Virtually Perfect (41 page)

'What sort of shouting?'

'She was screaming at him to get out.  I thought... well...'  His eyes flicked up guiltily.  'Never mind...  Then I saw
him
come out.  You could have knocked me down with a feather!  I had half a mind to go out there myself, but... well, then you rolled up.  You seemed to have it under control,' he said with a wink.

Ben's pulse quickened.

'Excuse me,' he said, reaching into his pocket, grabbing his phone. 

He flipped back the cover.  Ben's heart sank.

'Hi, it's me.  When are you coming home?'

Eve could feel her phone vibrating through the buttery leather of her clutch bag.  She didn't touch it this time, just stood there motionless, glowering up at his window. 

I see you.  Do you see me?

'Who are you calling?' bubbled a voice from behind him.  'Come and have your dinner!  I've made your favourite...' she coaxed.

'I'm not hungry,' Ben grumbled. 

The smell of it made him feel sick. 

She was out there somewhere.  Anything could have happened.  He had to find her, he just didn't know where to start.

Eve stared up at the window.  She could see her, again. 

Eve's fists clenched; brow knitted in anger. 

This time, she was standing next to him.

Eve watched the blonde girl put her hand on Ben's shoulder - reach forward.  They disappeared.  The blinds swivelled shut.

Eve heard the blare of a horn; a screech of brakes.

'What are you doing?  You silly cow!'

Eve stood in the middle of the road, squinting through her fingers at the driver's head poking out of his window, dazzled by the headlights.

Eve started running again.

Ben darted back to the vertical blinds, tearing them open.  Half of the slats snapped away from the runners, falling down, festooning him like a maypole.

'Ben?'

He couldn't see much, just a driver waving his fist; twelve feet of skid marks. 

Probably just some boy racer...

'What's the matter with you?'

The traffic started moving again. 

Ben heard the catch of the front door.  He tried to step away, but he was all tangled up.

'You bastard...'

Ben span around.  He almost fell over.

'Eve!'

He fought to free himself from the blinds. 

A grin washed over his face.  It drooped.  She didn't look quite so happy.

Eve stood there panting, chin lowered, scowling.  Her hair spilled from the pins, cascading over her shoulders. 

Oh shit...  She's fucking mad...

He could see she was shaking from the other side of the room.  She'd walked back without any shoes. 

He watched her turn; followed her glare to the kitchen.

'Eve, I can explain...'

The blonde just stood there, shrouded in steam.  Her wide blue eyes flicked between them like she was watching the tennis.  She wore bottle green oven gloves, in a kitchen Eve had presumed had never been used.  Eve had caught the cooking smells from the stairwell.  The pan behind her was bubbling over.

'Hello,' said the blonde, with a timid smile.

Ben watched Eve's lips narrow, jaw tense, knuckles turn white.  Her angry eyes flashed back to him.

'Eve—'

'HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?'

Ben flinched.  Her voice echoed around the walls.  Her nostrils flared; her eyes were ferocious.

It had been a long time since Ben had been scared by a woman.  He didn't like it.  At all.

'Lower your voice please,' he said curtly.  'This is—'

'Lower my voice?' Eve seethed (she had, all the same). 

He gave her a look that said he meant business. 

She laughed, half through incredulity, half through nervousness. 

She stared into nothing, her face contorting in realisation.  She looked up at him, eyes glistening.

'You—'

'Eve—'

'You made me have sex without a condom...'

He stared back at her.  Her bottom lip started to quiver.

'Benjamin!' barked blondie.  'Is this true?'

Eve turned to her, then back to him, clenching her hair in her fists.

'Oh God!  ...What have I done?'

'Shut up, Eve,' Ben said quietly.

'Shut up?' she blurted, the volume rising again. 

She smiled bitterly, shaking her head. 

'You've got a nerve!  I can't believe you sat there at the dinner table telling Dad that sob story, when all the time, you've been living with...
her
.'

'Eve, this is—'

'No, no!' interrupted blondie.  'I only just arrived yesterday.'

Eve turned slowly, staring into her face. 

The blonde girl smiled nervously back.  Eve couldn't be sure anymore.  Maybe it wasn't Lydia.  Maybe this was a new one. 

'...That'll be when we saw you coming out of
La Casona
together,' Eve nodded contemptuously.  'Nice, isn't it?  He took me there on our first date.'

'I know,' blondie nodded back quickly. 'You must be Evelyn.  I'm pleased to meet you, I've heard so much abou—'

Eve turned away from her, her eyes narrowing, fixing Ben's open-mouthed stare. 

'It's funny, you know.  I could have sworn you told me your flight back wasn't until this morning.  That is... if you ever went to Saudi at all.'

They stared at each other for a moment. 

The penny finally dropped. 

To Eve's dismay, Ben hid his brow in his hands.  His shoulders juddered.  He started to laugh.

Eve smoothed her dress, pursing her lips.  She raised her chin so high she even looked down at him.

'Eve, this is—'

'Ridiculous,' she said curtly. 'I realise that now.  Well, I'd love to stay and chat...'

Eve turned on her toes, winced, stomped off down the hall.

'Eve—'

She heard him running behind her, felt his hand catch her wrist.

'GET OFF!' she shouted.

'Evelyn, please! Just listen!'

Eve span around.

'I always knew you were a fake,' she spat.  'For all your Champagne and your opera and your four million pound apartment block...'

She watched Ben's eyes widen, saw him raise an eyebrow.

'I knew you were just some council estate kid who somehow just got lucky...

