The Sisters (38 page)

‘We’ll be in the kitchen,’ Lucinda shouted back. She stopped at the door of the
good
living room and watched the piano standing silently by the window. Lucinda couldn’t help feeling emotional; after all this was where it had all started.

‘Oh, you brought food. You didn’t have to do that,’ Felicia said as she walked into the kitchen to find Lucinda unpacking the takeaway.

‘Seeing as dad is in the hospital I didn’t think you’d feel like cooking and I thought it’d be nice if we spent the night with you to keep you company,’ Lucinda said as she handed Reece the plates.

‘I would have been fine, but thank you. Your dad said to tell you thanks again for his dinner.’

‘Grandad couldn’t eat that hospital food. They said it was mac’n’cheese but that was the whitest mac’n’cheese I’d ever seen. In fact, I don’t think that there was any macaroni or cheese in it,’ Reece said as he sat down at the table.

Even though the children talked animatedly with their grandmother over dinner, Lucinda couldn’t shake off the feeling that something wasn’t quite right with her mother. It could have just been that this was the first time in years that she’d been in this great big house on her own. That wasn’t to say Felicia had played the role of the good little housewife. There had been more times then she could remember when she’d disappeared for spa weekends with her sister or gone on holiday with her girlfriends but whenever Richard had gone away she’d always had Emma to keep her company. Now that she was gone all Felicia had was Ares the dog, which had been moping around the house ever since Richard had gone into hospital over a week ago.

‘I should really sort out the bedrooms for them. I haven’t done a thing since your dad went into hospital and with work…’

‘Mum, don’t worry about it. I’ll go upstairs and sort the rooms out and these two can clean up,’ Lucinda said as she got up to leave the kitchen.

‘You know where everything is?’ Felicia asked.

‘Mum, I used to live here, of course I do.’ As Lucinda brought their overnight bags upstairs into the room she paused briefly on the stairs to look at the family photos on the wall. She would never have imagined when she left home all those years ago that her parent’s walls would be covered with photographs of her own children at various stages of their lives. Lucinda touched the glass of a recent edition to the gallery. She didn’t remember being there when the picture was taken. It showed all of the grandchildren: Lena, Katelyn, Reece, Theo, Issy and even baby Sam with their grandparents who were smiling broadly. There were no signs on Richard’s face that he was even ill as pure joy radiated from him. It must have been one of the frequent days that the twins had just turned up on their grandparent’s doorstep. Lucinda didn’t remember ever giving them that much freedom when they lived in New York. As she walked up the stairs to the bedroom it didn’t escape her attention that there were hardly any pictures of her as part of the family.

‘Play it again,’ Felicia said as she stared wide-eyed at the TV screen. Reece had hooked up his MacBook air to the television and was enjoying the stunned look on his grandmother’s face.

‘Didn’t I tell you gran?’ Katelyn said as she stood in the middle of the room still in her school uniform, though both her and her brother had long since discarded their ties, holding the remote control in her hand as she turned up the volume.

Lucinda stood up straight in Emma’s old bedroom as she heard her own voice drifting up the stairs. She left the room and went down the stairs, stopping midway down to lean over the banister in the way she used to do when she was eight years old and tried to creep down the stairs after she’d been told repeatedly to go to bed. From the open door she could see her mother sitting on the edge of the sofa with her hands over her face as Lucinda’s voice sang the song she’d performed with Carter only a couple of hours before.

‘Oh Lou,’ Felicia said when Lucinda walked into the room. ‘Oh my baby girl.’

‘Do you know that I never saw you girls perform. I mean, I saw you on the television but I never went to watch you,’ Felicia said as she sat with Lucinda in the now empty living room. The twins had disappeared upstairs after seeing their grandmother’s eyes wet with tears.

‘I always thought it was just because you wanted to stay with Emma,’ Lucinda said as she blew across her cup of hot honey and lemon with a dash of her dad’s whisky, whilst Felicia sat with a large brandy in her hand. After seeing Lucinda perform she’d disappeared into her bedroom for half an hour and cried over so many different things.

‘That’s what I told myself in the beginning. Someone needed to be at home but once she got older I couldn’t use that as an excuse.’

