Angel (23 page)

'Thought you might like something for the
journey,' he told her, cutting her a line.

For a split second Angel hesitated, then took the
coke.

Buddah was already packed by the time they
arrived. The theme was East meets West with huge
low-slung velvet sofas to recline on, ornate gold
tables, fat-bellied Buddahs lit up in alcoves and the
sweet smell of incense in the air. Usually Angel
would have hated the crowds, but tonight she was
oblivious to them. She stayed close to Mickey, feeling
loved up and mellow. Halfway through the night
they bumped into Desiree, a backing singer the band
had used a couple of times, he said. Desiree was a
beautiful mixed-race girl in her twenties. She was
very friendly to Angel, telling her what a fan of hers
she was and how beautiful she was. When it was time
to go, Mickey asked if they could give Desiree a lift.

In the back of the limo all three of them took
another line and Mickey whispered to Angel, 'How
would you feel about Desiree staying at mine
tonight?'

'Cool,' Angel replied, thinking nothing of it.

As soon as they arrived back at the flat, Mickey
opened a bottle of champagne and put music on.
Angel was feeling increasingly out of it and was
getting tired. She sank into the sofa and Desiree sat
down on the other sofa, lighting up a cigarette.
Mickey sat down next to Angel, kissed her lightly on
the lips, then whispered, 'You know that thing we
talked about a while ago? Now seems like a good
time, don't you think?'

'What thing?' Angel asked, not having a clue
what he was talking about.

'You know,' Mickey murmured, 'the threesome.
You promised you'd try it when the time was right.
Now seems perfect. Desiree's definitely up for it,
she told me earlier.'

Slightly shocked, Angel pulled away from his
embrace and looked over at the girl. 'I'm not sure I
want to, Mickey.'

'Oh, come on, babe, it's just a bit of fun,' Mickey
urged her, kissing her again. 'Go on, try it, for me.'

'I don't know.' Angel got up from the sofa and
went into the bathroom. She'd taken more coke
and drunk more champagne than she ever had,
and she wasn't capable of thinking clearly. For a few
moments she tried to focus on herself in the mirror,
trying to gather her thoughts.
Was it such a big deal?
If it would make Mickey happy, shouldn't she try it?
She
returned to the living room, where Mickey was
laying down more lines of coke, and sat back down.
Still sitting on the other sofa, her long legs crossed,
Desiree looked at her knowingly and smiled.

'I'm still not sure,' Angel whispered to Mickey.

'Just have another line then, babe, let yourself
go,' Mickey replied. His voice was soothing and she
relaxed a little, feeling comforted by being close to
him.

Angel took another line, then Desiree moved
next to her and Mickey. Mickey kissed her again
and Angel tried to lose herself in his kiss.
What would
be so bad about it?
she asked herself. It was no big deal
really. Suddenly she was aware that Desiree was
gently stroking her leg. Angel tensed, then relaxed;
it felt good. When Desiree slid her hand up Angel's
thigh and started caressing her through her silk
thong, Angel pulled away at first, shocked, but
Mickey pulled her back, telling her to relax. Angel
closed her eyes and gradually surrendered to the
pleasure. Desiree certainly knew what she was
doing. As her slender fingers tantalisingly caressed
Angel, sending waves of pure pleasure rippling
through her body, Mickey kissed her more deeply.

'Come on, let's go into the bedroom,' he murmured,
scooping Angel up in his arms and
carrying her through. He laid her on the bed,
stripped, then slid off Angel's clothes. Desiree
joined them on the bed, now naked herself, her
body firm and lithe. Mickey kissed Angel, first her
lips, then her breasts, and Angel closed her eyes,
feeling aroused. Suddenly, she was startled as
Desiree slid down the bed and started caressing
Angel with her brand-new, 24-carat-gold-plated
Little Gold vibrator. She tried to move away, but
Mickey held onto her.

'Just enjoy it, babe, enjoy it.' Angel tried to resist
but Desiree persisted and Angel felt her inhibitions
melt away, more waves of pure pleasure surging
through her. She pulled Mickey towards her and
went down on him, stopping only when Desiree
brought her to the most amazing orgasm. It had
been worth spending £200 on the toy.

'Take another line,' Mickey ordered. They
switched positions so she was on top of Mickey
while Desiree caressed her breasts.

Their sexual marathon seemed to last for hours, punctuated
by more lines of coke and more champagne – so much that eventually Angel
passed out.

She woke up as someone roughly shook her
shoulder.

Struggling to surface from her alcohol- and
drug-fuelled sleep, Angel blearily opened her eyes
to see Desiree hovering over her, fully dressed and
looking extremely pissed off.

'Mickey's already left for the studio and he hasn't
paid me.'

'Hasn't paid you for what?' Angel asked, her
head pounding as she attempted to sit up.

