in search of someone top of the range. This agency came with Svetlana’s personal recommendation (‘ I meet my second husband there ’). If Svetlana was now with a billionaire oil baron, surely Annie could manage a man with nice clothes and a six-figure salary.
‘Isn’t this going to be very expensive?’ Dinah worried.
‘That’s the point!’ Annie exclaimed. ‘I could meet not just the man of my dreams, but the very wealthy man of my dreams.’
Dinah rolled her eyes. ‘Annie, I think you may have watched Disney’s Cinderella once too often during your formative years. This is the twenty-first century, rich men do not gallop in and solve all your emotional and financial problems. They come with problems of their own . . . and pre-nups and anyway . . . For goodness’ sake, Annie! What you’re telling me is you are now looking for a rich man.’ There was no hiding the irritation in her voice. ‘You know, not a nice man, or the right man, or someone you could fall in love with again, but Mr Moneybags.’
‘No, no. Of course I want to fall in love again. I just think I should be looking for the right, really nice Mr Moneybags,’ came Annie’s reply, but when she saw the sceptical look on Dinah’s face she added, ‘Would it really hurt to look? The world’s available men aren’t divided into “Nice” and “Rich”, you know. There’s overlap, there are some great men who aren’t short of a bob or two. Would that be so bad?’
‘But the money issue is just going to colour your judgement, Annie,’ Dinah insisted. ‘You’ll pick a creep because he’s loaded and supposedly going to solve all your problems.’
‘Thanks for the vote of confidence, Dinah,’ Annie snapped. ‘That’s really helpful.’
‘Why do you have to do this anyway?’ Dinah picked up the brochure and looked as if she was about to throw it across the room. ‘You’ll meet someone, when the time is right. Why are you trying to force it like this?’
‘I need someone else. You have no idea. I want someone to be here for me, someone to share some of the pressure. I want to live somewhere nice—’
‘You do live somewhere nice,’ Dinah broke in.
‘But I want to be able to afford to stay!’ There. Annie hadn’t meant to spell it out quite so clearly to her sister, because now Dinah would worry for her, but it had just come out.
‘Oh Annie!’ Anxiety was already crossing Dinah’s face. ‘There are other solutions. There are always other solutions.’
‘I want someone . . .’ Annie’s voice was quieter now and she slumped back into the sofa. She wanted to try and explain it to her sister properly, but it was hard to do and besides, she didn’t like to admit all this need. She liked everyone, even Dinah, to think she was all together and just perfectly fine.
‘I want to find someone soon,’ Annie went on, ‘because I really, really want to get over Roddy and I think someone else would help. I mean, it’s going to be three years soon. But I was with him for so long before, that three years feels like nothing. I think it’s going to take another five before it even begins to feel less . . . raw. And I’m thirty-five, I can’t let all that time pass me by while I just wallow!’
Dinah’s expression softened now, to one of great sympathy.
‘And I’m so pissed off Roddy left us just after he’d landed the soap part!’ Annie exclaimed. ‘Just as things were about to get so good for us. A year into that job and we’d have been minted! Absolutely minted and all these problems wouldn’t exist. I wouldn’t have any of them. Not a single one. I wouldn’t even need to work, I’d probably be swanning off to the hairdresser’s and the tennis club every morning. Can’t you understand how cheated I feel?’
‘I know,’ Dinah soothed, putting a hand on Annie’s shoulder and wondering how many more times she would have to hear her sister make this furious speech, ‘I know. It was very unfair.
‘Isn’t this going to be very expensive?’ Dinah worried.
‘That’s the point!’ Annie exclaimed. ‘I could meet not just the man of my dreams, but the very wealthy man of my dreams.’
Dinah rolled her eyes. ‘Annie, I think you may have watched Disney’s Cinderella once too often during your formative years. This is the twenty-first century, rich men do not gallop in and solve all your emotional and financial problems. They come with problems of their own . . . and pre-nups and anyway . . . For goodness’ sake, Annie! What you’re telling me is you are now looking for a rich man.’ There was no hiding the irritation in her voice. ‘You know, not a nice man, or the right man, or someone you could fall in love with again, but Mr Moneybags.’
‘No, no. Of course I want to fall in love again. I just think I should be looking for the right, really nice Mr Moneybags,’ came Annie’s reply, but when she saw the sceptical look on Dinah’s face she added, ‘Would it really hurt to look? The world’s available men aren’t divided into “Nice” and “Rich”, you know. There’s overlap, there are some great men who aren’t short of a bob or two. Would that be so bad?’
‘But the money issue is just going to colour your judgement, Annie,’ Dinah insisted. ‘You’ll pick a creep because he’s loaded and supposedly going to solve all your problems.’
‘Thanks for the vote of confidence, Dinah,’ Annie snapped. ‘That’s really helpful.’
‘Why do you have to do this anyway?’ Dinah picked up the brochure and looked as if she was about to throw it across the room. ‘You’ll meet someone, when the time is right. Why are you trying to force it like this?’
‘I need someone else. You have no idea. I want someone to be here for me, someone to share some of the pressure. I want to live somewhere nice—’
‘You do live somewhere nice,’ Dinah broke in.
‘But I want to be able to afford to stay!’ There. Annie hadn’t meant to spell it out quite so clearly to her sister, because now Dinah would worry for her, but it had just come out.
‘Oh Annie!’ Anxiety was already crossing Dinah’s face. ‘There are other solutions. There are always other solutions.’
‘I want someone . . .’ Annie’s voice was quieter now and she slumped back into the sofa. She wanted to try and explain it to her sister properly, but it was hard to do and besides, she didn’t like to admit all this need. She liked everyone, even Dinah, to think she was all together and just perfectly fine.
‘I want to find someone soon,’ Annie went on, ‘because I really, really want to get over Roddy and I think someone else would help. I mean, it’s going to be three years soon. But I was with him for so long before, that three years feels like nothing. I think it’s going to take another five before it even begins to feel less . . . raw. And I’m thirty-five, I can’t let all that time pass me by while I just wallow!’
Dinah’s expression softened now, to one of great sympathy.
‘And I’m so pissed off Roddy left us just after he’d landed the soap part!’ Annie exclaimed. ‘Just as things were about to get so good for us. A year into that job and we’d have been minted! Absolutely minted and all these problems wouldn’t exist. I wouldn’t have any of them. Not a single one. I wouldn’t even need to work, I’d probably be swanning off to the hairdresser’s and the tennis club every morning. Can’t you understand how cheated I feel?’
‘I know,’ Dinah soothed, putting a hand on Annie’s shoulder and wondering how many more times she would have to hear her sister make this furious speech, ‘I know. It was very unfair.
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