All That Glitters (11 page)

Danny thought for a moment, trying to remember what Aaron had said. ‘I think it’s current affairs led, but it’s more pop-culture than politics. So things people are talking about now, like what celebrities are doing, new technology, what trends are appearing in major cities, fashion – that sort of stuff. It’s a magazine format and involves interviewing people and talking to the audience too. They want you to focus on the fashion and music stuff, and your co-host will do the politics and news stuff.’

Ella blinked. ‘A co-host! Does Aaron have any idea who it will be?’

Danny gave Ella a funny look, and popped a strawberry in his mouth. ‘It’s Johnny Cooper. Who else would it be?’

‘I hear you’re becoming
quite
the little celebrity,’ Chastity sniffed, as the girls walked through the main foyer of Oatlands Park for the Kingston United vs Manchester City match. As usual, Chastity had completely overdressed and was wearing a bodycon Sass & Bide black and nude dress with Jimmy Choo peep-toe ankle boots. Ella had kept it low-key in black True Religion jeans and a cream Donna Karan knit.

‘I’m not sure what you mean,’ Ella replied lightly. They were being led past the roped-off areas, and the Kingston United fans were gawping and taking photos of them with their phones. Ella kept her voice measured, and a bright smile fixed on her face. Football fans – regardless of which team they supported –
loved
Danny Riding. He was the new great hope for the national squad, and was fast becoming a football legend, ranking up there with Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard. It was Ella’s job to play the perfect footballer’s wife whenever she was at Oatlands, so that was exactly what she was doing.

‘Don’t give me that,’ Chastity hissed. ‘I hear you’re going to be presenting a new TV programme with Johnny Cooper. What did you do to get that? Give him a blow-job?’

Ella’s smile froze. Of all the players’ wives and girlfriends, Chastity was meant to be her ‘best friend’. She wasn’t exactly acting like it though.

‘Let’s talk when we’re in the private box,’ she murmured as quietly as she could. ‘But in the meantime, would you please be quiet? We’re surrounded by fans and officials and the last thing I want is you starting rumours that aren’t even true.’

Chastity rolled her eyes. ‘Whatever,’ she said, and she waved and pouted at a couple of fans who were sitting near the box. Ella watched her with interest. Chastity may have been a shallow bitch sometimes, but she really did play the part of a stereotypical WAG brilliantly.

Ella didn’t speak to Chastity until they’d both had a glass of champagne and the game was underway. As the teams jogged onto the pitch Ella scanned the faces of the players dressed in a kit of royal blue until she spotted Danny. He looked great – relaxed, but ready to win the game. She was so proud of him. But as much as she wanted to sit back and enjoy the match she had to deal with Chastity and her attitude. She turned to her.

‘What is your problem, exactly?’ Ella asked calmly, as she pushed her light brown fringe out of her eyes. ‘Why are you being so nasty today?’

Chastity snapped her gum and glared. ‘All I’m saying is that everyone knows that Daniella Davies was supposed to present this new show with Johnny, but he took one look at you on
Cooper’s Kingdom
and demanded that poor Dani was chucked out and that you took her place. You! You have no presenting experience whatsoever. It’s insulting to Dani, who just so happens to be one of my closest friends. We always hang out when we’re out partying, anyway.’

Ella blinked. ‘I didn’t know Daniella Davies was lined up to present,’ she said, and she wondered if there was any truth in what Chastity had just said. They were due to start filming the show soon, and she’d thought that the producers
had
left it quite late to ask her to be a presenter. But what did she know? She just assumed this was how things were done in TV land. Perhaps they were. ‘Had she signed a contract or anything?’

Chastity kept her gaze on the pitch, her eyes trailing her husband as he dribbled the ball towards the goal. ‘Of
course
she’d signed a contract. Well, I think so, anyway. She’s very upset. They were going to give her five hundred grand to do that show, and they pulled out. Just like that. Or just because Johnny asked them to.’ She looked up slyly at Ella.

‘I saw you both on his little show. The attraction between you two was obvious. Have you shagged him?’

‘Chastity! For fuck’s sake keep it down. We’re in public! And no, of course I didn’t.’

‘You should, you know. He probably has the hots for you. Even if you do dress like that.’ Her eyes ran critically over Ella’s outfit. Ella wasn’t even wearing heels, just fur-lined Chloé boots.

