Almost Perfect (38 page)

It was more likely that he'd left something at Georgie's place and she wanted to return it. Because she had a new boyfriend. He felt an uncomfortable
pang in his chest. Maybe the boyfriend was moving in with her, or she was moving in with him and when she was packing up she'd found an odd sock or a T-shirt, whatever. She'd considered throwing it out, but then decided she should see him one more time, let him know she was getting engaged. They were going to marry later this year and have lots of children and live happily ever after. Liam sighed heavily, rubbing his forehead. Georgie deserved to be happy. He would tell her that. He would restrain himself and wish her all the best for her future. And he would try very hard to mean it.

Liam had planned to get here early and watch Georgie arrive, but parking in Manly was a nightmare and he'd ended up leaving the car miles away. He checked his watch. He was right on time as he walked along the boardwalk past the main bar to the Jetty. It was a calm night, if a little cool. Still, enough people obviously preferred the outdoors even at this time of the year, given the throng gathered already. He stood at the edge, scanning the deck area.

And then he saw her. She was sitting with her back to the water, looking straight at him. She gave him a faint, polite smile, raising her hand tentatively. She must have been watching out for him . . . well,
naturally, she was expecting him after all. He started to walk towards her. She looked beautiful, more beautiful than he remembered. Perhaps it was because it was so good to see her again, but there was something else. Her hair was a little longer, the colour more subdued than usual, still coppery, but softer. Her skin was glowing. If she was in love, it certainly agreed with her.

‘Hi,' he said as he made it to her table.

‘Hi,' she said shyly. ‘Sit down . . . please.'

Georgie watched him take a seat opposite her. He was apparently unsure what to do with his hands. He crossed them on his lap and uncrossed them again, rested them on the bench beside him, tapping the wood, and finally clasped them together and placed them on the table in front of him. He seemed nervous. He took a deep breath and lifted his gaze to meet hers. ‘It's good to see you, Georgie. You look . . . you look wonderful.'

He looked . . . rumpled, she decided. At least in comparison to the way he usually looked. Not so much the last couple of times she'd seen him, but every other time before that he'd always been dressed so immaculately, nearly always in a suit, his hair just so. But today he wore casual trousers and a shirt with a jumper, not a jacket. His hair was longer and thicker, and it suited him. It felt weird sitting here now, so close. Here was the face she loved, the blue-grey eyes. It was still him, but he had a whole other life, a reality she had known nothing about. It was like falling in love with a character in a TV show. Sure, there're probably a lot of the actor's mannerisms in
the character, they have the same voice, they look the same. But in all likelihood, the similarity ended there. The part of Liam MacMullen had been played by an actor who shed the character every time he left Georgie to go home to his wife. So who was this man sitting opposite her? She didn't really know him. And she had to keep that in mind because it was disconcerting how much he looked like someone she was still very much in love with.

‘How are you, Georgie?' Liam was asking.

‘Fine, very well, thanks,' she nodded. ‘How are you?'

‘I'm okay.'

‘I got myself a drink while I was waiting, did you want something?'

‘No, thanks, I'm right at the moment.'

He wanted to get down to business. His wife probably had dinner waiting for him at home. Georgie started to feel sick. She took a sip of her soda water. ‘I . . . ah . . . I won't . . . um, this won't take long.'

He nodded.

‘Before I start, I just wanted to ask, if you don't mind . . .' Georgie swallowed. Her heart was pounding hard in her chest. ‘Can I ask you a personal question?'

Liam felt the blood drain from his face. It suddenly occurred to him what this was all about. Georgie had some kind of sexually transmitted disease. It made sense, there was no other reason she would need to see him four months after they'd broken up, out of the blue, and so urgently. He hoped it wasn't serious, that she was all right.

‘Go ahead,' he managed to say.

‘I wanted to know if you and your wife . . . well, if you worked it out, if you're okay now?'

Liam took a moment. He wasn't sure what that had to do with anything. Though she probably had to know who else he'd had contact with. ‘Anna and I have separated,' he said plainly.

Georgie stared at him. ‘What? When?'

He looked down at his hands. ‘She asked me to leave right after the last time I saw you.'

‘Is it permanent . . . or, I mean, are you having counselling, are you trying to work it out?'

