by Lotte Daley
Deep breath in.
I strode across the dancefloor, moving my hips, sashaying. I flashed him my best ‘You want me but you ain’t getting me’ smile. My cheeks flushed pink.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom went my heart.
‘Jack Hunter,’ I said crisply.
‘Kate,’ he said nonchalantly.
‘Jack,’ I replied.
‘Uh … Kate,’ he said, looking at me as though he couldn’t quite place me. I had figured it out, during the time I spent falling into Bailey’s arms, hearing about Pippa Strong’s odious plans and facing off with Jessica Hilson. I was going to give Jack a moment to say the words I’ve been longing to hear for such a long time. The three little words that could take away all this pain and give me the closure I so totally need, in order to move on in my life. Well, I mean, I’ll move on, have moved on anyway, but hearing these important words would definitely help. I felt he owed me that at least.
‘So …’ I said, frantically prompting him to say the words in my head, say it Jack, come on, say the words, goddamnit!
‘I’ve been meaning to call you,’ he said, half looking at me, half eyeing up … no! Half eyeing up Frenella, who was walking towards us.
‘Stop it!’ I squealed. ‘Do you have to be a total prick 24/7?’ I spat.
‘Katie, let’s not get personal here … so what, we broke up, big deal, move on, get over it, this is so boring now …’ he yawned. He actually yawned.
‘But saying that,’ he quickly changed tack, ‘you look amazing.’
‘Thanks, Jack,’ I said, smiling by accident. No, I thought to myself, must not fall for his faux compliments.
‘I meant to call you,’ he began again. Frenella stood beside me. Good, I wanted her to hear him beg for my forgiveness, for my love. And I wanted to reject him! No, wait, this is madness, that’s not what I came here to do … was it? It all seemed well meaning and charitable to warn him of impending love doom but now I was face-to-face with the man who broke up with me in a text message, who walked out without a backward glance, who’d been cheating on me with another woman for God knows how long, and worst of all, who had moved on from me and our relationship without even having the decency to tell me. In the cold glow of the disco daylight I now felt as though I was looking at Jack Hunter for the first time. I could see now that his eyes looked shifty. That his stature was sinewy, not defined. That he had shaved off a patch of his eyebrow and I wanted to tell him, now armed with a stack of fashion knowledge, that modelling yourself on the style of Keith Duffy from Boyzone circa 1996 was so not a good look. It was neither edgy, cool, nor retro and it looked ridiculous. And in that moment, I knew that I had the power. If I told Jack all the fashion mistakes he was making, including the double denim monstrosity he was wearing as he stood before me now, his green eyes glinting in the light, his foot tapping and his tongue clicking against his teeth nervously, I knew I could crush him.
‘I meant to call you to say,’ he began.
‘Yes …’
‘To say, had you by any chance kept my organic mineral-particle-activating facecloth that I left at yours? It’s just it was a once in a lifetime product made from the skin of baby seals and the real-life tears of the natives. I have scoured the planet and I just can’t find one and …’
SPLASH!
Jack stood there, soaked to the skin, a large glass of something or other I’d taken out of Frenella’s hands now trickling down his face and on to his top. Partygoers giggled and pointed.
‘All you had to do to avoid this,’ I said slowly, quietly, not wanting to make a scene, ‘was apologize!’ I said, louder now. ‘ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS SAY THOSE THREE WORDS TO ME!’ I lost my temper. Jack was furious, I could tell, beneath his skin, he was incandescent with rage, but he wouldn’t dare say anything, not here, not in front of all these people. But I would.
‘I’M SORRY, KATIE!’ I screamed at him.
‘Well, you don’t make it …’
‘FUCK YOU!’ I said, as his eyes stared coolly right into my soul. I stared right back into his shallow, self-obsessed, selfish, arrogant, stuck-up, vacuous soul.
‘And for the record …’ I said, ‘Jessica Hilson –’ I began as he swivelled his head round and gasps.
‘Lordy, Lordy,’ Frenella nudges me. ‘Would you look at that!’
I look. Frenella looks. Jack squeaks like a girl.
