into this tirade about how she didn’t value family life, she was a “career girl” and although he would’ve been quite happy to support the family because he’s a high earner, she was having none of it and had insisted on going back to work after she had TJ.’
‘Okaaay. I think I see where this is going.’
‘I think you do. Poor Wanda got it from both directions. He was so cross that she didn’t want to sacrifice her career to be a mum that he refused to lift a finger in the house and then made it her fault when everything went to shit and his shirts weren’t ironed and the grouting between the kitchen tiles wasn’t getting bleached three times a day and there wasn’t a hot meal on the table when he got in from work.’
‘He didn’t say that, though, did he?’
‘He didn’t need to. It was so clear that was what he meant. He said he believes home-making is the most important job a woman can do, and that was one of the reasons he wanted to date me, because of me being a chef.’
‘Ha! Like you’d finish a shift at work and want nothing more than to make bangers and mash for him and his child.’
‘And he said that was the reason, when he and Wanda split up, that he tried to get full parental responsibility for TJ but had to settle for fifty–fifty, and now he’s trying to “reboot his intimate relationships” and “launch family life 2.0”. He asked me if I’d read The Surrendered Wife.’
Dani cackled. ‘Okay, I feel a bit sorry for him now. He so picked the wrong woman. And I’m not talking about Wanda.’
His workout over, Fabian strolled over to us and, blanking me completely, ruffled Dani’s hair and said he’d see her later. Seconds later, we heard the roar of his Lexus as he drove away.
‘We’d ordered our food by this stage,’ I carried on. ‘I really don’t know why I bothered. I couldn’t have eaten a thing sat opposite him. But he hadn’t got completely into the misogynist stuff when the waitress came round, so I still thought I could have a burger and say it had been nice to meet them both and then leave.’
‘But you couldn’t.’
‘I couldn’t. I went into a massive rant. I just couldn’t stop myself. I asked him if he was aware how many single mothers – and their children – live in poverty because they’ve back-burnered their careers to parent full-time and then the dad’s fucked off. I said there’s nothing wrong with being a stay-at-home mum, but that if he couldn’t see that women have just as much right to a rich and full life outside the home as men do, then he needed to get to Specsavers, stat. And I said that if he thought having a wife and a mother for his child was so important, maybe he should have tried a little harder to make his first marriage work, not be trying to find a younger model who was willing to be his cook, cleaner, nanny and unpaid prostitute.’
‘You go, sister!’
‘And then I did go. I put twenty quid on the table and wished him and TJ all the best, and stormed out. And you know what? It felt bloody brilliant.’
Fifteen
You’re not imagining it – sometimes fate does conspire to get between you and your goals. When that happens, take a little time out and refresh your spirit.
‘Your adventure begins in an inn,’ Adam said, just loudly enough for the six of us gathered around the table to make out his words, as the Dungeons & Dragons game began.
It was true, of course – we were in the Ginger Cat, with candles, bottles of merlot and bowls of potato wedges, hot chipolata sausages and spicy tomato sauce in front of us, along with our notepads, players’ manuals and dice. But it wasn’t quite the inn Adam would have had in mind.
I closed my eyes for a second, trying to transport myself into another time – another world, even. There’d be rough-sawn tables and possibly only hewn logs to sit on. There’d be a fire – here, in a London summer, there was no need for such a thing, even though we did light one on winter nights. There’d be horses tethered outside the door where Tim’s motorbike and Lana’s bicycle were. There’d be – I wasn’t sure – mead, maybe? Roast ox? Acorn soup?