Mollie McQueen is NOT Getting Divorced Page 15

  ‘I’m surprised it still fits.’ She said nervously, demonstrating that she was breathing in. ‘It’s in pretty good condition considering it has been hiding in the back of the wardrobe for ten years.’

  ‘You look beautiful.’ Brushing a strand of hair away from Mollie’s face, Max sighed heavily. ‘He’s a lucky guy.’

  Mollie’s smile faltered when she remembered the real reason they were in their Sunday best. For the first time in many years, the McQueens were dressed to impress, but very shortly they would be saying their goodbyes and heading in different directions. Directions that could change their future forever.

  ‘Here’s a thought.’ Max said suddenly, removing his hand from Mollie’s face and turning back to the mirror. ‘We’re both dressed for dinner, but what if we aren’t going for dinner? What if we’re going bowling, rock climbing, or to a bad karaoke bar?’

  Mollie laughed lightly in response, wanting to scream that she didn’t care where they were going because she didn’t want to go at all. She wanted to take Max by the hand and tell him they should forget about their blind dates and enjoy one other instead, but she didn’t. She simply smiled and said nothing as the clock inched closer towards seven. Strangely, Mollie was due to be collected for her date a whole hour later than Max, leaving her in no doubt they were going to two different places entirely.

  ‘Are you coming downstairs?’ Max asked, holding open the door. ‘I have to leave soon.’

  Responding with a slight nod of the head, Mollie followed Max down to the living room and gingerly perched on the arm of the sofa. Her heart was thudding in her chest and her stomach was queasy enough for her to have stashed a pack of Imodium in her handbag, but this wasn’t typical first date nerves, this was something more.

  ‘Any minute now.’ Max mumbled, staring out of the living room window with his hands in his pockets. ‘How do you feel?’

  ‘Fine.’ Mollie lied, self-consciously smoothing down the hem of her dress. ‘You?’

  ‘I’m okay.’ He replied quietly, after initially hesitating. ‘A few last-minute nerves, I suppose, but I’m okay.’

  Mollie nodded and pretended to be engrossed in the buckle on her shoe as Max took a seat on the sofa next to her.

  ‘Listen, Mollie…’ He whispered. ‘Whatever happens tonight, I want you to know that I am sorry.’

  ‘Sorry?’ She repeated, bringing her eyes up to meet his. ‘Sorry for what?’

  ‘I’m sorry for a whole bunch of things, some of which I have already apologised for, but allowing us to end up here is my biggest regret of all.’ He said sadly. ‘I understand now. I understand why you are unhappy. I also understand why you want to walk away…’

  ‘Max…’

  Mollie attempted to reply, but Max took her hand in his and clutched it tightly.

  ‘You don’t have to explain anything to me, Mollie. It is what it is.’ Raising her hand to his lips, Max kissed her thumb lightly. ‘I want you to have a fantastic time tonight. I want you to laugh, I want you to enjoy this guy’s company, and I want you to walk back through that door feeling happy. I want you to be the kind of happy that I should have been making you.’

  Mollie’s throat became inexplicably tight as she struggled to form a sentence, but before she could speak once more, the sound of a car horn outside the front window broke the spell.

  ‘That’s me.’ Max said timidly. ‘I have to go.’

  Standing up, he reached down and tilted Mollie’s chin up to face him before planting a soft kiss on her cheek.

  ‘Goodbye, Mollie.’

  With tears pricking at the corners of her eyes, Mollie followed Max into the hallway and paused when he looked over his shoulder. A sad smile crept onto Max’s face as he gave Mollie a final nod before stepping outside and allowing the door to close behind him.

  The beating in Mollie’s chest slowly subsided as she sank down onto the stairs and leaned against the railing. The harsh realisation of Max leaving rocked her to the core. Was that the moment that marked the end of her marriage? Before she could stop it, a tear slipped down her cheek and she watched it fall helplessly into her lap. The hurt she was feeling was the consequence of her actions. The searing pain in her heart was the result of her greedily deciding that she wanted something more.

  Little over a week ago, Mollie was mildly irked at being rejected by Max in the bedroom. Fast-forward seven days and she was waving him off on a date with another woman. A woman who Mollie had chosen specially. Hating herself for allowing things to escalate so very far, Mollie held her head in her hands until a knock at the door interrupted her. Quickly wiping away her tears, she took a few seconds to compose herself before answering it.

