Access Restricted (13 page)

“Are they ok with that?”

“I think so. I’ll have to ask to make sure, of course, but I don’t see why not.”

His voice took on that commanding quality again, sexy. At the moment, it was damned reassuring, because I felt like everything was coming apart. “Go inside now. With the phone. With me. Ask them.”

I was walking in before he had stopped speaking. Sarah and Nick took me in as I sat down, the reddened eyes, the sort of smile, the unsteady sinking into my chair. “Ok, hold on.” I held the phone away from my ear, and looked at them. “Guys, could you do me a big favor?”

“Sure, Lil, do you want to crash at ours?” Nick looked at me. “Is everything ok? Do you want me to beat him up?”

I heard the laughter through the phone, and I smiled. They both wrinkled their foreheads, quizzically, in exactly the same way. It was sort of endearing really. Maybe they’d make it. But I heard words coming out of the phone and I put it back to my ear.

“Let me talk to him. What’s his name?”

“Nick.”

I handed over the phone. “He wants to talk to you.” Nick looked confused but shrugged again, and took the phone.

“All right mate? Who’s this?”

I watched as his expression registered shock, then surprise, then his usual sardonic look became a wide grin. Then he started talking. “No, of course. I think you’re right. Not a problem at all. Of course you don’t have to pay for our dinner. We’d love to be able to help.” He looked at me, and there was a flicker of memory that passed between us, what had been good, that wouldn’t go away. “She’s a great girl you know. Just so.” He nodded. “Absolutely. I hear you. Well, good. Yeah. No.” Nick looked up at me for confirmation and I mouthed “it’s ok” to him. “Yeah, Lemonia, it’s Greek, yeah. I’ll text the address. No? Ok. See you in a few.” He pressed the end call button, and handed me back the phone.

Sarah was punching him again. “What was all that about? Who was that? And what’s going on?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Little Miss Retsina Jet Set here can explain in the cab. The short answer—we’re having guests tonight and Lily here has pulled. Finally.” He laughed as I protested.

Sarah was practically jumping in her seat. “What? Who? Is he coming over? And you, “she said, directing a fierce look at me, “why were you crying?”

“It’s a long story.” I glanced around. Some people turned away as I looked in their direction. “Definitely not for here.” The waiter had appeared, and was patiently trying to explain to Nick that everything had been taken care of.

“When?” he spluttered.

“On the phone sir, just a moment ago. A friend.” He smiled. “Obviously a good friend. Whenever you are ready, it’s all been arranged, and a taxi is coming in fifteen minutes to collect you.”

“Jesus, Lily,” Sarah whispered. “What the hell is this?”

I was about to say something, but Nick threw me a look, and he turned quickly to Sarah, “Shit, darling, should have gotten another bottle of wine.” And he helped her on with her coat, and planted a brief kiss on her cheek. “Come on ladies, let’s go outside. I need a fag after all that.”

Sarah was whispering into his ear, and he was nodding, smiling at the staff as we left, who were thanking us. They were always friendly, but were they just a little more obsequious than usual? I wondered how big a tip Tristan had put on, or if there were some fans among the staff. I shook my head, and sat down in one of the small garden chairs and tables outside, and took a deep breath. The last Greek coffee I had had woken me up a little, but I still felt woozy. Sarah and Nick had walked off a little ways together, a cloud of smoke coming out of Nick every so often. I watched as Sarah suddenly stopped and made a kind of squawking noise, and tried, unsuccessfully to cover it up, and looked over at me. I waved, and she looked away, back at Nick. I guess she knew now too. That made four people in the world—two drivers, and my two friends over here. And Alice, who knew for sure. Oh, and the handyman at his building. Probably. Six. Increasing rapidly.

A cab pulled up, and I waved at the two of them again. This must be us. I got up and went to the driver, about to ask him if he was here to pick us up, when I heard a low voice. No. Not possible.

“Hey darling,” and his eyes were dark and intense even in the gloom of the taxi. “Surprised? Get your friends, and let’s get out of here before someone spots us.”

