as if Yasmin wasn’t the only one Niall was cheating on.
Roo felt panicky and nauseous and horribly alone. One way or another, she was going to have to find out.
Chapter 27
Niall’s name came up on the screen and Roo braced herself. This was it. She picked up the phone and pressed Answer. ‘Hello?’
‘Hi, it’s me.’ His voice was cautious. Which, on its own, pretty much confirmed her worst fears.
‘Oh, hi.’ Roo kept her own tone cheery. Last night she’d barely slept. Today her stomach was still churning and she hadn’t been able to eat a thing. But it was important to sound normal, normal, normal…
‘Everything OK?’
‘Everything’s fine! Why wouldn’t it be?’
‘No reason.’ Pause. ‘Um, did you look at my phone yesterday?’
‘Your phone?’
‘It’s just that someone says they sent me a text as a joke, but I didn’t get it.’
He’d worked out the timings, hadn’t he, found out exactly when it had been sent. Roo waited, then said evenly, ‘Would that be someone beginning with V ? And ending in kiss kiss kiss?’
His silence told her everything she needed to know. That was it, then.
‘It was just a joke,’ said Niall. ‘One of the guys at the office was messing about, winding me up—’
‘Niall, it wasn’t a joke. Why don’t you just be a man and admit it? You’ve been sleeping with Vivica Mellon.’
More silence. The final confirmation.
‘I suppose some people are just greedy,’ Roo went on. ‘Why settle for one mistress when you can have two?’
‘Look, it’s not the same thing. I swear to God, she’s just someone I used to work with.’
‘And now you’re sleeping with her.’
‘Once. One weekend, that’s all it was. She made all the running. She chased me.’
He was still lying. All of a sudden she could tell. It was like a one-way mirror suddenly, magically, becoming two-way, revealing everything. ‘Oh my God,’ said Roo, ‘you are unbelievable.’
Another pause.
‘Well, fine then.’ Niall abruptly switched gear. ‘So that’s it, is it? You don’t want to see me again. All over.’
Fear and panic engulfed her. Fear and panic and… a strong sense of déjà vu. Of course, that was it, the good old double bluff. It was a ploy she’d encountered before, designed to frighten you into backing down. And she had backed down, because it was the equivalent of seeing a rather nice handbag in a shop and idly trying to decide whether or not to buy it, then hearing someone else exclaim, ‘Oh, wow, look at that amazing bag, I have to have it!’ The threat of losing something instilled terror and desperation into your very soul…
But not today. She wasn’t going to fall for those tactics again. This time she was going to do the right thing.
‘Yes, it’s all over.’
‘Roo.’ His voice softened instantly. ‘Babe, you know you don’t mean that.’
‘Oh, I do.’ She was shaking but determined. ‘I really do.’
‘You want to give up what we have together, all for the sake of a silly… blip? That’s crazy. I told you, Vivica means nothing to me. Look, I’m stuck here at work but I’ll come over this evening. I’ll be there at eight, then we can talk properly, sort everything out.’
‘Don’t come over. I don’t want to see you again. Or speak to you again. I can’t believe I ever trusted you. But that’s me, I’m just stupid.’
‘Roo, we need to—’
‘And I won’t be changing my mind either.’ She had to get off the phone now, before she lost all control. ‘Goodbye, Niall. Tell Vivica her lipliner really doesn’t suit her. And tonight, just for a change, why don’t you try going home to your wife?’
***
‘How does it look?’ Ellie emerged from the bedroom and did a twirl, showing off her new red dress with the spaghetti straps and floaty hem. She’d bought it from Wallis, especially for tomorrow night. ‘Good enough to meet your family?’
‘Perfect.’ Todd held out his arms and came towards her. Oh God, here we go again, he’s gearing up for another kiss. She got out of it by puckering her lips and turning it into a jokey one instead.
‘Mwah! And if it gets a bit cold I can wear it with my purple silky jackety thing. Right, let me just change out of it now, then we’ll be off.’
Escaping his grasp, she headed back to the bedroom. Tonight a whole group of girls from Brace House were going out to a show. Paula, who had arranged the evening, had insisted she went along with them and stayed the night