Tongues wrapped around one another, arms grappling with clothes, blonde hair falling on to dark skin, entwined on a velvet chair in the far corner, hungrily latching on to one another as though that kiss was the very kiss to bring them to life, romp Fabio Matravers and Jessica Hilson.
‘I don’t believe this!’ Frenella giggles. And as I turn to Jack, I see his face crumple, his hands splayed out in abandonment, his eyes dart between them, his mouth falls open in shock, pain etched across his face.
I silently walk away from him, and I don’t look back.
‘It’s time to go,’ I say to myself, and I head towards the door.
‘WAIT!’ Richard squeals, and pushes his way past clubbers to get to me. ‘We still need to talk!’ he says, breathlessly.
‘Richard, I’m through with talking,’ I sigh, walking on ahead. We come to a quiet chill-out area and he pushes me hard up against the wall.
‘Richard? I never knew you felt this way …’ I say, half joking. What was he doing to me? Now was not the time for love confessions. I was so totally through with anything to do with love.
‘I won’t let you go, not like this, not until you’ve heard the truth about your life as it stands right now.’
‘Go on, then. What more awful, humiliating, shitty things have you got to tell me? Have you been having it off with the delectable, irresistible Hanna Frost too?’ I laughed sardonically.
‘What on earth are you talking about? No one likes Hanna, let alone shags the deranged woman!’ Richard said with gusto.
‘I don’t get it,’ I said, pushing my hair off my face.
‘Hanna was in on it with Pippa Strong. She planned on taking a cut of your exclusive bugging tape that Pippa had shoved down her shirt all evening.’
‘So that’s why …’ I began.
‘Shush. I’m not finished.’
‘Go on …’ I said.
‘Hanna, as you know, is a plausible, confident, well-respected woman who, I hate to say it, holds a lot of power with the knowledge she’s got. She gets things done, but she’s a manipulative, dangerous, lying bitch, Katie.’
‘Whatever, she’s got her faults, God knows, and yeah, maybe she was in on the Pippa bugging thing … but it doesn’t make sense. What would she have to gain from doing that to me?’
‘I already told you, half of a hundred grand plus per dramatic story about you. Darling, I hate to say it, but you do have many … And by keeping you onside you’re going to form the kind of girly attachment you ladies do to unsuitable boyfriends … and sometimes your friends. She needed you, you loved the drama and God knows, we all love to be needed … She played you perfectly.’
‘No way!’ I said. I just wouldn’t believe it.
‘And another thing,’ he said gravely. ‘After I saw those shots of Danielle supposedly with Jack Hunter, my gut instinct was that it was a set-up. I knew something fishy was going on, so I decided to pay her a little visit.’
‘You did?’ My head spun around. ‘But I saw those photos, I saw her resting on him, in his arms, that can’t be Photoshopped, it simply can’t be.’
I hung my head in my hands. Hanna couldn’t have lied, it was wishful thinking to imagine that she had, I had already ended the friendship between me and Danielle in my heart and in my head and put my faith in Hanna … I was willing to give Hanna the benefit of the doubt when it came to Fabio Matravers and the like making inappropriate seedy advances towards her … I could even have understood her Bailey indiscretions … Maybe, oh God, I don’t know really if I could have forgotten about my love feelings for Bailey … Oh, it was all such a
confusing mess!
‘Danielle fell over,’ Richard said, his arms placed on either side of my shoulders. His look was intense.
‘If you look a bit closer you can see she’s only wearing one shoe. One very high-heeled shoe. The other is close by, snapped in half. Jack Hunter was catching her as she fell. It was by no means a romantic clinch.’
‘Oh. My. God.’ I breathed slowly. Like an episode of Columbo, Richard began to piece together the mysterious photographic evidence of Jack and Danielle.
‘Jack Hunter’s media lawyer is one Stewart …’
‘Small-penis!’ I said, in surprise.
‘Darling, don’t need to know.’ Richard screwed up his nose. ‘I went to see Danielle after remembering where she lived from dropping you both off there one night over Christmas after a party. I just had to go and find out exactly what was going on. She scrunched up her nose, cute, and then she gave one of those weird half laughing, half can’t quite believe what I’ve just heard laughs. She’s dreadfully hurt but I think I managed to help her understand how you’ve been feeling lately. I think she listened … it’s not easy being in the spotlight, especially around people like Hanna, you know, all focused on looks and presentation. I think she’ll be OK. Eventually. Quite an attractive woman, your best friend …’
‘She’ll hate me,’ I squeaked.
