While she curled foetal, Dan had gone off, made a call and surprised her by saying, ‘Pack a bag for two nights away,’ before bundling her into a taxi.
They’d pulled up minutes later outside the imposing entrance of Manchester’s fanciest, Grade II listed grand hotel. Laurie had always hankered after a night there.
Dan had explained the circumstances when booking, so they were upgraded to a suite, the floor space as large as a penthouse flat.
‘Can we afford this?’ Laurie said, bedazzled, as Dan handed her a glass from the complimentary bottle of cava.
‘Yeah, ish,’ Dan said, ‘Worth it for the look on your face alone.’
It was an amazing forty-eight hours, after the chaos and despair of ‘Sorry, love, we didn’t know that was a supporting wall because you didn’t warn us,’ and being coated in brick dust.
Sitting in a palatial king size-bed, eating room service chips and giggling like a pair of kids at a sleepover. It was Dan at his best: spontaneous, generous and caring.
Laurie held one of the floppy rectangles depicting the episode, Dan pointing to the toilet in their colossal hotel bathroom, pulling a ‘what the hell’ face. They took a series of photos like this of the lavish fixtures and fittings, in poses usually seen in local papers by people upset about pot holes, which seemed hilarious when half cut.
The last in the set was Dan and Laurie checking out, stood by the ball-of-lilies flower display in the lobby, Dan holding the camera above their heads, hugging Laurie to him tightly. A team. A duo. Best friends. Turning adversity into an adventure. Dan looked so pleased with himself and Laurie looked so happy.
She limped downstairs and lay on the sofa and let the sadness and desolation wash over her for the thousandth time.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her phone screen ripple with a message. More cascaded down, blip – blip – blip. It was a WhatsApp group she was in, titled ‘Claire’s Baby Shower’ for its original purpose, though that baby was now two.
Claire and Phil were successful Chorlton friends, along with Ed and Erica, and Tom and Preethi, the people they socialised with most as a couple. Laurie had expected more messages of condolences from them, she knew they knew as Dan had bumped into Tom, told him, and told Laurie he’d told him. And she’d had the creep DMs from Adrian: news travelled invisibly and fast.
She only got a text from Claire saying awful for her and was she OK and the usual things, and Laurie replied she was gutted but coping, thank you, and Claire didn’t reply to that one.
Laurie didn’t entirely mind, but registered it was slightly dismissive.
The messages carried on pinging at hectic speed and Laurie roused herself to pick her handset up. She lurched at the sight of her own name. It took a fraction of a second to tell it was being typed in a tone and manner that clearly wasn’t meant to be seen by her, the owner of the name.
Claire
It’s a funny one, at first I said to Phil I didn’t believe it as they seemed so solid but the more I think about it, the more I see it. Laurie’s so smart but her sense of humour can be quite cutting! Dan was always more laidback, somehow? Laurie’s sharp in a way that is good in court and maybe not so great in a marriage
Pri
Yeah I said the same to Tom. I think L was very driven and Dan felt neglected a lot of the time. She must be devastated though, starting a family straight away with the other woman!
Erica
I think he’s been a shit to Laurie. If she wouldn’t commit to having kids you don’t have an affair do you? I am sure he has his side to it, but it’s awful for her
Pri
Did she not want kids? I thought she was open minded but not in a hurry
Claire
If she did she’s never shown much interest. You know, Dan’s a good looking man with a good job, you can’t take his sort for granted these days, in the baby-making years, that’s the simple truth
Ugh. Baby-making years. Laurie felt grimly vindicated in her previous low-level grumbling dislike of Claire. She was a Stepford Wife, basically, but coated it in lots of twenty-first-century, faux feminist, socially acceptable concern trolling. So, instead of, ‘Why aren’t you home to make Dan’s dinner?’ it was, ‘It must be hard on you working those hours, do you do Sunday batch cooking? I have a great dhal recipe,’ looking only at Laurie.
And Laurie had also noticed men got different treatment from Claire. She claimed once as a yummy mummy, she liked polo necks so much as ‘If you pause while your head is stuck inside it, putting it on, you get a few seconds’ peace!’ and Dan had guffawed and said: ‘Smell of burning martyr!’
If Laurie had said that, oof. She’d get some icy response about not understanding the fatigue until you had one. Claire merely simpered and batted Dan’s arm.
At Claire and Phil’s, men did the jokes and women talked shop(ping).
Pri
Back out there at our age though, can you imagine? Shuddering.
Erica
Absolutely cringing at the thought. No 30s guy wants to date a woman of same age with her clock ticking, they’re busy chatting up 25 year olds online
Claire
Any guy single at this age will have more issues than you can shake a stick at. Or divorce behind him, step kids.
Pri
Yeah slim to no pickings. Poor Laurie.
A minute after her gut-wrenching bewilderment at how they could be conducting this dissection of her, in front of her, Laurie sussed exactly how it had happened. She’d been included in the original Baby Shower team but it had been so long since she replied, they thought they were a trio.
Right there was the answer why she’d got such minimal sympathy: she’d not played the game properly. Laurie turned up at their houses often enough, she’d had them round to theirs. But in the digital age equivalent of nattering over the garden fence, she’d never pretended to be interested in Claire’s daughter’s tongue tie, or Pri’s luxury shed–slash-summer house.
Not least because she had a job where she spent hours in courtrooms with her phone on silent. Not being interested in social media made you seem aloof these days, except Laurie wasn’t aloof, just busy and slightly baffled by it.
Erica
Who is the other woman? Had it been going on for a while? Playing away makes my blood boil tbh
Claire
She’s called Megan, she’s a lawyer and IDK! Dan says not – but for them to be expecting this soon?
Pri
Dan told Tom it was one of those bolt from blue type attraction things where he met Megan and he knew straight away something was going to happen. I think Dan’s riddled with guilt at hurting Laurie, didn’t expect it to move this fast. Some sort of contraception bork …
Claire
Hmmm. Would be curious to meet her! Also I have TONS of stuff of Ella’s to offload if they want it. I am done with the baby having thanks, whatever Phil thinks when he’s had a few Doom Bars
Classic Claire: using the fact she’d had three kids to tell everyone about her sex life (the detailed circumstances of conception of each always discussed as if she was merely telling you where she got her nails done).
Laurie had been coping, almost, with this involuntary ringside seat, but the baby chat was more than she could stand.
Laurie
RIGHT HERE GUYS
She paused and checked.
Pri – Seen