by Julie Archer
“Oh, I’m fine, thank you. But it’s you I’m more concerned about. I thought you were staying in Westbourne Deane for longer?”
The chicken Clem had just forked into her mouth turned to tasteless mush. She had done a great job of forgetting about Nate for the past few hours. Trust her mother to bring it all flooding back. It wasn’t going to be easy telling Marika that she was right.
“I, um, was going to. There was this thing with Nate and I thought it best I come home.” She didn’t miss the look that her mother and brother exchanged.
“What happened?” asked Lauren. She reached for some more salad, without making eye contact.
Clem guessed that her sister-in-law had no idea that her husband and mother-in-law were so totally against her new relationship, and she was, genuinely, interested in what the issue was. She and Lauren hadn’t exactly been close, so this made a pleasant change. Knowing that she wasn’t going to be able to keep it from them much longer, she took a deep breath and started telling the story.
When she’d finished, she grasped her glass, wishing there was something stronger than sparkling water in it.
“Well, she sounds like a complete witch,” said Lauren.
Neither Marika nor Dean said a word straight away. Clem found herself filling the silence by agreeing with Lauren and bemoaning Nate’s actions.
“This sounds like it couldn’t have happened at a better time.” Marika’s statement astounded Clem. She couldn’t believe her ears. She was happy that Nate had cheated on her?
“What the hell do you mean?”
Her mother turned to face her. “Your actions of late haven’t exactly been what I would have expected of you.”
“Jesus, Mother, I’m over the age of consent you know.” Clem was suddenly transported back to the age of fifteen, when she been hauled back from boarding school over her apparent reprobate behaviour that involved smoking and stealing a bottle of wine from the Principal’s office. The theft wasn’t her doing, despite her protestations and Anastasia ultimately owning up to it.
“I think it’s about time we talked about the future,” Marika went on. “I not sure you’re pulling your weight in the business. These past few weeks seem to have shown you’re more interested in partying and hanging out with rock stars.” She spat out the last couple of words, emphasising her distaste as she wrinkled her nose.
Dean shifted uncomfortably in his seat opposite Clem, doing everything he could to avoid making eye contact.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Clem stared directly at her brother. “I’ve just done the photoshoot for the lingerie range. Sales of that are through the roof and most of the other products are on the verge of selling out.”
“Mmm, yes, I know all of that.” Marika paused. “How much of that is down to real graft versus your little dalliance with that music person?”
Ah, suddenly everything made sense. It wasn’t to do with her at all, it was to do with Nate. Clem bit back the words she wanted to say and gulped down some wine before saying anything, stalling for time. Her tone was measured when she finally did speak. “I don’t know, Mother. I didn’t realise that fucking a rock star guaranteed retail sales.”
“Clem!” Lauren covered her son’s ears. “Not when Barney’s in the room.”
“Then I suggest he goes and plays somewhere else, because I’ve got a lot more where that came from.” She placed her glass carefully on the table, resisting the urge to smash it.
Lauren threw her a filthy look and took Barney away, leaving the three Camerons around the table.
“What exactly are you saying?” Clem wasn’t sure she understood. Not pulling her weight? She’d done a lot for the business recently, with Pretty Rich Things taking an interest and she wasn’t wrong when she said things were selling out. The t-shirt Finola had worn to her launch party was on its third stock run.
“You and Nate breaking up now is probably good timing.” Dean appeared to choose his words carefully.
“He’s not really right for you, is he? I mean, he’s not like Liam,” added Marika.
“Thank God,” muttered Clem. Marika had always been oblivious to Liam’s flaws. Had her mother been several years younger, she would probably have made a play for him herself.
“He doesn’t move in the same circles though, does he? You can do better than him.” Marika picked up her glass again. “Why don’t you stay here for a few days, and we can decide what you’re going to do?”
It was a statement rather than a question.
They seemed to have it all worked out for her and Clem didn’t know if she could summon the strength to argue.
Chapter Twenty-Five
It was like something out of a bad soap opera, thought Parker as he went to meet Lexi a couple of days after Poppy had found out about the situation. He hadn’t mentioned that he was seeing Lexi; he didn’t need the added stress.
They were meeting at the same hotel in Sloane Square that had been the location for their alleged affair. Lexi had finally managed to get Tommy to agree to see her. Parker had met him a couple of times, shortly before he and Lexi split up, and privately, he thought Tommy was an uneducated prick. Not that he’d ever tell Lexi that.
Lexi was dressed demurely in a cream high neck sweater and plain black trousers. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a French braid and she wore light make-up. The overall effect was very sweet and butter wouldn’t melt. One that couldn’t possibly have gotten involved in something so smutty.
“Did you book a room this time?” asked Parker. They had a corner table in the bar, away from anyone else who might possibly overhear their conversation.
Lexi shook her head. “I thought that might be a bit much for the Daily Mail. Me and two men.” She gave a wry smile. “Although that would fit nicely with the pictures Tommy has.”
At least she was able to make a joke about it, thought Parker. Despite the fact that Tommy was the reason they had split up, he still felt sorry for her. For anyone to try and exert some kind of power over someone in the way Tommy was trying to, was despicable. If he wasn’t such a pacifist, Parker would probably take the guy outside and give him a beating. It might be the only language that Neanderthal meathead would understand.
