Incredulous, Yanni asks "Hang on! Are you saying that Lola was shagging Syd's husband?"
"Miss Livingstone and Mr Hartwell did have a relationship, that much we do know. What we don't know is what happened after you found them together Sydney? Let's go through it shall we? You arrived home, found them in bed together..... then what?" he probes, eyes fixed on mine.
I feel like I'm going to vomit, my hands are clammy and my pulse is racing. The memories of that night are hard enough to revisit, but the thought that I might be a suspect in a murder just tips me over the edge!
I want to answer him, aware that refusing to talk makes me appear as if I have something to hide, but my throat has closed, my tongue has seized up and my brain has gone on strike.
"Syd! Sydney?! Hey, you ok? You don't have to speak if you don't want to. I'll call Ferdinand and get him here" Yannis gentle voice cuts through the haze, rousing me from the horror film playing on the inside of my eyelids.
Despite Harrys abuse I really did think I was in love with him. I thought he was possessive because he loved me and wanted me to himself. I found it adorably cute at first. I always made excuses for his physical assaults too. Perhaps if I didn't goad him by talking back to him or flirt with other men and embarrass him he wouldn't have hurt me. I figured I deserved it. He'd always tell me he loved me, he was sorry and he didn't mean it, but that I needed to change my behaviour, never did he mention his own behaviour needing a serious overhaul. If I loved him I would behave better, do as I was told, only wear attractive clothes in private for him alone. He'd often tell me I was getting fat, I think to break my spirit and dissuade me from certain outfits, some of which apparently made my arse look huge, my boobs appear to sag or my hips to be extremely wide.He said he was protecting me from all the bad in the world, when the whole time he WAS the bad in the world!
I knew he was a serial philanderer, and of course, in the fantasyland that was Harry's world, that was also my fault. I was failing in my duty to satisfy his needs so he had to get it elsewhere. When he would drink he would often just take what he wanted from me, hissing in my ear whilst using my body for his own selfish needs that he wouldn't have to hurt me if I was a better wife. I tried to fight him off at first, but that seemed to excite him and made the whole experience longer and more painful. I tried bargaining and begging, all to no avail. Finally I accepted it as a part of our marriage, he had needs I wasn't fulfilling. I was getting what I deserved, punishment for being a bad wife.
I swallow a large mouthful of my coffee, spilling some onto my chest as my hands are shaking and my lower lip is quivering. Finding my voice now my tongue and throat are moistened I reply,
"No, it's fine Yanni, Thankyou though. I'm ok, honestly. I just don't like to think about that night, and I can't believe all the coincidences here. I mean, my husband was sleeping with her, I leave him, a few years later I'm here in Australia with you and keeping an eye on her case, but purely because I'm intrigued by the circumstances, I swear, I had no idea it was her! I didn't know she was the woman in my bed with Harry, we didn't exactly swap pleasantries. That's the one and only time I saw her. I left Harry that night with nothing but the clothes I was standing in and the hold-all I'd just arrived home with. I never concerned myself with his life ever again, not interested in seeing his face, or hers either! Then once Im here I find out that she was the girlfriend of someone here! It's all too much to take in, too far fetched. I don't believe in that many coincidences"
"Syd….. let me explain" Yanni croaks, his eyes heavy with an emotion I haven't seen on him before. It looks like despair!
"What's for you to explain Yanni? She was clearly bad news, leaving her boyfriend here and moving on to another man without telling him!? That's low. What's troubling me right now is how did she and Harry meet? He'd never been to Australia, and according to Muriel she had never left before that?! Harry has always been an incredible flirt and I have no doubt he would have chatted her up and flirted with her, but she didn't just jump on a plane and arrive on his doorstep did she?" I muse, adding, "something is very fishy here"
Turning my attention back to Grant I ask, "so what does Ben say? I mean, if you think I'm a suspect because she had an affair with my husband then surely you should be talking to him too, after all, he was also a jilted lover"
"WHAT??" Yanni booms, making me drop my coffee cup with a clatter. "What did you say Syd? Lola and Ben?
They were in a relationship, together?"
Confusion clear on his features, a vein bulging in his left temple.
"Yes, Muriel told me they were totally in love, but she wanted more status and wealth than he could give her and so she left, breaking his heart. Apparently she continued to contact him, telling him she would only ever love him, but felt she deserved more from life. She had him bewitched and he couldn't give her up. She kept him hanging on, like a puppet, using his love for her to have her cake and eat it too! Muriel said he went to the UK earlier this year when Lola snapped her fingers. He went straight to her, only recently coming back to Australia"
"Bitch!" Yanni curses loudly, thumping the counter with his fist, causing Grant to raise his eyebrows and make an entry in his notepad.
"Mr Smith, maybe you could tell us why you are so fiercely angry over Miss Livingstones behaviour? Were you and Ben friends?"
"I never met him...…..but I knew her!" he confesses, his voice a whisper
"Oh? How so?" Grant enquires, twiddling his pencil between his fingers.
"Well...." Yanni begins, hanging his head and picking at his fingernail.... "she was my fianceé!"
Grant chokes on the mouthful of coffee he has just attempted to swallow, spluttering all over his notepad. I feel as if my head will explode. This is just ridiculous..... and sad, a complete farce.
Realisation hits me like a truck. "Yanni, was Lola the girlfriend who left you because of my story?" I probe, holding my breath, knowing the answer but dreading it at the same time!
Looking up at my question, pain etched into his features, he nods slowly, "Yes. She left while I was away on tour. I came home to an empty apartment, every item of hers gone, and some of mine too. Poof! The only thing she left behind was the ring and a pathetically pointless note. Well, actually she didn't.
I decided to take the ring back to the jewellery store, asking them to buy it back. I didn't want a reminder of the bitch sitting around. They were very obliging, offering to take it back immediately, they'd just need to do some gemstone authentication tests. They contacted me a few days later to advise me that it was a lab created diamond. A copy. She'd had the forethought to get an exact replica made so she could keep it, hoping I'd never know. It was worth AU$I.8 million. Thieving, cheating, fucking WHORE!!" he screams, tugging at the hair on either side of his head.
I can't believe this situation, it's surreal... insane!