Warhol's Prophecy

6

‘I GOT LOST today, Dad.’

Becky said the words almost gleefully, smiling happily first at Rob then at Hailey.

They had eaten dinner in the kitchen, as they always did; the room that had once been the dining room having been transformed, about a year ago, into a study, and what had once been the study having been redecorated to turn it into a playroom for Becky. What the hell: they only ever used the dining room once or twice a year, when their parents visited and Hailey cooked for more than just the three of them. They weren’t exactly dinnerparty types. The room was wasted, Rob had said. So for the last eleven months they had eaten every meal in the kitchen. Some had been consumed in an atmosphere close to despair, especially in the last six months, but the meal this particular evening had been an enjoyable one. Not just because of Hailey’s culinary skill, but also because they had all laughed and joked. The conversation had flowed easily, Rob had looked a little more relaxed than usual, and Hailey had been grateful for the change in his character.

Both of them had tried hard to keep their true feelings hidden from Becky, ever since the discovery of Rob’s affair, and, most of the time, they had been successful.

Of course, Becky wasn’t stupid and, especially when Rob’s indiscretion had first come to light, she had been only too quick to spot a difference in her parents. Puzzled when her father, in particular, snapped at her so vehemently for apparently trivial things, there had been tears. But on the whole the emotional upheaval that both Hailey and Rob had been – and were still – going through was well disguised.

At first, Rob didn’t react to his daughter’s last words. He merely sipped his glass of mineral water, lost in his own thoughts.

‘Dad, I said I got lost,’ Becky repeated, unsure whether her father had heard her.

‘Where?’ he said finally, a slight edge to his voice.

Becky began to tell him.

‘Or should I say how?’

He was looking straight at Hailey now.

‘I didn’t want to worry you,’ she said. ‘Everything was all right in the end.’

‘Well, that’s OK then, isn’t it?’ he said. She wasn’t slow to catch the note of sarcasm in his voice.

No, it was something even stronger.

Disdain?

Anger?

‘A man found me,’ Becky continued. ‘He was really nice, wasn’t he, Mum?’

Hailey smiled and nodded, aware of Rob’s eyes boring into her.

‘Well, that’s fine then, sweetheart,’ he said, getting to his feet and kissing the top of Becky’s head.

He carried his plate across to the sink, then returned and collected those of Hailey and his daughter. As he looked across at Hailey, she saw his eyes narrow slightly.

‘Can I watch a video before I go to bed, Dad?’ Becky wanted to know.

‘Just half an hour,’ Hailey offered.

Becky scrambled down from the table and disappeared through into the sitting room, leaving Hailey and Rob to clear the table and wash up.

‘Don’t start, Rob,’ Hailey said, filling the sink with hot water.

‘Start about what?’ he snapped. ‘Our daughter getting lost when you were supposed to be looking after her? Why should I? I mean, she’s fine, isn’t she? Why should I start?’

‘If you knew how I felt, waiting for her to be found, you might be a bit more sympathetic.’ She handed him a clean, dripping plate.

He didn’t answer, merely continued drying crockery as she passed them to him.

‘Don’t give me the silent treatment, Rob,’ Hailey muttered. ‘If you’ve got something to say, then say it.’

‘Perhaps I should wait and do my talking tonight. That’s what those bloody sessions are for, isn’t it?’

She shot him an angry glance.

‘I didn’t force you to come, Rob. And if you want to stop going, then that’s up to you too. I thought we needed help. I hoped you understood that. I thought you wanted to do something to help our relationship. After all, it was you who fucked it all up in the first place.’

‘Yeah, I know. And if I hadn’t had an affair, we wouldn’t be going to Marriage Guidance, would we?’

Again she caught that heavy scorn in his voice.

‘It’s called Relate,’ she told him.

‘What difference does the name make? It does the same job, doesn’t it?’

‘And what job’s that? What job do you think it’s supposed to do, Rob?’

He shook his head. ‘I’m going to sit with Becky,’ he said, throwing the tea towel onto the worktop. ‘Perhaps she needs someone to keep an eye on her.’

He was out of the kitchen before Hailey could reply.

She heard his footsteps on the stairs.

Despite the fact that the television was on, the volume was low and Hailey wasn’t really paying much attention to the programme. It was a soap opera – wasn’t it always? She merely gazed blankly at the screen, listening as Rob made his way down the stairs, then into the kitchen. A moment later he wandered into the sitting room and sat down in the chair on the other side of the room, his gaze straying first to the TV and then to the daily paper lying on the coffee table close to him. He picked it up and flipped it around to the sports pages.

‘Did you read her a story?’ Hailey asked.

‘She was tired anyway,’ Rob answered. ‘It didn’t take long for her to drop off. Not surprising really, is it? I mean, she’s had a lot of excitement today – if that’s what you want to call it.’

He continued looking at the paper.

‘Oh, for Christ’s sake, Rob, drop it, will you?’ Hailey said wearily.

He lowered the paper.

‘Drop it? Our daughter gets lost in one of the biggest shopping centres in the country, and you say “Drop it.” What the hell were you doing?’

‘I knew this was coming. You think it’s my fault, don’t you?’

‘Do you have any idea what could have happened to her?’

‘I spent nearly an hour thinking about nothing else.’

‘You weren’t going to tell me, were you?’

‘No. Because I knew you’d react like this.’

‘How do you expect me to react?’

‘With a little bit of understanding. I went through hell this afternoon until they found her.’

‘And you just decided not to tell me?’

‘Don’t start lecturing me about deceit, Rob. You’re not really in a position to do that, are you?’

He raised his hands. ‘Change the record, Hailey,’ he said irritably.

She glared at him.

She was about to speak again when she heard the two-tone door-chime. Flashing him one final, angry glance, she got to her feet and headed for the door, from habit peering through the spyhole before she opened it.

As she waited on the doorstep, Caroline Hacket rubbed her hands together.

‘It’s getting colder,’ she commented as Hailey let her in.

Caroline slipped off her long grey coat to reveal a dark sweatshirt and jeans beneath. She draped the coat over the bannister and turned to Hailey, seeing how pale and drawn she looked.

‘Are you OK?’ she wanted to know.

Hailey nodded. ‘Becky’s fast asleep,’ she said, reaching for her own coat that hung on the rack behind her. ‘We’ll be back by nine.’

Caroline touched her friend’s arm and nodded. She turned as Rob appeared in the doorway to the sitting room.

‘How’s things in the world of big business, Rob?’ Caroline asked, smiling.

‘Not bad,’ he said, forcing a return smile that appeared more like a leer. He pulled on a jacket and dug in his pocket for the car keys. He then wandered outside, and a couple of minutes later Hailey heard the engine of the Audi throb into life.

‘You know where everything is, don’t you?’ said Hailey.

‘I should do by now,’ Caroline told her. ‘Go on. Everything will be fine. I’ll see you later.’

Hailey closed the door behind her and headed towards the passenger side of the waiting Audi.

‘Everything will be fine.’

How badly she wanted to believe that.