She looks at him, shrugs and says, ‘I don’t see why I should have to bring her into any of it …’
‘That’s not a promise.’
Anna narrows her eyes at Eddy, mistrust blooming. Those suspicious neural pathways in her brain like well-trodden tracks. ‘Why are you so concerned about her, Ed?’
He has no choice.
‘I think Blake has a crush on Lily.’
‘What?’
‘I saw them, together, at the assembly. They looked close.’
Anna looks away from him, as though staring into some appalling future – her boy with a prostitute’s daughter. ‘Well, he’s not … he’s not allowed!’
Eddy can’t help it, he laughs, and Anna’s eyes flash, furious at him.
‘He’s not a toddler, Anna.’
‘We have to get her away from him. Get them to leave town, preferably.’
Eddy winces. ‘No, Anna. Lily seems like a lovely kid; we need to protect them both, and the only way we do that is by letting this whole thing just blow—’
‘Anna, hi!’ They both spin around to a tall, attractive woman pulling back the hood of her raincoat, smoothing her hand across her hair as she asks, ‘It is Anna, isn’t it?’
She smiles, Anna nods and the woman extends a hand. ‘I’m Millie; my son Isaac is the year below Blake, totally idolizes him.’
‘Hi, Millie.’ Anna smiles. ‘Yes, I’ve seen you around.’
Millie seems grateful to be recognized. Eddy’s never seen her before.
‘Listen, I know you must be busy, so I’ll be quick: I wanted to ask if you’d be up for coming on my radio show later today? Well, I say “my show”, but I’m just the producer. It’s a local live show about issues and politics that have a special interest in the area, I Heart Sussex—’
Anna nods along, interrupting Millie, ‘I’ve heard of it.’
‘Great!’ Millie beams. ‘I was just in the assembly and, honestly, this thing with Mr Kent is just so interesting, so important. Everyone’s saying that you wrote the petition …’
She gives Anna the opportunity to deny it, which she doesn’t, so Millie keeps talking. ‘I knew I’d be kicking myself if I didn’t ask you to join—’
Anna beams back; she interrupts her again. ‘I’d be delighted, Millie. I was wondering, after Mr Kent went so public this morning, how best to respond and obviously social media is just so …’ Anna pulls a face; Millie nods along to show she totally gets it. ‘Your show, I think, would be perfect.’
‘Wait, what kind of things are you going to ask?’ Eddy steps forward. ‘I’m Eddy, Anna’s husband.’
‘Hi, Eddy.’ Millie glances at Anna, recoiling slightly at how this conversation between two women is being usurped by a man.
‘Eddy,’ Anna intercepts, embarrassed, ‘I’m sure Millie and I will talk about all those details later, before the broadcast.’ Eddy recognizes Anna’s tone; it’s the one she uses when their cat has done something disgusting.
‘Listen, Millie, we’ve got people waiting for us inside, so why don’t you take my number and let me know where and when you need me, and I’ll see you then? I’ve taken the whole day off work so I can be available whenever suits you.’
‘You’re amazing.’ Millie nods her head, beaming again at the wonder of Anna, before they exchange numbers and Millie gives her the Waverly address where they’ll be recording, adding, ‘Anna, you’re a dream. You’ll be our big opener, so we’ll need you in about an hour, say from twelve thirty p.m.? I’ll call you shortly to confirm. Thank you so much and see you soon!’
Millie pulls her hood back up and walks away into the sheeting rain.
‘Was that the radio producer?’ Lotte’s thin face appears behind the door and Eddy’s about to tell Lotte that they haven’t finished, that they’ll be in in a moment, when Lotte swivels her eyes to Anna and says, ‘I think you should come and see this, Anna.’
As soon as they’re back at the table, one of the women waggles her phone at Anna. ‘I just got this through on our Year Seven WhatsApp; there are a couple of really dubious parents in the year, annoyingly. Anyway, it’s not particularly nice – a complete invasion, I’m afraid – but I thought you should know.’
Anna shakes her head at the woman and says, ‘What is it, Clarissa?’
Anna looks like she wants to take Clarissa’s phone, but Clarissa holds it tightly and clears her throat before reading out loud, ‘I’m surprised this is all coming from a person who was close friends with Seb and who was, a couple of years ago, the object of some humiliation following her husband’s affair. Surely, she’d be the first to understand that marital issues should stay in the home …’
Eddy feels his skin burn as all eyes turn right at him.
‘Who said that?’ Anna snaps. ‘Eddy has nothing, absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with this thing with Seb.’
Eddy, still rushing with shame, knows he should probably say something, opens his mouth and starts, ‘That was a mistake, a one-time …’ before Anna grabs his arm, her fingernails a sharp reminder that this is her show.
‘Listen, everyone. That woman I was just talking to outside is Millie from I Heart Sussex. I’ve agreed to go live on her radio show in about an hour. This bullshit …’ She gestures to Clarissa and her phone, like they are the same being. ‘Seb is clearly leading some kind of smear campaign to completely undermine me and make me look like a fool. I wanted to do what he didn’t – protect his family – but now my own is being attacked. He’s left me no choice but to share the facts about what he did.’ She pauses for a moment. To everyone else, she’ll look like she’s finding this all incredibly hard, but Eddy knows she’s already made up her mind. Nothing galvanizes Anna’s anger like humiliation. She keeps talking.
‘I think it’s only fair that you – the parents – get to make up your own minds.’ Everyone at the table nods encouragingly because they’re close now, so close.
‘Anna, please!’ Eddy warns, desperate now. ‘Think about the consequences for B!’
He won’t say his son’s name, can’t risk someone other than Anna picking up on it.
‘That’s exactly what I am doing!’ Anna stays defiant and Eddy stands again; he wants to shake Anna, tell her that these people aren’t her friends, her friends are the people she’s about to completely eviscerate. She just glances at him sadly before shrugging and turning back to the table, adding, ‘Please, remember poor Rosie and her kids and please don’t share it online or on any groups for now.’
The nodding heads are becoming even more furious in their agreement. Eddy knows that in this moment they’d probably give up their firstborn to get what they want. He wants to leave but something keeps him there, some instinct to protect Blake and even protect Seb and Rosie. He knows that if he leaves now, they’ll all be completely alone.
Anna takes a deep, theatrical breath in, sighing out immediately. ‘We …’ Anna glances at Eddy, changes her mind and says, ‘I … found out that on two occasions, Seb paid for sex with a prostitute.’
Lotte’s hands fly up to her mouth while Vita lets hers hang open, her eyes swivelling, reptilian, to catch the others’ reactions. Martin murmurs, ‘Oh my God!’ And someone else goes a few steps further with, ‘Fucking disgrace!’
Anna’s eyes are wide, righteous and apparently full of sorrow that this heavy burden has been placed on her shoulders. She opens her mouth to say more and seems a little surprised that no one’s looking at or listening to her any more. Instead, they’re all luxuriating in their own shock, their own delight.