The Betrayal (23 page)

K
arin was still sleeping
when he pulled on his tracksuit and moved silently from the bedroom.
The front gates of Sea Aster screeched as he pushed them open.
He must remember to oil them.
The house and grounds needed constant attention, one chore leading to another and demanding more of his time each week.

He jogged along Mallard Cove.
The air was filled with a sea-weedy smell, slightly rank but not unpleasant.
The ducks were still sleeping, heads tucked under wings, and the swans formed ghostly silhouettes as they glided through the hazy air.
He breathed evenly, his body moving to a relaxed rhythm.
When he reached the remains of an old jetty he sat on the stone surface and recovered his breath.

Reactions to the gig had been amazing.
Bookings were coming in and tours being planned into the future.
Shard could become the poster band of the recession, Mik Abel believed.
The ‘Collapsing the Stone’ video had received numerous hits and Jake’s songs, chronicling the destruction of an economy, were being discussed in print, on radio and on music blogs.
Everything was so immediate these days.

Karin was possessed by that same immediacy.
This time it was all or nothing.
Soon after the Shard gig she presented him with the key to her apartment, boxed and tied with a red bow.
She had watched, a half-smile playing around her lips, as he felt through the layers of tissue and his fingers closed over the cold metal.
His first inclination was to hand the key back.
It was too soon for such an exchange but he had promised her a relationship and this was her commitment to it.
He used Eleanor’s ownership of Sea Aster as an excuse for not being in a position to give her a key to his apartment.
It was a weak excuse but she seemed willing to accept it for the time being.
What she was not willing to do was hide in the shadows of his family life.

‘It’s the perfect opportunity to introduce us,’ she said when Jake casually mentioned that he had booked a meal for two for Eleanor’s birthday.
Over the past fifteen years she had celebrated her birthday in Louisa’s Loft with the family, Nadine and Rosanna, Ali, Brian and the twins, the eight of them sitting around the circular table in the centre of the restaurant.
Gradually the numbers decreased and this year it would be just the two of them.
He imagined Eleanor’s eyebrows rising, her acerbic comments or, worse still, her chilling silence if he introduced Karin to her.
The idea was unthinkable.

‘It’s too soon to meet,’ he said.
‘We have to take one step at a time.’

‘What step is that?’
Karin asked.
‘As far as I can see we’re not moving at all.’

The sun rose beyond the distant viaduct, a dazzling rim that streaked a crimson vertebrae across the sky.
He had better return to Sea Aster.
Karin was an early riser.
In Alaska there was no dawn to watch, he thought, just a midnight sun to blood the opening of a new day.

‘Where were you?’
She was sitting up in bed, tousled and pouting, when he returned.

‘On the estuary watching the dawn.’

‘You should have woken me.’

‘I didn’t want to disturb you.’

‘Was it beautiful?’

‘As always.’

‘We should have been watching it together.’
She sounded wishful.
‘That’s what lovers do.
But there’ll be other dawns we can share.’

T
he stage was bare
, their equipment packed.
Reedy, Hart and Daryl had already left.
This was the lonely moment, the dazzle stripped away, lasers, strobes and spotlights switched off, microphones silenced.
The only musical note was the clink of glasses being cleared away.

Feral stopped packing her equipment and glanced curiously across at Jake.
‘You and Karin watching the dawn together,’ she said.
‘I never realised you were such a romantic.’
She zipped her main drum into its cover and headed for the exit.

‘What do you mean?’
Jake lifted an amplifier and followed her outside to the carpark where their two vans were parked.

‘We bumped into each other on Grafton Street yesterday.
She twisted my arm to have a coffee with her.
She’s really into you.’

‘I guess.’

‘What about you?’

‘It’s not that straightforward.’

Feral slammed the back door closed.
‘As far as she’s concerned, it is.
She talked about you the whole time.’
She grinned.
‘I can’t pretend it was the most fascinating conversation I’ve ever had in my life.’

‘Why ever not?’
He feigned indignation to hide his uneasiness.
Why would Karin lie over such a trivial issue as a sunrise?
‘What else did she tell you?’

‘Oh, this and that.
Woman talk.’
Feral took out her keys and climbed into the van.
‘She strikes me as a woman who gets what she wants.
Just be sure you want the same thing.’

‘That sounds like a warning.’

‘You’re a big boy, Jake.
If you can’t look after yourself by now it’s too late to take cover.’

