CHAPTER TWENTY
Dave looked very nice when I met him – very laid back, and was, if I were to be perfectly honest, quite sexy. I took my seat opposite him in the Thai restaurant called Koh on the Millennium walkway just yards from the River Liffey. It was a vibrant, eclectic part of the city
centre. I’ve always wanted to try the restaurant as I adore Thai food so when Dave asked me where we should go for a bite to eat, I suggested this place.
“You look lovely,” he said, leaning forward to give me a kiss.
He smelled of strong, masculine aftershave. Mmm. Very nice. Considering we weren’t even on a date he looked like he had made a bit of an effort. He wore a royal-blue Ralph Lauren shirt that matched his eyes, jeans and a well-cut expensive-looking blazer. He looked like the type of man any woman would be proud to be seen with.
“Thank you,” I said, picking up the menu and glancing through it.
A waiter offered to show us the wine list. Dave looked at me. “You’re not driving, are you?”
“God no, I’m not,” I said airily as though I had left the car at home especially for the occasion. I didn’t tell him that I got the train to and from work every day without fail. I couldn’t possibly afford either a car or the petrol to fill it up, never mind the parking charges on my
miserable wages.
“Would you prefer red or white?”
“White would be great, thanks.”
“Chardonnay, Chablis, Pinot Grigio?”
“Pinot Grigio, please.”
I relaxed into my chair. I was looking forward to my lunch. It was a treat, even though it was business-related and possibly the only reason that Dave was tolerating me was because I could be very useful to him. I had the editor’s ear. Or at least, I’d had it. I wasn’t too sure where I stood now with Creea.
Getting straight to the point, before we had even ordered, Dave brought up the subject of the Kildare fashion shoot again. I could feel myself groan inwardly. I had really been hoping that the business talk could wait until at least dessert.
“I still haven’t heard back from Creea, even though I sent her a couple of emails and left messages with her receptionist. I’m getting a little worried now. Do you know if she’s terribly busy at the moment?”
He looked so anxious for good news that I felt a bit guilty now. I cast my eyes down towards the menu in my hand and bit my lip. Of course my boss was ignoring him and it was partly my fault. If I hadn’t told her about the late-night antics at the hotel, Creea might still be in the dark. I wondered whether now would be a good time to come clean. Maybe not. Every fibre of my body seemed to be telling me that I should wait until we’d had at least a glass of wine each. It would be easier then. For me.
I decided to tell a lie instead. “I think she is busy. She’s been wrapped up all morning.” Okay, so it wasn’t a complete lie. Creea had gone off to a well-known luxurious spa on a freebie earlier on and had been in such good form she’d told me to take the rest of the day off. No doubt she was wrapped up now. In seaweed or something.
“No worries,” said Dave good-naturedly. “There’s no urgency or anything. I was just wondering if she liked the shots. She didn’t say anything, did she?”
Feck it anyway! My back was really being put to the wall here. I wished he’d just give it a rest and let us get on with lunch. Just as I was about to make up some other plausible answer, a waiter came to our table with the bottle of wine and presented the label to me.
“It looks fine,” I beamed enthusiastically.
He was wondering if “madame” wanted to try some first. No, goddammit, just get on with it, I silently urged. I needed alcohol in me now!
But of course I didn’t express such emotions. “Go ahead and pour, please. I’m sure it’s just fine.”
I took an eagerly anticipated sip. Ooh, that was lovely! So fruity and chilled. “Good choice,” I said, nodding my approval. He smiled at the compliment. He had lovely eyes, I thought. They were kind and thoughtful. You could tell a lot about people by their eyes. They were the windows to the soul.
He picked up his glass and I did the same. “Cheers,” he said, smiling. “Let’s raise a toast to many more fashion shoots in the future.”
Oh God, I really wished he hadn’t said that. Now I felt I was being completely used. I could have looked like the back of the bus and he’d still be toasting the future of our work together. Oh, well – he probably had a girlfriend anyway. All good-looking men of a certain age had girlfriends, or at least a girlfriend. And Dave even had all his own hair which was an absolute bonus. I nodded but I didn’t vocally agree. I mean I’m all for toasting health and happiness, but toasting work? Forget it!
