Val closed her eyes. She knew from past experience that her father was always right.
“Darling, Chris is fine. Do stop worrying. We’ll be back tomorrow. You’ll see... Chris is really fine.”
“And you, Val? How about you?”
She suddenly felt a wave of emotion rush through her. She couldn’t speak. She felt tears running down her face.
“Val! I said how about you?” her father said impatiently.
“I... I’m fine too,” she said. “Thanks for calling, Daddy. I... I look forward to seeing you,” and she replaced the receiver.
She sat crying for several minutes, then she touched her eyes with her handkerchief and got to her feet. She remembered what Chris had once said:
Your father is a remarkable man. He hasn’t got the soft centre that I have... you know what I mean: a soft centre? It is something that can happen to anyone who is just ordinary. You think you are all right, that you are making a big success of life, that you have all the confidence, ambition and determination to beat the best, then suddenly the hard core that is in you to get anywhere in this life, turns soft. That’s what has happened to me.
He had advised her to divorce him. She now knew she would have to get the divorce. This dead and mutilated woman lay between them forever. Yes, she would have to get a divorce. She thought of the years ahead of her. She would, of course, go back to her father’s house. At least, that would give him pleasure. And Chris? What would become of him?
She got to her feet and went to the window and looked down on the terrace. The blonde girl in her red bikini was sitting by Chris. The sun lit up her hair. She was laughing and she was very animated. Chris was laughing too. He looked happier than Val had seen him since the accident.
Suddenly he got to his feet and extended his hand. The girl grasped it and stood up. Together they walked along the terrace and down the steps towards the beach.
Val had a feeling that at last Chris’s adventure to begin a new life could be beginning.
She went back to the suitcases and began to re-pack, putting her things in one suitcase and his in another.