‘Well, as I was saying, Stewart is Jack’s media lawyer, and Danielle had a major problem with this, had some big falling-out with Stewart, from the penis quip you just gave me I assume they’re lovers, no?’
‘Yep.’
‘So, they have a lovers’ tiff over Jack Hunter being Stewart’s client … which makes sense as she’s being loyal to you and doesn’t want the man she loves to represent the man who broke your heart.’
‘I’m a big, nasty, horrible bitch and I don’t deserve any friends ever again!’ I wailed.
Richard sighed and put his arms around me. I leant into his chest.
‘Hanna set the whole thing up. Pippa took the pictures, not realizing what was going on. Hanna knew that it was innocent, I mean, all it was, was Jack …’
‘Going into her office and she’s a clutz like me, she snapped her heel, it looks suspicious to anyone who didn’t know Danielle the way I know her … Oh God, I really have let her down, haven’t I, Rich?’
‘Sorry, Katie …’ Richard squeezed me.
‘So, what next?’
‘Pippa had the photos, Hanna manipulated the situation to her advantage. They were going to make an awful lot of money out of you, darling.’
‘I can’t believe it.’
‘Believe it, kiddo. I’ve been trying to call you all night, to tell you the truth about Hanna. I had no idea about Pippa until our little showdown on the stairs, but I have the bug, so you don’t need to worry about her any more.’
‘And Danielle?’
‘She’ll understand. She loves you, she’s your best friend.’
‘Even after everything I’ve done to her?’
‘Even after everything.’
‘And that’s why she was calling me?’
‘No, she was calling you for another reason – Bailey.’
And suddenly, it all became clear. Bailey wasn’t having it off with Hanna. No way. Hanna had totally lied to me, and if she’d lied to me about Bailey then she must have lied to him about me! I cast my mind back to all the times where Bailey had accidentally on purpose walked in on me holding hands with Fabio, seen Danny Divine’s hand on my backside, the episode with the business card.
‘He …’ I said, standing up.
‘I told him I’d explain it to you. He’s in the VIP area.’
‘And Hanna?’
‘Ejected. I’ll fill Magenta in, don’t you worry.’
‘And lastly,’ I said, gulping back air in anticipation of future events, ‘Frenella?’
‘Frenella had no idea, bless her little socks, and her boyfriend, luckily for me, is just as dumb.’ He winked.
‘Oh, Richard!’ I laughed.
‘She’s safe, don’t worry.’
As I look up I see Frenella waiting at the end of the lobby. She gives a little wave.
‘Tinkles!’ I smile and turn to Richard. ‘I have to go now.’ He stands up and gives me a hug before gently whispering in my ear, ‘I know you do, go get your man.’
‘This is it!’ I squeal in Frenella’s ear as she totters along beside me, holding my hand, her little legs running to keep up.
Together, we raced back up the stairs I’d previously fallen down, past the helpful bartender who nodded in my direction. I nodded back politely and stopped suddenly, just for a minute, to compose myself.
Behind that curtain, my life could change.
Deep breath … I pulled the velvet sheath back.
‘Danielle!’ I gasped. She walked towards me.
‘I’m so sorry!’ I said, tears welling up in my eyes. She looked beautiful, her hair was straightened and glistened red under the lights.
‘It’s OK, I can forgive you, just this once,’ she said, taking me in her arms.
‘You silly sausage, how could you think I’d ever go near a slimeball like Jack Hunter!’
‘I know, and I’m so sorry, honestly, God, all those mean things I said. You, have permission to do anything you like to me from now on, I’ll do anything to prove to you how sorry I am for ever doubting you.’
‘Shhh,’ she said, stroking a tear away from my cheek. ‘You’re my best friend, Katie, I knew deep down you didn’t mean it. I knew once Richard explained we’d be all right, and of course, when I saw Bailey … well, I understood.’
