R. J. Parker - The Dinner Party

He considered what he would say if she asked him directly about what had been in his envelope. He would tell the truth, but that sounded easier in his head than in reality. Maybe they’d never have the conversation because neither of them wanted to divulge what they’d written. The best thing to do was wipe the slate clean and move on.

Juliette spat her toothpaste out, gargled and spat again and walked into the bedroom without meeting his eye.

How long would he have to ride this one out? Till tomorrow, for a few days or whenever the argument broke? He finished at the sink and switched off the light.

The lamp was on at Juliette’s side of the bed, but she’d clicked it off before he got in. That didn’t bode well. Juliette always snuggled down and read her Kindle, only her hands protruding from the duvet, and usually only turned off the lamp when the screen had fallen against her nose. But suddenly her warm hands held his face.

‘I love you,’ her minty lips kissed him in the darkness. Then she released him.

‘Love you too.’ But he sensed she didn’t want him to try to find her mouth again.

Juliette turned her back to him, as if she wanted him to nuzzle her shoulders. He did and her body nestled into him.

Ted felt relief but was sure her eyes remained open as well.

He was still checking the time at three o’clock and knew Juliette was too. But not long after 3.40 her breathing became shallow and Ted fell asleep.

At 4.02 they were both wrenched awake. After a moment, Ted realized it was the sound of their landline ringing. It very rarely rang now, and Juliette had suggested they disconnect it as most people used their personal numbers. Ted scrabbled for it on his side of the bed.

‘Quick, before it wakes Georgie.’ Juliette sounded groggy.

Ted knocked a framed photo of him and Juliette off the bedside, as he frantically searched for the handset. Sounded like the glass had broken. He squinted at the phone’s glowing green keys and tried to remember which one was answer. It had already rung a good few times. He focused and punched the pick-up button. ‘Hello?’

The line was dead.

‘They hung up,’ he explained.

They both hated getting phone calls in the middle of the night. The last one had been about Juliette’s father. Ted heard her swallow.

Then a muted buzzing started.

‘That’s mine.’ Juliette sat up.

‘Where is it?’

Juliette turned on her lamp, scrabbled naked out of bed and grabbed her phone from her handbag on a dressing table chair under the curtained window. ‘One missed call. Hello?’

Ted hinged upright, his circulation thudding between his eyes.

‘Evie?’ Juliette frowned. The only sound was muffled shouting on the other end of the line. ‘Wait, slow down.’

Evie. Why the hell was she calling at this hour?

‘Evie, take a breath.’

Even from the bed, Ted could hear Evie’s voice yelling in Juliette’s ear. What was going on?

‘OK, OK. Tell him I’m coming. I’ll talk to him about it. We’re on our way. Evie?’ Juliette glanced at the screen. ‘She hung up.’ Juliette speed-dialled her number. ‘It’s gone to message.’

‘What’s happening?’

Juliette shook her head and tried again.

‘Any update?’ Ted emerged from the bathroom wearing the taupe shirt and black jeans he’d had on earlier.

‘She’s still not picking up.’ Juliette had put on grey slacks and a navy sweatshirt.

‘Let me try Jakob.’ Ted speed-dialled with his phone but got his message. ‘No luck. So what exactly did she say?’

‘Just that Jakob had gone berserk. I couldn’t understand anymore.’

‘Should we call the police?’

‘She called us . If we were having a fight, would you want the police turning up?’

‘So they’re definitely having a fight?’

‘From what I could understand.’

‘I’d better get round there.’ Ted scanned the bright room for his shoes.

‘I’m going too. Evie’s my friend.’ She slipped on some black suede ankle boots.

‘We can’t leave Georgie on his own.’

‘I’ve spoken to Zoe. She’s on her way round.’

Ted shook his head. ‘You shouldn’t have disturbed her at this hour.’

‘She was up with Pip anyway.’

Their next-door neighbour had an eight-month-old daughter, so she and Juliette often babysat for each other. ‘That’s a big ask.’

‘I’m sure I’ll return the favour.’

Ted slid his feet into his leather shoes. ‘All right, I’ll get the car.’

‘You can’t drive. You were still drinking a couple of hours ago. I’ve ordered a cab and it’s nearly here.’

‘That was fast work.’ As he’d thrown water in his face to wake himself and then dressed he thought Juliette had been talking to Evie.

Juliette picked her phone up from the bed and checked the cab’s progress. ‘Let’s be ready to go as soon as it arrives.’ She tucked the phone in her back pocket and headed for the door.

Ted followed and they both paused at Georgie’s. No sound from within.

‘We won’t wake him,’ Juliette whispered. ‘Zoe can let him know what’s happening when he does.’

Ted kept his voice low too. ‘Hopefully, we’ll be back before he’s up.’

Juliette said nothing and stepped carefully down the stairs.

As they reached the bottom somebody knocked lightly on the front door. Juliette crept up the hallway runner and opened it. ‘Hi Zoe, you should have used your key.’

‘I didn’t like to when you were in.’ She whispered too. Zoe Cabot was a young single mother, in her mid-twenties. She was gently bouncing her new baby. She wore a paisley headscarf and a worried expression. Her pale eyelashes rapidly blinked. ‘Everything OK?’

Juliette nodded. ‘Just a little emergency, friends of ours in Ibbotson. I’ll phone you when we know what’s going on. Help yourself to anything you want. Georgie is usually up at seven on Saturday.’

Zoe nodded gravely at Juliette and then put on a warm smile for Ted. ‘Don’t worry about anything here.’ She dumped down a changing bag.

A car beeped.

‘Really appreciate you doing this.’ Ted stood aside so she could squeeze by, grabbed his leather coat from the rack and hurried out into the dark. There was a frost on their small front lawn, and he zipped up and shivered as he trotted to the car outside the gate. Juliette remained inside, so he greeted the driver of the white Seat, sat in the front and pulled his door shut.

‘Ibbotson, please. Just waiting for my wife.’

The young Japanese driver nodded and there was a short awkward delay until Juliette dropped into the back seat.

‘Zoe all right?’

Juliette closed her door and didn’t answer Ted immediately. ‘She’s fine.’

‘You OK?’

Again her response was delayed. ‘Yes, just worried about Evie.’

The driver pulled out.

‘They’re only fifteen minutes away. We’ll soon find out what’s going on.’ But Ted suspected it was serious. Evie had never called them like this before. It was difficult to imagine them even raising their voices to each other. Who knew what went on behind closed doors though? Jakob had been very quiet when they left and pretty unsteady on his feet. ‘Try her again.’

Juliette did, then shook her head and hung up.

The driver turned left at the end of the street.

‘What was Jakob doing?’

‘I told you I don’t know.’

‘So what’s “it”?’

Juliette leaned forward and replied in the ear furthest from the driver. ‘What d’you mean?’

Ted turned. ‘When you were on the phone to Evie you said you’d talk to him about “it”. What is “it”?’