Warhol's Prophecy Read Online Free PDF Page B

dining room once or twice a year, when their parents visited and Hailey cooked for more than just the three of them. They weren’t exactly dinnerparty types. The room was wasted, Rob had said. So for the last eleven months they had eaten every meal in the kitchen. Some had been consumed in an atmosphere close to despair, especially in the last six months, but the meal this particular evening had been an enjoyable one. Not just because of Hailey’s culinary skill, but also because they had all laughed and joked. The conversation had flowed easily, Rob had looked a little more relaxed than usual, and Hailey had been grateful for the change in his character.
    Both of them had tried hard to keep their true feelings hidden from Becky, ever since the discovery of Rob’s affair, and, most of the time, they had been successful.
    Of course, Becky wasn’t stupid and, especially when Rob’s indiscretion had first come to light, she had been only too quick to spot a difference in her parents. Puzzled when her father, in particular, snapped at her so vehemently for apparently trivial things, there had been tears. But on the whole the emotional upheaval that both Hailey and Rob had been – and were still – going through was well disguised.
    At first, Rob didn’t react to his daughter’s last words. He merely sipped his glass of mineral water, lost in his own thoughts.
    ‘Dad, I said I got lost,’ Becky repeated, unsure whether her father had heard her.
    ‘Where?’ he said finally, a slight edge to his voice.
    Becky began to tell him.
    ‘Or should I say how?’
    He was looking straight at Hailey now.
    ‘I didn’t want to worry you,’ she said. ‘Everything was all right in the end.’
    ‘Well, that’s OK then, isn’t it?’ he said. She wasn’t slow to catch the note of sarcasm in his voice.
    No, it was something even stronger.
    Disdain?
    Anger?
    ‘A man found me,’ Becky continued. ‘He was really nice, wasn’t he, Mum?’
    Hailey smiled and nodded, aware of Rob’s eyes boring into her.
    ‘Well, that’s fine then, sweetheart,’ he said, getting to his feet and kissing the top of Becky’s head.
    He carried his plate across to the sink, then returned and collected those of Hailey and his daughter. As he looked across at Hailey, she saw his eyes narrow slightly.
    ‘Can I watch a video before I go to bed, Dad?’ Becky wanted to know.
    ‘Just half an hour,’ Hailey offered.
    Becky scrambled down from the table and disappeared through into the sitting room, leaving Hailey and Rob to clear the table and wash up.
    ‘Don’t start, Rob,’ Hailey said, filling the sink with hot water.
    ‘Start about what?’ he snapped. ‘Our daughter getting lost when you were supposed to be looking after her? Why should I? I mean, she’s fine, isn’t she? Why should I start?’
    ‘If you knew how I felt, waiting for her to be found, you might be a bit more sympathetic.’ She handed him a clean, dripping plate.
    He didn’t answer, merely continued drying crockery as she passed them to him.
    ‘Don’t give me the silent treatment, Rob,’ Hailey muttered. ‘If you’ve got something to say, then say it.’
    ‘Perhaps I should wait and do my talking tonight. That’s what those bloody sessions are for, isn’t it?’
    She shot him an angry glance.
    ‘I didn’t force you to come, Rob. And if you want to stop going, then that’s up to you too. I thought we needed help. I hoped you understood that. I thought you wanted to do something to help our relationship. After all, it was you who fucked it all up in the first place.’
    ‘Yeah, I know. And if I hadn’t had an affair, we wouldn’t be going to Marriage Guidance, would we?’
    Again she caught that heavy scorn in his voice.
    ‘It’s called Relate,’ she told him.
    ‘What difference does the name make? It does the same job, doesn’t it?’
    ‘And what job’s that? What job do you think it’s supposed to do, Rob?’
    He shook his head. ‘I’m going to sit