Getting Rid of Matthew Read Online Free PDF

came for the day, as well. Luckily, her older brother, her only sibling, had the sense to spend Christmas in Spain every year with his own children and, recently, grandchildren. Things were only marred by Amanda's constant throwing up, which seemed to get worse whenever there were potatoes that needed peeling.
    The year after, Amanda's young baby, India, and Louisa's own pregnancy provided the excuses.
    Last year no one even bothered to keep up the pretense, they just asked when they should turn up and put in their requests for en suite bathrooms (essential when you have a toddler) and downstairs rooms (vital when pregnant, Amanda again), followed by their demands for cups of tea and rounds of sandwiches. A fight broke out over the remote control and Suzanne declared it the worst Christmas ever.
    So that was five adults and four children in addition to the two adults and two children who actually lived in the house, and the two additional guests for Christmas day. One vegan, two vegetarians, a dairy allergy, a gluten intolerant, a drunk, and a recovering alcoholic. Fifteen people in all.
    This year, Amanda had a six-month-old baby, Molly, so that would make sixteen. But it was odds on that Louisa and Jason's marriage might not last till Christmas, so maybe it'd be fifteen after all.
    "Perhaps we should just tell them all we're going away," Matthew had said a couple of days before, feeling especially constrained by the inevitability of it all, the arguments, the drinking, the tears. "Do something spontaneous for once, go to a hotel and leave them all to fend for themselves."
    Sophie laughed, wishing they could do exactly that. "You know we can't."
    "Yes," Matthew had replied glumly, "I know we can't."
    * * *
    Following their argument, Helen and Matthew had pretty much avoided each other, except for when their paths had crossed at work. The day after, Matthew went for the drinks at Amanda and Edwin's and made slightly strained conversation about the hunting ban (Matthew and Sophie pro, Edwin and Amanda against) and golfing holidays in Portugal (Edwin pro, Matthew, Sophie, and Amanda against). Edwin drank too much as usual and tried to pick a fight with Amanda about her decision to get Jocasta—aged nine—a Prada handbag. Three-year-old India drew a felt pen scribble on Matthew's Ted Baker coat and was sent to her room and baby Molly knocked over a glass of Merlot on the white couch. Helen, meanwhile, sat at home, convinced that Matthew would turn up repentant, flowers in hand, at any second. He didn't.
    On Wednesday, Matthew was away visiting one of Global's more important clients all day, his phone switched off. Helen went home from work as usual, watched the clock move past seven and then eight o'clock, took her makeup off, got into her pajamas, and cried herself to sleep.
    Thursday night was, of course, Claudia's Nativity. Claudia was playing a Wise Man wearing a beard and a long, striped outfit with open-toed sandals. When she went to present the Virgin Mary with her gift of myrrh, she stubbed her toe on the baby's crib and said "Bollocks!" very loudly.
    Helen had thought about sending Matthew an e-mail to see if he had changed his mind and was coming over as usual, but she knew that his bitch of a twenty-six-year-old assistant, Jenny, opened all his e-mails as a matter of course. Jenny also answered all of his telephone calls, and anyway, Helen and Matthew had long ago agreed to phone each other at work only in an emergency. That evening, she waited and waited, candles burning, white wine chilling, but he didn't show. She decided that he was sulking and just wanted to make her feel bad.
    Friday was the last day in the office before the two-week Christmas shut-down. Helen had convinced herself that Matthew would be happy that he'd taught her a lesson and would, any moment now, make an excuse to pop into her office in order to make it up to her. She had been intending to give him the briefcase last night, but now it sat