by Jen Silver
What had she been wearing that evening? Most of her work clothes didn’t have pockets. And she only carried a handbag when going out. Her briefcase held everything she needed for work.
She had taken the card out when she got home. Camila recalled looking at the scrawled phone number on the back. But she hadn’t looked long enough to commit the numbers to memory. Where had she put the card if not back in her briefcase?
After looking in all the obvious places—her address book by the phone, the drawer in the kitchen filled with odds and ends, her desk drawers and the one in her bedside table—she found no sign of the elusive card.
Well, she thought, sitting down with a second glass of wine, it obviously wasn’t meant to be. Short of grabbing Gordon McKenzie by the throat and demanding Dani’s personnel file, that was the end of it. A brief fantasy fling. She needed to forget Dani. And she had more than enough things to concentrate on this week—the conference, a trip to Berlin, and producing a definitive financial forecast on the Far East markets Eric and Carl wanted to break into in the near future. She certainly didn’t have time to be worrying about a relationship that would never have worked anyway.
Chapter Nine
On Wednesday afternoon, Dani was lying face down on the living room floor flicking through one of her art books that featured the work of French impressionists. She stopped at one of Manet’s popular paintings depicting a picnic scene with two nude women, one in the foreground sharing a blanket with two clothed men. While these three seemed to be having a conversation, oblivious to the fact the woman had no clothes on, Dani had always wondered what the other woman was doing, a little ways apart from the group, bent over. Maybe she was picking mushrooms.
She was so engrossed in the picture that it took her some minutes to realise her doorbell was being leaned on. Whoever it was, they weren’t going away. She stumbled to her feet and steadied herself before going to answer it.
Penny stood outside with her finger on the bell. “Hi, can I come in?”
“Yeah, sure, why not?” Dani followed her slowly back into her front room.
“I tried to phone yesterday.”
“Oh. I didn’t hear it. I was a bit out of it.”
“Looks like you still are!”
Dani picked at one of the holes in her T-shirt. “So what’s the social visit for?”
“The rumour at the factory is that Gordon’s buying you out—that you two have had a big bust-up.”
“Yeah. The stupid bastard’s only just discovered that he doesn’t like having a ‘fucking pervert’ as a partner. His expression, not mine.”
“According to Maria—”
“Yes, I would really like to know what Maria has to say.”
Penny ignored the sarcasm. “According to Maria, you came in on Monday with a big cut on your face looking and smelling like you had spent the night under Waterloo Bridge.”
“The girl has no imagination.”
“And Gordon told you to get out. That he never wants to see you again.”
“Yeah, well she got that right.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“Me? I’m not going to do anything. Before I doped myself up for the big sleep yesterday, I called my solicitor. He’s going to do something.”
“Like what?”
“Like take Gordon fucking McKenzie to the cleaners.”
“I don’t understand. I thought you and Gordon were mates. I mean, it’s not as though he doesn’t know about you, is it?”
“No. It’s been coming for a while. The party’s over. And Melissa isn’t one of my fans.”
“What has she got to do with it?”
“Everything, I’d say. She’s got him by the balls and she’s never been able to understand why he stuck with me.”
“Why did he?”
“We were a good team. In the early days. We needed each other.”
“Is this really it? There’s no chance he will change his mind?”
“Penny, this isn’t a lover’s tiff. We’re not going to kiss and make up. It’s definitely over.”
“Shit! What are we going to do?”
“You mean, what are you going to do? That’s what’s bugging you, isn’t it? That’s why you’re here.”
Penny looked uncomfortable.
Dani relented. “Do you want a beer?”
“Yeah, okay.” Penny followed her into the kitchen. Dani pulled two cans out of the fridge and handed one to her. “Can I have a glass?”
“Above the sink.”
Penny poured her beer into a pint glass. They drank in silence.
“Have a seat. Don’t mind me, I prefer to stand.”
“Jesus, Dani!” Penny took a big gulp of beer. “I bet it wasn’t that woman in the restaurant.”
“What woman?”
“I followed you…to the Trattoria the other day. She looked pretty classy, not your type at all, I’d say.”
Dani put her can down so that Penny wouldn’t notice her hands shaking. Damn, she had managed to keep Camila out of her thoughts for a few days. Since Monday, anyway. “No.”
Penny changed the subject. “What do I do? About my job, I mean?”
“Just carry on doing it. Probably get bought out by a bigger agency.”
“Is there anything you want from the studio?”
“No. Thanks.”
“Declan and Gary are pretty upset.”
“Yeah, well there’s not much I can do about that.”
“Declan thinks you’re pregnant.”
Dani smiled. “And he probably thinks babies are delivered by storks as well.”
“Dani? Are you really all right?”
“Never been better.”
“I just can’t believe it. I mean, Gordon will come round, won’t he?”
“He can try.”
“You’re really serious, aren’t you? What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. Sell T-shirts maybe.”
“Look, I’ll call again Friday. To make sure you’re okay.” Penny placed her empty glass by the sink.