Liam met her eyes directly. ‘We're past all that, Georgie. We've sold the house, settled the property. I guess one or the other of us will file for divorce when the need arises.'

Georgie held her hand to her mouth. She felt like crying. ‘Please tell me you didn't break up over me,' she breathed, her eyes glassy.

Liam reached across the table and took hold of her hand. ‘Georgie, I told you we were having problems. It wasn't because of you. You were . . .' He paused. ‘There's something I've wanted to say to you. I never got the chance to apologise.'

‘Liam–'

‘I wanted to say,' he went on, over the top of her, ‘that I realise you were worse off for having known me–'

‘Liam, I don't–'

‘Georgie, please, let me get this out.'

She fell silent, trying to ignore the feel of his hand around hers.

‘I know I hurt you, and that I made you unhappy, and I'm not proud of myself for that. I wish I could take it all back, but that's impossible. But I did want you to know I'm better for having known you, for having you in my life even for a short while.'

The lines sounded rehearsed. Now he was playing the role of Liam MacMullen, reformed man. Maybe she wasn't being fair to him, but he had lied to her. If only he hadn't lied.

‘Okay . . . thanks,' she said quietly. She moved her hand and he released it. They sat for a while, not saying anything.

‘What did you want to see me about?' Liam asked eventually.

Georgie cleared her throat. She had to do this. She sat up straight. ‘What I have to say will probably come as a shock. I've struggled over whether or not to tell you. If you and your wife had still been together, I didn't want . . . well, never mind. But regardless, I'm not telling you because I expect anything from you. I don't, not at all. And this doesn't change things between us. Well, it does. But . . .' she sighed, as though she was a little exasperated with herself.

Liam was trying to follow her but he had no idea what she was talking about.

‘Liam,' she resumed, calmer, ‘do you remember the last time we saw each other?'

He nodded.

‘Do you remember what happened?'

God, it was a sexually transmitted disease. He hadn't used a condom.

‘Yes, I remember.'

‘Well, the thing is . . .' She took a deep breath in and out. ‘. . . I'm pregnant.'

His face went white, and he appeared to freeze. He didn't even look like he was breathing. ‘Liam?' Still he didn't move. His eyes were glazed, she wasn't sure if he could hear her. ‘Liam?' she said a little louder.

‘Yes,' he croaked, startled.

‘Are you all right?'

‘You're pregnant?' he said, his voice barely making it out of his throat.

‘That's what I said.'

‘Are you saying it's mine?'

‘Of course,' she retorted. ‘Why else would I be telling you?'

‘But I don't understand, it was just that one time.'

‘That's all it takes.'

‘Once? You're sure, you're absolutely sure?'

‘Yes, Liam,' Georgie said through clenched teeth. But he didn't seem to notice.

‘This is unbelievable,' he muttered. He ran his hands up over his face and raked his fingers through his hair, trying to snap himself out of it. ‘I'm sorry, this is such a shock . . . it's . . . it's the last thing I ever imagined . . . you have no idea . . .'

‘I think I do,' Georgie bristled. She wasn't going to sit here and listen to this crap, that he found it ‘unbelievable', implying it wasn't his, carrying on as though it was the shock of his life. Zan was right. She shouldn't have bothered telling him, but it was too late now. He'd been caught out unrehearsed and
unprepared. This wasn't in the script, not in his copy anyway. And Georgie was not going to hang around and give him an audience. She moved to the end of the bench. ‘Look, I just thought it was the right thing to tell you, but like I said, I don't expect anything from you. You don't have to worry, I won't bother you again.'

She stood and Liam stared up at her. What was she doing? Where was she going?

‘Georgie!' he exclaimed, almost leaping off the bench. ‘Georgie, don't go, please.' He took hold of her shoulders. ‘I'm sorry, it is a shock but it's a good shock, a wonderful shock, the best shock I've ever had.' And then without warning, he pulled her close to him, hugging her tight.

‘Liam!'

He released her immediately. ‘Sorry, I just had to do that . . . I won't touch you again, I promise. But please don't go, not yet.'

She looked at him. His eyes were pleading with her. Who was he now? Was this real, or had he pulled himself together and got back into character? But what did he have to gain from pretending? God, she wished she could trust him.

