Under My Skin

Part Eighteen

Part Eighteen

Monday morning, after a fun and full weekend, Isobel returned from the school run, and as she pulled into the driveway, she saw the bright red Porsche parked diagonally in front of the porch. She froze for a moment, it couldn’t be anyone else’s, there was only one person who could be there, and dread filled her every cell. Then she shook herself, took a deep breath and headed into the house, she HAD to deal with this.

They were sat in the conservatory, Marc, his mother and his sister, the atmosphere was thick with tension, Claudia’s head was in her hands, and Sylvia was stroking her shoulder gently. Isobel froze, unsure of whether she should join the room or give them space. At that moment Marc looked up and saw her, he offered a tense smile, and extended a hand.

Claudia looked up at the sound of footsteps, and for a few seconds there was pure hatred in her eyes, then she just collapsed in another waft of tears.

                “I’m so sorry Claudia.” She whispered as she lowered herself onto the arm of Marc’s chair.

Without looking up she waved a hand in front of her. “Don’t please, I can’t deal with...I just need some space.”

                “We’ll go out then,” Marc offered, leading her from the room.

She didn’t speak until they were in his four wheel drive powering up the driveway. “She hates me!”

He turned to her briefly, “no! She hates herself, for putting up with this. When my mother told her she just accepted, no arguments or doubt. She wasn’t surprised. He’s a bastard, I think he’s been hitting her, she’s a shadow of the woman she was, and knowing all he did to you, I can’t imagine what he’s done to her over the years, she denies everything, but I can tell, she’s scared of him. I could kill him on so many levels.”

                “It must be so awful for her,” she offered in a quiet voice.

He glanced at her and shook his head, “at worst it was as bad as it was. Don’t forget that you’re a victim too.”

She was silent for a long time, before she asked, “Where are we going?”

He smiled, “lunch, on a little cruiser I know!”

Spinning to stare at him she felt her mouth curl into a smile, “the boat?”

He nodded, “You liked it last time, so I decided to buy it! I thought we could do a lot more travelling on it! Peter gave me the induction from hell before I bought it from him!”

Isobel was staring at him open mouthed, “you did that? For me?”

“I’d do anything for you, you know that.” He smiled, “and I thought that we could have somewhere to escape to, somewhere we can have some time alone, as well as with the kids!”

                “I do love you Marc Banfield!”

He laughed, “Then it was worth the money!”

They didn’t cruise anywhere, just spent the morning investigating the interior of the boat, planning exactly where they would put furniture and belongings, and what Marc was going to purchase in addition. Later he took her to a small pub alongside the river for lunch, thick homemade beef burgers and relish with chunky chips, and homemade lemonade for her, beer for him.

He sipped at a bottle of beer as he watched her eat nervously; her tension was almost palpable now that she had nothing to occupy her mind.

                “It’ll be ok Iz, my sister is no dragon, honest. It’ll take time, but she’s not nasty. She’ll get over this, and she’ll see you were not to blame.”