A waiter brought over menus, and Micky buried her nose in hers, though she seemed to have lost her appetite.
After placing their order and talking about Olivia’s braces and a too-boisterous classmate Christopher seemed to be spending most of his time with at school, Darren cleared his throat. “There’s something you should know, Micky. I’ve met someone.” Darren never was one to beat about the bush.
Micky nodded thoughtfully.
“Her name is Lisa. I met her at The Brew Dog at Friday night happy hour. We’ve been seeing each other for a few weeks now, and I would like to introduce her to the kids. It’s a little difficult not to, and they’re clever things. They’ll figure it out soon enough, if they haven’t already.”
“If they have, they haven’t spoken to me about it,” Micky said, then wondered if she should congratulate her ex-husband on getting it on with someone new. “Good for you, Darren. I’m happy you met someone.”
“She works in finance, like me. For the competition, though, so I’m not sure how that will work out.” He gave an awkward chuckle—Darren Steele was not an awkward-chuckle kind of man.
“Which bank?” Micky’s heart started thudding again.
“Goodwin Stark.” Darren didn’t think to ask why Micky was inquiring. Why would he?
Micky wished she had a glass of wine at her disposal. Her ex-husband’s new girlfriend was a colleague of the woman she had slept with. Fuck.
“I was planning on filling in the kids this weekend. Possibly tonight so I have the rest of the weekend with them in case they have questions. Then I could have Lisa over on Sunday so they can get to know her.” He drummed his fingertips on the tabletop. “Do you want to meet her?”
Micky didn’t know what the protocol was for this sort of thing. This woman would be in her children’s lives so she supposed she should at least get to know her a little. “In time. I trust your judgment.” Micky could not face sitting opposite Lisa any time soon, however. She would need some time to process all the information.
“I chose you, after all.” Darren really was full of jokes today. Maybe it was the effect of being in love again.
Micky quirked up her eyebrows, then said, “It’s okay. As I said, I trust you to have their best interests at heart.” Darren worked too much, but he had always been a good father. If anything, it was Micky who was feeling like a bad mother because of her own romantic interests. “I’ll meet her in due course.” Micky proceeded to tell Darren what her mother had told her.
“If it has reached the Mosman Beach Club, it’ll be all over Sydney in no time,” Darren said.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
When she lived in Mosman, Micky had gone to the beach often—at least twice a week. She preferred to go in winter, when she could be alone and just have an hour to herself, thinking of nothing and just watching the tide roll in.
The trip to the beach she was to undertake that day would be very different from those back in the day, when she was still a married woman.
She was going to the beach with Robin.
It made her feel so giddy, Micky actually mocked herself when she passed a mirror and caught her reflection. “You silly twat,” she said to herself, then she would grin uncontrollably.
If it were up to Micky, they would skip this trip to the beach entirely and just go back to Robin’s flat. Every evening since that night, before she went to sleep, Micky allowed herself the delicious luxury of reliving the memory. The best part, for her, had been when Robin had said, “Not bad for a beginner.” Not the words as such, but the way she had said them. Her voice full of satisfaction, her pupils dilated, her smile so soft and convincing.
Micky was still a beginner, but the first-time nerves were out of the way now. All she wanted was to do it again, and again.
She packed her bikini, a towel, sunscreen, and her most glamorous pair of sunglasses into a bag, and went to pick up Robin. It felt so strange to drive her car through the few streets it took to get to Robin’s flat and pick up another woman. It was a brand new experience for Micky. It was exhilarating.
Robin was waiting for her outside her building and, as soon as she got into the car, handed Micky a paper cup of coffee from The Pink Bean.
“I had to bribe the barista to find out what you liked,” she said, a big smile on her face.
“It’s not a wet capp, is it?” Micky smiled back.
“You should have seen your face when I placed that order. I think I decided to ask you out there and then.”
Micky shook her head. “Oh, please.”
“Hi, Micky.” Robin slanted in her direction and placed a kiss on her cheek.