  ‘Mum…’ She said, shocked to discover her parents standing on her doorstep. ‘What are you guys doing here?’

  Offering Mollie a bright smile, Heather Waddles hauled her trademark red handbag onto her shoulder and pulled her daughter into a hug.

  ‘We were having dinner at that Italian place we love in Chelsea, so we thought we would call by.’ Heather said, frowning as she studied Mollie’s tear-stained face. ‘Is this a bad time?’

  Mollie shook her head in response and stepped aside for them to enter the house. Heather’s dangly earrings chimed together as she pulled her cashmere poncho over her head and draped it across the coat stand.

  ‘You look lovely.’ Lawrence remarked, hugging his daughter closely. ‘Are you going somewhere nice?’

  Despite how terrible she was feeling inside, Mollie managed a little laugh. She didn’t know where the hell she was going. She didn’t even know who she was going with, but she couldn’t let them know that. As far as she was aware, they were clueless as to Max and Mollie’s marital problems. Margot had been sworn to secrecy and they didn’t speak to Max’s parents unless it was absolutely necessary due to an argument over undercooked turkey at last year’s Christmas party.

  Leading the way down the hall, Lawrence paused to frown at a blue Max sticker that was still on the bookshelf.

  ‘I’m going out shortly.’ Mollie confessed, removing the blue label and following her parents into the living room. ‘But it’s okay. I have an hour to kill first.’

  ‘Time for a coffee then?’ Heather asked, already making her way into the kitchen and flicking on the coffee machine. ‘Where’s Max?’

  Leaving her mother to make the drinks, Mollie sat down opposite her dad and took a deep breath.

  ‘He’s out.’ She said confidently, or at least, as confidently as she could manage.

  ‘Oh.’ Lawrence replied innocently, brushing back his greying hair. ‘Where?’

  ‘He’s… he’s…’ In her search for a suitable lie, Mollie felt her bottom lip tremble.

  ‘Mollie?’ Lawrence said in alarm, sliding closer to her. ‘Is everything okay?’

  Hanging her head, Mollie managed to stop her tears from falling.

  ‘What is it, Mollie?’ Heather asked, returning with three mugs and placing them on the coffee table. ‘What’s happened?’

  Struggling to get her words out, Mollie resorted to silently sobbing before pulling herself together.

  ‘Mollie?’ Heather pressed, her blue eyes wide with concern. ‘You’re worrying us.’

  Taking a deep breath, Mollie offered her parents a tiny smile and reached for the box of tissues.

  ‘I’ve been meaning to talk to you both, but I didn’t know how to broach the subject.’ She whispered. ‘It’s… it’s a difficult…’

  ‘You’re not ill, are you?’ Her dad asked in horror, wrapping his arm around her shoulders protectively. ‘Or Max? Is he ill?’

  ‘No.’ She squeaked. ‘It’s nothing like that.’

  ‘Then what is it?’ Heather said encouragingly.

  Staring into her mug, Mollie replayed her last conversation with Max in her mind.

  ‘Max and I have been having some problems.’ She said, almost inaudibly. ‘I think it’s over.’

  The deafening silence that came back
at Mollie did little to comfort her. If anything, it simply made things ten times worse.

  ‘It’s over.’ She repeated more confidently, not sure if they had heard her. ‘We’re breaking up.’

  Heather and Lawrence exchanged confused glances as Mollie held her breath and waited for their reaction.

  ‘Well, say something.’ Mollie said, her voice breaking once more. ‘Ask why, ask when, ask how, but don’t just sit there staring at me like that.’

  ‘Why?’ Heather asked, brushing her blonde fringe out of her face and crouching down on the carpet in front of Mollie.

  ‘We’ve just drifted apart.’

  ‘Okay…’ Heather replied slowly, discreetly nudging Lawrence. ‘When did this happen?’

  ‘Just over a week ago.’ Mollie admitted. ‘We’ve been attending marriage therapy, but after tonight, I’m pretty confident it’s over.’

  ‘What happened tonight?’ Crossing her legs, Heather reached for Mollie’s hand. ‘Come on, you can tell us.’

