Secrets and Tea at Rosie Lee's

by Jane Lacey-Crane

  ‘I’m not sure the décor out there really works, do you? I mean, it’s a business launch not a country wedding. What do you think?’

  It was a woman’s voice and it sounded American. ‘Don’t get me wrong, it’s very pretty but I’m just not sure it’s what he was looking for.’ I heard a zip and then the pop of a lipstick tube being opened. After a few seconds the voice carried on.

  ‘I guess it’s not really up to me, it’s his company after all. And I guess it’s too late to do anything about it now. I just wish he’d asked my opinion, that’s all.’

  Her voice faded away as the door closed behind her. Whoever she’d been talking to hadn’t replied much beyond a murmur but the thought that there might be at least one person out there about to give Liz cause to doubt her work was enough. I unlocked the cubicle door and stepped out. I knew there was no way I could leave Liz on her own now, not with someone out there poised to spoil all her good work. I looked at my reflection in the mirror. ‘Get that dress on and get out there, you idiot. Your best friend needs you!’

  After ten minutes of heaving and tucking, I was finally in the dress and the underwear, praying that nothing was going to pop out when it shouldn’t. Thankfully the mirror in the toilet wasn’t full length otherwise I would have had a nervous breakdown. Although the dress wasn’t as short on me, it was still short. I kept trying to tug the hem down a bit but every time I bent over I felt as if my cleavage was about to explode out of the bloody bra. I took a few deep breaths and headed out to the party. I saw Liz waving at me from across the room, so I tottered slowly across towards her, doing my best to walk in the heels and clutching the bag that held my ‘real clothes’ across my body like a security blanket.

  ‘The holdall does nothing for that dress,’ said Liz. She prised it from my grasp and despatched a passing waitress off to the kitchen with it.

  ‘Where is she going with that?’ I squeaked. ‘All my stuff is in there. I need—’

  ‘What you need is a drink, my darling. That dress always looks best when accompanied with a glass of champagne.’ She grabbed two long-stemmed flutes from a nearby table and handed one to me.

  ‘Cheers.’

  ‘Liz, I can’t drink this. I’ve got the van.’

  ‘Bugger that – you can just get a cab later, don’t worry about it.’

  Later? I didn’t want to be there at all, let alone later. I thought about explaining this to her but decided there was no point. Liz was never the first to leave a party and couldn’t understand anyone who was.

  ‘There are quite a few people here now, aren’t there?’ I said, as I discreetly put down the champagne and picked up an orange juice. Liz didn’t notice, she was too busy scanning the room.

  ‘I don’t think everyone’s here yet. Some of the guests are coming from the States. The owner of the company is from Boston,’ she said. I remembered the American woman I’d heard in the toilet.

  ‘A man or a woman?’ I asked.

  ‘What?’

  ‘The new owner. Is it a man or woman?’

  ‘Oh, a man. I’ve met him already. He was here last week. We had a meeting to finalise the plans for all this.’

  ‘He was happy with all the plans, then?’

  ‘Abso-bloody-lutely. He loved it. Mind you, if he’d hated it I would have been more than happy to change things for him.’ Liz gave me a little grin and then a wink.

  ‘Why?’ I asked, already suspecting I knew the answer. Although happily married, Liz was a real flirt and it had been known to get her into trouble.

  ‘Because he was knicker-droppingly gorgeous, that’s why.’

  ‘Oh, Liz, for heaven’s sake.’

  ‘What?’ she replied, all wide-eyed innocence. ‘It’s true, he’s beautiful. And a real sweetheart.’

  I shook my head and took another sip of my orange juice.

  ‘Don’t give me that look. He’ll be here later and you can see for yourself.’

  I figured now was a good time to tell her that I had no intention of hanging around for that long.

  ‘Liz, look, I really can’t stay, I’ve got to get back, I’m—’

  An enormous crash came from the direction of the kitchen.

  ‘Christ Almighty! What now?’ exclaimed Liz. ‘Here, hold this for me. I’ll be back in a sec.’ She thrust her glass into my hand and headed off towards the source of the commotion. I watched the waiting staff dart away as she approached the kitchen and I couldn’t help smiling. That woman was a force to be reckoned with. Not for the first time, I thanked my lucky stars that she was my friend rather than my foe.