‘Why didn’t you ever come? I mean dad was there and even uncle Stephen would come and watch us perform, even though I suspect he was acting more as our unofficial bodyguard.’

‘I just never wanted it for you. Not that life. I wanted you girls to be secure not to subject yourself to someone else’s opinion of how you should be.’

‘Mum, that’s just an excuse. Come on. You knew what I always wanted. I wasn’t like Bea telling you at seven years old that I wanted to be a lawyer or Jessica telling you one week that she wanted to be a stuntman and the following week that she wanted to be a nurse. I knew I wanted to sing, that I had to sing. I didn’t want anything else.’

‘I thought you’d grow out of it but it didn’t happen and Jessica always wanted to do everything that you did and then Beatrice. The worse thing was that no matter how much she said that she was just helping you out I could tell that she loved it.’

‘And so you hated me for it,’ Lucinda said bluntly.

‘No. I never hated you for it. I could never hate you.’

‘But mum, you’re not getting it. It felt that way. Look, I’m not stupid I know that you never planned to have me no matter how many times dad told me I was a love child.’

‘That didn’t mean I loved you any less. You’re my child,’ Felicia said softly. ‘Look, I won’t lie. Getting pregnant when I did wasn’t part of my plan and I thought about…but I couldn’t do that. No matter how much my head told me that it was the right thing to do, my heart wouldn’t let me do it.’

Lucinda said nothing as she sipped her tea. It may not have been what she wanted to hear but it was the first time she’d ever spoken so openly with her mother.

‘I envied you,’ Felicia said.

‘Why? If you knew the mess that I’ve made of things mum, you wouldn’t be saying that.’

‘We all have our ups and down but it’s true. You’re not supposed to be jealous of your daughters but when I saw you growing up so strongly and with such a passion for life I envied you. You were always such a fighter and everything you put your mind to you achieved. You were so determined and independent.’

‘But mum, where do you think that I got that from? I got that from you. You did everything. You worked, you played with us, you cooked with us and you always told us that we could do anything we wanted. You gave us that passion. You were the one who told us that our power came from the ability to choose.’

‘I did that?’ Felicia asked not quite believing it.

‘Of course you did, mum. If you hadn’t been the woman you are, I’d never have turned into the woman that I was meant to be.’

‘You always had a way with words,’ Felicia said with a laugh.

‘Who do you think I get that from?’

‘Well, I’m glad you got something from me. Your singing talent definitely comes from your dad’s side of the family. Do you know that was the first time that I really listened to your voice? I mean, I’ve heard you and your sisters sing but I never actually listened before. You have such a beautiful voice. I have such a beautiful daughter.’

‘Oh God, you’re going to make me cry. Mum, will you come?’

‘To what?’

‘My show. Will you come and watch me? If you’re worried about dad, I’m sure uncle Stephen wouldn’t mind staying with him, or even Reece could stay.’

‘You know what, baby, just try and keep me away.’

IT HAD been the longest week of her life. Jessica could think of a million and one things that she would rather have been doing instead of making the journey to the Royal Courts of Justice every day. Beatrice had often told her that it was one of her favourite buildings in London but Jessica couldn’t appreciate its beauty as she walked into the grand and opulent hall with its marbled floors and ancient oak panelling on the walls, not when each step she took meant she was one step closer to her life possibly changing forever.

‘Are you ready?’ Anoushka asked as she took the coffee cup from Jessica’s hand and dumped it in the bin behind her.

‘I think so. I want it to be over but then again I don’t. I mean everything could change forever once I walk through those doors,’ Jessica said as she stared ahead at the dark wooden door of court 14 in front of her. ‘What do you think the judge will do?’

‘Honestly, I haven’t got a fucking clue,’ Anoushka replied. ‘I wish I did but I don’t. This is the point that I normally tell my clients to start praying to whatever God they believe in and if they don’t believe, well, I suppose there’s always animal sacrifice or if that doesn’t work good old fashioned cash in a brown envelope.’ Both women immediately went quiet as Andrew and his lawyer walked through the double doors at the end of the corridor. Jessica looked quickly away as she could see the grin on Andrew’s face even from where she was sitting.

The court door swung open and a petite blonde woman in her early fifties stepped out, her black gown almost swallowing her.