  Mollie looked at her mum and tried to blink back her tears. Heather’s ability to deal with any problem without showing a glimpse of emotion had always been a comfort to Mollie. She wasn’t an emotional person herself, but her mother’s calming nature made her look like a quivering mess. Mollie could tell Heather she’d chopped off Max’s head and served it to Buddy Holly, but she still wouldn’t bat an eyelid.

  ‘Max is on a date with another woman.’ Mollie announced. ‘And in forty-five minutes, I shall be going on one with another man.’

  Just hearing the words out loud was enough for Mollie’s stomach to churn. She didn’t even need to look at her parents to know that they were dumbfounded.

  ‘I think I speak for both of us when I say we’re having a hard time processing this.’ Lawrence said, frowning in confusion. ‘It might help if we knew what has caused it.’

  ‘It’s a whole bunch of things, Dad.’ Mollie moaned. ‘I don’t even know where to begin…’

  ‘Then try.’ Heather said encouragingly. ‘It’s okay. Nothing you say will make us judge you.’

  Mollie caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror and immediately tore her eyes away. Dressed up like a dog’s dinner with mascara stains smeared down her face wasn’t her best look, and certainly not one she wanted to be wearing while having this conversation.

  ‘He leaves wet towels on the bed.’ She said meekly, hating the way her voice sounded. ‘He spends too much time on his PlayStation. He doesn’t pay me enough attention. He doesn’t earn any money. He criticises me for eating any food with a face, and he cuts his toenails on the bed…’

  Heather and Lawrence blinked repeatedly as Mollie’s voice trailed off.

  ‘So, you are feeling frustrated with Max.’ Heather said carefully, as though she was walking on eggshells.

  ‘It’s more than that, Mum.’ Mollie mumbled. ‘I’d had enough. I’d had enough of a boring married life with no fun and no excitement. I’d had enough of him throwing his dirty laundry on the floor. I’d had enough of being ignored. I’d had enough of acting like his mother. I’d… I’d just had enough.’

  ‘Why are you speaking in the past tense?’ Lawrence asked. ‘Do you still feel that way now?’

  Mollie shrugged her shoulders and thought back to Max’s face as he left a short while ago. She didn’t feel the same as she did back then. The trouble is, she didn’t really know how she felt anymore. Over the last seven days, she had experienced every emotion imaginable, and now, she was more confused than ever.

  ‘Am I wrong for wanting rainbows?’ Mollie whispered. ‘Am I wrong for wanting unicorns, butterflies and a fairy-tale ending? I’m only thirty years old. I want to feel real love. Honest, all-encompassing, can’t-be-without-one-another love. I want to feel needed. I want to feel desired. I want to have butterflies. I want… I want a relationship like you guys have.’

  ‘Like us?’ Heather repeated doubtfully, raising her eyebrows and glancing at Lawrence.

  ‘Yes. Like you.’ Mollie repeated. ‘You guys have the perfect marriage. Growing up with you two as an example of what a relationship should be like set the bar so high for me. You gave me such grand expectations...’

  Lawrence hung his head and sighed as Mollie continued to gush about her parents’ faultless marriage.

  ‘Dad always brought flowers home on a Friday. You would dance around the kitchen together while making dinner. You would always ensure there was time for date nights. You would cuddle beneath a blanket while watching television. I would hear you both say I love you ten times a day.’ Finally stopping for breath, Mollie smiled sadly. ‘I grew up witnessing true romance and I want that for myself.’

  Heather and Lawrence exchanged yet more uncomfortable looks as Mollie frowned at them questioningly.

  ‘What is it?’ She asked, not liking the faces that were staring back at her.

  ‘Just tell her, Heather.’ Lawrence said. ‘It’s okay.’

  Biting her lip, Heather rubbed her temples and took a deep breath before speaking.

  ‘Your father and I have not had the perfect marriage, Mollie.’ Heather explained slowly. ‘We’ve had our problems, just like everyone else.’

  ‘Problems?’ Mollie repeated. ‘What problems? If there were problems, I would have known about them.’

  Reaching for Lawrence’s hand, Heather spoke to Mollie in the voice she reserved for funerals and other equally sad occasions.

  ‘We’ve had many ups and downs over the years, but we have always shielded you and Margot from them to the best of our ability. Protecting you two from our troubles was our main priority and always will be.’