He watched her drive away.
One night after band practice she had stayed behind in Sea Aster and played music with him.
Unlike Maggie, who was a staunch gay rights activist, Feral was content to drum her way through life.
She told him that night how they had met on a Greyhound bus that was bringing them from Boston to New York.
As a love story it lacked excitement but sparks had flown and that was that.
Their future sealed.

Two years after that summer in Monsheelagh he would look out from the stage and recognise Nadine instantly.
She had waved from the crowd and smiled, he remembered it was a hesitant smile, as if she was uncertain he would remember her.
He smiled back and held her gaze for the remainder of the song.
He had sought her out as soon as the band stopped for a short interval.
A moment of recognition, their future sealed.

A melancholic yearning for the early years of their marriage swept over him.
The sleepless nights, the dazed periods of bliss when their children were asleep and they could finally collapse onto the old sofa, laughing as they reached for each other.
But those years had a sepia tinge and he found it increasingly difficult to recognise himself as that young, hassled father, or the brittle husband who had moved to Bartizan Downs, smugly convinced that his future had a graph that could only rise.

T
he circular table
in Louisa’s Loft had been taken over by a noisy family group and Louisa, the plump, friendly proprietor, seated Jake and Eleanor at a table for two.
She took their orders, removed the menus and placed a jug of iced water before them.

‘It’s sad when a family falls apart and there’s only you and I left to celebrate my birthday.’
Eleanor sighed heavily and gazed out the window at the view over Howth Harbour.

‘We haven’t fallen apart,’ Jake protested.
‘Children grow up.
They leave home.
Old people die.
It’s called life.’

‘And wives leave their husbands,’ she reminded him.
‘Nadine sent me a book for my birthday.
Two Women in the Klondike
.
I’ll read it when I retire.’

‘It’s going to gather dust, then.’
He attempted a joke but Eleanor’s sense of humour had never tallied with his.

‘Probably,’ she replied.
‘I’m far too busy to even think of retiring.’

‘You should relax for a change and kick back your heels.
Remember what the doctor – ’

‘Foals kick back their heels, Jake.
Since when have I ever displayed the slightest equine tendencies?’

‘All I’m saying is that it’s time to let some of the younger members in First Affiliation do the heavy lifting for you.
You’re sixty-seven now.’

‘What would you like me to do?’
She tapped her fingers off the table.
‘Dribble on my chin and shuffle into a nursing home on my Zimmer?’

‘Of course not.
I didn’t mean…’ A long night stretched ahead.
He needed to bite down hard on his tongue.
‘Any word on the planning permission for Sea Aster?
It’s taking forever.’

‘Bureaucracy.
Don’t talk to me about it.’
She was on her favourite hobby horse and Jake, relieved, filled their glasses with wine.

The restaurant door opened and a woman entered.
Dainty feet in ankle boots, a slim-fitting leather jacket and a short skirt hugging her thighs.
He sloshed the wine as he set the bottle back on the table.
One step at a time, he had said.
Karin had obviously decided to take that step on her own.
Her mobile phone was pressed to her ear as she approached the reception desk.
She ended her call and spoke to Louisa.
Eleanor was still complaining about delays, ineptitude and the wastage of taxpayer’s money.
Her words scattered above his head as Karin followed Louisa towards a vacant table.

‘I don’t believe it.’
She stopped beside him and raised her hands to her cheeks.
‘Jake Saunders!
It’s been so long.
My goodness… how many years?’
Her voice lilted with astonishment.
‘It’s
so
good to see you again.’

‘Karin… what a surprise.’
He almost knocked over his chair as he rose to greet her.
‘You’re the last person I expected to meet here.
How are you?’

‘Being stood up, I’m afraid.’
She waggled her mobile at him.
‘I was supposed to meet my friend Liam but I’ve just received a call.
His car has broken down.
He can’t make it.’

‘What a shame.’
Eleanor made a sympathetic moue.
‘Being stood up is not a nice experience.’

‘It’s a nuisance but never mind.’
Karin smiled and extended her hand.
‘I’ve seen you so often on television, Mrs Saunders.
It’s a privilege to meet you in real life.’

Her teeth sparkled, white, small and even.
Sharp too, she bit his neck last night, not once but many times.
A necklace of love, she called it.
If his mother knew what was hidden under the collar of his shirt.
Jake’s palms began to sweat.

‘Thank you.’
Eleanor gazed speculatively at him.
‘Are you going to introduce us, Jake?’

‘Em… yes… this is Karin Moylan.
She’s em… a friend.’

