Stone Cold (23 page)

Kathryn had to know.

The full length mirror in Kathryn’s bedroom was hard to stand in front of because the bed almost filled the room, but now, she looked at herself and the flowing blue and green dress she wore.

It looked fabulous. No doubt about it. The fabric was as thin as mist, no doubt a factor in how much it had cost. Kathryn had Googled the dress and tracked it down to a designer named LeMarke, some French guy who ran a boutique in Singapore of all places. Painfully fashionable and hand crafted by local experts according to the website open on her laptop on the bed.

The one thing that Kathryn realised she probably had over Stephen’s wife was her figure. With youth still somewhat on her side, and knowing what a gym was for and what food not to eat, Kathryn was still
slim and trim
as Ally referred to her. The dress hugged her waist and flowed over her hips as though it had been poured onto her.

Kathryn twisted and turned in front of the mirror, running her hands down the fabric as though she were caressing a wild animal, imagined what it would be like to walk down main street on a summer’s day and see other men, and women, watching her.
She looks fabulous. I bet that cost a fortune. I wonder if she’s single? I wonder if she’s a movie star?

The front door clicked loudly and Kathryn almost toppled backwards onto the bed in shock. She scrambled to one side and shut the lid on her laptop as the front door closed again and she heard Stephen make his way toward the bedroom.

Shit. She hadn’t planned for him to see her wearing the dress and she realised that it was a fatal step too far. Kathryn yanked the dress over her head and hurled it across the bedroom to land out of sight on the far side of the room just as Stephen strode in.

He stopped and stared at her. Kathryn, wearing nothing but her underwear, sucked in a breath and put her hands on her hips as she smiled and peered at him with a gleam in her eye.

‘That was good timing,’ she said. ‘Do you have a sixth sense for when I’m in a state of undress?’

Her voice tinkled innocently as Stephen stared at her. In a flash she noted his drawn looks, tired eyes and slumped shoulders. He looked as though he had not slept in days and his normally immaculate hair was ruffled and unkempt.

‘I’ve got some bad news,’ he said.

‘What is it?’

‘I might be laid off.’

‘Oh,’ Kathryn feigned surprise and cultivated an expression of concern. ‘Oh no, that’s terrible. When did you learn of this?’

Stephen sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. Kathryn mastered her fear and perched next to him, slipped one arm across his shoulders as he replied.

‘Last night. They called us all in and told us that the company’s profits were down by twelve per cent on last year. They can’t afford all of us. I’ll either get selected to continue or I’ll be laid off.’

That he could lie, so smoothly, Kathryn presumed was because he was partly telling the truth. The phone call she had overheard the previous night certainly heralded bad news, but it wasn’t a lay off. It had sounded more like Stephen had committed some kind of illegal act or perhaps been under–performing.

She glanced at the bedroom cupboard. The door was slightly open, but it was dark enough inside that he would not be able to tell that she had emptied it of her clothes.

‘When will you know?’ she asked him as she peered behind her at the crumpled dress on the floor.

‘A few days, I guess,’ Stephen said.

‘Well, maybe I can cheer you up,’ she said. ‘Guess what I’ve got.’

‘A winning lottery ticket?’ he asked. ‘The ability to foresee the future?’

Kathryn smiled as she slipped her arms over his shoulders and kissed him. ‘Better than that.’

‘Really?’

‘No,’ she shrugged, ‘but I think that you’ll like it. Your prize awaits.’

Stephen looked down and she saw him spot the small envelope tucked inside her bra. Stephen grinned faintly as he reached inside, brushing his hands across the soft skin of her breasts as he fumbled for the easily reachable envelope.

‘There appear to be some obstructions,’ he said.

‘Later,’ Kathryn replied. ‘I want you to see this first.’

Stephen feigned disappointment as he retrieved the envelope and opened it. Two tickets fell out.

‘What are these?’

Kathryn did not respond as Stephen held them up and read the labels on them. ‘Hunter’s Lake Lodge Vacation Station?’

‘Tickets for two, this weekend,’ Kathryn said. ‘Out in the country, about twenty miles from here. Not too far to drive but far enough out of town to get some peace and quiet, time to ourselves, you know?’

