one-hit wonder by Lisa Jewell

Author:Lisa Jewell [Jewell, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-03-22T17:59:59+00:00

“Are you sure there wasn’t more to your relationship?” asked Ana, watching Flint slip the photos from her bag.

“Absolutely,” he grimaced, taking a big slurp of tea far too quickly and burning his mouth in the process. “Ow, shit,” he hissed, letting the mug clank heavily onto his desk and covering his lips with a hand.

“So, it’s quite strange, then, wouldn’t you say, that you appear to have been on holiday with her? To India?” Flint got to his feet and let the photos fall on the desk in front of Ed.

Flint watched Ed closely, could almost see the various options running through his mind until, eventually, his face slumped with the realization that there was nothing he could say to negate the fact that he’d been lying.

“Aaah,” he said finally, picking up the picture of himself and looking at it. “I see.”

“OK,” said Flint, going back to the sofa, “can we start this conversation again, please?”

Ed sighed and let his face fall onto his fist. “It was her idea,” he began. “She insisted on keeping the whole thing secret. I wanted to go public months earlier, but she wouldn’t let me. If there was one thing you could say about Bee, it was that she liked to keep her life compartmentalized.”

“So,” said Ana impatiently, “what was going on?”

“Well— we were. We were going on. But I was—am—

married. That’s why I was so cagey when I spoke to you yesterday. My wife was standing right next to me. And I would have left her—Tina—I was prepared to leave her from the minute I met Bee, but she kept putting me off, she from the minute I met Bee, but she kept putting me off, she wouldn’t let me.”

“How long?” said Ana. “How long did you two . . . ?” Ed sighed, opened a drawer, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, offered them around, lit one, exhaled. “Three years.”

“Three years?” said Flint incredulously.

“Uh-huh.”

“So you were together? When she lived in Belsize Park?”

“Yup. I paid the rent on that place, in fact.”

“Really?”

“Yes—well, I spent a lot of time there and she was always short of cash so . . . you know, it wasn’t like I was paying her or anything. It was just a practical arrangement.”

“Is that why she moved out?”

Ed shrugged. “I don’t know. The money probably. And maybe she was looking for some kind of fresh start. Or something . . .”

“And how did you meet?”

“Well, that’s the thing, you see. That’s the thing . . .”

“What thing?” asked Ana impatiently.

“The way we met—it’s got everything to do with why she wouldn’t let me into her life, why she wouldn’t let me leave my wife.”

“What was it?”

Ed shook his head. “I can’t,” he said, “I can’t tell you. I always swore to Bee, swore I’d never tell anyone. I can’t . . .” Flint felt himself running out of patience—and he was a very patient man. He got to his feet again. “Listen,” he said, using his bulk rather than raising his voice to intimidate Ed,

“Bee’s dead.

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