BooksBarbecue
Back Perfect Ten
Chapters (45)
  1. Chapter One
  2. Chapter Two
  3. Chapter Three
  4. Chapter Four
  5. Chapter Five
  6. Chapter Six
  7. Chapter Seven
  8. Chapter Eight
  9. Chapter Nine
  10. Chapter Ten
  11. Chapter Eleven
  12. Chapter Twelve
  13. Chapter Thirteen
  14. Chapter Fourteen
  15. Chapter Fifteen
  16. Chapter Sixteen
  17. Chapter Seventeen
  18. Chapter Eighteen
  19. Chapter Nineteen
  20. Chapter Twenty
  21. Chapter Twenty-one
  22. Chapter Twenty-two
  23. Chapter Twenty-three
  24. Chapter Twenty-four
  25. Chapter Twenty-five
  26. Chapter Twenty-six
  27. Chapter Twenty-seven
  28. Chapter Twenty-eight
  29. Chapter Twenty-nine
  30. Chapter Thirty
  31. Chapter Thirty-one
  32. Chapter Thirty-two
  33. Chapter Thirty-three
  34. Chapter Thirty-four
  35. Chapter Thirty-five
  36. Chapter Thirty-six
  37. Chapter Thirty-seven
  38. Chapter Thirty-eight
  39. Chapter Thirty-nine
  40. Chapter Forty
  41. Chapter Forty-one
  42. Chapter Forty-two
  43. Chapter Forty-three
  44. Chapter Forty-four
  45. Acknowledgements

I just stare at her. She walks away and I close the door. Oh God. How am I going to pull this off? One thing’s for sure, if I don’t I’ll lose my job and my children.

I sit down heavily and look at Twitter. #teamCaro is trending again, and someone is arguing that feminism is in its sixth phase. A couple of teenage boys are baiting an academic who is trying to argue that posting the pictures on Facebook is postmodern communication. It’s out of control and has exceeded what I could have ever imagined, but now I need to curb it.

I put the kettle on and pour some water down the hole onto the glowing embers of my past misdemeanours. I feel strangely cleansed and suddenly optimistic. The one thing Emma didn’t mention was her marriage. How he married her while he was still married to me. I hurry back into the house and grab the decree absolute. This is my way to get my children back.

This really is it.

Chapter Thirty-nine

I switch on the TV. I watch a nature programme and sip a cup of tea and then, at the end of the news, I turn the volume up for the local news report. I need to keep calm and not let my mind race to the meeting. I’m just dropping off to sleep when there’s a knock on the door. I peer out from behind the curtains. It’s Paula. I let her in and she stands in the hallway in front of me.

‘Come and sit down.’

I push a box off the couch but she stays standing. Something’s not right. She gets her phone out and shows me a picture. It’s The Tea Cosy. Busy, and Frances is behind the counter.

‘Never shut.’ She’s sullen and sulky. ‘I had a brew and one of the old dears told me it was just an infestation. Got the pest control in and it was all over in a day.’

I breathe a sigh of relief. I’m genuinely pleased I didn’t cause any real damage. I look more closely at the picture and Frances is smiling. But Paula is still standing in my lounge looking uncomfortable. She finally speaks.

‘There’s something I didn’t tell you.’

I fucking knew it. I get up and face her. I fucking knew she was lying. But she’s swiping the photos on her phone, one after another. She stops and holds it up in front of me. It’s her and a woman with long black hair. She’s got a tattoo on her arm, the same as Paula’s. She’s showing it off to the camera.