“Well, well, brought reinforcements, did you, babe?” Tommy’s voice filled the room before he arrived at their table. He slid his sunglasses on the top of his head, pushed back a chair and sat down, his legs spread. The woman tending to the bar immediately appeared beside them.
“Can I get you a drink, sir?” She simpered her words brazenly.
His gaze raked the length of her body and Parker felt Lexi tense beside him.
“Just a beer for now.” Tommy leered. “Although I may be ordering champagne in a while.”
“I don’t think you will,” said Lexi, her voice wavering.
They made small talk until Tommy’s beer arrived. Parker had made Lexi promise to let him lead the discussions. He knew that she would wade straight in and demand that Tommy delete the pictures, however he had the impression the actor wouldn’t be that accommodating.
“So, what did you want to talk about?” Tommy leaned back in his seat. “Although I think I’ve got a pretty good idea.”
“Lexi told me what you did and I don’t think she did anything to deserve it.” Parker eyeballed Tommy, whose face was lit with amusement.
“She enjoyed every minute of it,” retaliated Tommy. “You wouldn’t have suggested it otherwise,” he directed towards her.
“I didn’t make any suggestion of the sort!” Lexi’s tone was shrill. “I was too drunk.” She hung her head, and Parker reached for her hand, which she clung to tightly, almost cutting off his circulation.
Parker switched into businessman mode. “Regardless of whoever suggested it, trying to extort money from her and threatening to damage her reputation is illegal.”
“Right, so go to the police. I’ll be happy to get this viral.” Tommy waved his phone at them, a smirk crossing his face.
“And you’d be happy to spend a couple of years in prison?” He’d done his research into revenge porn—and just hoped that Poppy wouldn’t see his internet history—to find out if Tommy would be charged or could be imprisoned if he did carry out his threats. “That would do your career a great deal of good.”
Lexi’s eyes went wide, and Tommy’s expression reflected hers. Clearly neither of them had researched it as thoroughly as he had.
“It was only a few pictures. A bit of fun,” stuttered Tommy. “Prison? Really?”
Parker nodded, not saying another word as he let the enormity of the potential fallout of the situation sink in. Inwardly, he was holding his breath. He hoped the threat of a criminal record and a spell in jail would be enough to give Tommy second thoughts.
There was a spell of awkward silence, as Tommy appeared to think about his options. Lexi gripped Parker’s hand tighter.
“A spell out of the limelight right now wouldn’t be a good thing for me,” said Tommy, after a while. “My agent thinks there’s a full-time part on a major British soap coming up soon and I’d be in with a shot at it. It wouldn’t be good to jeopardise that opportunity.” He sucked in a breath. “So maybe I won’t let anyone else see these.”
Lexi almost collapsed into a heap next to Parker. Silent sobs came from her, before she pulled herself together and addressed Tommy. “Give me the phone.” She held out her hand.
Tommy unlocked it and slid the device across the table. Parker watched over Lexi’s shoulder as she found the offending images and videos and deleted them, before removing them from the phone altogether.
“If you’ve got any copies or there are things stored in the cloud, I want you to destroy them. If any of this stuff ever sees the light of day, I’m going straight to the police and you’re going straight to prison.” Lexi threw the phone back at him. “And I never want to see you ever again.”
“Likewise. I don’t know what I saw in you anyway.” Tommy drained his beer, pushed back his chair and left the bar.
Lexi threw her arms around Parker. “Oh my God, we did it! Or rather you did it. I can’t thank you enough. That was amazing.” She began by kissing his cheek, but then somehow manoeuvred so she was kissing his lips.
Parker drew back as if he’d been electrocuted. “Hey, stop that. I’m here to help you with Tommy, nothing more.”
Lexi bit her lip. “Sorry, I guess I got carried away.” She sat back on her chair. “I meant what I said though. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Don’t make a habit of it though. I really don’t want to look at you in that position ever again.”
She giggled. “Promise.” Her phone buzzed with a message. “Gotta go. Meeting friends for some fizz. I think I deserve it, even if I’m not going to tell them the real reason.” She pulled on her coat, stood up, and blew Parker one last kiss before leaving the hotel.
Parker sank back into his chair, shaking his head at the situation. He waved at the barman and asked him to bring him a whisky. He felt he needed a treat too.
The door to the bar opened and Parker glanced up.
Poppy was the last person he expected to walk through the door. He watched her scan the room, before her eyes fell on him, her mouth curving into a big smile. She wore a tight black dress, that stopped mid-thigh, and clung to her body; knee-length boots and a bright red coat that clashed beautifully with her hair.
“What are you doing here?” he asked as she walked towards him. “I didn’t know you were in town today.”
“I met Chrissy and Lara for lunch and was going to go straight home, then thought I’d surprise you at work. Your PA said you were here.” Poppy sat down, and as she did so her skirt rose even higher.
“Yeah, I was, um, meeting a band we might be interested in signing.” He flinched a little at the lie. There was no real reason for Poppy to know what had gone on with Lexi.
