Page 94 of One-Hit Wonder

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 wineglass. “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, um, 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 downward into his wineglass. “Strange men he meets in public toilets.”

“You mean—he’s been cottaging?”

Her father nodded.

Bee shuddered. “That’s disgusting,” she said. “That is so disgusting. How long has he been at it?”

“Years, apparently. Years. It’s not entirely his fault, though, darling. The sex side of things faded out quite a long time ago between Joe and me, particularly with my back troubles, and…”

“That’s not the point, Dad. That is not the point. If he was feeling unhappy about things, he should have said something, talked to you…”

“But that’s the thing. He was happy. As far as he was concerned it was a perfect compromise. He loves me. He’s always loved me. He would never have done anything to hurt me. Which is why he chose to sate his, er, appetite in such an anonymous fashion. He never, ever thought it would impinge on our relationship…”

“But you found out. How? How did you find out?”

“Well, that’s the thing, darling. That’s the very, er, difficult thing.”

“Difficult?”