The Trophy Wife by Evie Baxter

Twenty-Two

Isla was bouncing off the walls she was so excited. She was dressed in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, with a little yellow cardigan, and comfortable trainers on her feet, ready to do a lot of walking in Legoland. I was similarly dressed. The day was warm, with a blue sky liberally scattered with white fluffy clouds. For early June it was a beautiful day.

“When is he going to be here?” Isla moaned.

“Bastian isn’t due for another fifteen minutes so hold your horses, missy.” I checked the large tote bag which held a swimsuit for Isla and a towel, as I had seen there was a water play area, and the ubiquitous bottles of water, sunscreen, and sun hats.

“He’s here! He’s here! He’s early, Mummy. And that’s so good. I’ve missed Bastian so much.” Isla jumped down from her perch at the window seat in the sitting room and dashed out the room, screaming with happiness.

My stomach did a triple flip and my heart palpitated. It looked like I was kind of excited myself. I heard the front door open and little feet pounding down the front path as Isla screamed, “Bastian!” I followed more slowly, and watched as he stepped out of a large Range Rover and scooped Isla up in his arms and gave her a loud smacking kiss on the cheek.

I wanted that. The scooping up in his arms and all. Even more, I wanted to have that without it filling me with fear.

Bastian’s beautiful, masculine face was split with a wide grin as he approached me, Isla still in his arms. “How are my two favourite ladies today?” he asked, his eyes twinkling at me.

“We are fine,” Isla answered for the both of us. “And so excited, Bastian. Are you really taking us to Legoland?”

“Of course I am, my little flower. I would never lie about taking you on an adventure.”

Isla giggled. “Why did you call me a flower?”

“Because you are as pretty as a flower and smell like one too.” Bastian tickled her, sending her into peals of laughter before depositing her by the front door and turning to me. “How are you, baby?”

I gave him a small smile. “Good.”

He nodded, looking at me from head to toe. “You’re looking mighty fine too. Come on, give me a kiss.” My eyes widened but before I could react further, he turned his cheek to me and pointed at it. “Right here, baby. I’m waiting.”

“Go on, Mummy, give Bastian a kiss. I gave him one.” Bastian was being aided and abetted by a four year old. Priceless. I stretched up and gave him a peck on the cheek, just like he asked. I felt my face burning and my heart racing, ridiculously so. All it was was a freaking kiss on the cheek, for goodness sake. I needed to get a grip.

“Ready to go?”

“Yes, I just have to take the car seat out of my car and put it in yours.”

Bastian lifted the tote bag from the floor and turned to me as I went to lock the door. “No worries about that. I bought a car seat for my car and had it professionally fitted to make sure it was absolutely right.”

I looked up in surprise. “You what? That’s a big investment for a day out at Legoland.”

“Maybe I’m hoping to be able to use it for more than one day out. You think?” The cheeky bugger smirked at me.

“Hmmmm,” I replied non-committedly. I concentrated on buckling Isla into the new car seat installed in the impeccable interior of his Range Rover. It was so obvious he didn’t have kids. My car looked much more lived in.

“How long until we get there?” Isla asked before Bastian had even started the car.

“A bit longer than an hour, sweetheart.”

“Oh, that’s so loooong!” Isla moaned. “I’m so excited to be going there. My friend Grace said that I can get my driver’s licence there. Maybe I can drive home. I bet you I could drive quick.”

I was grabbing my phone to see what the hell she was talking about, but Bastian was on top of this too. “You can get your Lego driving licence, but it’s only allowed to be used with Lego cars, I’m afraid.”

“Not fair,” Isla grumped.

“Isla,” I gently reprimanded. One word only needed to be said. All mums did it.

“Sorry, Mummy. Sorry, Bastian.” She heaved a big sigh and settled back in her seat. “When are we going to get there?” This was said before we had left the village.

Happily, the motion of the car soothed her into a nap before we got to the motorway. Traffic was light and we made good time down the M40 towards Windsor. Bastian and I spoke about what we had been up to during the week. I heard about his friends, Drew and Adam, and their biweekly snooker tournaments. I told him about Isla, because she had much more going on in her life than I did. She was my life.

Isla woke up as we approached the theme park. “Are we there yet?” she said before her eyes were fully open.

“Yes, darling. We are just headed for the car park.” My head swivelled as I read a sign. “Bastian, you missed the turn for the car park. We will need to turn back at the next roundabout.”

“I’ve paid to park at the hotel. It will be easier, less walking and easier to find at the end of the day.” He turned where the hotel was signposted.

“Oh, that’s a good idea. I didn’t know you could do that.” Maybe he was good at understanding how to make things easier when you had children.

“I have all sorts of good ideas, Tori. You have no idea.” He turned his head and smirked at me before proceeding to the hotel car park. Did that man just throw inuendo at me right in front of my child? He was getting confident that I wasn’t going to bolt. I was getting confident if his suggestive manner didn’t fill me with fear, but with lust.

Soon, Bastian was checking in for something called the Platinum VIP experience. A bouncy teenager called Bethany informed us that she would be our host for the day and asked if we would like to sit down and plan our day a bit before we got started.

“Bastian, what have you done?” I hissed at him. This seemed over the top, our own personal host for the day.

“I made sure that Isla wouldn’t lose her nut when stuck in an endless line at any point today. She doesn’t have to wait in any lines with these passes,” he dropped a lanyard holding a pass around each of our necks, “and with Bethany’s help, we will make the best of the day. Right, Isla?” He put out his raised hand and Isla high fived him.

“How much did this cost you?” I whisper shouted. Bethany was standing back and looking at me with concern.

“None of your business,” he grinned back at me. “Money well spent as far as I’m concerned.”

Before I knew it, Bastian and Isla had made the executive decision that we would be having lunch at the pizza and pasta restaurant, and Bethany was reserving a table for us. Then Bethany sat with Isla and discussed the best rides for her, based on her age and size, and Bethany told us she would arrange the order we went to each ride so that we took the most efficient route through the park.

Lisa had brought her brood to Legoland for her eldest’s birthday the previous year. She told me afterwards that it was brilliant and a total fucking nightmare (her words not mine) all in one. The lines for some of the rides had been horrendous. The kids had loved the day but the waits had caused a few meltdowns.

I felt almost guilty as we swept past the lines, entering through the exit and boarded the first ride, The Dragon’s Apprentice, a mini rollercoaster ahead of all the people who had waited. Almost felt guilty was the operative phrase, because half an hour later we were already on our third ride and Isla was having the time of her life. I’d never be able to take her to a theme park again without dipping into her trust fund. This platinum experience was the bomb.

She got her licence at L-Drivers later that morning. Ate her body weight in pasta at lunchtime and then Bethany showed her where she could use the giant water squirting guns for the live show and nirvana had been achieved.

After that we took her to Splash Safari and Bastian proved he really had done his research because he disappeared into the men’s and returned wearing swimming trunks and accompanied Isla into the water play area and happily got drenched with her while I sat back and enjoyed the spectacle.

By the time I had towelled Isla off and got her back into her dry clothes she was drooping. Bastian put her on his shoulders, and we finished the day off with a ride on the peaceful Fairy Tale Brook before we finally headed back to the car.

Isla was in Bastian’s arms, her arms wrapped tiredly around his neck, her face tucked in close.

“Bastian?” she murmured.

“Yes, flower?” His deep voice was low as he spoke to her.

“Will you keep coming to see Mummy and me?”

He looked over at me, a soft smile on his face. “I’d like that, darling. As long as it’s okay with your mummy.”

I shrugged helplessly. He was worming his way into both our hearts. And I wasn’t doing much to fight it. I may even have smiled back at him.