The Marriage Act(51)

Jeffrey recalled how his own sexual awakening had arrived as a teenager, sharing a bedroom with his older brother. Jeffrey had pretended to sleep but he’d watched through half-closed eyes as, week after week, Bobby had sex with a succession of different girls in the bed opposite.

Later, as an adult, and when relationships seemed to happen around him rather than to him, Jeffrey came to terms with being perpetually single. It did not stop him from wanting to be part of a couple or dream of finding his DNA Match. But he was realistic. He didn’t expect his partner to be hopelessly in love with him or to even reciprocate his passion. All he wanted was to be needed, to be considered, to matter. And when any of those experiences had failed to materialize, he’d sought gratification from watching strangers pleasure one another at discreet, members-only events. Voyeurism became his way of connecting with others.

Jeffrey patted himself dry with yesterday’s underwear and reached for the remote control to turn off the Audite. He stopped himself when Noah and Luca began to talk.

‘How much longer do you think he’s staying for?’ asked Noah.

‘He said it might take up to six weeks. But if we prove we’re listening to his advice, it might be less.’

‘These three weeks have felt like a year.’

‘It’s not been that bad.’

‘It is for me,’ Noah said. ‘He’s always here. I’m scared to take a piss in case he’s sitting in the corner of the bathroom making notes about it on that bloody tablet.’

Luca laughed.

‘Well, you know what I mean. He’s creepy. If we’d connected with him on a hook-up App and he turned up at the door we’d have told him he’d got the wrong address.’

‘Come on, babe, he’s not a bad guy.’

‘How can you say that? Beccy pulled out of being our surrogate because of him.’

‘It’s the situation we’re in that’s to blame, not Jeffrey. He’s only doing his job.’

A thrill ran through Jeffrey. He was now certain he had Luca onside, because no matter what Noah threw at Jeffrey, Luca defended him.

‘I think he has a thing for you,’ added Noah.

Jeffrey’s thrill turned to panic. Had he made it that obvious?

‘No he hasn’t,’ Luca dismissed.

‘Yes, he does. You don’t see the way he eyeballs you when you don’t think you’re being watched.’

‘You’re paranoid.’

‘I might be if he was remotely attractive. There might even be a half-decent body hiding under those ill-fitting clothes but that’s about all he has going for him.’

The more Noah spoke, the more convinced Jeffrey became that Noah’s barbed tongue was completely incompatible with someone as decent as Luca. Now it was his job to make them both realize it.





39


Corrine




‘I hate him, I absolutely bloody hate that man,’ Corrine cursed as the two women walked through Upton Country Park. She willed the tears forming behind her eyes not to emerge when she thought about what Mitchell had done. She had wasted enough of them on him already.

‘What did your solicitor say?’ asked Yan.

‘She told me – without using the exact words – that I was an idiot for signing anything without running it by her first.’

‘Why didn’t she check with you when he filed the papers?’

‘They were never sent to her. And because there was no timeline on exactly when we were supposed to divorce, she was waiting to hear from me. She said she could still try and get the Smart Marriage annulled, claiming I signed under false pretences, but warned it could take up to two years if he denies it.’ She brought her thumb and forefinger close together. ‘I was this close to my fresh start. This close. And now I’m back to square one.’

‘I’m so sorry, Corrine. Do you have a Plan B?’

‘No. I wish I did.’

Yan was the only person Corrine had befriended at the Freedom for All splinter group meetings. They took a seat on a bench and stared down a slope towards another housing estate in the midst of a gentrification programme.

‘The Act is just so unfair,’ Corrine continued, balling her fists. ‘I’m angry with Mitchell and I’m angry at my own stupidity. I should’ve known that he hates to lose. I know that many people would kill for my privilege and they’re welcome to it.’

Yan’s mouth opened and closed as if carefully considering what to say next.

‘Say it,’ said Corrine. ‘Tell me I’m a fool.’

‘That’s not what I was thinking. You know you still have . . . options, don’t you?’ she began cautiously. ‘They’re not particularly ethical. But they are, nevertheless, options.’

‘Such as?’

‘There are . . . people . . . in the FFA who have connections, if you get what I’m saying.’

‘I don’t think I do.’

‘Options that can solve a problem like your husband.’

‘You mean have him killed?’

Yan shook her head vigorously. ‘Oh God no, no, not those kind of options! Ones that require a level of deceit but that can lead to a fast-tracked divorce and that won’t penalize you.’