“Don’t feel you have to.” Dani walked her to the door and watched her walk away, shaking her head. As mystified as when she arrived, no doubt.
Penny’s visit had achieved an objective, though. Dani knew she had to do something soon. Although she had lied to Penny, she had only told her what she planned to do as soon as she could face it—see a solicitor.
Thinking about her abrupt departure from the office reminded her that Amanda had given her a message. She had shoved it in a pocket. Remembering what she had been wearing took some time. Her leather trousers were in a heap on the bedroom floor. She rummaged through the pockets, hoping Lisa hadn’t got there first.
It was there, a crumpled yellow telephone Post-it note. She stared at the words—unbelieving. Camila Callaghan from Redmond had rung. Could she ring back? Urgent was circled. Time: 9:45. Day: Monday.
Dani stood by the phone. Breathing out to calm her nerves, she dialled the Redmond number. The secretary told her Ms Callaghan was in a meeting. Dani said, politely, that she would wait while the secretary went and got Ms Callaghan out of her meeting. No, she didn’t want to call back. After much hesitation, the girl decided to go and do as Dani suggested.
When Camila came on the line, she didn’t waste time with pleasantries. “Where the hell have you been? I heard you’ve left the company. Is that true?”
“Yes and no. Do you know any good solicitors?”
“Perhaps we should meet and discuss this.” Camila sounded extremely businesslike.
“Yes, I think we should.”
“Today. Four o’clock. Where?”
“Uh, here, I guess.” It was already after three and Dani didn’t feel like traipsing across London.
“Where is here?”
Dani gave her the address and ended the call. She looked around the room. Christ! She started picking things up in a half-hearted attempt to tidy it, then gave up and went upstairs to showe
r and change.
†
Camila was on time, immaculately dressed as always. Dani had opted for a clean, loose-fitting shirt and jeans without holes.
“Come in.” She ushered her into the front room. “Tea or coffee? I’m afraid it’s the maid’s day off.”
Camila looked around, taking in the litter of drawings and papers, as if she believed this. “No thanks.” She found a place to sit. Dani stood by the fireplace, leaning on the mantel as Camila opened her briefcase and took out a neatly typed piece of paper. “A list of solicitors. They’re all good, but expensive.”
“Fine. I want the best.” Dani put the paper on the mantel.
“You realise this jeopardises the whole T-shirt deal.”
“You could deal directly with me.”
“With you?” Camila gave her a look that suggested she might have the business sense of a cat.
“Why not? They’re my designs.”
“Not according to McKenzie. You created them while you were employed by MBE.”
“I wasn’t an employee. I was a partner. I still am a partner; he can’t fire me. And it’s going to cost him a lot to get rid of me.”
“What is this all about, Dani? You two have been together a long time.”
“Everything, and nothing. His wife. My lifestyle. Male menopause.”
“Don’t you think you should try to talk to him before going to a solicitor?”
“No. Not after what he said to me on Monday.”
“Look, you don’t have to take my advice, but if you’re going through with it, I think you should contact a solicitor straightaway. Gordon needs to have a better reason for getting rid of you than that his wife doesn’t like you. And I don’t suppose it’s news to him that you’re a lesbian.”
“Uh, no, but—”
“If you’re partners, he doesn’t have the right to throw you off the premises. If you are serious about wanting our business, then you need to be in a position of strength. Which you won’t be if you let him sideline you like this.”
“Sounds like you know a bit about the law yourself.”
“I’ve studied corporate law. And I read the papers. By all means, split from Gordon if that’s what you want, but set up your own agency first. Take some of the staff with you. He’s just the front man. It will hurt him like hell if he has to replace you and other key staff to try and hold on to his client base.”
“Yeah. Right. I’ll think about it. Do you want a drink?”
Camila looked at her watch. “All right. Just one.”
“G and T?”
“Yes, with lots of ice.”
“Yes, ma’am!” Dani grinned at her and went into the kitchen.
†
Camila sat back and took in her surroundings. When Dani gave her the address, she hadn’t realised she was coming to her house. If she had known, she wouldn’t have expected anywhere like this. There was a large framed print on the wall above the fireplace, a café scene. It looked familiar, one of the French impressionists, she thought. Her father had several treasured prints like this one on the walls of their house in Brittany.
There were no family photos anywhere. If Dani had parents or siblings, their images didn’t merit pride of place on the mantelpiece. Her own apartment, she thought, also gave nothing away in that respect. One photo of a holiday with her parents fifteen years ago sat in an ornate frame on the bookshelf in her living room. A cherished photo of herself with Allison lived on her bedside table.
She wandered up the two steps into the seating area with its windows overlooking the narrow strip of lawn stretching down towards the river. As she watched, a scull went past at a fair clip towards Putney.
Dani came up behind her. Camila turned and took the glass from her. “A fine view.”
“Yeah, always different.” They sipped in silence, watching the movement outside. “Look….” Dani hesitated. “I’m sorry about the other night. I didn’t expect it to turn out like that.”