I felt my whole face go pink, as I stared at him, then quickly turned towards Nick and Sarah, trying to convey a sense of urgency without shouting “hurry the fuck up,” which is what I really wanted to do. There were already people slowing down, just to see who was arriving in the cab. I didn’t understand how he did it. Maybe he just gave off a certain energy that made people sense there was something going on they needed to see. But we didn’t need any mobile phone photos out there tonight, not if we wanted to get to their house without being followed. I skipped right up to the two of them, and giving Nick a look, jerked my head in the direction of the cab.

Sarah, as always, was a bit slower on the uptake. But I hadn’t slept with her. Nick and I had always been good at reading each other. She started to ask a question, and he stopped her. “Sarah, later, we need to hurry, and please be cool.”

Her head swung around to stare at him, as we approached the taxi.

He was still there, waiting. I pulled the door open and dove in, restraining myself from flinging myself at him, sighing with pleasure when I felt his arm curve around me. Sarah got in next, too busy arranging herself to notice anything, and then Nick sat on one of the little fold down seats and slammed the door shut. We pulled away, and Nick gave the driver the address, their road in West Hampstead.

When we had turned the corner, and started heading down a quiet road, away from all the people on the main street, I felt his lips press against my head, his hand stroking my back. He mumbled into my hair, “introduce me to your friends.” I pulled myself away from his hands, and sat up, out of the sensual languor I was quickly falling into, and I caught Nick’s eye. He was shaking his head and beaming at us. Sarah was trying to see past me to get a clear view of who the stranger in the cab was.

“Nick, Sarah,” I stumbled over what to say next, “um, I, can I, I’d like you to meet, my, um, friend, Tristan, uh, Tristan Hunter.”

I moved aside, letting Tristan shift forward to the edge of the seat, as Nick held out his hand, always cool, nonplussed. I could still hear the nervousness in his voice though he was hiding it well. “Hey man, pleasure to meet you. I’m a huge fan. And so’s Lily, obviously.” He threw me a crooked grin, and I glared back at him but couldn’t help smiling. I watched them shake hands, Tristan’s huge hand covering his. It was strange to see the two of them together. Sarah had finally gotten a good view, and was now staring, open mouthed. Nick kicked her, gently, and she coughed, then recovered, extending her hand too.

“Wow, Tristan, wow. Pleasure. Amazing. Well. Our Lily. Wow. And thank you for dinner.” She seemed to recover herself a bit. “You didn’t have to. It’s our pleasure to help the two of you out, we’ve plenty of space. Hot water. Not that you need it. I mean. Oh hell. Nick, help me out here!” And she dissolved into a torrent of giggles that only stopped when Nick glared at her.

Tristan smiled, charm on full. “No, the least I could do. I really appreciate you putting us up, especially at short notice. I hadn’t realized the hotel had already been scoped out, surrounded by the paps, so you’ve really helped me with a serious problem.” And he took her hand, and briefly kissed the top of it, giving her a blindingly seductive smile. She fluttered at him, and then looked over guiltily at Nick, who looked a bit green. Tristan saw it right away, and turned towards him like a beacon of dark light. “And I hear congratulations are in order. Nice one, man.” He slapped the top of Nick’s arm like they were on a team. “You must be doing it right, my friend. She’s a prize.” And then Nick glowed, and sat up a little straighter, nearly banging his head on the ceiling of the cab.

And I lay back with my head on his shoulder, curling into his arm, watching the half-lit streets go by, listening to them chatter. Amazing. I felt myself drifting off, but when I tried to sit up, I was rewarded by Tristan pulling me even closer to him. When I opened my eyes, Nick and Sarah were holding hands, Sarah having left the bench seat to perch on one of the stools next to Nick. They looked happy, talking quietly.

I turned and buried my head in Tristan’s neck. God, the smell of him. I kissed him softly, and whispered into his skin. “You came.”

His mouth was over my ear. “You needed me. I won’t leave you alone, Lily.” And I curled up against him, our heads nestled together, as the black cab rattled through the streets.