He was gazing down at her with a kind of awe. ‘Look at you,' he said quietly, surveying her up and down.

Georgie's hand moved instinctively to her tummy. ‘Yeah, it's popped a little, just lately.'

‘Are you okay? Is everything all right?'

Georgie nodded. ‘I'm fine, the baby's fine.'

The baby. There was a baby inside her, his baby.
Liam still didn't think he was grasping this fully. ‘Won't you sit down again, please?'

Georgie hesitated. There was a tone in his voice that was actually quite touching. She supposed she ought to hear him out. She lowered herself back onto the bench.

‘Can I get you anything?' he asked, still standing.

‘No, I'm fine,' she said, indicating the glass of soda water.

‘Of course, you wouldn't be drinking. I think I might have a drink now though, if that's okay, if it doesn't bother you?'

‘No, not at all.'

‘You won't go away?' he added.

Georgie looked up at him. ‘No.'

‘You promise?'

She smiled, despite herself. ‘I promise.'

Liam returned shortly after with some kind of spirit, maybe scotch, in a tumbler. Georgie had never seen him drink spirits before. He slid back onto the bench opposite her, leaning towards her across the table.

‘So, you're okay?' he asked again.

‘Yes, I'm fine, Liam,' Georgie insisted. ‘I had some morning sickness, but it's passed, more or less.'

‘I was working it out while I was waiting at the bar, you'd have to be nearly four months along, wouldn't you?'

‘A little further, the way they calculate it,' she explained. ‘The baby's due on the fourth of November.'

Liam seemed dazed. ‘I never thought I'd hear
those words . . .' He looked across at Georgie who was frowning at him, not surprisingly. ‘I have to tell you something.'

‘Okay.' She felt a little uneasy, with good reason. The last time he had to tell her something it was that he was married. God only knew what it was going to be this time.

He took a sip of his drink. ‘Anna and I were on the IVF program for seven years.'

Georgie's mouth dropped open and her eyes grew wide.

‘So you can see why this is a shock.'

She swallowed. ‘You thought you couldn't–'

‘No, no, it wasn't me,' he assured her. ‘Anna had what they ingeniously refer to as “unexplained infertility”. We did everything, drugs, insemination, then the full IVF treatment.'

Georgie nodded vaguely. ‘Mm, Jules – you know, Zan's partner – she's going through all that now.'

‘I remember Zan talking about it. Are they having any luck?'

‘Not yet.'

Liam sighed. ‘It's a very soul-destroying business. There's only about a thirty per cent success rate.'

‘I didn't realise it was that low.'

‘Oh, they muck around with the statistics and have you believing your chances are better than that. But however they put it, the majority of couples don't come out of it with a baby. That's a lot of broken hearts . . . and lives.' He was staring down at the table. ‘I think it's what destroyed our marriage.'

Georgie frowned. This was the problem he was
always going on about. ‘How exactly did it destroy your marriage?' she asked, feeling uneasy.

He looked across at her. ‘It took over, it consumed everything. It was all we ever talked about, when we did talk. We couldn't make any plans in case they interfered with treatment cycles, we stopped going on holidays, we stopped seeing friends when they started having children. Anna was either sick, or depressed, or anxious – she was never happy any more. Neither of us was happy. I wanted to stop, or at least take a break. I wasn't sure that there was anything left between us.'

‘So what happened?'

‘She couldn't handle the thought of giving up. We were at a stalemate.' He paused. He looked a little awkward. ‘That's around the time I met you.'

Georgie's heart quickened. ‘Then it became about me, didn't it?'

He shook his head. ‘No, not really, only on the surface. Anna clung to that at first, but really, it just brought everything to a head.'

Georgie didn't know what to believe. To think that all this had been going on in his life and she'd had no idea, not an inkling. She had to blend what she did know about him with what she was only just discovering. Her picture of Liam MacMullen had expanded, to include a picture of his wife. It made Georgie heartsick thinking of her. She had blamed Georgie, which was hardly surprising, she probably hated her. She had been left with nothing. No baby, no husband. It was so unfair.

‘Where's your wife now, is she all right?'

Liam shrugged. ‘She's staying in Sydney for the meantime, though I imagine she'll move back to Melbourne eventually. Her family's there as well. I know she's taken some leave from her job, but I'm not sure what her plans are.'