Agent Provocateur (23 page)

‘Firstly, as I already mentioned, we set a deadline of three months. You give me information about your husband and we’ll take it from there.’

‘I want a review at two months. And I am not sure that I should tell you anything about him. I’m not helping you.’

‘Fine, but I have no idea what his name is or what he looks like. So without your help, I have no way of getting to him. I’ll agree a two month review, if you give me the information I need.’

‘OK, I’ll tell you his name but that’s it.’

‘And hobbies, and where he works. You have to give me some information.’

‘And if I don’t?’

‘Then the deal will be off and you lose your job, I guess.’

‘Fine, but I’ll only give you limited information.’

‘Does he know my name?’

‘What?’

‘Well, have you been slagging off “Grace Regan” at home?’

Betty thinks. ‘I haven’t actually mentioned your name at all. To be honest I call you the honey trap woman.’ Or the bitch, she adds mentally.

‘How sweet. Fine, then I will use my name so if he’ starts talking about me, you’ll know. Also, I won’t talk to you for the first two months.’ Grace smiles a smile dripping with insincerity.

‘Oh, so there is a good side to this.’ Betty returns the false smile.

‘Ha ha. Anyway, we won’t communicate because it’s easier that way. The start date will be when you’ve finished my profile. But I won’t allow you to publish it until the bet is over because otherwise you might cheat. I explained that to Fiona and she agreed.’

‘Wouldn’t the profile be better done after the bet?’

‘No way. Betty, you don’t want to write about the bet because Johnny would find out, and also I think that you might be more inclined to be mean to me depending on the result of the bet. I want it finished and approved before we start.’

‘Fine.’ Betty is trying not to smile. She is not sure why she feels like laughing, but all of a sudden this whole thing sounds like a joke, or a bad TV show.

‘Well, I think that’s it. Unless you have anything to add?’

‘Oh, I do. You see if I didn’t agree to this bet, then I would have had serious problems at work, and in agreeing to it, I might lose my marriage. I don’t think I will, but I might. So you should have something to lose.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘If you lose the bet, then you should sacrifice something.’

‘What?’

‘Your job.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ Grace is incredulous. But then she thinks about it and knows that there is no way she will actually have to give up her job if she does lose. Grace is prepared to cheat.

‘Right, so I should be happy to sacrifice everything but you won’t give anything up.’

‘OK, I’ll give my job up if I lose, but then I might have to double my efforts to get Johnny.’ Grace smiles. She just told Betty that she didn’t care if she lost, and now she has a vested interest in winning. She wonders if Betty is stupid.

‘But you’re not as determined as I am.’ The gloves are on; the fight is starting.

‘Should be a good fight then. Shall we get back to the profile?’

Grace is no longer shocked by Betty’s demand, and she almost respects her for it. She is quite willing to agree. She thinks that if she does seduce Betty’s husband, Betty is the sort of woman that will forgive him and carry on as if there is nothing wrong. She knows that because, she believes, that is the root of why she disapproves too strongly of Grace’s job. She belongs to the ‘turn a blind eye’ brigade, and in Grace’s job there is no room for that. She wonders if Betty knows what she is letting herself in for, but if she doesn’t she soon will. And anyway, it makes a change for Grace to have something challenging to do. If she has opened a can of worms, then that will prove exciting, because danger can be exciting too. They call a truce after agreeing the terms of the bet, and they continue the profile with Betty slipping quietly into the role of observer and Grace successfully ignoring her. Grace wants to get the profile over with and the bet started. She can’t wait.

Betty knows that she should have been quiet in the first place and just played out the week, as was her brief. She would have avoided the bet, and avoided having to have Grace in her life for any longer. She is paying the price for her judgemental attitude and her inability to bite her tongue. She sighs as she takes more notes and hopes she has learnt her lesson without having to lose the man she loves.

Chapter Eighteen

On the last day of the profile, the weight of the bet is upon them, but somehow both women find it easier to work together, neither being able to understand why. Betty’s questions are more professional and her judgements tucked firmly away in her mind; Grace respects Betty more and doesn’t try to compromise her in any way as she had done before. They are sitting in the office, facing each other, with the Dictaphone between them.