‘I’m an old school friend of Nadine’s,’ Karin cut across his faltering introduction.
‘How is she, Jake?
I haven’t heard from her in ages.’

‘She’s fine.’

‘Why don’t you sit down and join us, my dear?’
Eleanor said.

‘Oh, no, I’d be intruding…’ Karin hesitated, toyed with her chunky blue necklace.

‘Not at all.’
Eleanor gestured towards an empty seat at the next table.
‘Bring that chair over, Jake.
We’re celebrating my birthday.’
She gestured towards Louisa, who was waiting at a discreet distance for their conversation to finish.
‘Louisa, another menu, please.
This young lady will be dining with us.’

‘I hope you’ve had a wonderful day.’
Karin pulled the chair closer to the table and accepted the menu.

‘It’s been a busy day like any other.’

‘But now you’ve a chance to relax with your son.
Family is everything, don’t you agree?
But of course you do.
Your party was founded on that core principle.
I’ve always admired your staunchness, Mrs Saunders.’

‘Call me Eleanor, my dear.
No sense standing on formalities.
I’ve ordered Dover sole on the bone.
It’s always delicious here.
I recommend it.’

‘Then that’s exactly what I’ll have.’

‘How do you know Nadine?’

‘We were best friends in school.
Quite inseparable, actually.
But we lost touch over the years.
You know the way it is.
I was focused on my studies and Nadine…’ She glanced down at the menu.
‘Nadine was lucky enough to meet Jake.’

‘Indeed.’

‘I’m sorry you’ve had a difficult time with your party colleagues,’ Karin said when their food was served.

‘Are you interested in politics?’
Eleanor filleted the sole from the bone with a few deft flicks of her knife.

‘I can’t pretend to be an expert but I do understand the politics of control and leadership.’
Karin attended to her sole with the same precision.
‘I don’t believe the younger members like Lorna Mason will ever have the strength of character necessary to lead a party like First Affiliations.
You
are
the party, Eleanor.’

Jake watched the yachts gliding towards the marina and remained on the sidelines of their conversation.
He had never seen his mother engage with Nadine in that way, as if everything Karin said was stimulating, important.

‘My treat.’
When the meal ended Eleanor whisked out her credit card before Jake could protest.
‘It’s been a most enjoyable night.
I’d like to see some samples of your work, Karin.
We’re considering updating the image of First Affiliation.
Do you have contact details?’

‘Of course.’
Karin removed a card from her wallet and handed it to her.
‘Perhaps we can meet some time and discuss this in more detail so that I can fully understand the aspirations of your party.’

‘An excellent idea.
I’ll be in touch, my dear.’

‘I look forward to meeting you again.’
She stood up and kissed Eleanor on both cheeks before holding out her hand to Jake.
‘Remember me to Nadine.’

Her audacity astonished him but he was forced to admire her tactics.
Unlike Nadine, and, indeed, himself, she knew the exact approach that would charm his mother.

‘What an interesting woman.’
Eleanor picked up the business card and stared at the kingfisher’s vivid plumage.
‘And so knowledgeable about politics.
I’m looking forward to seeing her work.’

A
fter he had dropped
Eleanor off at her bungalow he drove to Karin’s apartment.
He used the key she had given him and entered her bedroom.
She was awake and waiting for him.
Her certainty that he would come directly to her from Louisa’s Loft increased his annoyance.
He ignored the folded back duvet and sat down on the edge of the bed.

‘Just what did you think you were doing?’
he asked.

‘Establishing my place in your life,’ she replied without hesitation.
She lay back against the pillows and stared at him through narrowed eyelids.
‘You’re forty-three years old.
Isn’t it time you stopped being afraid of your mother?’

‘I’m not afraid… I wanted to talk to her first, prepare her.’

‘It’s done now.
Eleanor likes me, as I knew she would.
She hasn’t got around to admitting it yet but she’s accepted the fact that you and Nadine are finished.
This way, she’ll believe she instigated our relationship.’

‘You’re quite the little schemer.’

‘I’m a pragmatist, like Eleanor.
What’s really bothering you?
Are you still hoping Nadine will come back to you?
She’s gone, Jake.
But you’re here with me… in my bedroom.
If that means nothing to you then I suggest you leave right now and close the door behind you.’

Perfume rose from the hollow in her throat, from the bend of her arms as she stretched them above her head.
She enjoyed playing games, leading him on then resisting him until she saw something in his face, he never knew what brought about the instant of surrender, the moment he sank into the dark mystery of her desire, so violent and, at other times, so passive and teasing it was like making love to a different woman.