Stephen managed to smile but he shook his head. ‘Honey, I don’t know if I’ll be here. If I get a short–notice call I might have to fly half way across the country and with all that’s happening I can’t afford to turn down any work.’

‘When did you last get to take some time off?’ Kathryn asked, keeping her voice reasonable as she reached for his cell phone. ‘Let me speak to them, I’m sure they won’t mind me…’

‘No, it’s okay,’ Stephen said. ‘It’s very kind of you and a lovely gesture, really. I’ll call tomorrow and see if I can book the weekend off.’

‘There,’ Kathryn said smoothly as she fought for something, anything to distract Stephen, ‘that wasn’t so hard, was it? Although, correct me if I’m wrong, but I can feel something else that is very hard.’

Stephen’s hands slipped around her waist and pulled her down onto him. ‘Oh dear, what ever will we do about that then?’

Kathryn let him start loosening her bra as she gently kissed his neck and whispered into his ear as she now sought for something else to deter him.

‘Something vigorous and worthwhile, so that I can use a pregnancy testing kit.’ She felt Stephen stiffen beneath her in all the wrong ways. To his credit, or perhaps against it, he continued to loosen her dress.

‘You’ve already bought one?’ he asked as he fumbled. ‘How long have you not been on the pill?’

‘A while now,’ she revealed. ‘These things take time after all. And I bought a testing kit two weeks ago,’ she added. ‘Should get a result in soon.’

Stephen looked up at her, his hands suddenly no longer trying to release her bra. ‘You’re pregnant?’

Kathryn smiled down at him. ‘I’m not sure, hence the tests. But
something’s
going on.’ Stephen almost blanched as he held her. She could see behind his expression the titanic will of effort it was requiring for him not to reveal any sign of panic.

‘Something?’ he echoed.

Kathryn, still smiling, tilted her head this way and that.

‘Well, we did it last month, didn’t we,’ she said. ‘Remember?’

Stephen’s brow furrowed. ‘Last month was a long time ago, and…’

‘You were a bit drunk,’ she said. ‘You were watching that show, that one I don’t bother with about the survival people. I asked you what we would do to survive if we were stranded on a desert island together.’

She saw the recollection appear on Stephen’s face, although it was not joined by any signs of delight that she could see.

‘I said that I could light a fire, and boil water to make it safe.’

‘Yes,’ Kathryn agreed. ‘And I said we could have babies and create an army of little helpers to assist us. And then I…’

‘Suggested we start right away,’ Stephen completed her sentence as he leaned forward and nuzzled her breasts.

Kathryn felt her bra fall from her shoulders, and in silence she squeezed her eyes tight shut and hoped that it would be over soon.

The fact that she had actually never stopped taking the contraceptive pill was not one she would be sharing with him. Nor that his willingness to have sex with her, despite clearly being afraid of her becoming pregnant, said far more about his nature than anything she could write down in her day job. For the first time in their relationship, Kathryn realised that she was seeing exactly the kind of man he really was.

Maybe it was his exhaustion or perhaps stress, but their lovemaking was over within minutes. Kathryn positioned herself on her side of the bed and struggled to make sure than Stephen could not see the dress on the floor nearby.

‘I don’t like to sponge off of you all the time, it’s not fair,’ he said as he looked at the Hunter’s Lodge tickets again.

Anger churned hot in Kathryn’s belly and she fought to keep control of her features. ‘That’s okay,’ she whispered. ‘I’m sure we’ll find the money to pay this month’s rent from somewhere. I just wish we had some stashed away. You don’t have any savings or anything, do you?’

Stephen sighed and shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, no. I’m totally cleaned out.’

Kathryn, one hand resting on Stephen’s shoulder with her long nails brushing gently against the skin of his neck, sought one last opportunity.

‘Maybe I’d better cancel Hunter’s Lodge then,’ she said.

Stephen nodded. ‘I’m sorry, honey.’

‘Me too.’

Kathryn stood up. ‘I need to get dressed,’ she said softly.

Stephen got up off the bed, and then he turned to her wardrobe and before she could say anything he reached out for the door handle. ‘Let me choose.’

Stephen opened the wardrobe to reveal the empty hangars and shelves. He stared at them for a moment and then looked at Kathryn. ‘Where are all your clothes?’

Kathryn slapped an awkward smile onto her face. ‘We were going away. I packed my clothes into my suitcase already.’