‘I’m married to Danny, and we’re faithful to each other,’ Ella said slowly. ‘We don’t cheat on each other. And I would never, ever, in a million years think about having sex with Johnny Cooper. I don’t even like him very much,’ she lied. She tried not to think about how he played centre-stage in all her fantasies recently, or how she wondered what he was doing or if he was thinking of her, too.

On the pitch Freddie had passed the ball to Danny, and Danny was running towards the goal faster than Ella had ever seen him do before. He then passed the ball back to Freddie, who took aim . . . but missed. The ball shot over the goal, and the crowd booed in disappointment.

‘Oh, I forgot, you and Danny are Mr and Mrs Perfect,’ Chastity remarked moodily as Freddie kicked at the turf on the pitch in frustration. ‘Whatever you touch turns to gold, blah, blah, blah. You’re not Posh and Becks, you know. You never will be, regardless of all the little outfits you put together for that magazine, or however many sponsorship deals Danny gets.’

Ella rolled her eyes and concentrated on the match. Yves had just got the ball from a Manchester City player, and as he ran towards the penalty area he spotted Danny and passed it to him. Danny surged past several defenders, and then struck the ball powerfully towards goal. The goalkeeper barely had time to move before the ball flew past him and into the back of the net. Goal!

Ella jumped to her feet and cheered as Yves and Danny hugged each other to the sound of the fans chanting ‘Royals! Royals! Royals!’

Maybe Chastity was right, Ella thought suddenly, as she clapped hard. Maybe they never would be David and Victoria Beckham, but if they kept on having this run of luck, things could only get even better.

‘I’ve never worked for a footballer or his wife before,’ Nash Barnwell said conversationally, as he and Ella sat in the garden drinking iced tea. It was a gloriously hot day, and the light breeze that tickled Ella’s bare shoulders was scented with roses and jasmine.

‘And I’ve never had my own manager,’ she remarked as warmly as she could, but there was something about Nash Barnwell that put her on guard. He’d turned up at Castle House in scruffy Levis and a striped Ted Baker shirt, and even though he was polite, friendly and professional, Ella felt a little uncomfortable, like she’d done something wrong but she didn’t know what.

Nash smiled. ‘I guessed. Let me tell you a bit more about myself. I started out in the music business, and for a while I ran the UK office of Slate Street, an American record label that recently went out of business.’

‘Why did it go under?’ Ella asked curiously. She didn’t know much about the music industry, and hadn’t heard of the label.

‘Oh, it was nothing to do with me,’ Nash said with a smile, although there was an edge to his voice. ‘I’d left way before then. Apparently the American founder had a bit of a meltdown and got caught beating up one of his major acts. I’m not too clear on the details. After I left Slate Street I went freelance and managed a couple of UK music acts, and then I looked after several actors.’ He named a couple of well-known and well-respected British movie stars. Ella was impressed.

‘So what made you move into sport?’

Nash shrugged. ‘I’ve always been a massive football fan – although I support Chelsea, rather than Kingston United – and it’s where the money is. Footballers are seen as gods; they make an obscene amount of cash on the pitch, and pull in major sponsor deals off it. Sport stars are getting sexier and sexier, and I believe they’re the future of celebrity in the country. So long as the footballers behave themselves, that is.’

‘I have to agree with you on that. I had no idea how big the industry was before I met Danny,’ Ella said.

‘Well, why would you?’ Nash said with a dismissive wave of his hand. ‘Aaron is looking to build on the success he’s created with your husband, and eventually he’ll take on more clients. Ultimately I’ll be helping to manage those, but in the meantime I’m going to be looking after you.’

Ella took a long sip of her drink. There was acid in Nash’s voice, and she didn’t know why. Perhaps he felt it was demeaning to look after a footballer’s wife. Or perhaps he was just an asshole.

‘Aaron filled me in on your perfect love story,’ Nash continued with a wry smile. ‘You ran off to Thailand because your cupcake company went bust and your boyfriend dumped you, you met Danny on a beach, and you both decided you needed each other for a fairytale happy ending.’

Ella didn’t like the tone of Nash’s voice, but she nodded anyway. However you chose to word her story, those were the nuts and bolts of it. She just didn’t like how Nash made it sound.

