Free Faceless by Martina Cole Page A

darling. Nothing to do with the divorce, was it?’
    She kissed the piece of paper in her hand.
    ‘Jessica needs a new horse as well. I’ll send you the bill, OK? And don’t forget to pick them up on Saturday early. I’ve got a date with a man.’
    ‘Where did you find him then, Bev? Rent a Coma dating agency?’
    She laughed again.
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    ‘I’ll chalk one up to you this time, Al.’ She turned to Marie. ‘Ta-ra, love. Remember what I said.’
    Then she was gone and the office seemed very small and quiet after she’d left.
    ‘Sorry about that.’
    Marie started to laugh. It was a high-pitched sound that was almost hysterical in its intensity. She laughed for a full five minutes. Alan watched as she wiped her eyes with a tissue. Tears were streaming down her face.
    ‘I’m so sorry, but she is a scream.’
    Alan laughed with her. He realised this was the first time she had really laughed in years and for once was glad ofBeverley’s big trap.
    When Marie had finished laughing she looked different somehow. Looser.
    ‘You want to try living with her,’ Alan growled. ‘Do you know what she done once? I was seeing a little bird from Romford. Nice she was … thick as two short planks but nice. Beveriey only went round her mum and dad’s. She was waiting there when I dropped the girl off. I nearly died.’
    Marie started laughing again.
    ‘There I was in their living room with their only daughter, and me wife chatting away like she was a longlost relative. But that’s Bev. What you see is what you get.’
    ‘I liked her, Alan.’
    He smiled ruefully.
    ‘So did I, once. In fact I loved her. But she couldn’t cope with me and me philandering ways, as she put it so succinctly to the divorce court. Her constant talking drove me fucking mental and all. Now she calls me Cheque Book Charlie to me face.’
    Marie made them both a coffee.
    ‘Thanks for giving me a chance with the job, Mr Jarvis.’
    Even her voice sounded brighter than before.
    ‘You are an asset, Marie. If you can cope with Beveriey, you can cope with anything. But there is one thing. Can you call me Alan? Every time you say “Mr Jarvis” I think me dad’s outside.’
    Marie didn’t answer. She wasn’t sure how to answer. It was so long since she had practised the niceties of everyday living it was hard to know what to say.
    But Beverley Jarvis had been like a breath of fresh air and Marie would be grateful to her till she died for breaking the ice like she had and making her laugh out loud. It had felt strange, odd, to be
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    laughing again. But she had enjoyed it. That was the great thing, she had really enjoyed it.
    Kevin stood nervously outside the halfway house. As women walked in and out he felt they were all staring at him. He moved along the road so he could watch the doorway unobserved. His nervousness was caused mostly by the thought that his wife would launch him into outer space if she knew where he was.
    As Marie walked along the pavement his breath caught in his chest. She looked beautiful. There was no mistaking her. She had that proud bearing. Even drugged out of her brains she still seemed to be looking down her nose at the world.
    Her long legs were shown off to advantage by the black pencil skirt of the suit she wore, which was fitted and made her look almost school-marmish in its severity. But Marie was a big sexy woman and nothing she did could ever really hide that fact. His mother had once said, Then will love her or hate her, and the same with women.’
    Marie was too good-looking for her own good.
    He blamed himself for the way she had turned out. Himself and his wife. He had loved his eldest daughter too much, her mother had loved her too little.
    As he walked towards her he raised his hand in greeting. He saw the look on his daughter’s face turn from confusion to joy and was glad he had come. It was the look she had given him as a child when he came in from work and stood up for her against her mother. A look