A delightful young waiter came around with the bread basket. Oh no – carbs, I thought dejectedly but as usual I tucked in regardless. To hell with the diet – it wasn’t working anyway! The restaurant was filling up which was good. The atmosphere was building.
“So . . . like I said . . . I have an idea for a shoot,” Dave said dreamily, toying with the stem of his glass. “I think it’s something that you would be very interested in. Would you like to hear it now or later?”
Or never! I yelled internally. Now I knew Dave was very passionate about his work and took it very seriously but this was just taking the biscuit. Why hadn’t he just sent me an email with his wonderful idea? Why this charade? I felt like flinging my napkin at him and storming off. But that would be way too dramatic. I couldn’t be acting like a drama queen in his company. Hell, we weren’t even on a date!
I took a deep breath and leaned forward, trying to look enthusiastic. “Tell me now,” I said. Best to get it over and done with, I reckoned. Then I’d be free to enjoy the rest of the meal! I opened my eyes wide to look like I was more eager than I actually was.
He put his chin in the palms of his hands and looked me straight in the eye.
“I am thinking hazy summer days,’ he said. “Bikinis, cocktails, high-end designer kaftans . . . oval swimming pools, blue skies . . . I’m thinking . . .”
And I was thinking I needed to top up my wine pronto! I looked at him as though he had completely lost the plot. What was wrong with him? Why was he talking such gibberish? He must have been on another planet entirely!
We were heading into winter and this was Ireland. We hadn’t had a proper summer for a couple of years. You could hardly call three days in May and two days in September a real summer!
“I’m thinking sunsets and sand, sea and . . .”
And I’m thinking I need to rein you in! I couldn’t talk about fashion shoots any more. I glanced over at the wine bottle in its cooler but refrained from reaching for it and topping up my own glass in case I looked ignorant. I just could not get excited right now about a fashion shoot set on a sunny beach and I didn’t know where the hell he was going with this fantasy of his. It was so out there. I wondered whether I should tell him straight out to forget about it, that he was no longer flavour of the month with Creea and that in any case she wouldn’t dream of commissioning any fashion shoots set on a beach or anything daft like that in the middle of winter. And besides, what kind of a budget did he think the magazine had to play around with? We might all be living in Recession-land but Dave was clearly living in Cloud-cuckoo-land.
“I think it’s a great idea, Dave,” I said gently so as not to upset him. “But maybe at a future date. We work months in advance. Once we put this Christmas issue to bed, we’ll be concentrating on Valentine’s and early spring. I’ll have to focus on all that and –”
“Wait!” he said, cutting me dead. I didn’t know what to think. Maybe he was annoyed that I wasn’t jumping up and down with joy after hearing his rather bizarre idea. Perhaps he was beginning to regret wasting a fancy lunch on me.
“I’m sorry, Dave,” I said awkwardly. “Maybe we’ll talk about the idea again.”
“But let me explain!”
I felt my heart sink a little. I found myself fancying him less and less
. He was like a dog with a bone. I couldn’t fancy somebody who was obsessed with doing bikini shots in the middle of winter in a cold rainy country like Ireland.
“Okay, go on then . . .”
“I wasn’t thinking of doing the shoot here in Ireland,” he said, actually looking quite indignant at the idea of it. “I was thinking along the lines of the Cyprus coast. Cyprus has warm weather all year around and has beautiful beaches. I think it would be the perfect location for what I have in mind.”
Right, it was official now, I thought. Dave had finally lost the plot. Cyprus? God, as if! I could just imagine asking Creea for the money for myself, Dave, a fashion model, a hairstylist and a make-up artist all to fly off to Cyprus for a fun shoot. Instead of simply scoffing at the idea, she might fire me on the spot for being so crazy. And then Louise would be simply delighted as she’d have my desk all to herself.
Suddenly I wished I hadn’t thought about Louise. A vision of her smirking face floating before my eyes made me wince.
