Ghjigau 6 part 2

Hermione put her phone down and thought for a minute. She was sipping a large gin and tonic whilst reclining on a chaise lounge, in the all-white living room of her substantial, detached, Ruislip house with its columned porch, brick-paved drive, manicured rose beds and topiary. Sinatra crooned in the background and candles flickered on the mantelpiece.

    Since her loser of a husband had absconded with their life savings and an eighteen year old pole-dancer, Hermione had transformed herself from dutiful wife to dynamic businesswoman.  This transformation, however,  was not free of cost. Where once she might have been empathetic and easily moved, now she was pragmatic and tough. She was never going to let anyone fuck her over again, ever. 

    It was unlike Nikki to be late or unreliable in any way but she was sure Nikki would be fine, Nikki was always fine and there would be a perfectly good reason why she was late.  Lenny must have been concerned though, she thought as she took a large slug of the ice cold drink, he certainly wouldn’t have called me unless he really had to. 

    Idly, she picked her phone back up and scrolled through her photos, tapping an image to enlarge it. With just a towel wrapped around her, she was posed in front of a huge ornate wardrobe in a luxury hotel room. One hand hung languidly above her head, which was tilted coquettishly, the other on her hip. In the mirror behind her you could see the reflection of the photographer, bare chested with a taught washboard stomach, his youthful, tanned face half hidden behind his phone. Her stomach fluttered when she thought of what happened shortly after that picture was taken. Here’s to you Mrs Robinson, she whispered to herself, taking a big swig of her drink.

    She stood and stretched, feeling the twinge in her hip that was becoming a regular occurrence these days. ‘You’re getting older Hermione Patterson,’ she said out loud to no-one, ‘better make every day count.’ She glanced at the gold carriage clock above the fireplace, it read 6.25pm. Another little G & T wouldn’t hurt.

After his call with Hermione, Lenny was feeling panicky. He told himself he was being foolish but it didn’t help. Since their lives had been turned upside down, both he and Nikki had felt more vulnerable. The sensation that everything could change in an instant was never far from the surface, covered only by a thin veneer of normalcy. He wanted to call Nikki again but reasoned that either she had yet to see his call, or didn’t want to answer. Or couldn’t? His stomach lurched. What if she can’t answer? What if something has happened? He stood up, shaking his head and exhaling loudly to calm himself. First things first, he should make sure Lydia ate something. He went into the house.

    “I think mum’s going to be a bit late so I’ll do yours now and we’ll eat ours later.” 

    “Ok.” Lydia kept one eye on the TV from where the sound of arguing schoolchildren emanated.

    He cooked some pasta, dished up a bowl of Bolognaise, and put it onto a tray. “Here,” he said, passing it over the back of the sofa.

    “I can still watch?” Lydia was wide eyed as she took the tray. Eating in front of the television was normally a definite no-no.

    “Sure, just don’t get any sauce on the sofa or we’ll both be in trouble.” Lenny winked reassuringly.

    “Thanks Dad! She said excitedly and turned back to her programme.

    Lenny needed to think. He went into the study and sat for a minute or two. He had to do something, he couldn’t just sit and wait. He took out his phone and called Nikki again. This time the response was from the service provider telling him that the number was ‘switched off or out of area’ and to ‘please try later’. He sent another message and waited to see if the tag turned from delivered to read. It stubbornly refused to transform. His heartbeat thumped in his chest. 

    He called Hermione again. Once he had Exa’s number he sat looking at it for at least five minutes, thinking. He checked his watch—7.15pm. He knew there was no way Nikki would be this late without calling him.  Lenny didn’t want to think about what that might mean. He didn’t want to make any calls, ask any questions, check any times, concoct any theories. He just wanted Nikki to come in the front door right now, explaining how she had lost her purse, or her phone had died, or the tube had broken down. 

    He went out to the front of the house and stood at the pavement edge, checking in both directions. The street was empty and quiet, a crepuscular veil gradually transforming the city from overheated, hazy grey, to cooler, twinkling black. Someone’s curtain twitched on the other side of the street — a lone man standing on the pavement was something to be suspicious of in these times. He went back inside, picked up his phone and dialled.

    “Whatever it is we’re not buying it.” A salty, female voice answered without pre-amble.

    “Oh, hi, ahh, is that Exa? This is Lenny, Lenny Talbot. I’m Nikki’s husband. I’m so sorry—“

    “Hang on.” The voice cut him off. There were rustling noises and the sound of the phone being put down on a hard surface. After a short while a different, warmer, voice came on, “Hello, this is Exa. Is that Lenny?” 

    Lenny instantly new that Nikki wasn’t in the room with Exa “Yes, it’s Lenny, Lenny Talbot. Hi, I’m really sorry to bother you, it’s just that Nikki isn’t home yet and she’s normally very good at calling, and I’m probably just worrying about nothing but I wondered if she was still with you, or if not, what time she left?”

    “She’s not home? What’s the time now? When did you expect her” Exa was clearly surprised.

    Lenny checked his watch, “It’s 7.22.”

    “Really? Exa’s voice rose. “I’m sure she said she was going home. I think she left at around…” she paused to think, then called out, “Tilly, when did Nikki Talbot leave, what time?”

    “About half-four”, the salty voice replied from somewhere across the room.

    Lenny swore, “Shit that’s three hours ago.” He was rattled.

    Exa added, “She was walking I think. How long would that take?”

    “Where are you, how far away?” Lenny said. His mind was racing. Maybe it’s a long way and she couldn’t get a cab? She hated buses and would only take the tube if it was unavoidable he knew. He held his breath.

    “Camden, just along from the Fiddlers Elbow”

    Lenny exhaled, “We’re only in Primrose Hill, you're only minutes away, she should have been here hours ago.” An eerily familiar sensation gripped him. He didn’t want to remember how this felt, the helplessness, the desperation, the utter disbelief.

    “Maybe she went back to the gallery?” Exa tried to think. “To see her business partner? Hermione isn’t it?”

    “Yes, I’ve spoken to Hermione, Nikki didn’t go back to the gallery. She was supposed to come straight back home,” He was conscious he sounded panicky. “Before she left, did she say anything about where she was going after seeing you? Anything at all?”

    “She didn’t, no. Just that she’d taken up enough of my time and should get moving. We got on really well, I like her.” Exa added encouragingly. “Was there anything she was supposed to pick up on her way home, shopping or anything?”  

    Exa was trying to be helpful but Lenny was already mentally crossing off his next moves. “Listen thanks very much Exa, if you think of anything please ring me would you? I’d better go though, I need to make some other calls.” He said goodbye. 

    His phone told him that The Fiddlers Elbow was a twelve minute walk away, which meant that at 7.30pm, if Nikki had left Exa’s home at around 4.30pm, she was already over two and a half hours late. He looked at the blue dotted-line that showed the quickest route. He wanted to run out of the front door and along those roads and pavements right away, run at full pelt until his lungs burned and his calves screamed, until he found his wife; but he couldn’t. He couldn’t leave Lydia here alone and he couldn’t tell her why he had to leave. The thought of doing that made him feel nauseous. Normal bedtime was nine o’clock, an hour and a half away. That’s too long, he thought.