‘God, she’s a miserable cow, that one. A right nosy parker. See ya!’
She rushed out of the building and Maddie realised that she hadn’t said if she would turn it down or not. Maybe she did have company over. That would explain the make-up and the fact that Ben wasn’t with her. But then why hadn’t she just said as much? Maddie felt a little put out that she hadn’t been invited to join in with whatever was going on upstairs. Not that she would’ve said yes, but it would’ve been nice to be asked. Unless it was a date.
Inside her own flat, the music was a persistent, dull thud, mirroring what was going on in her head. Maddie tried to block it out as she ran a bath. As the bubbles and steam puffed up around her, she typed a message in her new WhatsApp group with Gemma:
Thanks so much for lunch today. It was delicious. Please send my thanks to Greg too.
Maddie x
The reply was almost immediate.
Lovely to have you. Enjoy putting your feet up for the evening. You’re so lucky to have your own space. It’s soooo chaotic here with little Jem. G x
Maddie still wasn’t sure what to make of all of it. In person, Gemma treated her like an annoyance, a mosquito she couldn’t squash. And yet now she was trying to stay in touch rather than pushing her away. Was it a case of better the devil you know? Keeping her enemies close? Or just a chance for Gemma to get the occasional jibe in to remind her to stay in her box?
All this analysis was making her head pulse and she didn’t want to think about it anymore.
She undressed quickly, flinging her clothes on the bathroom floor, and lowered herself into the steaming bath. She held her breath and ducked under the water, letting it close over her face. She lay still, cushioned, floating, hearing her heartbeat in her ears as her lungs started to strain.
*
Maddie blinked into the morning light. The sleeping pill she had taken the night before to stop her brain from whirling had left her groggy and heavy. Dribble had dried on her chin and she could feel her hair sticking up because she had crawled straight into bed with it still wet from the bath.
One look in the mirror confirmed that she looked a sight. She took a long shower and wet her hair again, ready to style it into another Gemma-ready do. She refused to turn up to collect her car looking anything other than camera-ready.
Feeling more in control, she headed upstairs to knock on Jade’s door. The sound echoed through the cold hallway, which smelled damp and organic today. A door opened, but it was the flat opposite Jade’s. Luke’s pale face, this time wearing thick glasses, poked out, his dark hair still sticking up in all directions.
‘Hi, Luke,’ Maddie said.
‘Hey.’ He stood for a moment, seemingly unsure whether he should come or go, one foot hovering over the threshold. ‘Just on my way to check on Peggy downstairs.’
‘Oh, yes, I met her yesterday.’
He nodded. ‘Right, well, I’d better…’ He nodded at the stairs, then hurried off.
Maddie shrugged and knocked on Jade’s door again. Eventually it opened and Maddie caught a whiff of what smelled suspiciously like weed wafting through the door. Jade looked initially annoyed and Maddie realised she might have woken her up. She was dressed in a thick pink dressing gown.
‘Oh, sorry, did I wake you?’ Maddie said, stepping back.
Jade glared at her for a second, then recovered and said, ‘No, I was up. Come in.’ She shuffled away from the door in enormous sheepskin slippers and Maddie stepped inside. There was definitely a smell and haze of something in the air.
‘Do you still want to come with me?’
‘Come where?’
‘To pick up my car?’
‘Oh, shit, yeah.’ Her eyes darted around.
‘Are you… nearly ready?’
‘Give me a minute.’ She disappeared into her bedroom. Maddie looked around while she waited. The place was even messier than the other day. Dirty cups littered every surface and there were empty wine and beer bottles and glasses on the coffee table. Maddie sighed and started to gather up some of the dirty dishes.
She heard the rumble of a man’s voice in the bedroom with Jade, before the door opened and a huge mountain of a man with coffee skin and bulging muscles walked into the kitchen, pulling a T-shirt over his head.
‘Hey,’ he said.
‘Hey,’ she replied. He reached around her to turn on the kettle. He smelled musky and heady, almost overpowering. She stepped away and blushed as he made coffee. ‘Want one?’ he said with a grin of startlingly white teeth.
She felt like giggling coyly. ‘No, thank you.’ She tucked her hair behind her ears self-consciously and started wiping down the counters to give herself something to do other than stare at the masculinity parading in front of her.
Jade returned, now dressed in skinny jeans and a T-shirt with little holes in it where the button on her jeans had snagged. She stopped dead at the sight of Maddie in the kitchen with a dishcloth in her hand. Her male friend was stirring his coffee, the spoon clattering against the mug.
‘What are you doing?’ she said to Maddie.
‘Just wanted to help while I was waiting for you.’
‘I can do it myself.’
‘I know, but sometimes it’s nice to have someone else help too. I thought maybe you’d had a big night.’
The man leant against the counter and sipped at his coffee, watching their exchange like he was at a tennis match.
Jade glared at Maddie, who coughed and said, ‘It can’t be easy being a single mum, doing it all yourself. I’m here to help if I can, you know.’
The man frowned and went to speak, but Jade cut him off with a withering glare. ‘Don’t you have somewhere to be?’
He tutted, muttered something under his breath and left the room.
Jade turned on Maddie. ‘A proper little Samaritan, aren’t you?’ Her words were clipped.
Maddie wasn’t quite sure what was going on. The air in the room was frigid and Jade was standing with clenched fists, as though holding herself back from swinging for Maddie. All because she had washed some mugs and offered her help. ‘I’m sorry, I’ll go.’ Maddie folded the cloth and put it down on the counter.
Behind her she heard Jade exhale slowly. ‘No, sorry. You’re right, it’s not easy. I’m not very good at accepting help. And I am a bit hungover this morning. Deon and me – we drank too much, smoked a bit too, you know.’ Her face had softened again, the tension and anger melting away.
‘It’s fine. I’m sorry if I offended you.’
Jade shrugged.
‘I’m off,’ Deon thundered from around the corner.
The front door slammed loudly and Maddie heard heavy footsteps pound down the stairs. ‘Sorry, didn’t mean to chase him off. Is he your boyfriend?’
‘Deon? He’s just… you know… friends with benefits. He’s a lot of fun.’ She grinned lasciviously.
Maddie nodded with a knowing smile. ‘Ben isn’t here then?’
Jade looked away. ‘Yeah… no… um, we should go. Where are my boots?’
She dragged a pair of worn-down Uggs from where they were poking out from under the couch and pulled them on over socks that had pictures of llamas on them. One of her bra straps was dangling from her sleeve and her hair was loose around her shoulders. It hung down her back like a sheet, making her look younger. Her face was free of the make-up of last night and Maddie wanted to tell her how pretty she was without it all, that she didn’t need it. But instead Maddie said nothing, worrying that Jade would take offence. Then Jade was rolling her hair into a bun and tying it in place with a hairband, and the illusion vanished.