Tell Tale by Sam Hayes Read Free Book Online

round to Nat’s.’ Nina imagined she needed to confide in her friend about what had just happened.
    ‘I can give you a lift if you like.’ Nina held her breath. Perhaps they could talk on the way.
    ‘Nah,’ Josie said quietly. ‘I’ll walk.’
    ‘Her moods are very up and down,’ Nina told Laura. ‘Never a dull moment with Josie.’ Her friend pulled a face, the same one Nina would have made in return if she hadn’t had a mouthful of pasta. She swallowed. ‘If I’m honest, it started when she was about three. Sullen and moody way beyond her years from then on.’ The women laughed together, thankful that they had each other.
    Once a month, they went out for a meal – just the two of them, to talk, to compare, to offer a little bit of support to each other in the world of bringing up teenagers. Laura had two kids – a sixteen-year-old boy, James, who had recently taken GCSEs, and Natalie, Josie’s best friend.
    ‘It’s all so predictable in our house,’ Laura said. ‘I can virtually recite our morning breakfast conversation while James is shovelling up his cereal.’
    ‘Oh, don’t.’ Nina tried not to laugh. ‘At least you have a morning conversation. Josie rarely even eats breakfast. She steps into her uniform in exactly the same spot that she stepped out of it the night before, refuses to brush her hair because she likes it messy, yet spends hours in front of the mirror perfecting her eyeliner. Most days, I only know she’s gone to school because the house shakes when she slams the front door.’
    ‘You wait,’ Laura said. ‘When they’ve all gone off to university, we’ll be bereft. We’ll miss the surly silences.’
    ‘They’ll be back often enough. When they run out of money, clean clothes, and get sick of eating beans on toast.’ Nina poured more wine, knowing they’d be sharing a taxi the short distance home. ‘Seriously, though, how are things with Tom?’
    Last time the two women had met, Laura revealed that her marriage was running aground. Nina was shocked when Laura said it was like having marital cancer. ‘I reckon we’ll only survive a short while longer,’ she’d confessed.
    ‘We’re still just hanging on,’ Laura said sadly. She downed several large mouthfuls of wine. ‘We had our firstcounselling session last week.’ She pulled another face. ‘My dear husband stormed out halfway through. He got particularly touchy when the counsellor suggested he should seek help for his anger problem. I’d already implied he’d been having an affair, so that was the last straw.’
    Laura’s expression fell away from her usual taut, holding-it-together look. Her mouth drooped and her eyes lost their normal sparkle and turned downwards in a fan of lines. ‘I think the counsellor was right. The signs all point to another woman.’
    ‘Oh, Laura,’ Nina said. She offered her hand across the table but Laura didn’t take it. Tears forced her to flee to the toilet. Nina followed her and found her sobbing over the basin. Gently, she turned her round and folded her into her arms. She plucked tissues from the box and wiped her eyes. Then she stood and hugged Laura, rocking her, not needing to say anything. In ten minutes they were back at the table, Laura as composed as if she were attending a job interview.
    ‘So,’ she said brightly. ‘How’s your work?’
    Nina went along with it. ‘Well, I’m gearing up for the Charterhouse film that’s about to go into production. Remember I told you I’d won the contract?’ Laura nodded. ‘The first one’s a horror movie called
Grave.
It’s taking up most of my time at the moment, although I’m still doing some theatre work. I’ll have to take on staff when shooting begins.’ Nina sipped her wine. She felt guilty about being so excited when her best friend’s life was shrivelling before her.
    ‘That’s wonderful,’ Laura said, hugging Nina across the table. They’d known each other since Natalie and Josie were in playgroup,