“Neither did I.” Camila gulped down a large portion of her drink. “I was going to call you on Monday evening. But I’d lost the card you gave me.”
Dani was staring at the river and seemed to be having difficulty swallowing. Finally she said, softly, “Did you want to go to bed with me?”
“Yes.”
“And now?”
“Now, I don’t have time. I’m driving down to Brighton for our staff conference. I won’t be back until Friday night.”
“But if you weren’t…going to the conference?”
“Yes. Dani, would you please look at me?”
Dani turned towards her. Camila took her head in her hands and kissed her on the mouth. After a few minutes, she drew back. “I’ll call you on Friday. Write your number down for me.”
Dani scribbled it on the corner of one of her drawing pads and tore off the piece of paper. Camila tucked it carefully into the side pocket in her briefcase and let herself out, leaving Dani still standing by the window, seemingly entranced by the play of sun on the moving water flowing past the end of the garden.
†
Gordon glanced around the studio. It was as Dani had left it on the Friday before the fateful Monday morning. The half-finished storyboard for the satellite TV account lay on her drawing board. As expected, the detail was impeccably depicted. He turned the page over to see what else she was working on. A partly drawn face looked up at him. Something about the eyes looked familiar.
The door opened and he turned, half hoping to see Dani walk in. Unfortunately it was his wife.
“Amanda said you were in here.”
“Yes. I’m going to have to find a replacement creative director, pronto. Just seeing what needs doing.” He placed the incomplete storyboard back on the table.
“Good. About time you ditched that freak.”
“Dani’s very talented.”
“She’s a liability. How you ever thought a partnership with her could work, I’ll never know.”
“Oh, come on, Mel. Without Dani’s creativity, I doubt we would have got this far.” Gordon was already wishing he hadn’t reacted so strongly to Dani’s appearance on Monday morning. It had mainly been an act to placate his secretary. Maybe he should have fired Maria instead. That would solve another problem.
“Anyway, I just came in to make sure you’ve got the theatre tickets for Saturday.”
“Yes. All booked.” He wasn’t looking forward to sitting through The Phantom of the Opera yet again. But it was Melissa’s favourite and she insisted on taking visitors to see it, this time one of her university friends and her husband who were staying with them for the weekend.
Melissa carried on talking and Gordon only caught bits of it—she was taking Theo somewhere that evening and wondered whether or not they should let Tessa quit her ballet lessons. With only half an ear on what his wife was saying, Gordon’s mind kept wandering back to the drawing. He knew that face from somewhere, he was sure of it.
Chapter Ten
Dani arrived at the office just after nine on Thursday morning. Amanda was at her desk. “Any messages?” she asked.
Amanda smiled at her. “Just a few. I saved them for you.”
“So you didn’t believe the rumours.”
“Not for a minute.”
“Thanks.” Dani moved quickly past the reception desk, and took the stairs two at a time. Her studio was in the same state as she had left it. The boys weren’t in. Declan’s jacket was thrown across a chair; he was probably getting a coffee, chatting up one of the girls from Accounts. She looked at the message slips Amanda had given her. All from clients probably looking for progress on their artwork, but there was one unfamiliar name. As she started to dial the number, the phone on Gary’s desk rang, so she pressed the button to connect the line. “Hello.”
“Uh, hello, is Gary there?”
“Sorry, he’s not in yet. Can I help?”
“Yes, I hope so. This is James. We need some slides changed. Gary was working on them. Would
he be able to do them and get them down to us by this evening…in Brighton?”
“No problem. You have to pay extra for rush jobs, though.”
“That’s okay. This is an emergency.”
“All right. Fax them through. He will do it as soon as he comes in. What time do you need them by?” Dani took down the details and rang off. She looked up to find Declan standing in the doorway staring at her.
“Hi, I thought—”
“Hey. I hear you’ve been spreading rumours that I’m pregnant.”
“Well, I—”
“Not true. False alarm. So what have you been doing while I’ve been away? Reached the seventh level yet?”
He shook his head. “It’s good to have you back. Coffee?”
“Yeah, thanks. And tell Gary he’s got some slides to do for Redmond. They need them delivered to Brighton this evening. James is sending a fax.”
“Okay. Great.” He grinned sheepishly and disappeared.
He came back a few minutes later with her coffee and a pile of mail. “You would make someone a wonderful secretary,” she said.
“I put it in a drawer, in case someone else tried to open it.”
“Oh, right. Thanks. Good thinking, Batman.” So Camila had been right. Maybe Gordon wasn’t as popular as he would like to think. She drank her coffee and flicked through the letters, and rang the client whose name she hadn’t recognised. They wanted to discuss a new campaign, so she made an appointment for Monday. She could always take someone else to do the sales pitch.
At nine thirty she went over to Gordon’s office. Maria was typing a letter, slowly. Dani walked past her and went in without knocking. If Maria was going to say something, she thought better of it and turned back to her screen.
Gordon looked up. “So how’s it going, Gordon? Lost any big clients this week? I wouldn’t like to see my share of the business diminishing in any way.”