The Marriage Act(89)

‘You had plenty of time to repair us,’ she said sharply. ‘But you didn’t. You broke us. And we are beyond repair.’

Mitchell’s shoulders slumped ever so slightly before he regained his posture and offered a nod towards a wall-mounted Audite.

‘You forgot to take my coffee order,’ he added. ‘Black. And you might want to hurry it up, our guests are waiting.’

As Mitchell shuffled away, leaving a cloud of smoke in his wake, Corrine cursed Eleanor Harrison for her inaction. In return for deletion of the footage of her attempted sexual assault on a young waiter, she had promised to use her Government contacts to put pressure on Mitchell to allow Corrine a divorce. However, Corrine had heard nothing since. Short of releasing the video clips and potentially incriminating herself, she was at a loss over what to do next. So she drained the remaining wine in her glass and returned to the dining room with a tray full of coffees and another painted smile.





72


Jeffrey




A night spent sleeping in his car had bruised Jeffrey’s ego but it hadn’t damaged his resolve.

He yawned and stretched out his legs as far as possible in the limited space. He was parked on a stretch of land in Old Northampton where driverless taxis awaited their next App request. The motors of these electric cars were whisper quiet, but even with his privacy windows switched on, their headlights woke him frequently.

He checked the car’s touchscreen dashboard. There were a handful of messages but nothing from Luca. He sighed. But it was early and he was probably still asleep. Between Luca and Noah, Luca was the one who preferred to lie in as long as possible. He and Jeffrey were similar like that. They were similar in many ways.

Jeffrey removed a protein bar from a door pocket and, as he chewed it, he recalled the day three years ago he received the email notification to confirm he’d passed his probationary period and qualified as a Relationship Responder. Within the hour, Jeffrey had carried only what he could fit in his hands from the flat and down to his car, making it his new home. He’d never returned as there were rarely more than a handful of days between posts and new houses to move into. He spent those eating his meals in cafes, showering in electric charging service stations and sleeping in his vehicle. This life had become his norm until he found himself an actual home. One with Luca. A night apart was all it had taken to cement the depth of his attraction and make him realize how hard and fast he had fallen for him. Noah was too selfish, too blind and too arrogant to see that he had everything he could possibly want in Luca. Now it was up to Jeffrey to ensure Luca recognized his husband’s ingratitude.

As if on cue, a message appeared from Luca. Jeffrey’s heart fluttered.

‘Hi, I’m sorry about yesterday. I needed to get my head together. I’m up and about if you want to come over?’

Jeffrey waited ten minutes before he dictated a voice note reply.

‘No problem, we all need a little time out,’ he said casually. ‘I’ll be over after I’ve run a few errands. Put the coffee on.’

There was no more time to waste. He would need to execute the final part of his plan soon before it was too late.





73


Corrine




Corrine awoke groggy the morning after the party. The prescription sleeping patches and her alcohol consumption had left her with a pounding in her skull. She didn’t need to open the App and read her Smart blanket’s evaluation of her sleep pattern to know it had been miserable. As she removed one patch and replaced it with another for pain relief, she couldn’t decide if the raised but muffled voices were part of the hangover or coming from elsewhere in the house.

Suddenly her bedroom door opened wide. ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked, squinting bleary-eyed at her son Spencer.

‘There’s something wrong with Dad,’ he replied and, for a moment, Corrine hoped Mitchell was lying on the floor in the midst of a major aneurysm. ‘He’s going, like, proper nuts. He keeps arguing and screaming at people on the phone.’

‘That’s nothing new. What’s he on his soapbox about this time?’

‘I don’t know. Can you go and talk to him?’

‘I don’t think I care enough to find out.’

‘Please, Mum. This isn’t his usual kind of angry. He sounds . . . I dunno . . . a bit scared too?’

‘Okay.’ Corrine sighed. Resentfully, she climbed out of bed, slipped on her dressing gown and trudged to the end of the landing. The closer she came to Mitchell’s office, the more she realized Spencer’s description wasn’t inaccurate.

A blurred object flew across the room and shattered against the wall as she opened the door.

‘Mitchell!’ she yelled, startling him. His face was puce, breaths sharp and fast and his eyes wired. He paced around the room with pods in his ears, stepping over remnants of ornaments he had already hurled before she arrived. Spencer was correct. Beneath today’s rage, she sensed fear in her husband.

‘What the hell is going on?’ Corrine asked.

‘I’ve been cancelled,’ he said in disbelief.

‘What do you mean you’ve been cancelled?’

‘What the hell do you think it means?’

Now it was Corrine’s turn to look to the Audite and then back at him.