'You think splashing your money around and trying to pronounce your aitches hides that?  Oh, please!  That story about going to the local comp and getting drunk at the school disco?  Not having enough money for the meter and hiding when the TV licensing van came around?  You didn't need to say any of that!  You wear your fancy clothes, you drive your flash car, but we can all hear it, every time you open your mouth!'

Ben stepped back like she'd just slapped him.  Eve felt his fingers slacken.  She pulled her hand free, rubbing the little red welt on her wrist.

'Do you want to hear the irony of it all?  That kid from a broken home?  The one who lived on baked beans, the one you try so hard to hide?  That was the bit I actually liked.

'You were right!' she told him, with a mean little smile.  'I really do have bad taste in men!

'All of this?' she said raising her palms to the ceiling, arms wide open.  'The money, the chrome, the flatscreens?' 

She laughed.

'Oh, Ben.  You're so... magnolia.  I
hate
magnolia.'

He stared down at her for a moment, his eyes hardening. 

He stepped forward, Eve stepped back, flinching as her shoulders hit the wall.

'Maybe I didn't grow up with ponies and pianos,' he said frostily, 'elocution lessons and a silver spoon in my mouth.  But I can tell you one thing for sure.  None of the girls at
my
school put out at 14.'

Her eyes flicked up to his cold aqua stare. 

He blinked and looked away. 

'I know the value of money,' he nodded.  'You only see how much it matters when you don't have any...  You're right.  We were poor.  What can I do about that?  What does it matter anyway?  No, Eve.  All that matters is where I end up...  You can call it luck if it makes you feel better - some of it was - but I fought hard to get where I am now.

'But you?' he said, his voice tinged with disgust.  'You had it all on a plate!  You swapped Sanderson wallpaper for moldy woodchip, working at Bonham's for some backstreet bric-a-brac store, that can't pay you enough to cover the bills.  And for what? ...I suppose it's a bit of fun for you, isn't it?  A little adventure?  But then, you do have a contingency plan most of us
poor
people
don't.'

Eve's eyes flickered as he put his hands on the wall, jacketed arms either side of her head.  Ben was still wearing his tie.  It was perfectly knotted, with a dimple in the centre, just like her dad always tied them.

'I've seen the empty cupboards, Eve.  The credit card bills stacked up the table.  I may not
talk posh
, but I tell you what.  I've never owed a penny in my life.  Not bad for a...
council estate kid. 

'
Yes, that's right.  You just keep looking right down your nose at me, so far you can't even see where you're going.  You'll be halfway up some pissy tower block in no time, three snotty kids in tow, wondering where it all went wrong...'

His nose was inches from hers.  She could feel the warmth of his breath on her face, smell him again.  Eve closed her eyes.

'It's not quite so jolly as it seems on Only Fools and Horses, I'm afraid.'  She flinched as his fingers brushed her cheek.  'The stabbings and shootings can be a frightful bore... not to mention the smackheads.'

Her eyes blinked open.  He looked down at her for a moment.  His hand slid away.

'I suppose you could just play at it for a while,' he mused.  'Just keep sticking out that pinkie and sip your Twinings in your pearls, while it all turns to shit around your ears.  If it gets too hard, you could always phone Roger.  Until you push it too far.  Again.'

She stared up at him.

'Go to hell.'

He laughed back at her.

'No thanks,' he said, shaking his head.  'Been there, got the accent... apparently.'

Eve peered over his arm, staring at the front door.  She looked over his other arm, back to the lounge.  She could still hear blondie, rattling around in the kitchen. 

Ben felt a shove.  The force of it took him quite by surprise.  He staggered backwards, felt his back slam against the partition wall  

'What the fackin' ell's goin' on?'

Eve froze. 

The voice was muffled, it came from somewhere behind them. 

'I told you to be quiet, didn't I?' Ben muttered, straightening up.

'Nothing, Mum!' he called back. 

Eve stared up at him, eyes bulging, bare lips falling apart.

Oh fuck...

Her eyes flicked to the front door.  How she longed to be on the other side of it.  Her feet just wouldn't budge. 

Eve heard a series of thuds, the creak of a door, footsteps stomping down the hall.

'If you two don't pack it in, I'm going to bang your bleedin 'eds together!' 

Eve and Ben slinked together, like a pair of naughty school kids, staring at each other.

'It's enaff to wake the—'

She looked up, a half-smoked cigarette hanging from her mouth.  She stopped dead, dark eyes widening in realisation.  She embarrassedly plucked the cigarette from her lips.   

Eve watched the ash flutter down.

'Oh...  Hello!' she warbled, in her telephone voice.

'Hello!' said Eve, suddenly feeling Ben's arm around her, smiling back like a ventriloquist's dummy.

'Mamma, this is Eve,' said Ben.  'Eve,' Ben's eyes rolled down to hers; he rubbed the back of his head, 'this is my mother.'

Eve peered up at him for a moment.

Oh shit...

'Cara!' blurted Ben's mum.  'Please, call me Cara!' 

The plump lady with greying brown hair launched forward, pulling her pink dressing gown together with one hand, the other hiding her cigarette behind her back.  Before Eve knew what was happening, she felt herself in Cara's strong grip, thrust against her huge bosom, two wet nicotine kisses planted on her cheeks.

'I'm so sorry!' Cara gushed.  'I thought it was them two playing up!  They've fought like cat and dog ever since they were nippers!'

Cara turned back to Ben.  She opened her mouth to speak, but before the words came, another voice bubbled up.