‘So, you’ve finished the report for the job last night. Can I see it?’ Betty asks.

‘Sure,’ Grace replies, handing it over. For a moment there is silence as Betty reads and Grace watches her face, looking for disapproval.

‘You handle it sensitively,’ Betty says, when she’s finished reading.

‘Thank you.’ Grace is taken aback and also suspicious.

‘I mean it. You could have made it sound as if the man was drooling over you, but while you say he propositioned you, you make it easier for her.’

‘That is my job.’

‘I didn’t think of it like that.’ They smile at each other. It’s a breakthrough of sorts.

‘Betty, tonight is the last job you’ll come on. I just want you to know that I won’t pull any stupid stunts.’

‘Then neither will I.’ They smile again, amazed at the lack of tension between them.

Grace puts herself in another position. She wonders, if things had started differently, whether the two women might have been friends. Betty thinks the same, although she doesn’t want to. Because always there, in the back of her mind, is the thought that Grace will be trying to win Johnny away from her, and also, in the back of her mind, is the awful, horrible thought that he might let her.

‘I’m done,’ Grace says, when she has finished her work for the morning and Betty has listened and taken notes without engaging in any altercations.

‘I’ll leave you to it then, and meet you tonight.’

‘That sounds fine.’ Grace is pleased that Betty didn’t suggest lunch and knows better than to do so herself. The morning went too well for her to risk prolonging it. As Betty leaves, they arrange to see each other again that evening, and they part on good terms.

Grace goes to the window and watches Betty walk away with mixed feelings. She wonders why they hadn’t been able to behave this way when it all started. It would have made life so simple. For a minute, she also feels guilty about the bet. She is unsure now why she agreed to it so easily, why she didn’t stick to her guns and just finish the whole situation. She thinks of Fiona and wonders why she would do this to Betty. Fiona isn’t someone to be messed with, that much she knows, and she also found it impossible to say no to her. But she agreed and that she will have to live with. Not only is she putting herself in a position to mess with Betty’s life, but she is also lying to her about the origin of the bet. She questions herself and her motives but finds she has no answers.

Betty feels lighter as she goes to get her bus. The morning was easier than any previous one. They established the working relationship that they should have had from the start. If only she had done that, she wouldn’t have to go through with the bet. She thinks about whether she should broach that with Grace, suggest that now they are being civil they should call the whole thing off, but she can’t quite bring herself to because maybe that is why they are behaving the way they are. She cannot shake off the thought that somehow the bet has made everything better between them and allowed them to work together, even if potentially it might ruin her life.

She doesn’t think too much about her outfit as she gets ready to meet Grace. She tries not to think too much about anything. Although ‘if only’ keeps popping into her mind, she brushes it away with efficiency. She has learnt a good lesson and she hopes she will not learn any more. She still feels confident that Johnny is immune to Grace’s charms, but she is nervous about him spending time with her in any way. He is hers, after all, and even though he won’t fall for Grace, she is jealous at the thought of them even having a conversation. Although she fully trusts Johnny, she still doesn’t trust that she is good enough for him. Even after all this time. And that is her problem with Grace, with everything. A woman as perfect as Grace shouldn’t be allowed near others’ husbands, because no woman can compete. Again, Betty pushes this thought away. She has to believe in Johnny’s love, just as she has to believe in her career, because those two things are all she has to maintain her self-esteem.

Grace meets Betty in a wine bar in Kensington. They are there slightly later than usual because this isn’t an after work case but an after gym one. In Grace’s experience too many men use the gym as an excuse to go out and pull. She has lost count of the number of men she has tested who have had their gym kits lying by their feet.

Betty is waiting at a table near the bar. Grace nods at her and smiles. Betty returns the gesture. Grace goes to the bar, immediately spotting the man that she has been hired for. He is with two other men, clearly fresh from the gym, with slightly wet hair. She goes to the bar, orders her drink and engages the barman in a conversation, letting the men notice her.

