obsessing about the whole Peak Oil thing. And a little paranoid too. Just silly little things like worrying about viruses on his computer that might be spying on him, noises on the phone line. Daft really. I don’t know, he used to be so much fun. Great company. And then, like I say, he changed after New York. And it’s been a slow steady roll downhill ever since. So much so, in fact, I was actually in the middle of organising our big split-up when this happened.’
‘That’s too bad,’ said Paul. ‘So, where is he now?’
‘Somewhere in Iraq. He’s been getting regular assignments there for the last few years. He was over there when this started. And my kids are alone in London.’
Jenny’s voice caught.
Shit, I should know by now drink does this to me.
‘You okay?’ Paul asked, placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing gently.
‘Of course I’m not. I just want to get home. They need me.’
His arm slid across one shoulder, across her neck to the other. ‘Don’t worry Jen, I’ll get you home safe and sound. I’ve got you this far haven’t I?’
She felt the tips of his fingers slide under her chin, lifting her face up to look at him, and it was then that she knew where this was going.
‘Look, I . . . errr . . . I think I’ve had enough to drink.’
‘You’re kidding right? There’s loads more, and Christ we deserve it after the shit we’ve been through together. What do you say?’
‘I think we’ve probably both had too much. We need to keep our wits about us, right? Who knows what might happen tomorrow? ’
Jenny swung her legs off the bed. ‘And you know what? I might try one of the other rooms—’
A hand wrapped around her forearm. ‘Why? What’s up?’
It was a tight, urgent grip, and it hurt a little.
‘Look, I just think it’s a good idea, okay?’
‘What? Come on. We’re just talking here. No harm done.’
‘Can you let go please?’
His grip remained firm. ‘I’ve been looking out for you these last few days. It’s not too much to bloody ask is it? A little . . . conversation?’
She could hear the slightest slur in his voice. He wasn’t pissed as such, just a little tipsy. No worse than the couple of come-ons she’d fended off at the last office Christmas party she’d been to; harmless enough somewhere crowded, but a little disconcerting, alone like this.
‘I’ve been looking out for you,’ said Paul again. ‘Not asking much, for Chrissakes.’
‘I think Ruth looked out for me a little more than you did,’ she replied, and almost immediately wished she hadn’t.
‘Fuck you,’ he snarled.
‘Would you mind letting go please?’
He let her go, and she headed for the door. ‘I’ll see you in a few hours, when you’ve sobered up.’
She stepped out into the corridor, and strode through the darkness of it, the only light, the faintest pre-dawn grey coming in through a window at the far end. She picked a doorway halfway down on the right. It was a door that had been forced by someone, and as she stepped in, she could see that the room had been hunted through and the drinks cabinet emptied.
Good, hopefully all the other cabinets in this place are empty too.
She’d hate to see what Paul was like when he was fully loaded.
Jenny pushed the door shut behind her. And as an afterthought, she pulled the armchair in the corner of the room across the doorway. Not that she thought it was entirely necessary. Paul was like the other office Romeos; emboldened a little by the booze, but still essentially a coward. A sharp ‘no’, or a ‘piss off ’, did the trick for the likes of them . . . most of the time.
No . . . he’d probably drink himself into a stupor and fall asleep trying to whack himself off.
She lay down on the bed and then felt the tears coming - worried about Jacob and Leona, and Andy too, realising she’d been so wrong in the way she had treated him. She wished the robust, no-shit-taken Ruth was here with her right now, talking some good plain common sense, probably making her laugh too. If Ruth were here, they’d probably be raiding the drinks cabinet together right now and shamelessly taking the mickey out of Paul.
Jenny closed her eyes and was asleep within a minute.
CHAPTER 69
6.29 a.m. GMT
It was lighter when she opened her eyes again, fully daylight now. Jenny guessed