‘Hi. Is anybody home?’ Deanna calls down the hallway.
All white and chrome with pale ash floors, Pins’ stylish apartment is a blank canvas against which the flamboyant peacock struts.
‘In the drawing room,’ his voice rings out. ‘Come and join us.’
Deanna places her weekend holdall at the base of the stairs and enters the room. She smiles at her landlord and his lover sitting cosily on the sofa. Looking like an immaculate, modern-day dandy, Pins is dressed in a purple three-piece suit with a coordinated purple Liberty print shirt. On anyone else the outfit would look ridiculous, but his incredible charisma pulls it off.
‘So, Deanna, how was your first weekend at home with Oliver?’ he asks. ‘Lovebirds, were you?’
‘He wasn’t there,’ Deanna says evenly. She’s still seething.
‘But, darling, that’s shocking!’ Pins exclaims.
Removing his arm from Dominic’s shoulder, Pins gets off the couch and approaches her. With the lightest of touches, he guides her towards the French doors. Shafts of sunlight filter between the surrounding huddle of houses into a walled courtyard filled with large architectural plants. Dusky mauve rattan furniture nestles amongst the foliage, and set against the far wall is a Moroccan-style tiled barbeque.
‘Just remember, Deanna, you are amongst friends here. We are all rooting for you.’
Deanna nods.
Casually, Pins places an arm around her shoulder. ‘It’s sad when spouses take each other for granted in a long-standing marriage. It’s good to give it a rattle and shake on occasion. But remember, darling, whatever you and Oliver are going through, rest assured we all support you. You are one of our high-vibe soul tribe, and I hope we inspire you to be the best version of you.’
Deanna smiles warmly at the good-looking, exuberant gay. A dream musketeer for any casting scout, that’s for sure. ‘Thank you, Pins. You always manage to bring a smile to my face.’
‘But of course! That’s what life’s all about, to have fun and adventures.’ He glances over his shoulder at Dominic sitting on the couch. ‘Isn’t that so, Dom?’
‘Yes. Fun adventures!’ the effeminate young man says, smiling at his lover.
‘Take some risks, enjoy yourself, do your own thing!’ says Pins with a flourish. ‘Your life is an emotional investment. Worship your being and treat it as if you’re having an affair with it. Buy yourself presents and pretty things. Flirt with it. Really celebrate who you are.’
He looks deeply into Deanna’s eyes. Caught off guard, she briefly forgets his sexual proclivity.
‘Now,’ says Pins, ‘Dominic and I are lunching at a new eating venue. Would you like to join us? It has a changing, seasonally inspired menu, so I’ve been reliably informed, and a short but clever wine list.’
‘That’s kind of you but I’m due at the theatre for three.’
‘Well, then, we’d better not detain you. But remember, darling, no overthinking. Life is for living,’ Pins says, planting an affectionate kiss on Deanna’s cheek. ‘Dom, let us away,’ he says, flouncing from the room.
Dominic rises off the couch and approaches Deanna. ‘You know,’ he says in a kindly voice, ‘if Pins wasn’t homosexual he’d be making a play for you right now.’
Feeling the heat rise to her cheeks, Deanna quickly turns away.
The young man smiles and places a hand on her arm. ‘Don’t worry. His captivating personality has that effect on us all. It’s to do with raised vibrations.’
‘Is that what it is?’ Deanna says, looking at him.
‘It is. It’s very seductive.’
Deanna nods. ‘Well, you’re very lucky to be his.’
‘And he’s very lucky to be mine.’
‘Of course,’ she quickly agrees.
‘Dom, are you coming?’ asks Pins, briefly appearing at the door. ‘Or are you chancing your luck with Deanna again?’
Dominic winks at Deanna. ‘See what I mean,’ he whispers. ‘If he wasn’t so taken by you he wouldn’t bother insinuating that it’s always me trying it on! It’s his way of keeping a rein on his emotions.’
‘You’re very wise, Dominic,’ says Deanna, feeling a little adrift.
‘Not really. I just know Pins through and through. He has an ego, but we don’t let him get away with too much. Despite the popular persona he likes to portray, he’s not as confident as people think. He’s very gentle, kind and nurturing, and he knows he doesn’t have to hide anything from me.’
‘You are right,’ Deanna says. ‘He is very lucky to have you.’
Dominic squeezes her arm.
‘We are going to be late,’ says Pins, appearing in the doorway again. Dramatically, he taps his watch.
‘OK! I’m coming,’ says Dominic. He smiles fleetingly at Deanna before turning away.
‘Honestly, Dom, your sense of timing is severely lacking,’ Pins lovingly scolds, as the younger man scuttles out of the door. ‘Now remember,’ he says, addressing Deanna again, ‘no overthinking while we’re away!’
‘I promise,’ says Deanna, feeling like an obsessed fangirl. As Pins blows her a theatrical kiss, to her shame she blushes.
