Dot by Araminta Hall Page B

quite quickly, when the beginning of a friendship often feels like the beginning of falling in love, except without the sexual tension that makes falling in love so dangerous.
    So when Alice turned up at playgroup the next Tuesday Sandra could immediately tell that she was lighter and happier.
    ‘Did you talk to him then?’ Sandra asked as they moulded play dough into shapes for a table of toddlers.
    ‘No, but he didn’t go to the pub at all this weekend. And he seems much happier. I don’t know, maybe I was making a fuss over nothing.’
    Sandra sucked back her innate worries, she would never trust any man completely. But why rain on Alice’s parade?
    ‘I’ve decided to have a party for Dot’s second birthday,’ Alice was saying. ‘I’ve got Mavis’s invite in my bag and I thought I’d ask a few of the others from here.’
    ‘Great idea. When is it?’
    ‘Two weeks. We’ll just have it at home, hopefully the weather will be good and they can all play in the garden.’
    When Gerry got home that night and he’d poured them both a glass of wine which they drank in front of the TV after dinner, Sandra asked him if he’d seen anything of Tony recently.
    ‘He wasn’t in the pub on Thursday,’ said Gerry, ‘but I’ve heard a stupid rumour that he’s got the hots for the new barmaid.’
    ‘Really? What’s she like?’ Sandra couldn’t imagine anyone matching up to Alice, but then men were odd, they rarely did what was expected of them.
    Gerry shrugged. ‘I don’t think she’s up to much. Bit overweight, peroxide hair, wears her skirts too short, you know the type.’
    ‘Typical barmaid then?’
    ‘Well, yeah, sort of. But when you talk to her she’s not like she looks. She’s got this, I don’t know, vulnerability, I suppose. Like she’s always about to cry or something.’
    Sandra looked across at her husband. ‘Sounds like you’ve been studying her.’
    He laughed. ‘Don’t be silly. You’re the only woman for me.’ And with that he drew her towards him with his strong arm, nuzzling into her neck and making her put down her wine glass and giggle with the pleasure of being desired by a man about whom she felt the same way.
    Sandra did think about what Gerry had said the next morning as she walked to the green to meet Alice, but the baby was making her stomach churn so that the only real thing on her mind was a need to know where she could be sick at all times. Besides, it was only a stupid rumour and there was something about interfering in someone’s marriage, even when one half of that couple was your best friend, that seemed horribly wrong. She snuggled instead into the knowledge that her Gerry didn’t find the barmaid attractive.
    Of course Sandra lived to regret this decision. She comforted herself with the thought that all her warnings would have probably gone unheeded, but still she felt pretty shitty about herself whenever she thought about it in the weeks that followed.
    Tony was quite clearly absent from Dot’s party, which was strange, considering that it had been held on a Sunday especially so he could attend. And besides, he had always seemed very connected to Dot, as if they understood each other. Alice was also decidedly distracted and Clarice had a look of grim determination on her face. The other mothers were as impressed with Alice’s house as Sandra had always known they would be, but she couldn’t get any enjoyment out of this, couldn’t parade her best friend as she would have liked to have done. There was something weary and stale in the air that Sandra couldn’t place, something which made her want to leave, as if the house was haunted.
    ‘Where’s Tony?’ she asked Alice as they were peeling cling film off plates of sandwiches in the kitchen and the children screeched in the garden.
    ‘He went to buy some balloons,’ answered Alice.
    ‘Balloons?’
    Alice stopped her unwrapping and Sandra saw her hands were shaking. ‘Yes. He came into the kitchen half