‘Thanks,’ I said, ‘OOH, look!’ I giggled. ‘Is that Stewart-small …’
‘Smallthwaite!’ he said, hand outstretched. ‘I don’t believe we’ve met!’
‘Hi!’ I said, shaking his hand.
‘Well,’ he said, in his brusque tone, ‘love to stay and chat but I’ve got to take this young lady home now … Can’t have me rattling around my brand-new one-bedroom loft apartment all alone now, can we, my darling?’ And in that moment, I knew that Stewart Smallthwaite had finally done the decent thing, for himself, and for my best friend.
‘No, wait!’ I said, hurriedly. I delved into my sea-creature clutch bag.
‘Hanna gave me this before we got here.’ I produced a plastic card.
‘What is it?’ Danielle said, taking it from me and studying it intently.
‘It’s a room key.’
‘Gee, thanks.’ She laughed.
‘To The Mayfair. The Penthouse Suite, it’s all yours.’
‘Get outta here!’ She squealed, embracing me again.
‘Take it, before I change my mind!’
‘Well, it IS the least you can do!’ she joked and before I know it, she’s pulling back the curtain and walking off into the club with Frenella and Stewart.
Finally, I am alone. I take a deep breath and look around the table area. Empty. My heart sank. Bailey was supposed to be here, this was supposed to be an epic love moment! And then I heard it, slowly, a deep sigh, a sniff and a cough. I turned in the direction the sound was coming from and saw him, the big green eyes, long lashes and a half-hearted smile.
‘Surprise?’ Jack Hunter said.
‘What are you doing here?’ I gasped, gripping the chair. ‘She’s not here too, is she? Honestly, Jack, I thought we had our chance to …’ I said, looking around once more. No one appeared to be here, least of all anyone American and blonde.
‘Put things right?’ he finished my sentence. I inwardly chastised myself for allowing him to fall back into effortless synchronicity with me. He always finished my sentences.
‘I’m leaving,’ I said, standing up and smoothing my dress down.
‘Please,’ he began, sniffing again.
‘No,’ I said, rolling my eyes and moving towards the curtain.
‘Katie cakes,’ he simpered and my heart fluttered a little at the memory of us.
‘For heav
en’s sake, Jack, I have to find someone, it’s important!’
‘That guy?’ he said, meekly.
I stopped in my tracks and turned to face him. He looked so small, so pathetic, so … upset. My stomach churned. I felt something for him, looking at his face and into his eyes, there were feelings there that I’d not normally have ever associated with Jack Hunter. Those feelings were pity. I pitied him and because he cut such a pathetic figure, standing solemnly in front of me, clutching at metaphorical straws to grab my attention, I let him speak.
‘The good-looking, well-dressed guy wearing that beautiful shirt, those shoes …’
‘Richard? No.’
‘The one you fell upon on the dance floor,’ he said, shuffling on his feet.
‘Yes, that’s Bailey, I have to go, find him, talk to him, most important,’ I shrugged and pushed my hair behind my ears. ‘Sorry …’ I offered.
‘I saw him leave with a dark-haired woman about ten minutes ago,’ Jack said.
‘Are you sure?’ I asked, feeling stressed out to the max. He can’t have done what I think he’s done, not after everything Richard told me, but then perhaps he has done it. Could anyone blame him, walking out with another woman, a woman with no drama attached to her, a woman with no agenda.
‘She was wearing a scarlet dress.’
Thump. That was my stomach enduring one final descent on the road to glumsville. Talk about your past making itself present in your future, like some kind of twisted guardian angel, Jack had potentially saved me from any further embarrassment with Bailey. He’d gone home with Hanna. Perhaps that was only one thing she had been telling the truth about.
‘Listen, Katie, this is all a bit too heavy, shall we split?’
He’s not suggesting … he’s not serious …
‘I believe we already have …’
‘Come on,’ he said, and he grasped my arm in a surprisingly strong grip. We sped effortlessly out of the club, hailed a cab and were making the journey back to Lauriston Gardens, my house. Oh my God, I was in a black cab with my ex-boyfriend, the duplicitous pretty boy Jack Hunter, the Jack Hunter who broke my heart into a million little pieces. The Jack Hunter who got a taste of his very own heartbreak medicine very publicly this evening.