  ‘I don’t understand.’ Mollie replied, shaking her head as the confusion inside her grew. ‘You were nothing but happy at all times. I was there. I remember.’

  ‘The fact that you don’t remember witnessing any arguments between your mother and I proves we did a good job of hiding them, but you’re old enough to know things weren’t always a bed of roses.’ Moving closer to her, Lawrence removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. ‘When you were a little girl, I had an affair.’

  ‘An affair?’ Mollie’s blood ran cold as she stared at her parents in shock. ‘You had an affair?’

  ‘Your father had a brief fling with a woman from his office.’ Heather explained matter-of-factly, without showing an ounce of emotion. ‘It didn’t last long. It all blew over in six months, if that, but we got through it and we’re stronger as a result.’

  Not believing what she was hearing, Mollie looked at Lawrence for confirmation this was true.

  ‘It’s true.’ He said solemnly. ‘But it was a long time ago, over twenty years, to be precise.’

  ‘That’s why he went to Geneva on a month-long working trip.’ Heather added. ‘Do you remember him going to Switzerland?’

  Mollie’s brow creased as she mentally pieced together this information. She did remember him going to Switzerland. She also remembered the look on her mother’s face when Margot discovered his passport in the drawer three days after he left.

  ‘He didn’t go to Geneva, did he?’ Mollie whispered.

  ‘No.’ Heather said simply. ‘I threw him out of the house. I screamed, cried, threatened to donate all of his clothes to the homeless shelter and took away his keys, but I wouldn’t change any of it. Your dad’s affair brought us closer together and made us appreciate one another properly. Conventional? Probably not, but it’s true.’

  ‘No…’ Mollie mumbled. ‘This can’t be right.’

  ‘It is.’ Lawrence said seriously. ‘I hate to taint the image you have of our marriage, but I can’t allow you to throw yours away on the basis of ours being perfect, because it certainly isn’t.’

  Shaking her head, Mollie placed her mug on the coffee table and attempted to recall an ounce of truth in what they were saying. Heather’s diamond rings twinkled under the living room light, trying to convince Mollie that what her parents were saying wasn’t true.

  ‘The point we
are trying to make, Mollie, is that all marriages take work.’ Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, Lawrence pulled Mollie towards him. ‘Don’t measure yours against the rose-tinted view you have of ours.’

  As Mollie dropped her head onto her dad’s shoulder, she discreetly pinched herself to ensure she wasn’t dreaming. All of her life she had looked up to her parents as the perfect example of a happy marriage, but it wasn’t real. Their relationship was even more blemished than hers. Her traditional, family-oriented father had engaged in an illicit affair. Her view of them was as false as Margot’s fingernails.

  Mollie’s heart sank as she listened to her father tell her about the many troubles he and her mother had encountered throughout their married life. She wanted to laugh, she wanted to cry, but more than anything, she just wanted to be alone.

  Hearing a car horn outside, Mollie lifted her head and grabbed her handbag.

  ‘I have to go.’ She said suddenly, trying to keep her voice steady. ‘Can you let yourselves out?’

  Not waiting for a reply, Mollie ran out of the living room and straight into the waiting taxi. Slamming the car door, she buckled her seat belt and wiped away a tear as the driver pulled away from the kerb, leaving her parents and her shattered view of them behind her…

  Chapter 27

  As her house faded into the distance, Mollie sank into her seat and tried to ignore the growing sadness in her chest. A whirl of glittering bars and restaurants rushed past the car window in a hazy blur, and Mollie closed her eyes in an attempt to block them out. Max was probably in one of those bars right now, she thought to herself. He was probably laughing, drinking and enjoying his date’s company, just like he had instructed her to do. Only, Mollie didn’t want to go on a date. She didn’t want to go anywhere. She simply wanted to be alone.

  ‘Can you stop, please?’ She asked the taxi driver, already reaching for her seat belt.

  Following her command, the driver pulled over by the side of the road and Mollie handed him a crisp note before ushering him on his way. The buzzing High Street was littered with a flurry of happy people, each one wearing a bright smile as a forlorn Mollie walked aimlessly amongst them. She didn’t know where she was going, nor did she care, but Mollie continued to walk in a daze until her feet started to blister from her high heels.