‘And in case you were wondering, Aaron also told me the specifics about Danny’s friendship with Yves Benoit,’ he said in a stage whisper. ‘I’ve signed what seems like hundreds of contracts and NDAs and your secret’s safe with me. Believe me, I’m used to dealing with famous people and their private affairs.’

Ella shifted in her chair. She was wearing a Valentino lace dress in a rosy pink and even though she’d dressed coolly, and her feet were bare, she still felt uncomfortably hot. Nash didn’t approve of her and her marriage – she got that – but she wasn’t going to rise to his bait and defend herself. Aaron wanted Nash to manage her, and if they were going to get along, she had to play it safe.

‘Are you married?’ she asked Nash, as she wrapped her hands around her icy glass in the hope it would help her cool down. It was disconcerting that the man in front of her knew her most intimate secrets, yet she barely knew anything about him. It didn’t feel particularly balanced.

Nash shook his head. ‘I was. I met a beautiful actress, married for
love
,’ he said pointedly, ‘and then six months after our wedding she announced she’d met someone else. I was devastated. We had a messy break-up, an even messier divorce, and I got hurt. So I swapped actors for the sport industry, moved to the other side of London, and set about rebuilding my life from scratch. I’m only just coming through it.’ He took a sip of his iced tea thoughtfully, and there was a horrible, awkward silence as Ella struggled with what to say next.

‘So,’ Ella said as brightly as possible. ‘What’s going to happen next with you being my manager? How do you see this all working out?’

Nash sat back in his chair. His shirt stretched across his chest, and Ella suddenly realised how good-looking her new manager was. He had longish medium-brown hair that covered his ears and tapered down the back of his neck, arresting light-blue eyes, full lips, and cheeky freckles over his boxer’s nose. He wasn’t her type, but she could tell Nash Barnwell wasn’t short of female fans.

‘Well, I’ve been given your notes from Aaron, and my job is to boost your career. You’re already doing really well at
Cerise
magazine, but I’m thinking further down the line. I can imagine that if everything goes well with your bits and pieces there, that in a couple of years you could launch your own fashion magazine. Kind of like how Oprah has her own mag in America.’

Ella gasped, but Nash wasn’t paying attention to her and didn’t notice her surprise.

‘I think it’s the natural next step. Rio Ferdinand has his own magazine, but I think you could launch one off the back of your personality and talent and really make a go of it. Of course, you wouldn’t have to do too much work, as we’d employ a team to do it for you, but it would be a good brand extension for you. It would really cement you as someone powerful and inspirational.’

‘I don’t know what to say,’ Ella murmured. To think that she could have her own magazine! It was mind-blowing!

‘And you’re about to start presenting
A Week in Wonderland
with Johnny Cooper, aren’t you?’ Nash continued briskly. ‘I’m going to hold your hand through that, and make sure you – and the show – are as successful as can be. How’s that going for you, by the way? Are you looking forward to the first live show?’

Ella tried desperately hard to put how she felt about Johnny Cooper out of her mind, and concentrated as much as she could on being professional. ‘It’s going well,’ she said brightly. ‘We’ve done a couple of run-throughs, and the first show’s going out live next week. I feel sick just thinking about it, to be honest.’

‘I’m not surprised. It’s a big job, considering you don’t have any presenting experience and have only been asked to do it because of who you’re married to. I have a couple of methods to help you deal with live TV that I learnt from my previous clients, and I’ll be there during the recordings if you need it.’

Ella was so grateful for any help that she failed to notice Nash’s dig at her. ‘Really? That would be so great. Danny can’t come with me because he’s so busy with training, so it would be good to have someone there for me.’

Nash eyed Ella thoughtfully. ‘What about friends?’ he asked her carefully. ‘Do you have any friends who’d be interested in watching the recording and being there for you?’

Ella shook her head sadly. ‘Aaron doesn’t think I should really hang out with the partners of Kingston United players – although I see Chastity Taylor sometimes – and I’ve drifted away from my old friends. We don’t have that much in common any more.’ She thought of Stacey, and felt a deep pang of regret. She missed her step-sister so much, but it was impossible to try to see her like she used to. Their lives were so different.

‘Well, don’t you worry about that. I’ve been employed to look after you, and that’s what I’m going to do.’