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The Favour

Pantera Presserschienen am01.07.2021
'There was a smug satisfaction in the knowledge that her friend's picture-perfect life was tainted by a dirty secret. Quinn may be far from perfect, but she'd always have that over Hannah.' Old friends Hannah and Quinn have grown apart over the years as their lives take them in opposite directions. Hannah cares for her three young children, her career on hold, while Quinn has a successful job in advertising, where she works hard and plays harder. But their friendship hangs together because of a terrible secret they share from their university days - a debt Hannah owes Quinn that they can never discuss. Quinn has always kept her professional and personal lives separate, but these worlds collide when a colleague assaults her. As her life starts falling apart, Quinn decides to take revenge on her attacker - and she expects her old friend Hannah to help. But when things begin to unravel, Hannah must decide how much she's willing to risk in order to return the favour. A gripping examination of the darker side of friendship, power and loyalty. How far would you go to repay a debt?

Rebecca Freeborn lives in the Adelaide Hills with three kids, a horse, more books than she can fit in her bookcase and an ever-diminishing wine collection. She works as a communications and content editor for the South Australian Government, where she screams into the void against passive voice and unnecessary capitalisation. She writes before the sun comes up and thrives on unrealistic deadlines. Rebecca is the author of Hot Pursuit (2018), Misconception (2019), The Girl She Was (2020) and The Favour (2021).mehr

Produkt

Klappentext'There was a smug satisfaction in the knowledge that her friend's picture-perfect life was tainted by a dirty secret. Quinn may be far from perfect, but she'd always have that over Hannah.' Old friends Hannah and Quinn have grown apart over the years as their lives take them in opposite directions. Hannah cares for her three young children, her career on hold, while Quinn has a successful job in advertising, where she works hard and plays harder. But their friendship hangs together because of a terrible secret they share from their university days - a debt Hannah owes Quinn that they can never discuss. Quinn has always kept her professional and personal lives separate, but these worlds collide when a colleague assaults her. As her life starts falling apart, Quinn decides to take revenge on her attacker - and she expects her old friend Hannah to help. But when things begin to unravel, Hannah must decide how much she's willing to risk in order to return the favour. A gripping examination of the darker side of friendship, power and loyalty. How far would you go to repay a debt?

Rebecca Freeborn lives in the Adelaide Hills with three kids, a horse, more books than she can fit in her bookcase and an ever-diminishing wine collection. She works as a communications and content editor for the South Australian Government, where she screams into the void against passive voice and unnecessary capitalisation. She writes before the sun comes up and thrives on unrealistic deadlines. Rebecca is the author of Hot Pursuit (2018), Misconception (2019), The Girl She Was (2020) and The Favour (2021).
Details
Weitere ISBN/GTIN9780648748847
ProduktartE-Book
EinbandartE-Book
FormatEPUB
Erscheinungsjahr2021
Erscheinungsdatum01.07.2021
Seiten270 Seiten
SpracheEnglisch
Dateigrösse1203
Artikel-Nr.11934216
Rubriken
Genre9200

Inhalt/Kritik

Leseprobe


CHAPTER ONE

QUINN

It was almost nine o clock when Hannah finally reappeared. Quinn had been sitting at the dining table alone for close to an hour, scrolling through her socials and masking her irritation every time Hannah popped back into the kitchen for a drink bottle or a teddy or some other bloody thing the kids needed. She couldn t understand why Hannah hadn t told her to come over later.

Hannah flashed her an apologetic smile. Sorry about that. They re usually settled by eight.

Ethan working late again? Quinn poured her a glass of wine and pushed it across the table.

He s always working late. Hannah sighed. He pretty much never sees the kids at night.

That s a lot of pressure on you. Quinn chose her words carefully. Have you thought about going back to work and letting him deal with it for a while?

Hannah grimaced. We decided that I d stay home with the kids until they re all at school. It s not that much time, really.

It s been eight years, Hannah. Quinn could hear the exasperation creeping into her voice, but she knew it suited Ethan s image to be seen as the provider, and it made her seethe.

Well, there s only another two to go. Hannah took a sip of her wine. What have you been up to, anyway? Let me live vicariously through your way more interesting life.

Quinn leant back in her chair with a laugh. Well, I hooked up with a guy last night, if that qualifies as interesting.

Hannah choked on her mouthful of wine. On a Monday? Who was it?

Quinn made a vague gesture. Just some guy I met at the Historian.

You can t remember his name, can you? Hannah looked amused. Will you see him again?

Fuck no! The sex was pretty freaky, though. As soon as the words left her mouth, Quinn felt foolish. She didn t know why she always had this ridiculous urge to make her hook-ups sound so much more exciting than they actually were. The sex had not been at all freaky: in fact, it had been rather underwhelming. And there d been an additional element of embarrassment that she hadn t yet shaken off - just as she d been leaving the pub, the guy s arm slung over her shoulders, she d spied her boss across the room. She and Simon had begun at Big Sky Public Relations around the same time ten years ago, and she considered him both a friend and a rival. They shared the same kind of flirty humour, but there d always been a mutual respect between them. Although they d been far outside the bounds of work last night, it had been humiliating when he d raised his pint to her with a sardonic smile.

Hannah chuckled. Half your luck.