Stephen stared at her for a moment. He was smiling as though bemused, but a sinister little glow had appeared in his eyes. ‘What, like
all
of them?’

Kathryn sucked in a deep breath. Now it was her turn to come clean, before things got out of hand.

‘Stephen, I’m going away for a few days.’

Stephen gaped at her. ‘Going away? Why?’

Kathryn stood up, took a deep breath and tried to maintain a sense of dignity as she stood in her knickers and bra before him.

‘I know Stephen. I know about everything.’

‘Know about
what
?’

‘How long do you want this conversation to last?’ she challenged. ‘You want it to end here and now, or do you want to tell me what you’ve been up to?’

Stephen stared at her for what felt like hours before he replied. ‘I’m not sure what you’re referring to.’

Kathryn smiled tightly. Denial was a powerful weapon, in the right hands. It was likely, she realised, that Stephen actually believed in what he was saying, to the degree that he could fool a lie–detector, so entrenched was the fantasy he had constructed around their lives. In this moment in space and time Stephen’s other life, even his
wife
, were probably to him figments of his imagination interchanged at will depending on who he was with at the time.

‘Your wife,’ Kathryn said finally. ‘Your other home. Your other job. The money that you earn. I know everything.’

***

31

Time seemed to stand still.

Stephen and Kathryn stared at each other like gunslingers sizing each other up at dawn, fingers hovering over their mental triggers. Stephen appeared to be lost for words, and Kathryn guessed that he was struggling to concoct a suitable explanation for years’ of lies and manipulation.

It didn’t take him long to find his escape route.

‘The restaurant,’ he said. ‘The big scene you created. The talk of babies and holidays and a house in the city. It was all bullshit, wasn’t it?’

Kathryn, standing at the end of the bed barely six feet away from him, realised belatedly that Stephen was blocking her escape route from the room.

‘It was to coax you out,’ Kathryn said. ‘I knew about your wife and I wanted you to admit to me that you were lying, to both of us. I wanted you to tell me who you wanted the most, to explain to me why you would do all of this.’ Kathryn looked him up and down and decided to veil her fear with a facade of disgust. ‘You didn’t have the guts.’

Stephen glared at her in silence.

‘What?’ Kathryn asked. ‘The great Stephen Hollister has no answer? The biggest liar in town, lost for words?’

Stephen took a pace forward. Kathryn couldn’t help herself. She backed up, and in a flash her courageous front was shattered. Like a wild animal sensing fear, Stephen advanced toward her.

‘You want to know why?’ Stephen growled. ‘I’ll tell you why. Because I like to keep my feet on the ground, hold on to an anchor to remind of what my life used to be like when I lived in the gutter with white trash.’

Kathryn flinched as though physically struck. It wasn’t just the words: it was the venom loaded inside them that shocked her, a cruelty and a fury that she had never seen before.

And then she remembered that she didn’t really know Stephen at all.

Kathryn backed around the corner of the bed. ‘You don’t mean that,’ she managed to say.

‘You think you’re important?’ Stephen asked rhetorically. ‘To me?’ He shook his head. ‘You’re nothing to me. You’re one of life’s losers, Kathryn, struggling to make enough to eat and keep a roof over your head.’

Kathryn’s rage reasserted itself. ‘Then why the hell have you stayed with me for so long?!’

Stephen was about to answer when he turned his head as something caught his eye. Kathryn looked over her shoulder and realised that they could both now see the beautiful blue and green dress that lay crumpled on the floor.

Stephen stopped dead in his tracks and she saw his skin pale as he took in the blues and greens of the fabric.

‘Where did you get that?’ he asked.

Kathryn felt her heart skip a beat as her stomach plunged into freefall inside her. ‘I got it in the market, in town.’

Stephen glared at her. ‘Which part of the market?’

Kathryn, frozen to the spot, had to force her jaw to work as she replied. ‘I don’t remember. I..,’

She glanced at her cell phone where it lay on the bed, half concealed beneath the crumpled bed sheets. All she had to do was grab it and dial
911
and…

Stephen spotted the cell and grabbed it as he crossed the bedroom to her in a single stride. His advance was so utterly without compromise that Kathryn threw her arms up in front of her. Stephen grabbed her wrists and yanked them down as he shouted into her face.