Betty watches Grace and grudgingly admits she is a professional. She is standing at the bar, innocently, and the man that Betty saw in the photo earlier is already eyeing her up – not the behaviour of a happily married man, or not how he should be behaving. She realises that Grace is bait, and she won’t stop thinking that, but the predatory look in the man’s eyes says everything about him. Grace is the meat and he wants his dinner.

Betty glances at her watch and realises that it took him twenty minutes to approach her. Grace’s brief is not to approach him, and both of them were hoping that Betty would get to see a man ignore her presence. But not this time. Although she couldn’t hear what he was saying, she could see him clearly. The way he leant his head in close, the way he ordered a drink for her, the way he whispered something in her ear. Grace accepted but, Betty had to admit, she wasn’t throwing herself at him. Again, that isn’t the brief. Instead she was receiving him with only the smallest amount of encouragement, so small you could almost miss it. Betty noticed how the man’s companions were looking over at Grace and how he turned to face them, giving them a victorious smirk. Betty hates that man. She feels sorry for his wife. She even feels sorry for Grace.

Grace is conscious of Betty watching her and she hopes that she isn’t seeing her as a tart. She is trying her best to do her job, but also to leave Betty with a positive image of her. The man, she knows, is one of the worst. He approached her so quickly, he offered to buy her champagne, and ordered it before she had a chance to answer him. He is so sure of himself. Grace noticed the way he looked over to his friends and she felt anger well up. There are times when she hates her job and this is one of them. She wonders if she should tell Betty that. She glances over at Betty but doesn’t see any disapproval in her eyes, which annoys her. It could have been like this from the start. She is finding it hard to concentrate on the man, but is determined not to blow the job.

He is doing all the talking, a man who loves the sound of his own voice. She knows that this won’t take long. He isn’t the sort of man who has much time and he doesn’t want to hide it.

‘Can we go somewhere?’ he asks.

‘Where?’

‘Dinner, your place …?’ She knows that dinner was thrown in but not meant.

‘I have flatmates; it’s difficult.’ She has told him that she lives locally and is in here because her flatmate has her boyfriend over and she felt in the way.

‘We could go to a bed and breakfast.’ He smiles, she returns it. She should have guessed that he’s cheap. Not even a hotel, but a seedy B&B. Something needs to be done about these men.

‘How about we take a rain check? Give me your number and I’ll call you.’

‘It might be better if you give me yours,’ he suggests.

‘No. Either I have yours or nothing.’ She is just wrapping it up, her job done. All the wife wanted was for him to approach Grace and proposition her. She wants to leave now; she’s had enough. Reluctantly he scribbles his mobile number down, and she doesn’t even look at him as she takes it and walks out.

Betty waits for about five minutes before following her out.

‘Are you all right?’ she asks as she meets Grace outside.

‘You know what? I could really do with a drink. Care to join me?’

‘Yes, I would.’ They both look surprised, briefly, before Grace leads Betty to another bar.

The wine bar she chooses is fairly empty, the rain outside putting people off. They find seats and Grace goes to the bar, returning with a bottle of wine.

‘Never thought I’d see the day when we share an after work drink,’ Betty says.

‘No, me neither.’ They both smile.

‘So tell me what happened.’ Betty pulls out her notebook, reminding them both of why they are there.

‘He was a sleaze, just as we suspected. He asked to come back to my flat, I took his number. That’s the job done.’

‘You don’t seem your usual self.’

‘To be honest – and, Betty, I don’t want this in the article -it depressed me. He depressed me.’

‘At least you’re not married to him,’ Betty answers cheerfully.

‘I’ll drink to that.’

They stick to the subject of Grace’s job for the remainder of the wine, knowing that tension could reappear at any time.

‘I guess we ought to get home,’ Grace suggests when the bottle sits empty on the table.

‘Yeah, I guess.’

Betty gets into the first taxi, at Grace’s insistence. She sits back and thinks about things. About Grace. About Johnny. About honey trapping. And she feels that so much has been left unsaid, but she doesn’t know how to change that.