“Creea would never agree to my doing it, so there’s no point even going there!” I said firmly, not wishing to spend my afternoon talking about something which was so off-the-wall it wasn’t even funny. “Honestly, I’m not even really in her good books at the moment.” And neither are you!
“And she seems to think the sun shines out of that new girl, Louise. I have no idea why she is sharing my desk or even what she does at the magazine only interfere with my work.
I hope Creea wakes up and smells the coffee. Louise is totally surplus to requirement.”
“Well, I don’t care what Creea thinks of this idea as it wouldn’t concern her,” said Dave, lifting the bottle of wine from its cooler. “More?”
I nodded and was just about to respond when he spoke again. “Anyway, there’s nothing much you can do with Louise except put up with her. Creea is hardly going to fire the boss’s niece, is she?”
Thewhat? Had I heard right? The boss’s niece? My jaw practically hit the floor in shock. I found my world suddenly tilt to one side.
“Is that true?” I gasped, once I’d finally found my voice again.
“You didn’t know? Sorry. I just presumed you did. She told us that night in the hotel after you had gone to bed. Her uncle is Adam Wolfe, owner of the magazine. So Creea didn’t tell you?”
I felt completely betrayed. Why should I have been the last to know? No wonder Louise had this permanent superior little smile etched onto her face. Oh God, I felt like a real fool now. I sipped a little of my wine. This was not good news.
“Funny how I was the only person in the dark. I’m actually annoyed about that now.”
“Well, don’t be. Let’s be positive. Let’s think of sunny Cyprus instead.”
“I told you, forget Cyprus. Creea wouldn’t let me do it.”
“But I told you, this would be up to you – it has nothing to do with Creea.”
Huh? I perked up. What was he talking about? How could he think Creea had nothing to do with it? Without her blessing there would be no fashion shoot anywhere, never mind Cyprus.
“I don’t understand,” I said, feeling confused.
“It’s not for your magazine but for a travel magazine in the UK. They’ve commissioned me to do a Spring/ Summer swimwear shoot, and they have a good budget. We’ll stay in a five-star resort and . . . well, naturally I thought of hiring you to style the shoot.”
I was gobsmacked. I really was. He was offering to hire me? Oh God, and all this time I thought he was just treating me to lunch because he was counting on me for work. I felt guilty as hell. Especially as it was my fault that Creea wasn’t too pleased with him right now.
“But how will I take the time off?”
Dave was so laid back about it all. “You don’t need to. We could shoot it over a weekend. You have a reliable nanny now, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do, but . . .”
We were interrupted by the waitress coming around to take our orders. I chose the Phad Thai with tofu and Dave went for the Thai crab and mango salad. As I watched him studying the menu I thought he looked gorgeous then. I found myself quickly changing my mind again. I did fancy him now. I really did. And I was so flattered that he had asked me to come to Cyprus. “Are you sure we could do it in a couple of days?” I asked anxiously when the waitress went off with our orders. As a mum of a baby who couldn’t yet speak, I couldn’t just head off on a whim.
“Just a couple, yes,” he said. “Max three. You could take a day off on the Monday. How about it? Come on, Kaylah. The weather’s still lovely at this time of year. A bit more sun on your face would do you the world of good.”
I smiled as I buttered some bread on my side plate. It hadn’t been that long since I’d last been in the sun. But that had been a manless holiday hanging around a kid’s club for most of the day. I looked up at Dave’s expectant face. He was really selling it to me now. I could almost feel the rays of sunshine beaming down on my body. Creea wouldn’t like it, especially as she didn’t like Dave at the moment, but it didn’t really matter about Creea because I would be doing the shoot in my own free time and it wouldn’t interfere with my job at the magazine. Gosh, I was getting excited now. I could almost smell the salty sea air and sense the feeling of warm sand in between my toes. How could I possibly say no?
“Oh my God, What a stunning Louis Vuitton!” I found myself exclaiming as I admired the brand-new handbag sitting on my kitchen table. “How many designer bags have you got now? I’m losing count! This is the real deal, isn’t it?”
