The Dilemma(34)

Mine fell apart six weeks and three days ago, about a week into Cleo’s visit to Hong Kong, when I FaceTimed Marnie for a chat before I went to work. It was eight in the morning, so four o’clock in the afternoon Hong Kong time. Adam had already left to go to his workshop and Jess, who was staying with us, was still in bed. I knew Marnie’s timetable pretty well so I knew she’d be back from lessons, waiting at the hotel for Cleo and Rob to come back from sightseeing. Marnie had practically moved into Cleo’s room for the duration of their stay, glad to get away from her cramped student room, if only for a while.

‘How’s it going?’ I asked.

‘Brilliantly! It’s so lovely having them here. It makes me realise how long I’ve been away.’ She was sitting at a wooden desk in front of her computer and behind her on the far wall I could make out beautiful prints of lotus flowers. She was wearing one of the hotel’s white bathrobes and from the way her head was bent over her hand as we talked, I guessed she was painting her nails.

‘Do you want me to call back when you’ve finished?’ I offered.

‘No, it’s fine, as long as you don’t mind only seeing the top of my head. We’re going out to dinner later, to a really nice restaurant. I’m going to have a lovely long bath in a minute.’

‘You’re going to miss the hotel when they leave,’ I teased. ‘Where have they gone today?’

‘To Stanley Market.’ She raised her head. ‘I wish you could see it, Mum, it’s amazing. You should have come with Cleo and Rob. You could have gone sightseeing with Rob and given me and Cleo a bit of time together.’

‘Is he cramping your style?’ I asked, amused.

‘No, it’s fine actually.’

‘Well, it’s certainly done you good to see them,’ I said. ‘You look happy.’

‘Who wouldn’t be happy in this beautiful hotel?’ she said, laughing.

I peered into the screen. ‘Has Cleo changed rooms?’

‘What do you mean?’ Her head was bent over her nails again.

‘The prints on the wall,’ I explained. ‘They weren’t lotus flowers.’

‘Oh yes – the other room she had was next to the lift and it was so noisy she asked to change.’

I was about to point out that they now had the luxury of a huge king-size bed instead of two singles, when the door behind her opened and I saw a man standing in the doorway rubbing his hair dry with a towel, obviously straight out of the shower. My shock was nothing to do with the fact that he was naked but more to do with the fact that Marnie had brought her boyfriend to Cleo’s hotel room. But I supposed Cleo was fine with it because Marnie must have asked her.

‘It’s so lovely here, far more comfortable than my own grotty room in the halls of residence,’ Marnie was saying, oblivious to her boyfriend in full frontal view. At the sound of her voice, he raised his head from the towel and, realising she was on FaceTime, stepped quickly back into the bathroom and closed the door. But not before I’d seen his face.

My heart almost stopped. Then, aware that I needed to say something, because I didn’t want Marnie to look up and see how devastated I was, I forced words from my mouth.

‘Well, you may as well make the most of it,’ I said, hoping my voice sounded the same as it had before.

‘That’s what I thought. So, how are preparations going for your party, only six weeks to go now!’

‘I know, I can’t believe it! Liz came over yesterday with samples of food,’ I told her, talking too fast. ‘It was delicious, I’m so glad I chose her to do the catering. She’s bringing three staff with her to serve the food and clear up after, so I won’t have anything to do.’

‘I wish I could be there,’ she said with a sigh.

‘Me too.’

She straightened up and dangled her fingers in front of the screen. The sleeves of her bathrobe fell back, and I could see her tattoo: An angel walking to the Devil’s beat.

‘There,’ she said. ‘What do you think?’

‘Navy blue isn’t really my colour,’ I said, amazed that I managed to force out a laugh. ‘But they look lovely. Are you wearing your blue dress tonight?’

‘How did you guess? Sorry, Mum, I’d better go, Cleo and Rob will be back soon so I need to go and have that bath.’

‘Make sure your varnish is dry first,’ I warned.

She waggled her hands in the air. ‘I will, don’t worry. Speak soon?’

‘Yes, I’ll call you in a couple of days.’

‘Bye. Send Dad my love.’

‘Will do.’

I don’t know how long I sat there, staring at the blank screen, unable to move my body but unable to still my mind, which was careering all over the place, trying to make sense of what I’d just seen. I tried to tell myself that I’d been mistaken, that it hadn’t been Rob standing naked in the doorway, but another man. And when I could no longer lie to myself, I tried to find excuses – Rob was using Cleo’s bathroom because there was a problem with his and he hadn’t known Marnie was there when he’d come out naked, which was why he’d ducked back in again quickly. I didn’t want to believe that Marnie had been lying to me from the beginning of the conversation, when she’d told me that Rob was out with Cleo, and that Cleo had changed rooms. I didn’t want to believe that the reason she was painting her nails in Rob’s room, waiting to use the bathroom he’d just come out of, was because the two of them were having an affair. There had to be some other explanation.