all your other women.’
‘How are you going to go at the ball with your Greek friend there? I assume he’s a big part of the reason for us finishing tonight.’
‘He hates me,’ Isla said. ‘And I don’t particularly like him, either.’
‘Well, that sounds like a good start to me.’ Rupert smiled. He knew Isla very well and there were very few people that she allowed to get under her skin. He had felt the undeniable tension all night and had seen Alessi’s eyes all too often turn to look towards Isla. ‘It’s more than time you got out there.’
‘Well, I shan’t be getting out there with Alessi. His relationships seem to last as long as a tube of toothpaste.’
‘Ah, but you have to brush your teeth, Isla.’ To Rupert, it was that simple. ‘Go for it. It’s as clear as anything that you fancy each other. Why not just give the two of you a try? If it doesn’t work out, it’s no big deal.’
It was to Isla, though.
They said goodbye at the door—it was possibly the nicest break-up in the world.
‘This is way overdue, Isla,’ Rupert said as he gave her a cuddle. Even he didn’t know about Isabel and just how deep Isla’s fears ran, and saying goodbye to her rock of ten years was hard.
‘I know.’ She gave him a smile. ‘Will you be okay?’
‘I shall, but, Isla, can I ask that you don’t—’
Isla knew what he was about to say and said it for him. ‘I shan’t tell anyone about you.’
‘Promise me.’ His voice was urgent. ‘I’m auditioning soon for a really big role. If I do get it then I’m going to be even more in the spotlight …’ She could hear his fear and she understood it. She, too, would be terrified to have her sex life, or lack of it, put under the scrutiny of anyone, let alone having it discussed the world over. ‘I haven’t even told my parents, Isla …’
‘It’s okay,’ Isla soothed, remembering the promise she had made all those years ago. ‘I gave you my word.’
When Isla awoke the next morning and headed into work with Darcie, the world felt very different without her safety net.
Not that anyone could know just how exposed and vulnerable she felt. She was her usual cool self while secretly hoping that the world might treat her gently.
The world, though, had other plans for Isla—around eleven, she answered a page from the antenatal clinic. It was Sophia, one of the community midwives, who, because of low staff numbers, was doing an extra shift onsite today and running the antenatal clinic.
‘Thanks for answering so quickly,’ Sophia said. ‘I wasn’t sure whether or not to page you. I’m probably—’
‘Always page me,’ Isla interrupted. ‘It doesn’t matter how small your concern is, I hope you know that.’
‘I do,’ Sophia said. ‘It’s not a patient I’m concerned about, more a situation that I’m not sure how to handle. Alessi dropped by this morning and said that when his sister arrived for her antenatal visit I was to page him so that he could come down. Allegra is actually his twin sister.’
‘Okay,’ Isla replied, wondering where this was leading as Sophia continued.
‘She’s thirty-two weeks gestation and Darcie has asked her to go onto a CTG monitor now for a checkup—all is well but Darcie just wanted to be thorough as she’s taking over her care and Allegra has quite a complicated history. The trouble is, when I said that I would let Alessi know that she was here, Allegra asked me not to. She wants me to just say that I forgot to page him …’
‘And no doubt you’re worried about what Alessi will say when you tell him that you forgot to let him know?’ Isla said, and then thought for a moment. ‘It is a bit awkward,’ she admitted as she pondered the issue while doing her level best to think this through as she would for any patient who was related to one of the staff here. She had to somehow forget that the staff member happened to be Alessi who, after last night, she was doing her level best to avoid.
Ignore that fact, she told herself.
‘I’ll come over to Antenatal now and speak with Allegra,’ Isla offered. ‘And I’ll also deal with Alessi. Thank you for letting me know, Sophia.’
Isla made her way down to the antenatal clinic and Sophia told her where Allegra was. Isla knocked on the door and went in and smiled when she saw Allegra. She was the female version of Alessi with black eyes and black hair and, while strapped to the CTG monitor, she was also doing her level best to keep a wriggling little boy of around three years old amused.
‘Hi, Allegra,’ Isla greeted her. ‘I’m Isla, the head of midwifery.’
‘Hello, Isla.’ Allegra smiled. ‘Is this about Alessi? I realised as soon as I said it that the midwife was feeling a bit awkward when I asked her to pretend she’d forgotten I was here. I’m so sorry about that. I should have discussed this with Alessi myself, instead of landing my problems on Sophia.’
‘It’s fine,’ Isla said, and looked over at the little boy. ‘You’ve got your hands full, I see.’
‘Very,’ Allegra agreed. ‘Sophia gave him a colouring book and some pencils but he’s just climbing all over me at the moment. I think Niko’s starting to fathom that he’s not going to have me all to himself for much longer.’
‘Probably,’ Isla said, and sat down in a chair near Allegra. ‘They’re very intuitive and they often sense that change is about to come. Hey, Niko, do you want to come and sit with me?’ Isla suggested to the little black-eyed boy who had the same curls as his uncle. ‘Look what I’ve got …’
Niko looked at Isla, who had taken out her pen torch and was flicking it on and off. It worked as a diversion tactic almost every time with three-year-olds and thankfully it worked today. Niko climbed down from his mum’s lap and made his way over to Isla. She noted that he had a slightly abnormal gait as he walked over and climbed up onto her lap.
‘Look,’ Isla said, flicking the pen torch on and off and then giving it to Niko, who tried to do the same. Only he soon found out that it wasn’t as easy as Isla had made it look and he would hopefully take several moments to work it out and give Allegra a small break while they chatted and Allegra explained her reasons for not wanting Alessi there.
‘I had a very difficult labour with Niko,’ Allegra said. ‘We were living in Sydney at the time. He was a breech birth and I ended up having an emergency Caesarean section after a very long labour.’ Allegra paused for a moment before continuing—clearly the memory of it still distressed her. ‘Niko wasn’t breathing when he was born and had to be resuscitated. As a consequence he was without oxygen and has now got mild cerebral palsy.’
‘That must have been a very scary time for you,’ Isla offered.
‘It was,’ Allegra agreed. ‘I wasn’t at all well after the birth, either. The thing is, there were a couple of mistakes made and possibly what happened could have been prevented. I chose not to pursue it. I just wanted to put it all behind me. Alessi, though, was pretty devastated as well as furious. I know he thinks if he’d been there, or at least around, then