“Of course it is,” Tanya said, sounding taken aback at the very idea that somebody might even suggest that she owned a bag that was a fake.
“But that must have cost you an absolute arm and a leg!” I truly was astonished. I always had told myself that if I ever won the lottery I would buy a Louis Vuitton bag. I thought they were just so classy and gorgeous.
Tanya just shrugged in that way that she had. “It was gift,” she said. “And besides, I’m worth it. By the way, John is asleep. He has been very good all day. I put him down to bed about an hour ago after his bath.”
“Thank you so much.”
“I think he’s growing.”
“I should hope so. He’s certainly drinking lots of milk!” I laughed.
“He looks more and more like you every day, I think.”
“Really?” Good. I was very pleased with that comment. All Clive had contributed to his son’s life so far was a nasty solicitor’s letter. He hadn’t even bought him so much as a teddy or even one nappy. He hadn’t baby-sat a single night nor even enquired as to how the child was doing. And now he was looking for a night’s access every second weekend?
Yes, I know it was only one night but I couldn’t see myself agreeing to that. Clive was a complete stranger as far as Baby John was concerned. He didn’t know what his dad looked like. How could I just hand him out every second weekend to a complete stranger? God
only knew what kind of company Clive kept. He could have lads around at the house drinking until the small hours of the morning. He might even bring one-night stands back after the pub. Surely I would be an irresponsible mother if I just loaned out my son one
night in every fourteen just to ease the conscience of a guilty deadbeat dad who hadn’t helped me one ounce since my kid was born? Even thinking about the letter from Clive’s solicitor made me want to hold my beloved child close to my chest and never let him out of my sight again. I just loved that little boy with every single fibre of my being.
“So do you need me for anything else? I cooked a lasagne earlier on and it’s in the fridge. You just need to heat it up.”
I was gobsmacked. This girl never failed to impress me. The apartment was gleaming like a shiny new pin and the floor was spotless. And now she was telling me that dinner was made.
“Oh gosh, thanks so much, Tanya. I think I’ll have some and then have an early night. I’m pretty whacked right now.”
“Will I pour you a glass of
wine before I leave?”
“Oh no, Tanya. Thanks for offering but I was out for lunch earlier and had a couple of glasses then. I think I’ll stick to simple old tea this evening. You go off and enjoy yourself. Are you going out with the girls from The Secret Nanny Club?”
“No, I’m going on a date,” she said, without batting an eyelid.
I smiled at her. “This must be getting serious.”
She tilted her head. “Serious? What do you mean?”
“Well, this nice gentleman must be taking quite a shine to you.”
“It’s a different gentleman this time.” She laughed at the look on my face. “Why not?” she shrugged. “Life’s too short to waste it with just one man when there are billions of them out there!”
I continued to stare at her, open-mouthed. I honestly didn’t know what to say. I had thought there was supposed to be a shortage of men in Dublin! Apart from my lunch with Dave, the only ‘date’ I’d even come close to in recent months was in a fruit and vegetable shop! In a way I suppose I admired her. She was a beauty and not only did she play hard she worked bloody hard too. I honestly didn’t know what I would do without her.
“Anyway, I’d better go and take a shower and make myself presentable,” she said as I got up to turn on the kettle.
As I waited for the hot water to boil I tiptoed into my bedroom to see how John was doing. He was fast asleep with his little arm protectively around his teddy’s waist. I felt a little pang of guilt. He hadn’t seen me at all today. I’d been gone before he’d woken up. Now it was dark and he was in the Land of Baby Nod. I bent down and kissed his little warm cheek. I’ll never be poor as long as I have you, my angel, I thought, looking at his sleeping little body. I wouldn’t have traded him in even for the EuroMillions lottery. He really was the best thing that had ever happened to me.
A slight knock on the door. “You in there?” I could smell her perfume before I could see her. It was strong and musky. She wore black leather trousers, red heels, a white shirt and an expensive-looking blazer. She looked sensational. In fact she looked so hot I wondered, and not for the first time, why this goddess-like creature was working for me and not gracing the cover ofSports Illustrated.
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