  Liz had left me holding her half-empty glass of champagne, as well as my orange juice. I tipped one into the other and then got rid of the empty glass. I stood and sipped my drink, hoping that I didn’t look quite as awkward as I felt. Social occasions like this were my worst nightmare, not that I’d been to many in the last few years or so. I’d been too busy; raising a daughter on my own for the past eighteen years hadn’t left me much time for a social life. Well, that was my excuse anyway; I was very out of practice when it came to party small talk. Thankfully, my inept social skills weren’t given the chance to be put to the test. Within a few minutes, I saw Liz walking back in my direction; she stopped briefly to talk to a man with his back to me. I couldn’t see his face but whatever he leaned in to whisper to Liz made her nod and smile. I drained my glass and popped it down discreetly on the table behind me, next to the other empty glass. Liz came over and caught sight of my little collection of empties.

  ‘Looks like I’ve got some catching up to do?’ She beckoned to a passing waiter and handed him the empties, before taking two full glasses off his tray. He stood for a minute, unsure of his next move. Liz waved him away. ‘Off you go then, don’t dawdle. And do something about that tie whilst you’re out there – you look like you’ve just rolled out of bed. Chop-chop.’ The young man scuttled off to the kitchen.

  ‘You have such a way with people, Liz. Has anyone ever told you that?’

  ‘Don’t be sarcastic, Abby. It doesn’t suit you. Here, bottoms up!’ We clinked glasses and sipped our champagne.

  ‘What was all the commotion in the kitchen about?’

  Liz rolled her eyes. ‘Someone dropped a whole tray of champagne glasses. There goes my deposit with the hire company. Still, never mind, it’ll be worth it if this all goes well. What do you think? Is it going well?’ She scanned the room nervously.

  ‘Everyone seems to be having a great time, don’t worry.’

  Liz nodded and went back to surveying the crowd. ‘Ooh, don’t make it obvious but have a look over by the main door. See that woman? The tall one wearing all the jewellery.’ Liz tilted her chin slightly in the direction of a group of about half a dozen people, all of whom were laughing and chatting animatedly. I sneaked a discreet glance in their direction and it became immediately obvious who she was talking about. Although my view of her was partially blocked by a man with his back to me, I could see enough. The woman was thin, blonde and very glamorous, with that unmistakeably pristine look of entitlement that only very rich people who’d never done a day’s work in their lives possessed. Her telltale red-soled heels and the obvious twinkle of diamonds on her wrist screamed ‘designer chic’.

  ‘Who is she?’

  ‘That’s Lexie Morgan. From what I can gather she’s a good friend of the man in charge.’ Liz leaned closer to me and whispered, ‘Of course, when I say friend I mean fuck buddy obviously.’

  ‘Liz! Don’t say things like that – you don’t know.’

  ‘What I do know is that she’s been at every meeting I’ve had with the guy in charge. She’s in all the pictures I saw online before I met him. It would seem she’s a bit of a minor celeb in America, on the Internet or something. She has a lifestyle blog, one of those things where they tell us poor mortals what our make-up should look like and what we should all be wearing or eating. Lucy would probably know her.’

  ‘Yes, probably. She’s alway
s watching some person or other on the Internet. Personally, I don’t get it.’

  ‘You’re just too old and uncool, Abby.’

  ‘Cheers. And what does the bloke do?’

  ‘He’s one of those tech millionaire types. I think he sold some apps or something. This little do is for a new business he’s launching in London. I want to say software development, but I’m not totally sure.’

  I shook my head at Liz’s ignorance of her own clientele.

  ‘What? Look, I don’t need to know the ins and outs of their business in order to be able to plan a party. This could all be an elaborate cover for some international drugs ring, I suppose.’

  My mouth dropped open in shock and Liz burst out laughing.

  ‘Look at your face! You need to get out more, Abby. It’s fine – David checked everything out before he let me loose.’ David – Liz’s ever reliable accountant husband, the tonic to Liz’s gin.

  ‘Anyway, between her youth and glamour and his hot bod and massive…’

  I raised my eyebrows.