“Do you have to go back to the office?” Poppy crossed her legs, and Parker’s eyes were drawn to them.
“What are you suggesting?”
“Did I ever tell you what happened the morning after the Roccia awards? Before I came to meet you for coffee?”
“No.” Parker racked his brains. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
She leaned over and whispered in his ear.
His gaze fell to the hem of her dress, and she recrossed her legs. “Are you teasing me?”
Her smile was coy as she pointed to the ceiling. “We could always get a room and you could find out…”
Chapter Twenty-Six
After discovering that Clem fled to her mother’s and wouldn’t be coming back, Nate felt there was little point in staying in Westbourne Deane. Anastasia had tried to worm her way into his affections, telling him what she thought he wanted to hear, mostly negative things about Clem. He headed back to North Ridge and holed up in his flat, with a guitar and some strong weed for company.
He still couldn’t quite understand what had happened. Yes, he remembered Anastasia trying to kiss him. He definitely remembered pushing her away. Then why were there pictures of the two of them kissing?
Each time he had tried to contact Clem, he hit a brick wall. She wasn’t accepting his calls and was probably deleting his messages without even listening to them.
He needed a distraction.
There was an unfinished song from their recording session that still needed a guitar solo. At the time, Nate had been too happy, too loved up, to find the anger and passion that the song desired. Now, however, he was in a totally different frame of mind and it was easier to channel those emotions. Riffs flooded out of him and he noted every one of them, saving some for the future. He had to harness the creativity while it was there.
It was late that evening when he tried to call Clem. Her phone went straight to voicemail and he ended up leaving her a rambling, incoherent message that she’d probably never listen to. After he hung up, he dialled Alik.
“Christ, Nate, do you know what time it is?” His best friend yawned down the line at him.
“Are you busy?”
“Caro just got in from work. We are about to go to bed.”
Nate winced. That was the last thing he needed to hear. “I found a solo for that song. Do you want to hear it?”
“Now?”
“Yeah, you wanna come over?”
“You’ve been smoking, haven’t you?”
He heard Alik say something to Caro, though he couldn’t make out the exact words.
“Sure, I’ll be over in a few.”
While he waited for Alik to come over, he rolled another joint and lit up. He blew smoke up at the ceiling as he held his phone in front of his face, willing Clem to call him back. He needed to explain that he would never do anything to hurt her. When Alik knocked, he was sitting in the same position.
“Thanks for coming over, mate.” Nate pulled open the door to let him in.
“When did you get back? I thought you were staying down in Westbourne Deane for a while?” Alik followed him into the living room and sat down on the sofa. Nate joined him.
“I was.” Nate stared at his shoes. He knew Alik’s feelings towards Clem and was suddenly overcome by a wave of nervousness. “Got back late this afternoon. I, um, Clem and I.” He stopped, not knowing what to say.
“You’re over?” There was a sympathetic tone to Alik’s voice that Nate hadn’t expected. Balloons and party poppers, yes, not sympathy.
“I think so.”
“What happened?”
“God, it sounds so stupid when I say it out loud.” Nate brought up his head, so he could see Alik’s expression.
“Tell me. I promise not to judge.”
As Nate explained the whole fiasco with Anastasia, Alik listened, staying silent as he’d promised. He let Nate finish before passing comment.
“She’s clearly got an issue with this Anastasia person and overreacted. I’ve known you a long time, Nate, and I know yo
u wouldn’t do anything like that.” He paused. “Despite what you may have got up to on the last tour. I know I’ve not spent enough time with Clem to know what she’s really like, I admit that, but she obviously means a lot to you. I don’t think I’ve seen you like this in a long, long time.”
Hearing those words, Nate sat up straighter. It was good to know that Alik was seemingly changing his mind about Clem. He hadn’t brought his best friend here to make him do that. “She means everything to me.” As he spoke the words, he realised that was the truth.
“Then you can’t leave it like this. Where is she now?”
“I don’t know. She could be at her flat, with her brother, anywhere. No-one will tell me.”
“You need to find her, tell her how you feel. And don’t take no for an answer.”
Easier said than done, thought Nate. He couldn’t give up now though.
The following afternoon, Nate was on his way to Clem’s mother’s place. He had contacted Leona and badgered her for that information, persuading her that he needed to put it right and wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Despite her protestations, she had finally caved.
The sat nav took him to a sprawling country pile, something akin to the properties featured in Homes & Gardens. It reminded him just how different he and Clem actually were. His heart banged in his chest. Was he making a mistake?
Nate reached for the massive bunch of flowers he’d picked up from an exclusive florist in North Ridge that Caro recommended to him, plus a small jewellery bag that contained a pair of earrings from a boutique in North Ridge that he knew Clem had been coveting for a while. He also had a bottle of champagne for good measure.
He hoped he would actually get to speak to her.
When Dean answered the door, a look of shock crossing his features, Nate knew that he instantly recognised who he was.
“Dean, good to see you again,” he said, keeping his tone even.
“Nate, hi. This is… unexpected.”
“Is Clem here?”
A cloud came over Dean’s face. “No, she’s gone back to London. She was only here a couple of days before going home.”