Quinn took a gulp of wine and swallowed it down along with the desire to make a snarky comment about Ethan s sexual prowess. Hannah was too discreet to speak about her sex life, of course, but Quinn had slept with enough Ethan types to know that he wouldn t be a generous lover. Fucking Ethan, she thought savagely.

Fucking Ethan, she said accidentally.

Hannah looked startled. What s he done this time?

Well. Quinn was flustered. She tried - well, she usually tried - to keep a lid on her dislike of her friend s husband. You deserve some freaky sex every now and then, too. Preferably more than every now and then.

What makes you think I don t get it on a regular basis? Hannah smirked.

I meant with him, not a vibrator.

What s a vibrator?

Sam s appearance in the doorway caused Quinn to almost drop her wine glass. The kid was a fucking ninja.

It s like a toy for mums, she said, throwing a desperate glance at Hannah, whose face had flushed a deep red.

Sam considered this for a moment, then nodded. OK.

What are you doing out of bed, Sam? Hannah asked him, her voice shrill with embarrassment.

Today at school, Adrian kept singing this song about his little sister doing a poo in the pool and the teacher told him off but he kept singing it all through recess and lunch and when the bell went and it was so funny.

Hannah raised her eyebrows. But why are you out of bed?

Sam sighed. Jet keeps singing and it s so annoying.

If you ignore him, he ll get bored and stop.

But he s being a fucking idiot.

Sam!

My little sisters used to be fucking idiots all the time, Quinn told him.

Hannah frowned at her. I wish you wouldn t encourage his swearing.

Apparently people who swear are more intelligent. Quinn shrugged. Can t argue with science.

Sam looked at Quinn with renewed interest. Science is the answer to everything.

Sure is, bro.

Before Hannah could intervene, Sam had sat down in the chair beside Quinn and launched into an enthusiastic explanation of the standard model of physics in one very long run-on sentence. Quinn liked her friend s son, but sometimes his fierce intelligence freaked her out. She d never wanted kids, but sometimes she thought it would be nice to have a smart child who could participate in adult conversations and impress her friends ⦠provided said child appeared at her front door fully toilet-trained and not from her vagina.

OK, Sam, back to bed, please, Hannah jumped in when he paused to take a breath.

But I m not tired. His voice took on a whinging tone and Quinn s brief fantasy of having her very own genius child withered.

Tough, Hannah said. It s bedtime.

Can you lie with me? he pleaded.

I m talking to Quinn. You can go to bed by yourself.

Pleeeeaaase, he wheedled.

Quinn gave a flick of her hand. Go. I ll be fine here with my wine.

Sorry, Hannah mouthed as she rose from her chair to follow her son to his bedroom.

They d just disappeared when the gravel crunched outside and Ethan s car pulled into the driveway. Quinn sighed, preparing herself to swallow her irritation towards Hannah s husband. It wasn t that he was a bad person ⦠he was just so mediocre; the kind of man you slept with in your twenties then dumped because they were bad in bed, not the type you married and bred with.

Several minutes slid by and Ethan still hadn t come inside. The only sound was Hannah s soft murmuring from Sam s room. After another minute, Quinn got up and went into the lounge room. Behind the blind, the dark shape of Ethan s sleek car crouched like a panther in the driveway. Through the window, Ethan s face was the only thing visible, lit from below by the blue light of his phone s screen. He looked relaxed, as if it were perfectly normal for him to come home from work then sit in the driveway catching up on social media while his wife cared for his children.

Fucking Ethan.

Then there were footsteps from behind her and Quinn withdrew from the window guiltily.

What are you looking at? Hannah said.

You know he s just sitting out there looking at his phone? Quinn jerked a thumb over her shoulder.

He does that every night, Hannah said. He thinks I don t notice. Come and have another wine.

Doesn t it annoy you, though? Quinn said as she followed Hannah back to the dining room. Him sitting out there while you re doing everything in here?

Hannah s mouth was tight as she poured more wine into their glasses. He works hard all day. The last thing he needs is to walk into a house of chaos.

Weak. The word flashed through Quinn s body; a visceral, angry thing. How had this happened? Hannah had once been unharnessed, carefree, wilder even than Quinn. But somewhere along the way she d become this meek, man-pleasing doormat who did whatever it took to smooth things over - or worse, who absorbed all the turbulence so Ethan didn t have to feel any of it. Sometimes, Quinn hated Hannah for this weakness more than she hated Ethan for taking advantage of it.

But you work hard all day too, even with the chaos, she shot back.

They stared at one another for a moment, and when Hannah spoke, her voice was calm. You don t have to like Ethan, Quinn, but you do have to respect him. He s my husband.

Even if he s a dipshit? Quinn said lightly.

Who s a dipshit? came Ethan s voice from behind her. She hadn t even heard him walk in.

Quinn turned, wine in hand. Just some guy at work, she said smoothly. How are you, Ethan?

A sigh gusted from him. Buggered. How were the kids...
mehr

Autor

Rebecca Freeborn lives in the Adelaide Hills with three kids, a horse, more books than she can fit in her bookcase and an ever-diminishing wine collection. She works as a communications and content editor for the South Australian Government, where she screams into the void against passive voice and unnecessary capitalisation. She writes before the sun comes up and thrives on unrealistic deadlines.

Rebecca is the author of Hot Pursuit (2018), Misconception (2019), The Girl She Was (2020) and The Favour (2021).