I'm really sorry but I have to go. Can I call you back later? On the number that came up?’
‘OK.’ Stephanie had sounded taken aback. ‘I'm around all morning.’
So now Katie couldn't concentrate. This was an event, a milestone. OK, so Stephanie didn't sound like a barrel of laughs but once they'd started to talk she knew they'd get on fine. Katie got on with everyone. And then it would be only a matter of time before Stephanie suggested that James bring Finn up for a couple of days and they could all start to play Happy Families.
9
Stephanie put the phone down and wondered if she had imagined what had just happened. It had taken her two or three false starts before she had been able to go through with dialling Katie's number. She had sent Natasha off window-shopping around Sloane Street, armed with Meredith's measurements, a Polaroid camera and a notebook. She knew that even if she'd got her to sit in the room next door Natasha wouldn't have been able to resist putting her ear to the door and listening in to her conversation, and Stephanie didn't think she could perform with an audience.
She had gone over and over in her head what she planned to say to Katie. She would announce herself with dignity — she was determined not to get hysterical, she didn't want to give Katie the excuse to think, Oh, I can see why he wouldn't want to be with her. ‘I am Stephanie, James's wife,’ she intended to say but then it was hard to imagine how things might go after that because Katie might either deny all knowledge of James or she might break down remorsefully and beg forgiveness. Stephanie was hoping it would be the latter — not because she intended to forgive her, far from it, but because an out-and-out denial would be so hard to deal with: she would feel that Katie had the upper hand. What she certainly hadn't been prepared for was the easy friendliness ofKatie's ‘Hi, Stephanie’, the confidence of her ‘How nice to talk to you finally.’
She had no idea what to do now. The next move was Katie's and that made Stephanie feel very uncomfortable. If she hadn't heard Katie's doorbell ring for herself she would have thought she was making up the interruption to get off the phone, giving herself the psychological advantage. I mustn't get any more paranoid than I already am, she reproached herself. All she could do now was sit and wait. If Katie didn't call her back she would try again and then again and again until she got her. She wasn't going to let her get away with it that easily.
James will soon be on his way back to London, she thought, dreading his arrival. She wanted to be fully appraised of what was going on before he got home. Forewarned is forearmed and all that bollocks. She tried to call Natasha, but her phone went straight to voicemail meaning she was probably on the tube, so she rang Cassie and listened gratefully as she rambled on about a conversation she had had with one of the other nannies on the school run.
She looked at her watch; ten fifteen. She was scared to move from her desk, even to go to the bathroom, in case Katie rang and she missed the call. Why hadn't she rung her from her mobile? She decided she needed a displacement activity and that tidying the office might be just the thing. It was about forty-five minutes later, while she was knee-deep in a selection of this season's belts and clutch bags, that the telephone rang. She almost fell flat on her face running to answer it.
‘Stephanie Mortimer,’ she said, trying not to sound outof breath, which could be misinterpreted as nervousness and therefore weakness.
‘Stephanie, hi, it's Katie.’
There it was again, that unrepentant tone. What was wrong with the woman? Didn't she feel the tiniest bit ashamed of what she'd done — what she was still doing? ‘Hello,’ Stephanie said evenly. ‘Thank you for calling back.’
‘ That's OK. So… erm… it's great to talk to you.’
Maybe there's something wrong with her, Stephanie
‘OK.’ Stephanie had sounded taken aback. ‘I'm around all morning.’
So now Katie couldn't concentrate. This was an event, a milestone. OK, so Stephanie didn't sound like a barrel of laughs but once they'd started to talk she knew they'd get on fine. Katie got on with everyone. And then it would be only a matter of time before Stephanie suggested that James bring Finn up for a couple of days and they could all start to play Happy Families.
9
Stephanie put the phone down and wondered if she had imagined what had just happened. It had taken her two or three false starts before she had been able to go through with dialling Katie's number. She had sent Natasha off window-shopping around Sloane Street, armed with Meredith's measurements, a Polaroid camera and a notebook. She knew that even if she'd got her to sit in the room next door Natasha wouldn't have been able to resist putting her ear to the door and listening in to her conversation, and Stephanie didn't think she could perform with an audience.
She had gone over and over in her head what she planned to say to Katie. She would announce herself with dignity — she was determined not to get hysterical, she didn't want to give Katie the excuse to think, Oh, I can see why he wouldn't want to be with her. ‘I am Stephanie, James's wife,’ she intended to say but then it was hard to imagine how things might go after that because Katie might either deny all knowledge of James or she might break down remorsefully and beg forgiveness. Stephanie was hoping it would be the latter — not because she intended to forgive her, far from it, but because an out-and-out denial would be so hard to deal with: she would feel that Katie had the upper hand. What she certainly hadn't been prepared for was the easy friendliness ofKatie's ‘Hi, Stephanie’, the confidence of her ‘How nice to talk to you finally.’
She had no idea what to do now. The next move was Katie's and that made Stephanie feel very uncomfortable. If she hadn't heard Katie's doorbell ring for herself she would have thought she was making up the interruption to get off the phone, giving herself the psychological advantage. I mustn't get any more paranoid than I already am, she reproached herself. All she could do now was sit and wait. If Katie didn't call her back she would try again and then again and again until she got her. She wasn't going to let her get away with it that easily.
James will soon be on his way back to London, she thought, dreading his arrival. She wanted to be fully appraised of what was going on before he got home. Forewarned is forearmed and all that bollocks. She tried to call Natasha, but her phone went straight to voicemail meaning she was probably on the tube, so she rang Cassie and listened gratefully as she rambled on about a conversation she had had with one of the other nannies on the school run.
She looked at her watch; ten fifteen. She was scared to move from her desk, even to go to the bathroom, in case Katie rang and she missed the call. Why hadn't she rung her from her mobile? She decided she needed a displacement activity and that tidying the office might be just the thing. It was about forty-five minutes later, while she was knee-deep in a selection of this season's belts and clutch bags, that the telephone rang. She almost fell flat on her face running to answer it.
‘Stephanie Mortimer,’ she said, trying not to sound outof breath, which could be misinterpreted as nervousness and therefore weakness.
‘Stephanie, hi, it's Katie.’
There it was again, that unrepentant tone. What was wrong with the woman? Didn't she feel the tiniest bit ashamed of what she'd done — what she was still doing? ‘Hello,’ Stephanie said evenly. ‘Thank you for calling back.’
‘ That's OK. So… erm… it's great to talk to you.’
Maybe there's something wrong with her, Stephanie
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