Warhol's Prophecy

28

HAILEY HEARD THE key in the front door and sat up.

The magazine she’d been reading slipped from her lap as she got to her feet. She padded across to the sitting-room door.

It opened a moment or two before she could reach it.

Rob stood and smiled at her.

She took a step towards him and they embraced.

‘I thought you might have been here earlier,’ she said, kissing him lightly on the lips.

‘Traffic was bad on the M6,’ he told her. ‘I spoke to Frank on the way back and he said there’d been some problems at work, so I nipped in there before I came home. Otherwise I’d have been earlier.’

‘Well, work has to come first, doesn’t it?’ she said, trying to control the irritation in her voice.

Rob exhaled but said nothing.

‘Becky in bed?’ he wanted to know.

‘She’s looking forward to seeing you in the morning. As we didn’t know what time you were getting in, I didn’t want her sitting up until all hours.’

‘You’ve made your point, Hailey,’ he said, slumping into an armchair.

‘I’m just telling you, Rob. I’m not looking for a fight.’

He ran appraising eyes over her. Freshly washed hair, baggy sweater, tight black leggings tucked into a pair of floppy white socks. She looked great, but he noticed there were dark smudges beneath her eyes.

‘You look tired,’ he told her.

‘I haven’t been sleeping too well,’ she confessed.

‘Worried about me?’ He smiled.

She nodded, and sat down beside him on the arm of the chair.

He snaked an arm around her slender waist.

‘So, how did the show go?’ she asked.

‘It went well. It was a worthwhile trip.’

And I got to fuck Sandy again.

‘Did you see anyone you know there?’

‘Like who?’

Take it easy. Don’t be too defensive.

‘Other reps. You’ve been to quite a few of these shows now, so I just wondered if you knew anybody else there.’

‘You usually do see the same faces. I can’t always remember their names, though. That’s one good thing about everyone wearing a name badge. You just read their badge, call them by their name, and they all think you’re a long-lost mate.’

‘Just part of the bullshit, eh?’

‘You know me, babe: king of the bullshit.’

‘And everyone falls for it, don’t they?’

‘Everyone except you.’

‘Did you fuck anyone while you were there?’

‘Hailey, please . . .’

‘Did you?’ she insisted.

‘I told you before I was going on my own, and I’m sure you checked up on me, didn’t you?’

‘I only asked you a simple question, Rob. You could have met someone in the hotel bar or something. I know what you’re like.’

‘I didn’t fuck anyone,’ he lied. ‘Jesus, I’ve been back home for five minutes and you’ve started already.’

Take it easy.

‘Listen, Rob. I’ve been thinking while you were away, and I’ve decided to go back to work for Jim Marsh.’

He opened his mouth to say something.

‘Just part-time,’ she assured him. ‘I start tomorrow.’

‘So that’s it. You’ve decided. We don’t discuss things any more?’

‘I’ve been talking about doing it for ages now – you know that. It would only be for three or four hours a day, when he needs me.’

‘And what about Becky – how does she fit into your plans?’

‘Caroline said she’ll pick her up and drop her off at school, if it comes to that.’

‘I’m glad to hear you’ve got it all sorted out. It’s a good job I did go away for a couple of days, isn’t it? I mean, you might not have been able to arrange all this with me here in the way.’

‘What is the big deal?’

‘You could at least have had the decency to tell me before you made up your mind you were going back to work.’

‘Sorry, Rob, did I betray your trust? Is that what this is? Because if it is, you’re the last one to start handing out lectures about honesty, aren’t you?’

‘Fuck it. Go back to work. I don’t care.’

‘I’m trying to help,’ she snarled. ‘Why can’t you see that? You never used to object to the money I brought in working for Jim before. I know you didn’t like me being away from home, but you never complained about the money, did you?’

‘I told you, if you want to do it, then do it.’

‘I intend to, Rob. We’ll all benefit: especially Becky. That’s what you usually say, isn’t it – if you have to work late or work seven days a week? It’s for Becky’s sake in the long run, isn’t it?’

‘I suppose Caroline thinks it’s a great idea, doesn’t she?’ he rasped.

‘What the hell’s Caroline got to do with this?’

‘She gets to look after Becky even more. I bet she was over the fucking moon.’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘She treats Becky as if she were her child.’

‘At least she cares about her. I’d have thought you’d be pleased about that.’

‘She uses her because she can’t have kids of her own.’

‘That’s not her fault, Rob.’

‘Three abortions before she was nineteen, that’s why she can’t have kids of her own. If she hadn’t been such a fucking slag when she was younger, she wouldn’t be paying for it now, would she?’

‘You bastard,’ said Hailey quietly, her eyes boring into Rob. He could see the anger there. ‘Perhaps you should have stayed in Manchester. At least until you were back in a better frame of mind.’

He nodded. ‘Perhaps you’re right,’ he snapped. ‘I wish I had.’

Hailey was about to say something else when she heard the doorbell.