  ‘… fortune – I was going to say fortune – they’re quite the little power couple. Everything the tabloids feed off. And in every picture, there she is, hanging off his arm and no doubt off his every word.’

  ‘Well, good luck to her. I can’t imagine anything worse than having to pander to some rich bloke’s ego in order to feel worthy.’ I took a large mouthful of champagne and Liz raised her glass to me in a toast.

  ‘Well said. Bugger all those rich men who would dare to patronise you with the offer of jewels and cash.’

  ‘You know what I mean, don’t take the piss. I might not have much but what I have got I’ve worked bloody hard for.’

  ‘That you have, my darling. I’m only teasing. I’d still love it if you could find someone who wants to spoil you occasionally though. Even if it is just a night at the cinema and a jumbo popcorn.’

  ‘I don’t need anyone, Liz. I’m okay just as I am.’ She didn’t look convinced.

  The room had filled up a bit now, and I saw an older gentleman making a beeline for Liz; surely this wasn’t the man she’d been telling me about? He was kind of handsome but more Flo’s age group than ours. And I definitely wouldn’t have contemplated dropping my knickers for him, to coin Liz’s phrase.

  ‘Hector! My darling, you came! That is so sweet of you. Abby, this is Hector. He’s the company’s lawyer and an old friend of my family. Hector, this is my friend Abby. She made all the desserts you’re eating tonight. Isn’t she clever?’

  The man held out his hand for me to shake and I saw him take in my cleavage; to be fair the bra was doing a very good job of thrusting my assets up and into the spotlight.

  ‘It’s very nice to meet you, my dear. I was just admiring your… er… tarts. They look delicious.’

  ‘Now, don’t be a pervert, Hector.’ Liz rolled her eyes at me and linked arms with the old man. ‘Come with me. There’s some people I need you to introduce me to. You have to talk me up, tell them how great I am at event management.’ She dragged a bewildered-looking Hector away and left me alone again. It was the perfect time for me to quietly disappear. The party was in full swing and no one had run screaming for the exit when confronted with salmon canapés garnished with parsley and not dill. I drained my glass of champagne and made my way out to the kitchen area. I needed to find my things.

  ‘Excuse me… sorry… have you seen a brown leather holdall out here anywhere?’

  A waitress, a young girl with thick brown plaits, too much eyeliner and a nose ring, huffed at me as she tried to squeeze past.

  ‘Sorry… don’t mean to be a nuisance but I… oops!’ I almost knocked a tray of salmon and parsley canapés – Parsley! So common! – flying in my haste to locate my things. No one was really listening to me; they were all far too busy. Probably terrified of incurring Liz’s wrath, I thought. Bugger this, I’m just going to get a cab, Liz can find my stuff for me later. As long as Lucy had put the spare key back where it belonged – under the window box – I figured I’d be fine. It was a risk but one that I was more than happy to take if it meant I could get out of this party and out of this outfit. I weaved my way past waiters and trolleys laden with food and drink, over to the exit.

  ‘And where do you think you’re going, Mrs?’ Liz’s unmistakeable voice stopped me before I even got a hand on the door knob.

  ‘So close,’ I muttered under my breath before turning and smiling in her direction.

  ‘I’m going home, Liz. You don’t need me here holding your hand. Everything’s going great.’

  ‘Oh, no, you don’t,’ she said, striding purposefully across the kitchen and grabbing my hand. ‘I’m not going to let you scurry back into your mouse hole now I’ve got you out and all dressed up. What a waste of an outfit. Besides, that gorgeous man I told you about is here and he wants to meet you.’

  ‘Really? Why the hell would he want to meet me?’ I was in no mood to make small talk with boring business types. I wanted to go home.

  ‘Because he just does, so let’s go. And stop fiddling with the hem on that dress. You’ve got great legs and a very impressive cleavage – it’s time to use it.’

  Liz walked me across the kitchen and back out to the party. People were milling around in groups, drinking and laughing and enjoying themselves – lucky buggers. Liz pulled me along so fast I was struggling to keep up in the stupid shoes she’d lent me; I was so focussed on not falling arse over tit that I didn’t even notice the man she was introducing me to until I finally re-established my centre of gravity and looked up. For a split second I didn’t recognise him, my brain was just sending those ‘Blimey he’s gorgeous’ messages but then I started to feel something else; a memory was tapping on my libido’s shoulder, begging to be heard. I couldn’t quite believe what I was seeing.

