library.’
Libby was greatly relieved. It certainly wouldn’t do for the two of them to accidentally meet. She wouldn’t want either of them finding out about the little fairy tale she had been spinning. She softened her tone and decided to take the tale up a gear.
‘I didn’t really want to tell you this,’ she said gently, ‘but I think Dan’s taking her to meet his mother at the weekend.’ There was a groan at the other end of the line.
‘So it really is serious, then?’
‘Looks like it.’
‘Do you think he fancied her before I left?’ she eventually said, as if hardly daring to ask it. ‘He made out he didn’t, but I’m beginning to think he might have been lying.’
Libby enjoyed the enormous sense of power she felt at that moment. It was tempting to tell her what she did not want to hear, but she could afford to be generous under the circumstances.
‘No,’ Libby said firmly. ‘I’m pretty sure that he didn’t. But you know what Aisling is like, how pushy she is. I think he only caved in after considerable pressure.’
‘Well, that’s something, I suppose.’ Joanna said with a very relieved sigh indeed. ‘And thanks for everything, Libby. You’re a real friend.’
And Libby, who didn’t often hear those words, managed to hold back a satisfied smirk until she replaced the receiver.
Chapter Five
‘What on earth are you doing here?’ I grunted as I opened the front door to my mother. I’d had a terrible night, hardly slept at all, and I really could have done without her showing up at the flat at eleven-fifteen and finding me still in my nightwear.
‘What a lovely welcome from my only daughter,’ she said as she almost brushed my cheek with her brightly painted lips on her way past me to the kitchen. She was hauling a large leather shoulder bag onto the narrow work counter when I followed her in.
‘Lemon and ginger OK for you?’ she asked as she started filling the kettle. She was referring to the one of the variously flavoured teas that she carried around with her everywhere, and when she’d plugged in the kettle she took a small box of the stuff out of her bag.
‘I’d rather have coffee,’ I said, already resigned to the fact that any plans I might have had for the day were about to change. Not that I had any actual plans, but that wasn’t the point. It was her taking the matter for granted which bugged me. Then something occurred to me.
‘How come you knew that I wouldn’t be working?’
She got two mugs out of the cupboard, checked to see that they were up to her standard of cleanliness, crinkled her nose uncertainly, shrugged, and then turned round to face me.
‘I had a call from Barbara last night. Nicola told her what had happened at Pisus.’
‘How the hell does she know?’ I said, rattled.
‘There’s no need to be like that,’ my mother said calmly as she popped a teabag into one of the mugs. ‘She seemed most concerned about you. And it’s her business to know about that sort of thing. She used to supply some of the staff, don’t forget.’ She opened another cupboard and took out a jar of coffee.
I stared at her back as she busied herself in my kitchen and wondered if she really believed that Nicola was concerned about me or whether it was all part of the elaborate game she’d been playing with Barbara Dick for years. It was obvious to me that she disliked the woman as much as I disliked Nic, so why did she always try to make out that they were such lovely, caring people?
She turned back to me, gave my pyjama bottoms and crumpled T-shirt a critical once-over, and rolled her eyes when they came to rest on the orange rat’s maze on top of my head.
‘I have no idea where that hair of yours came from,’ she said unhappily. ‘I can’t even blame it on your father.’
I let it pass. She was always going on about my hair, suggesting that I had it cut, straightened, dyed... I was used to it. I was more interested in finding out
Libby was greatly relieved. It certainly wouldn’t do for the two of them to accidentally meet. She wouldn’t want either of them finding out about the little fairy tale she had been spinning. She softened her tone and decided to take the tale up a gear.
‘I didn’t really want to tell you this,’ she said gently, ‘but I think Dan’s taking her to meet his mother at the weekend.’ There was a groan at the other end of the line.
‘So it really is serious, then?’
‘Looks like it.’
‘Do you think he fancied her before I left?’ she eventually said, as if hardly daring to ask it. ‘He made out he didn’t, but I’m beginning to think he might have been lying.’
Libby enjoyed the enormous sense of power she felt at that moment. It was tempting to tell her what she did not want to hear, but she could afford to be generous under the circumstances.
‘No,’ Libby said firmly. ‘I’m pretty sure that he didn’t. But you know what Aisling is like, how pushy she is. I think he only caved in after considerable pressure.’
‘Well, that’s something, I suppose.’ Joanna said with a very relieved sigh indeed. ‘And thanks for everything, Libby. You’re a real friend.’
And Libby, who didn’t often hear those words, managed to hold back a satisfied smirk until she replaced the receiver.
Chapter Five
‘What on earth are you doing here?’ I grunted as I opened the front door to my mother. I’d had a terrible night, hardly slept at all, and I really could have done without her showing up at the flat at eleven-fifteen and finding me still in my nightwear.
‘What a lovely welcome from my only daughter,’ she said as she almost brushed my cheek with her brightly painted lips on her way past me to the kitchen. She was hauling a large leather shoulder bag onto the narrow work counter when I followed her in.
‘Lemon and ginger OK for you?’ she asked as she started filling the kettle. She was referring to the one of the variously flavoured teas that she carried around with her everywhere, and when she’d plugged in the kettle she took a small box of the stuff out of her bag.
‘I’d rather have coffee,’ I said, already resigned to the fact that any plans I might have had for the day were about to change. Not that I had any actual plans, but that wasn’t the point. It was her taking the matter for granted which bugged me. Then something occurred to me.
‘How come you knew that I wouldn’t be working?’
She got two mugs out of the cupboard, checked to see that they were up to her standard of cleanliness, crinkled her nose uncertainly, shrugged, and then turned round to face me.
‘I had a call from Barbara last night. Nicola told her what had happened at Pisus.’
‘How the hell does she know?’ I said, rattled.
‘There’s no need to be like that,’ my mother said calmly as she popped a teabag into one of the mugs. ‘She seemed most concerned about you. And it’s her business to know about that sort of thing. She used to supply some of the staff, don’t forget.’ She opened another cupboard and took out a jar of coffee.
I stared at her back as she busied herself in my kitchen and wondered if she really believed that Nicola was concerned about me or whether it was all part of the elaborate game she’d been playing with Barbara Dick for years. It was obvious to me that she disliked the woman as much as I disliked Nic, so why did she always try to make out that they were such lovely, caring people?
She turned back to me, gave my pyjama bottoms and crumpled T-shirt a critical once-over, and rolled her eyes when they came to rest on the orange rat’s maze on top of my head.
‘I have no idea where that hair of yours came from,’ she said unhappily. ‘I can’t even blame it on your father.’
I let it pass. She was always going on about my hair, suggesting that I had it cut, straightened, dyed... I was used to it. I was more interested in finding out
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