for every devious hack in town. They’ll be going through her bins , chatting up her cleaner , tapping her phone for all I know. Anything to get the inside track.’
She stuck her tongue out at me then rolled her eyes and reached for the electronic cigarette she’d adopted since she’d given up smoking ahead of the workplace ban. She dragged on the tube and made a face. ‘New flavour,’ she muttered, hand over the phone mouthpiece. ‘ Supposed to be Camels. More like camel dung .’ A quick, artificial smile flashed across her face. ‘Well, of course , Georgie. I’m aware that the press have been staking out Scarlett’s house. But now the Sun ’s broken the story, they’ll move on. In a day or two, it’ll be business as usual. And of course , I’ll make sure the car has blacked-out windows so any of the parasites who are still hanging around won’t know it’s Stephie.’ There was more of the same. I tuned it out, confident of the outcome.
I was right. Two days later, a Mercedes with tinted windows whisked us past a couple of paparazzi. They’d been so bored for so long they barely got their cameras to their faces by the time we passed through the electric gates and up the herring bone brick drive to the hacienda. One of the triple garages was standing open, ready for us to drive in. ‘It was less hassle when I was doing a Spice Girl,’ I said.
‘You’ll be fine,’ Maggie said briskly as the rolling shutter descended behind us.
‘It’s not me I’m worried about.’ It was always like this before the start of a new job. My stomach chewing itself into knots, convinced that this time I would be exposed for the fraud I was.
Pete had hardly been reassuring the night before. ‘Why are you getting so worked up?’ he’d said. ‘She’s just some scummy bimbo. I’ve had dogs with more about them than her. If somebody like that is capable of putting you on the back foot, maybe you should think about jacking it in.’
‘Jacking it in? What would I do then?’
His eyebrows flickered. I loved his eyebrows; so straight and fine, not thick and coarse like most men’s. I always thought they were surprisingly expressive. Beneath them, his brown eyes looked like they were weighing me up. I felt uncomfortable, as if I were being scrutinised and found wanting. ‘You could be here when I get home,’ he said. It was hard to tell from his voice whether he was serious.
‘You want this to be your home?’ We hadn’t actually talked about living together before. Not in so many words.
‘I’d like you to be waiting for me when I get back from work,’ he said carefully, his face giving nothing away.
‘When you’re in the middle of something, I never see you,’ I said. ‘You work such weird hours, I never know when to call you. If I was supposed to be here when you get back from work, I’d never be able to leave the house, never mind do my job.’ I tried to keep my voice light and teasing but the anxiety was running through me like a wire.
Pete shrugged. ‘At least then I’d never be wondering where you’ve got to.’ And then he turned and kissed me, which led straight to the sort of distraction that completely removed the conversation from the front of my mind. But now it was back again, feeding the niggle of apprehension about my encounter with Scarlett. Looking back, I realise how undermining Pete could be. Always was, really. But back then, I couldn’t see it. Just felt the effects. So when Maggie and I got out of the car, my confidence wasn’t at its peak.
We entered the hacienda through the kitchen. I expected brushed steel and granite, in keeping with the age and style of the house, but the first incongruity of the day was the cream and pine of a Cotswold cottage kitchen, complete with the enamelled range cooker. Behind closed doors, there would be a fridge, freezer and microwave. But you’d never guess which ones. Everything was spotless, immaculately arranged like the display in a
She stuck her tongue out at me then rolled her eyes and reached for the electronic cigarette she’d adopted since she’d given up smoking ahead of the workplace ban. She dragged on the tube and made a face. ‘New flavour,’ she muttered, hand over the phone mouthpiece. ‘ Supposed to be Camels. More like camel dung .’ A quick, artificial smile flashed across her face. ‘Well, of course , Georgie. I’m aware that the press have been staking out Scarlett’s house. But now the Sun ’s broken the story, they’ll move on. In a day or two, it’ll be business as usual. And of course , I’ll make sure the car has blacked-out windows so any of the parasites who are still hanging around won’t know it’s Stephie.’ There was more of the same. I tuned it out, confident of the outcome.
I was right. Two days later, a Mercedes with tinted windows whisked us past a couple of paparazzi. They’d been so bored for so long they barely got their cameras to their faces by the time we passed through the electric gates and up the herring bone brick drive to the hacienda. One of the triple garages was standing open, ready for us to drive in. ‘It was less hassle when I was doing a Spice Girl,’ I said.
‘You’ll be fine,’ Maggie said briskly as the rolling shutter descended behind us.
‘It’s not me I’m worried about.’ It was always like this before the start of a new job. My stomach chewing itself into knots, convinced that this time I would be exposed for the fraud I was.
Pete had hardly been reassuring the night before. ‘Why are you getting so worked up?’ he’d said. ‘She’s just some scummy bimbo. I’ve had dogs with more about them than her. If somebody like that is capable of putting you on the back foot, maybe you should think about jacking it in.’
‘Jacking it in? What would I do then?’
His eyebrows flickered. I loved his eyebrows; so straight and fine, not thick and coarse like most men’s. I always thought they were surprisingly expressive. Beneath them, his brown eyes looked like they were weighing me up. I felt uncomfortable, as if I were being scrutinised and found wanting. ‘You could be here when I get home,’ he said. It was hard to tell from his voice whether he was serious.
‘You want this to be your home?’ We hadn’t actually talked about living together before. Not in so many words.
‘I’d like you to be waiting for me when I get back from work,’ he said carefully, his face giving nothing away.
‘When you’re in the middle of something, I never see you,’ I said. ‘You work such weird hours, I never know when to call you. If I was supposed to be here when you get back from work, I’d never be able to leave the house, never mind do my job.’ I tried to keep my voice light and teasing but the anxiety was running through me like a wire.
Pete shrugged. ‘At least then I’d never be wondering where you’ve got to.’ And then he turned and kissed me, which led straight to the sort of distraction that completely removed the conversation from the front of my mind. But now it was back again, feeding the niggle of apprehension about my encounter with Scarlett. Looking back, I realise how undermining Pete could be. Always was, really. But back then, I couldn’t see it. Just felt the effects. So when Maggie and I got out of the car, my confidence wasn’t at its peak.
We entered the hacienda through the kitchen. I expected brushed steel and granite, in keeping with the age and style of the house, but the first incongruity of the day was the cream and pine of a Cotswold cottage kitchen, complete with the enamelled range cooker. Behind closed doors, there would be a fridge, freezer and microwave. But you’d never guess which ones. Everything was spotless, immaculately arranged like the display in a
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