  ‘It’s you, isn’t it? I mean, obviously, you’re you… but… Jack?’ I must have sounded like a burbling idiot but I couldn’t help it; it was really him. After all these years, he was back.

  ‘Hello, Abigail. How are you?’

  His voice had changed a bit; I detected a slight trace of an American accent. I liked it, very sexy.

  Stop that, Abby, he’s just an old friend that’s all.

  Old friend my eye, he’s your first love.

  Get a grip girl, he just wanted to meet the woman behind the tarts, he didn’t know it was you!

  My brain and my ‘missing presumed dead’ libido were having a battle over who was steering the ship. I must have looked like a total idiot. Liz was eyeing me quizzically, waiting for more information, but I couldn’t speak. Jack Chance, my childhood crush, was standing right there in front of me, for the first time in over twenty years.

  ‘Abigail Turner lost for words, I don’t believe it.’ He reached out and took my hand in his.

  Liz gave me a confused look. I hadn’t gone by that surname for so many years that I sometimes forgot I ever did. A sudden flash of memory took me by surprise – Jack and me holding hands as we walked home from school. Although neither of us knew it at the time, it would be the last contact between us for two decades. The touch of his hand and the memories it had triggered were so vivid they knocked me off balance. I think I mumbled something about needing to leave and I tried to make a move towards the door, but my feet wouldn’t work.

  ‘Abigail? Abigail, are you all right?’ Jack’s concerned face moved closer to mine and I tried to remember how to breathe.

  Chapter 3

  ‘Abigail?’

  The sound of Jack’s voice brought me back to the here and now.

  ‘I’m fine, just went a bit dizzy for a minute. Too much champagne. I’m all right.’

  I was acutely aware that he was holding my arms and his touch was doing weird things to my insides. He looked worried. I tried to move out of his grip but he wouldn’t let me go. He probably thought I was about to keel over.

  ‘Are you sure you’re all right?’

  I nodded and he lowered m
e down into a waiting chair. ‘Here, drink this.’

  I took the glass he handed me and sipped. He was kneeling in front of me and I had an almost irresistible urge to reach out and touch his face, just to make sure he was real. I didn’t of course. It was hard to process the fact that he was there, in my present, rather than just a memory. I took another sip of water and then handed the glass back to him as I stood up.

  ‘Whoa, where are you going?’ He tried to push me back down into the chair but I refused to let him.

  ‘I’m all right, really. I feel much better now.’

  ‘You see, Jack,’ said a voice behind him, ‘she says she’s fine. Give the woman some room.’

  What was her name again? Trixie? Dixie? No – Lexie, that was it. She’d made her way through the little crowd that had gathered around us and was standing beside Jack, resting her hand on his shoulder. It’s all right, I get the message, I thought. She might as well have branded him on the forehead with a big ‘He’s Mine!’ sign. God, was I ever that young and desperate for a man’s attention? I hoped not but I couldn’t be sure. That thought made me shudder.

  ‘Are you cold? You’re shivering, Abigail. Here, take this.’ Jack shrugged off his jacket and draped it around my shoulders.

  ‘I’ll look after her, Mr Chance, it’s fine,’ interrupted Liz, putting herself between me and Jack. ‘Let’s get you sat down somewhere quiet, now, shall we?’ I let her guide me back towards the kitchen and as I passed I handed him back his jacket.

  ‘I don’t need this but thank you. Please go back to your party.’

  Jack opened his mouth to speak but Lexie cut between us.

  ‘Yes, Jack, you must come back to the party. There are some people that you really should meet.’

  I turned away before he could speak and followed Liz across the room.

  ‘What’s that gloomy look for?’ she asked as we sat down in the kitchen.

  ‘Nothing.’ I felt exhausted, drained of all my energy, and I knew why. I’d thought about Jack Chance plenty of times in the last twenty years, imagined meeting him again, but never in any of those daydreams had he reappeared in my life with a human Barbie doll fixed to his side, guiding his every move.