Chapter 10

The cab eventually pulled up outside their little house with the red tiled roof and the bow window on the ground floor. There was a tiny garden in front, and we all stumbled out and into the street, Sarah already heading towards the door. Tristan gave some money to the driver, pushing Nick away playfully, saying “I got this man, no arguments,” while I stood there, staring at the two of them, taking in the quiet road, how surreal this all was and how utterly exhausted I was feeling. I started to stumble a bit, turning towards the house, and Tristan’s arm was around me in a second, his mouth at my ear. “It’s ok, we’re almost there.” Sarah finally got the door open, and we all filed into the narrow hall, Nick slamming and locking all the locks on the wooden door. Tristan and I followed her down through the small living room to the kitchen. It was much smaller than the one at Poppy’s, but still had the obligatory AGA tucked into a chimney breast, and down two steps from the main kitchen, a round pine table with a purple hand blown glass bowl on the center, with four chairs, positioned in front of the white painted double doors leading to the garden. The stove and sink were on the other side of a tiled counter, which we all stood around, leaning on it, a little awkwardly now that the excitement of the getaway was over.

Sarah asked if we wanted a cup of tea. Tristan said of course, that would be great, and looked down at me, concern in his eyes. “I think tea would be good for this one, it’s been a long day. Very long. Do you have any green tea? I think that would be best.” And he kissed my forehead. I almost felt embarrassed. I could hear the small gasp Sarah let out. The famous Tristan, worried about me and deciding which tea I should drink. It was a lot to take in, I could imagine. It was a lot for me to take in. I wanted to say something, to smooth out the moment, make it more of a light jokey sort of thing, but I was too tired. And in the ensuing silence, I realized that I didn’t want it to be a joke, I didn’t want to pretend it away, I just wanted to revel in it, his presence, his attention, his control, the whole thing, down to my toes, and not act like it didn’t matter. Not like before.

She gave us our cups of green tea, in the process throwing Nick a few meaningful glances, and started to chatter about the dinner, and how great it was to see me, and the concert tomorrow. Tristan listened politely for a couple of minutes, then stopped her. “Sarah, I’m sorry, you’ve been so kind to us, really, but I think Lily needs some rest. Could you show us where we can sleep?” Her eyes widened. People didn’t usually have much success shutting her down. And he’d done it with just a few words. Sarah nodded silently, and looked at Nick again, an odd squint on her face. “Will you take them upstairs, darling? I’ll just tidy up here, and I’ll be up in a tick.”

“Of course, buttercup.” Nick was more relaxed than she was, and obviously handling it all a bit better, ironically enough. I wondered what the conversation would be about later, and if he noticed how strangely she was acting. “Come on peoples, let me give you the mini tour of the route to the spare bedroom.” We followed him out of the kitchen, and into the small living room. “This is the living room, where the TV is. Left here, and up the stairs, goes, well, upstairs. Follow me.” And we thumped up the small one and half person wide stairs to the first landing. “This is where our bedroom is, and the bathroom. There is a shower, it’s on demand hot water, not one of those timer things, so Lily, Tristan, if you want a shower before bed, feel free. There’s extra towels in the cupboard there.” He waved his hand in the direction of a bleached pine chest at the end of the hall. “Your bedroom is up these stairs, now.” And we went up one more little flight, to an even smaller landing with an attic door and a small door off to the right. Nick opened it, and led us into a little bedroom, under the eaves, with slanted walls, and a little French door that faced out onto a mini railing, towards the garden. It felt like we were in some enchanted room, high in the sky, away from everything. There was a little blue woven rug, and a small chest of drawers, again in pine, but other than a small light and the bed and the window, the room was plain. I thought I’d never seen anything as homey in my life.

I turned to Nick, and gave him a hug, and a kiss on the cheek. “Nick, sweetheart, thanks for all this. And being so cool with everything.”

Nick smiled. “Lily, you know I’m devoted to you. I’m glad I could help.” He looked up at Tristan. “Sounds like you’re a bit hemmed in.”