‘It’s strange. She’d sort of disappeared from the club, too. She’d been working there a few months. Then we had this big night, the one Rory and Daniel came to, Serena too. They brought some client with them. I remember she was there then. But not long after that, she quit, and no one really knew why.’
He pauses, drops his gaze, runs his fingers through his hair. ‘Then suddenly she’s at Rory’s birthday dinner. Looks totally different, all dolled up and stuff. Somehow, she has become mates with my sister. And obviously I could see by then that she looked … you know.’ He grimaces. ‘Pregnant.’
I sense he is telling the truth. Still too angry to meet his eye, I scan the room for the waiter. I need another drink.
‘The night of Rory’s dinner,’ he continues. ‘They sat her next to me. So I asked her what she was doing there. She was really intense about it. She said she needed me to keep it a secret that we knew each other from the club. I didn’t really understand why, but she just kept saying it was important, that I needed to trust her.’ He raises his eyes again, looks at me. ‘She said there was something she needed to do, and she couldn’t do it if people knew who she really was.’
I stare at him, incredulous. ‘You went along with this? Knowing she was lying to your sister – moving herself into their house?’
‘I didn’t know she had moved in with Helen. She said she was just staying a night or two. I didn’t think – that she was lying, exactly. Oh, I don’t know – she was so intense about it. I just agreed because … well, it seemed a bit easier, for one thing.’
I frown. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Come on, Katie,’ he hisses. ‘Obviously I didn’t want you to know about me and her. You’d given me another chance, I didn’t want to fuck it up again. All right?’
I stare up to the ceiling, try to focus on the line of brass lights, the mahogany pillars, the mirrors bordered in green and gold. I try not to let the tears welling in my eyes spill down my face. This is not what’s important, I tell myself. There is a girl who could be dead.
‘So Rachel wasn’t having an affair with Rory?’
Charlie’s eyes widen. ‘With Rory? God, no. I mean – God, not as far as I know. What makes you say that?’
I ignore him.
‘And the baby? If there was a baby?’
He drops his head, pulls at his hair again.
‘As far as I know, she really was pregnant,’ he says miserably. ‘I asked her if it was mine. At Helen’s party. When you saw us talking.’
I nod, grimly. At least I wasn’t going mad. I knew it wasn’t some casual chat. The look in her eyes. It was important.
‘She told me it wasn’t. That I shouldn’t worry.’ He pauses. ‘But honestly?’ He swallows, looks away. ‘The timing would … sort of fit. So … I don’t know.’
The waiter returns, takes Charlie’s empty bottle. I order another glass.
We are silent for a long time, after that. My wine arrives and I take a large gulp from the glass.
Charlie clears his throat. ‘Katie, I swear you and me weren’t back together then, or I would never have –’
I cough my wine back into my glass, then slam it down, cheeks flaming. ‘Oh my God, Charlie. Are you fucking serious? This is so far from being about you and me. Jesus.’
I fold my arms. I can’t look at him. And when I finally do, I realise it is over between us. It has to be. And in that moment, I can see that he knows it too.
‘I don’t know what to say,’ I say eventually. ‘I don’t know what you want me to say.’
‘I want you to believe me.’ His eyes are wide. He grabs for my hand again, over the table. ‘Katie, I have no idea what happened to Rachel, OK? I had nothing to do with any of this. I was telling the truth about the cellar thing – whoever you saw her go down there with, it wasn’t me. That time you saw us together, when we were talking – that was the last time I saw her. I swear. She told me the baby wasn’t mine. We talked a bit. Then we parted as friends. That was it. Honestly.’
We sit in silence for a while. I have another sip of wine. I can tell that Charlie is searching my face, trying to work out what I’m thinking.
‘I still haven’t told the police about the cellar thing,’ I say quietly. ‘I’m starting to wonder if I even saw it. Maybe I was just pissed. Maybe I was seeing things.’
Charlie says nothing. I rub my hands over my face.