he soothed. ‘It can’t be helped. I’ve worked too hard on this to let it fall apart now. You understand, don’t you?’
Of course she did, but it didn’t make her feel any better. ‘Yes, I understand,’ she replied glumly, then winced as a feminine squeal echoed down the line, followed by the distinct sound of giggling. ‘What’s going on?’ she asked sharply, sitting up, frowning.
‘Oh, that’s just some guys fooling around. We’re taking a break and I’m by the pool. Look, amore, I don’t have much time. Just remember I love you and I’ll be home as soon as I possibly can. OK?’
‘OK, Lucas. Love you,’ she responded, trying to sound cheerful, but her heart was heavy when she set the receiver back down. A few more days sounded like a jail sentence. Not that there was anything she could do about it. She just had to get through it.
She slept badly that night and was consequently late getting up. Because she had a photo session at a client’s house, she picked up the mail as she was leaving the house and stuffed it in her bag. She only discovered it later in the day, when she bought a sandwich for lunch and took it to a nearby park to eat it in peace.
Examining the small collection of envelopes, she recognised the usual bills and junk mail, but there was a large brown envelope at the bottom which had nothing but her name and address typed on it. Curious, she tore it open and reached inside for the contents. They were face down, but it was clear from the markings that what she held were photographs. Wondering who could be sending them to her, and thinking it might be more wedding photos a relative had decided to pass on, she turned them over.
A Post-it note was stuck to the front, with a brief message:
Do you know what your husband gets up to while he’s away? Take a look at these.
Her stomach fell away, leaving her feeling as if she were poised at the edge of a precipice. Trembling fingers pulled the note away, revealing the top photograph, and she gasped as shock hit her like a sledgehammer. There was Lucas, with his arms around a woman she had never seen before. They were laughing and gazing into each other’s eyes as if…
‘No!’ The cry left her lips though Sofie was unaware of saying anything. She flipped the photo up, revealing the next, and her heart cried out in pain, for this time they were kissing.
Shaking her head as if to deny what she was seeing, Sofie looked at each in turn, and in every one it was the same woman, even if the background was different. Anyone could see that the couple were obviously in the midst of a passionate affair. She closed her eyes, trying not to see them, but her brain just replayed each one over and over.
Feeling sick, she forced herself to keep calm. It couldn’t be true. Lucas couldn’t be having an affair! Yet she had the evidence in her hands. But where had they come from? Who had sent them? She searched the envelope, but there was nothing inside, only the stark note. Someone had wanted her to know the truth, but wished to remain anonymous.
It left a nasty taste in her mouth. That person need not be a friend, which gave Sofie a moment’s pause. Despite what she saw, was it true? Could there be some other plausible explanation? That fragile framework of trust she had built since meeting Lucas made her want to believe there was an answer, and the only way to know was to ask him.
Lucas wouldn’t lie to her. She trusted him, and trust was everything. Reaching into her bag for her mobile phone, she flipped it open and groaned when she realised she had forgotten to charge it. There had to be a phone box nearby, so she shoved everything piecemeal into her bag and hurried off to find one. When she did, it was occupied, and she had to wait a nerve-racking ten minutes before she could step inside and close the door.
She didn’t care that it would be the middle of the night where Lucas was, but dialled the number of the hotel he was staying at. There was a long wait whilst the call was put through to his room, but finally it was answered. She was taking in a deep breath when a voice spoke.
‘Hello? This had better be important.’ A distinctly feminine disgruntled voice echoed in Sofie’s ear.
Her heart stopped, and she frowned. ‘Sorry. They were supposed to be putting me through to Lucas Antonetti’s room. There must have been a mistake,’ she began to apologise.
‘There’s no mistake, honey. This is Lucas’s room. Just you hold on and I’ll get him for you.’ Stunned, Sofie could only listen to the noises at the other end of the line. ‘Hey, Lucas, you gorgeous hunk of man. Get out of bed. There’s a phone call for you!’
Sofie gasped in disbelief as her whole world began to shatter around her. She didn’t need to wait to hear more, but slammed down the receiver and tumbled out of the phone box in a state of near devastation. The only thoughts going around her mind were that the photos hadn’t lied. It was all true. All most horribly true!
Looking around her, everything felt alien and she just wanted to get away. Go home and wait for the pain to go away. She flagged down a passing taxi and sank into the seat, dropping her head in her hands. How could Lucas do this to her? She had trusted him! It had taken every ounce of courage she had possessed to trust him and put her faith in their future together, and now it was gone. Shattered into a million irretrievable pieces.
Dear God, it was Gary Benson all over again. He had turned her life into a nightmare, and now Lucas had betrayed her. She couldn’t take it again. She just couldn’t take it!
That same thought was in her mind when she got home. Only it didn’t feel like home any more. It was a place of deception and treachery and she couldn’t spend another night in it. As she looked round the lounge she had spent so many happy hours in, she knew that she was going to leave Lucas. However much she loved him, the trust was gone. If she stayed, she would never trust a thing he said or did, and that would destroy her, so she had to go.
Not just go, but vanish completely, so that she would never see him again. It was the only way, for her love for him might undermine her resolve if she saw him. It might tempt her to stay and try to live with the doubts. No, she must go and never look back. The prospect almost made her break down, but she knew she had to be strong. Later she could fall apart. When it was done. When it was all over.
It was that strength of purpose which made it possible for her to pick up the phone and call her parents. She couldn’t leave without explaining why. After a few rings, her mother answered.
‘Hi, Mum. I…I just wanted to tell you not to be worried if you don’t hear from me for a while,’ she said, her voice catching as she worked hard to keep her emotions under control.
Her mother instantly sensed there was something wrong. ‘Why? What is it, Sofie? What’s happened?’
Sofie drew in a shaky breath. ‘I’m leaving Lucas, Mum,’ she declared tautly, and heard her mother gasp.
‘Leaving Lucas? But why? What’s gone wrong? I thought you were so happy.’ Her mother sounded almost as distraught as Sofie felt.
‘I can’t explain now. Just know that I have to do this. I can’t…’ Her voice broke and she had to bite her lip hard. ‘I don’t know when I’ll see you again, but I’ll write to you.’
‘Oh, Sofie, don’t do anything hasty. Come and talk to us. Perhaps we can help.’
Sofie blinked back scalding tears. ‘Nobody can help. I’m sorry, Mum. I love you both. Don’t worry about me. Goodbye,’ she ended on a broken whisper and set the phone down before her mother could say anything else.
Almost immediately the phone started ringing again, but she ignored it. Going up to the bedroom, she took two large cases from the dressing room and packed everything that she intended to take with her. She hefted them downstairs, leaving them in the hall whilst she went to the desk in the lounge and wrote the hardest letter she had ever had to write. She simply told Lucas she was leaving and that he shouldn’t waste his time looking for her. She wasn’t coming back. Then she sealed it in an envelope, wrote his name on the outside and propped it up against the clock on the mantelpiece.
Finally