suze?’ Adam said, missing the snub. He took the seat alongside Suzanne, leaving Leonie facing the two of them. ‘And I thought we’d never get a parking space. Are you here long Lee?’

‘Just in before you,’ she replied easily, trying to hide her discomfort at the fact that Suzanne had steadfastly blanked her. She was quite beautiful though, she thought, trying not to stare at the other girl, who now had her nose buried in the menu. A perfect little button nose.

‘So what’s good here?’ Adam said, after the waiter had taken their drinks order. ‘Suze, you’ve been here before, is there anything you’d recommend?’

‘Yes, I was thinking about having the lamb, have you tried that?’ Leonie asked her eager to open a safe topic of conversation.

Suzanne looked up from her menu and gave Leonie a look that would cut diamonds. ‘I wouldn’t know.’

‘Suzanne is a vegetarian,’ Adam interjected easily, completely unaware of any atmosphere. ‘Has been for ages now, haven’t you?’

Well what on earth are we doing here then? Leonie wondered, her eyes once again raking over the menu to see that it was heavy on meat dishes with little, if any vegetarian options. And according to Adam she was a regular?

Suzanne sighed and put down her menu. ‘I don’t feel well,’ she exclaimed theatrically and Adam turned to look at her, frowning.

‘What is it? Not another headache I hope.’

Leonie reached for her handbag. ‘I have some aspirin here if you want …’

‘I already took some,’ Suzanne interjected curtly. Leonie was taken aback by her tone; Adam was looking at her with an exasperated expression, while Suzanne in turn was sporting a pout that would make a three-year-old proud.

‘Are you feeling faint, is that it?’ Adam asked. ‘Here, drink some water; it might help cool you down.’

‘I don’t want any damn water,’ Suzanne snapped. ‘I think I want to go home.’

‘But Suze, we just got here, and Leonie really wanted to meet you.’

Huh?
Leonie thought puzzled. Wasn’t it supposed to be the other way round?

‘But I don’t
feel
well!’ Suzanne whined again.

‘I’m really sorry Lee,’ Adam said hesitantly, and Leonie looked at him. He wasn’t giving in to this kind of behaviour, surely? ‘Suzanne hasn’t been very well lately so it might be best if we just head away.’

Leonie couldn’t believe it. Talk about being twisted around someone’s little finger!

The girl looked up, an expression of intense relief on her face, or was it triumph?

But in fairness to Adam, he looked mortified, so Leonie decided to make it easy for him.

‘Hey, it’s no problem – go and look after her,’ she insisted. ‘We can always do this another time.’

‘Are you sure?’ He looked away uncomfortably. ‘I’m really very sorry about this, and I don’t like abandoning you…’

‘Honestly, go. I’m fine. I’ve got some more work that needs doing back at the office so I might pop back there,’ she said forcing a smile. ‘It’s no problem, honestly.’

‘Well, as long as you’re sure.’ With that, he reached down to kiss her on the cheek, while his companion stood idly by, fiddling with her hair. ‘Again, I’m really sorry,’ he whispered softly, ‘she’s not normally like this. I’ll call you tomorrow, OK?’

‘Sure,’ Leonie smiled at them both, trying her best to ease Adam’s embarrassment.
 
‘Nice meeting you, Suzanne – I hope you feel better soon.’

There was a deep sigh. ‘Whatever.’

And Adam’s daughter fixed Leonie with a look of disdain that only a fourteen-year-old could perfect.

Now, having said goodbye to Grace and thanked her for the heads up on Suzanne, Leonie gave a wan smile thinking about that first meeting, and how naïve she’d been to expect that Adam’s teenage daughter would accept the new woman in his life at the drop of a hat, especially when father and daughter had such a close relationship.

She’d known from the outset that he had a daughter; he’d told her all about Suzanne in Tunisia.

After that trip to the desert, they’d been pretty much inseparable and one night over a couple of cocktails at Leonie’s hotel, he’d outlined the circumstances surrounding her birth. Unwilling to pry, she hadn’t pushed the topic, but Adam had no problems with putting her in the picture.

‘It was a bit of a shock to the system,’ he explained. ‘I was only twenty when it happened, can you believe it?’ he grinned, and Leonie had to admit that it was indeed hard to believe as Adam looked a very youthful thirty-four.

‘Suzanne’s mother and I hadn’t been together all that long when she became pregnant, so needless to say it was a bolt from the blue for both of us. Naturally our folks weren’t too impressed – poor Andrea’s parents went apoplectic – but right from the outset I told them that I’d stand by her, no matter what. We were so young there was no question of marriage – not for me anyway,’ he added ominously. ‘I’d just finished college and had already gone off to work in London so to say the timing was bad would be an understatement. Still, even though we didn’t raise her together, we raised her well, so I’d like to think I stood by that promise.’

Even though we didn’t raise her together
. Leonie didn’t want to admit that she had already been wondering about Adam’s relationship with Suzanne’s mother.

‘So you and Andrea never married?’

Adam shook his head. ‘Don’t get me wrong, Andrea’s great and I was mad about her at the time, but in reality we were only kids ourselves. So I moved back from London when Suze was born, and while we tried to give it a go for a few months afterwards, in the end we couldn’t just stay together for the sake of the baby.’

‘It must have been very difficult.’

He nodded. ‘It was but especially so for Andrea. She took the break up pretty badly.’

‘I can imagine.’

‘Still, that was ages ago, and we’re grand now and I’ve made sure she doesn’t want for anything as far as Suzanne’s concerned,’ he continued easily but Leonie somehow couldn’t help but feel sorry for the other woman. Was it more likely that Andrea had taken the break up badly not because of money worries but because she was in love with Adam and didn’t want him to leave? And he’d either failed to notice this or convinced himself otherwise. It seemed a bit too tidy and straightforward to her anyway. Then again, she only knew half the story and Adam certainly seemed very much at ease with it all in any case.

‘So do you and Andrea get on OK now?’ she probed.

Adam grimaced. ‘Most of the time,’ he said meaningfully. ‘There’s no bad blood though and she’s since had another child.’ He explained how Suzanne had a five-year old half-brother called Hugo.
 

Again Leonie couldn’t help but wonder if there was more to this than he was letting on.

‘Good that you’ve managed to get through it, for your own sakes as well as Suzanne’s,’ she said.

‘Well, we’re getting there, I suppose. Suze was always such a sweet little thing and relatively easy to manage growing up. It’s only now that she’s that bit older and somewhat more … headstrong,’ he continued with a roll of his eyes. ‘Well, let’s just say that these days Andrea and I have different ideas about how to handle her.’

Now, recalling that conversation word for word as she set out on the short walk to Flower Power, Leonie was struck by how much of an understatement that particular comment had been, and how neither she nor Adam had any real idea of what was to come.

Alex frowned as she studied her reflection in her bedroom mirror. She wasn’t sure if the dress she was wearing – a strapless pale cream and gold evening gown – was quite right for the occasion; a fundraiser she and Jon were attending that night.

The event, which was in aid of the hospital, was taking place outdoors at the very beautiful setting of the Palace of Fine Arts. Guests would be dining by candlelight at the edge of the lagoon and beneath the soaring dome of the famous neoclassical rotunda.