‘The judge is ready for you now,’ she said to Anoushka before shouting, ‘All parties in Horncastle and LeSoeur to court 14 now please.’

Jessica felt herself holding her breath whilst Anoushka sat next to her with her perfectly manicured hands folded in front of her on the table. She sat as still as a statue. Jessica allowed herself to breathe out as she felt Sarah gently squeeze her hand. They were all nervous, as no one had a clue as to what Justice O’Byrne was going to say as he sat up on the bench and waited for his laptop to load up with his judgement.

‘This is an application that’s both vexatious and vindictive,’ the judge began in a deep, baritone voice that betrayed his slender size. Jessica could feel the corners of her mouth turning upwards whilst Andrew’s smile was beginning to turn into a firm grimace.

‘There is no merit to this application,’ the judge continued. ‘I feel nothing but sympathy for Ms. LeSoeur. I do accept everything that has been said about her financial assets but quite frankly Mr. Horncastle you’re not entitled to anything that Ms. LeSoeur has built. I rule that you have absolutely no entitlement to her agency, or her home. How you even believed that you were entitled to a share of her royalties that have been received as income from the sale and licence of Euterpe songs, products, and so forth is, to be quite frank, beyond me.

Accordingly, I shall order that the wife will pay to the husband on or after decree nisi a lump sum of £740,000 that being 50% of the balance within their joint savings account. This then means that he’ll exit the marriage with property and funds of £745,855. Thus, in my judgment, the sharing principle, on the assumption that such may arguably be applicable here, is subsumed within her needs and indeed in the total figure with which he exits the marriage. That is my ruling. Ms. McMillan and Mr. Fields.’ Both Anoushka and Maxwell stood up from their seats.

‘If you’d care to wait for a short while my clerk will hand you my full judgement. You should have received it earlier, but let’s just say that there were some technical difficulties. Ms. LeSoeur.’ For the first time that morning, Justice O’Byrne turned his attention towards Jessica, the furrows in his face settling down to reveal a man that despite the demanding and fearful tone of his voice was naturally gentle in nature. ‘A divorce is distressing enough as it is without it being played out within the full glare of the media and that’s something that I hope Mr. Horncastle will have the good grace to reflect on and the decency to apologise for. If Mr. Horncastle considers that my adjudication to be unfairly low, then I will simply say this to you Mr.Horncastle.’ This time there was no sympathy in his voice as he directed his gaze towards Andrew who was silently simmering with anger. ‘As it was your decision to pursue this application for ancillary relief proceedings it was for you to make a rational and logical case for the award that was sought. You put forward an excessive, indeed exorbitant,
claim
therefore what you have received is only fair. You have behaved disgracefully and have sought to destroy Ms. LeSoeur’s reputation by the slanderous allegations that you have made against her character. As I said before, an apology from you should be forthcoming.’ Anoushka poked Jessica in her elbow as Justice O’Byrne rose from his seat and left the court.

‘Is that it? Is that really it?’ Jessica asked after the judge had left the courtroom.

‘Well once we get the decree nisi and another six weeks for the decree absolute to come through then you’ll officially be a free woman but yes it’s definitely over,’ Anoushka said as she indicated for Sarah to pack up the numerous lever arch files that had sat in front of them like a shield for the past week. From the other side of the courtroom, Jessica could barely make out the hushed angry tones of Andrew as he spoke to his lawyer.

‘Thank you. Thank you so much,’ Jessica said as she grabbed Anoushka in a hug and squeezed tightly.

‘You’re most welcome,’ Anoushka replied as she hugged her back. She let go when she spotted Maxwell walking towards the court doors.

‘I hope you won’t be crying into your Bordeaux tonight, Maxwell,’ Anoushka said.

Maxwell shook his head, clearly humoured. He walked over towards Anoushka, leaned towards her ear and whispered, ‘Only if you’re buying my dear and you’re wearing Le Perla.’ Anoushka could barely contain her smug smile as she picked up her bag.

‘Right you, let’s get you out of here,’ Anoushka said after the clerk arrived and handed her a copy of the thick 25 page document that contained the full judgement. As they approached the main door of the court Andrew appeared from the side and discarded the cigarette that he had in his hand. He didn’t approach Jessica but stepped towards Anoushka, leaned in towards her and said one word.