Her father got to his feet and collected their empty bowls, brushing breadcrumbs from the vinyl tableclothwith the side of his hand. ‘I told you, darling. Something came up.’
‘What is this, Dad? A soap opera? You can’t get away with saying things like “Something came up” in real life, you know.’
He scraped chicken bones into the bin and sighed.
‘What, Dad? What is it?’
He dropped the empty bowls into the sink and turned to look at Bee. He tried to smile but the result was so unconvincing that it made Bee want to cry.
‘Oh God. Dad. What is it?’ She got to her feet and put her hand on his arm.
He smiled at her again, a strained, apologetic smile. ‘He’s gone,’ he said, patting her hand comfortingly. ‘Joe’s gone.’
‘What do you mean, Joe’s gone?’
‘I mean – we’re finished. It’s over.’
Bee almost smiled. The idea of Joe leaving her father was so unlikely it was almost funny. Joe didn’t exist without her father. ‘But that’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard.’
Gregor sighed and picked up his wine glass. ‘Isn’t it just?’
‘So, what exactly is going on? I mean – how could this have happened?’
‘Oh, darling,’ he said, his eyes falling to the floor.
‘What! Will you please just tell me what’s been going on?’
‘I think you should sit down.’
Bee let her hand drop from his arm and lowered herself numbly into a chair. ‘So?’
‘So – he’s been – er – Joe’s been having, umn, affairs, I suppose you’d call them.’
‘Affairs?’
‘Yes. Sleeping with other people. Behind my back.’
‘But. That’s not possible.’ Bee found it hard enough to imagine Joe having sex, let alone having sex with nameless strangers behind her father’s back. He just wasn’t a sex kind of person.
Gregor smiled wryly. ‘Oh, darling, I’m afraid it’s more than possible.’
‘But, who with?’ Bee realized she was asking stupid questions, but she was just responding to what seemed to her to be stupid statements.
‘Men, darling. He’s been sleeping with men.’
‘But – men that you know? Or strange men?’
‘Strange men.’
‘What kind of strange men?’
Gregor sighed and cast his eyes downwards into his wine glass. ‘Strange men he meets in public toilets.’
‘You mean – he’s beencottaging?’
Her father nodded.
Bee shuddered. ‘That’s disgusting,’ she said. ‘That issodisgusting. How long has he been at it?’