Facing the Light by Adele Geras

Author:Adele Geras [Geras, Adèle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Quercus
Published: 2004-07-14T23:00:00+00:00

March 1982

Rilla tucked the phone under her chin, held her lighter as far as she possibly could from the mouthpiece, and clicked it into flame as quietly as she knew how to light the cigarette that was already in her mouth.

‘Rilla? Rilla darling, is that you lighting another cigarette?’

My mother should hang upside down from a beam, Rilla thought. Your average bat is no match for her. She smiled and said, ‘Cigarette? Of course not. Must be something you heard on the line.’

Was that convincing? Rilla was an actress and in normal circumstances would have sworn she could lie to her mother with the best of them. She’d been doing it for years. Just lately though, Leonora had been particularly sharp about tuning in to what her daughter was really feeling. Rilla’s marriage was over. She and Jon had come to that conclusion weeks ago, but now it was going to be public property, and even though they were both determined to have what was known as ‘a civilized divorce’, the fact that Jon was a pop star meant that the whole world seemed to be interested in such gory details as there were.

There weren’t nearly as many as the Sun and the Mirror would have liked, but trust Leonora to be the first to find out that the Fredericks’ split had now made the front pages.

‘Listen to this, Rilla!’ she said. ‘It’s from the Sun, the front page. I thought I should warn you. I knew you wouldn’t be up yet.’

Rilla wondered how the hell her mother had managed to get hold of a copy of the Sun at Willow Court first thing in the morning. One of the gardening lads must have brought it into the house. Surely she can’t have ordered it from the shop in the village?

She said, ‘Okay, go ahead. I’m listening.’ She pulled her silk kimono from Hong Kong (heavenly turquoise embroidered with scarlet and gold dragons, a present from Jon in the days when he still gave her presents) more closely around herself and turned her attention to her mother’s voice:

‘Anyone who knows anything at all about Jon Frederick and his wife, the luscious Rilla Frederick, star of Night Creatures, and seen on our TV screens rather less often these days than she used to be …

‘Is that true, darling?’

‘Yes, Mother, ’fraid so,’ said Rilla, trying to sound nonchalant. ‘Do go on.’

‘Where was I? Oh, yes. Right.

… won’t need reminding of the lavish partygiving lifestyle the couple have enjoyed since they tied the knot five years ago. But all good things are about to grind to a sticky end with the news of the couple’s upcoming divorce. Jon, on the eve of his forthcoming European “Feel the Heat” tour says, “We’re still the very best of friends, but can’t cut the mustard marriage-wise any longer. I have to be free to pursue my artistic goals, and Rilla has her own irons in the fire.”

Jon and Rilla are the parents of five-year-old Mark and Jon has made it clear that they will share custody of the child.

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