*
Oliver parks the Range Rover outside the school gates and switches off the ignition. His journey back from Cornwall this morning passed without incident. Although he’s tried hard not to think about her, his mind keeps wandering back to Cara on the beach. She looked so healthy and wholesome, just as she is in his dream. Her natural beauty and God-given light fill his soul and he knows for certain – if there was ever any doubt – she’s been put on this earth for him. If only his circumstances were different. An iron fist squeezes his heart and the ‘grey mist’ laughs without compassion. Oliver sighs. There is no easy answer. He cannot split himself and be in two places at once. Despite the growing awareness of what a farce his life is becoming, his hardworking conscience reminds Oliver he made his bed many years before.
He glances at the building just as the school doors open and students file out into the playground. His wife has always kept such a firm hold on the family, organising them all with military-like precision, it now seems incongruous that she should abandon them to follow some pipedream. But, however dysfunctional his and Deanna’s relationship is, someone has to be here for the boys.
A couple of women waiting at the school gates spot him and he nods in acknowledgement. As one approaches he groans silently. Dressed in tight white jeans tucked into ankle boots and an equally tight, low-cut T-shirt, it’s his daughter’s best friend’s mother. He presses a button and the passenger window glides down.
‘Hello, Oliver. How are you keeping?’ asks Rosie’s mum, leaning in through the open window and exposing her ample cleavage.
‘Well, thanks, Jen. How’s Rosie?’
‘Loving her college course, but missing Sammy.’
‘Yes, the house is a lot quieter without Samantha around,’ says Oliver, raising an expressive eyebrow.
Rosie’s mum laughs. ‘I hear Deanna’s pursuing a career in the theatre! I must say, I’m not surprised. She did an excellent job stage-managing the local production. I guess it must have given her a taste for it again. I know Pins was very encouraging…’
That bloody man!
Oliver keeps a straight face. ‘Yes, she’s enjoying being back in the thick of things,’ he says vaguely, making sure he doesn’t give anything away to Rosie’s inquisitive mother. He nods in the direction of the school. ‘Here comes your Tim.’
The woman glances towards the building, as her son walks across the playground with Jamie. ‘It’s so sweet how Rosie and Sammy are best friends,’ she says, turning back to Oliver, ‘and now Timmy and Jamie are friends.’ She smiles brightly at him and her eyes sparkle as she adds, ‘If there’s anything you ever need while Deanna’s away you know you can always call.’
‘Thank you, but I think we’ve covered all bases.’
‘Well, if you ever find yourself at a loss.’ She looks at him beguilingly. ‘I know what it’s like when Brian’s away during the week. I’m always available if you ever need company.’ She makes no attempt to disguise the blatant offer.
Oliver stares into baby-blue eyes. ‘That’s kind of you, Jen,’ he says non-committally.
She holds his gaze for a long moment before turning away. ‘Hello, Jamie,’ she says in a sweet voice, and then turns to her son. ‘Tim, how many times have I told you not to drag your bag on the ground?’
Oliver lets out a long, silent breath. Children’s friends’ mothers! Over the years he’s had to deal with a variety of situations, but never more so than with Rosie’s mum. His daughter’s best friend has often suffered acute embarrassment due to her mother’s flirty shenanigans where he is concerned.
Jamie opens the back door to the Range Rover and climbs in. He places his school bag neatly on the seat beside him.
‘How was your day, Jamie?’ Oliver asks, looking in the rear-view mirror.
‘OK, but I’ve got loads of homework.’ The boy pulls a face.
‘Well, then, you’d better request something you’d like for tea before you start.’
Pursing his lips together, Jamie considers the options Suddenly his eyes light up. ‘Baked beans, sausages and mash!’
‘If that’s what you want, then so be it,’ says Oliver, smiling at his son in the mirror.
‘Hi, Dad,’ shouts Sebastian, striding towards the car. Opening the front passenger door, he slings his bag into the footwell and flops down onto the seat. ‘When did you get back?’
‘A couple of hours ago,’ says Oliver.
Sebastian fastens his seat belt. ‘Mum was well fed up when she found you weren’t at home. She was in a real stink, wasn’t she, Jamie?’ He half turns to his brother sitting in the back seat.
Jamie nods, glancing sheepishly at his father in the mirror.
‘Hopefully she recovered well enough for you all to have a good time in the end,’ Oliver says, turning the key in the ignition.
‘Kind of,’ says Sebastian. ‘She said if you weren’t going to be around at weekends we might as well go up to London and spend them with her.’
Looking right, Oliver pulls out into the traffic. ‘Would you want to do that?’ he asks, glancing at Sebastian.
‘I’m easy.’ Sebastian shrugs.
‘I don’t want to,’ says Jamie from the back of the car. ‘I’d rather be at home.’
‘You wuss,’ says Sebastian. ‘What’s wrong with London?’
‘You don’t have to go to London if you don’t want to, Jamie, but it might be fun,’ says Oliver, looking at Jamie in the mirror. ‘Anyway, once I’ve completed on the house in Cornwall you boys can come down with me. There will be plenty of things to do there. We can swim, fish, have barbeques on the beach and mess about in boats all day long, if we fancy it.’
‘Cool!’ says Sebastian.
‘What do you say, Jamie?’ Oliver glances in the mirror again and his heart pinches. His quiet, young son stares out of the window at the passing street. How can he help him?
Continuing to look out of the window, Jamie bites his lip and slowly nods.