Free Having It All by Maeve Haran Page A

she’d talked to the
Daily World
, of all papers, and tomorrow
there would be more of it. He’d never forgive her! Liz was glad it was dark in the car and Britt couldn’t see the apprehension in her face.
    ‘To be honest, Britt, I don’t know. We’ve never really talked about it.’
    Britt raised an elegantly pencilled eyebrow. So, the perfect marriage had its problems, did it?

CHAPTER 6
    ‘Mum, where’s Dad?’ A little hand was tugging at the duvet, trying to uncover Liz who had buried herself mole-like right underneath.
    She sat up quickly and looked at the clock-radio. Eight a.m. David must have gone for a run. Now they’d never have a chance to talk sensibly. She should have told him last night but when
Jim had dropped her off the house had been in darkness and he was already asleep. He’d looked almost boyish, with all worries of editing a paper wiped from his face.
    She’d wondered whether to disturb him but he was hopeless when he was woken up. When the children were tiny he’d even managed to sleep through the colic and teething and wake up the
next day bright and breezy insisting she should have woken him. On the one occasion she did, he was so irritable she decided it wasn’t worth it. And she’d decided it probably
wouldn’t be worth it last night. Her head was pounding with too much talk and champagne. So she’d decided to wait till the morning. Now she realized what a stupid mistake that had
been.
    She leaped out of bed and looked out of the window. It was a beautiful day. Another glorious summer. Not that she’d be seeing much of it. She looked in Daisy’s room but Susie must
already have got her up and taken her down to breakfast.
    ‘Come on, Jamie, get those pyjamas off and put on your shorts. It’s lovely outside.’ She tried to grab him but he ducked out of her arm, slippery as an eel.
    She chased him, but he’d already hidden behind the dressing table just out of reach and was yelling, ‘Won’t! Don’t want to!’ She felt the irritation rising. It was
the same every morning. Sometimes she couldn’t believe a child of five had so much strength. Yomping across the Falklands had nothing on trying to get Jamie dressed.
    ‘Jamie! Come out!’ She leaned across and picked him up bodily, kicking and screaming, almost ricking her back as she did so. In an effort to get his pyjamas off and his shorts on she
tried every trick she knew: cajoling, distracting, promising forbidden treats. In the end it took brute force as usual.
    Keep calm, she told herself, don’t lose your temper. It’s your fault, not his. He never sees you. She was worn out, her nerves frayed, and it was only eight-fifteen. So much for
quality time.
    In the end she carried Jamie downstairs to save time, noticing with annoyance that a large brown envelope was lying in wait for her on the mat. It must be the script for the controversial
documentary they were due to show tomorrow. The lawyers were having kittens about it and she would have to read it on her way to work and decide whether they were right.
    The first thing she saw when they went into the kitchen was David in his tracksuit reading the
Daily World
.
    Shit, thought Liz,
shit, shit, shit.
    He looked up. ‘You seem to have caused quite a stir.’
    She could hear the bitter edge to his voice.
    ‘Mummy!’ Jamie pulled at the folds of her suit. ‘Mum, can I blow up the paddling pool?’
    ‘Of course you can. Ask Susie to help you. Go on, she’s feeding Daisy on the patio.’ Jamie rushed off through the French windows in search of Susie.
    David looked up from the paper. ‘How long has all this been brewing?’
    Liz sat down next to him. ‘I don’t know. I didn’t even know I felt like that till I did the interview. That cow had been nosing around trying to find anything she could on what
a terrible mother I am. She’d hung around Jamie’s school, for God’s sake, and talked to some pushy mother who thinks I should be reported for child