'For last night, of course!'

'What do you mean?' Angel asked, a horrible
realisation starting to dawn. 'I thought you were a
singer!'

'Sometimes,' Desiree replied with a hostile look
on her face. 'Sometimes I get my money in other
ways.'

Shock turned to anger. Angel hated Mickey for
putting her in this situation. She'd gone along with
his threesome suggestion to please him and, yes,
much to her surprise she had enjoyed herself. But
discovering that the third party was a prostitute put
a whole different slant on the affair. Getting out of
bed and reaching for her robe, she demanded to
know how much Desiree was expecting.

'He said two grand.'

'Two grand!' Angel exploded. 'I'm going to
phone him right now.'

Desiree shrugged. 'Suit yourself, it's what he
agreed to.'

Angel grabbed her mobile and marched into the
lounge.

'What the fuck's going on, Mickey?' she hissed
down the phone as soon as he answered. 'That
woman,' she couldn't bring herself to use her name
'has just demanded two grand for last night. Did
you know she was a hooker?'

'Babe,' Mickey pleaded, 'I had no idea it was
going to cost that much. Come on, you enjoyed
yourself, didn't you?'

'I can't believe you did that to me, you fucking
bastard!' Angel was shouting now. She started as
Desiree appeared in the doorway, coolly watching
her and dragging hard on her cigarette.

'Come on, Angel, just give her the money and I'll
pay you back.'

Angel moved away to the far side of the room so
Desiree couldn't hear. 'I haven't got two fucking
grand on me, I'll give her what I've got and you'll
have to give her the rest.' She snapped her mobile
shut and, feeling humiliated and furious, she
grabbed her bag, counted out a grand and thrust
it into Desiree's hands.

'That's all I've got on me, you'll have to get the
rest from Mickey.' She could hardly bring herself to
look at the woman, mortified knowing she had
been paid to do all those things.

'Cheers,' Desiree muttered, then sauntered
towards the front door. There she paused, turning
round to face Angel, and said, 'If you want to do it
again, Mickey's got my number, or if you fancied a
one-to-one, I'd be up for that. It would be less than
for the threesome, of course.'

There were all kinds of things Angel wanted to
say to her. Instead, she chose to ignore her and
slam the door in her face. Desiree's laughter
seemed to echo in the flat long after her departure.

Angel took a very long shower, as if she could
somehow wash away the humiliation. When she got
dressed, she received a text message from Mickey,
thanking her for bailing him out and again
promising to pay her back. He also left her the
number of his dealer. Angel's lip curled in disgust.

'What a wanker,' she exclaimed, suddenly glad
he was going to be away with the band for a few days
and he would miss her birthday. She grabbed her
coat and left the flat, slamming the door behind her.

She wanted to get back home right away, to a
place that didn't carry the memories of what had
happened last night. Her head was buzzing. In the
taxi back to Hampstead, her mind kept replaying
what had happened last night over and over, feeling
a mixture of shame and anger – ashamed that on
some level she had enjoyed it and angry that Mickey
had lied to her. Then just to torture herself further,
she recalled the awful meeting with her mother. She
couldn't believe that her mother had shown no
interest in her at all except when money was
mentioned.

As soon as she got back home she paced around
her flat, unable to settle. There were several
messages from Gemma and from Carrie. But Angel
didn't feel like speaking to anybody. She picked up
the pile of celeb magazines that had been delivered
that morning. Now Cal and Simone's supposed
engagement was front-page news in several
editions. She scooped all of them up and flung them
in the bin without reading them, just imagining
what Cal would think of her if he knew what she'd
been up to last night. Feeling desperate, she picked
up her mobile and found Mickey's message with his
dealer's number. She wrote it down, then took a
deep breath and rang him.

Two hours later, after a visit from Mickey's dealer,
Angel decided she felt up to phoning Gemma. Her
friend wanted Angel to come and look at
bridesmaid dresses and they arranged to meet later
that day. Angel really didn't feel like bridesmaid
material after the events of the previous night, but
agreed, for Gemma's sake. She killed time before
they met up by going to the gym, but found she
could only manage thirty lengths and in the end
went and sat in the steam room.

'You look knackered,' Gemma said, kissing her
friend as they met up in the bridal boutique.

'Yeah, well, it was a late night,' Angel muttered,
thinking,
If only she knew what I'd been up to
. She
knew it wouldn't be the threesome that Gemma
didn't approve of, but the drugs that led up to it,
and Mickey's behaviour, too. She could only pray
that Gemma never found out.

A romantic at heart, Gemma was going for the
full-on traditional wedding. She was wearing a
stunning strapless floor-length cream silk dress and
she wanted her bridesmaids to be in pale pink. She
planned to have the dresses made and wanted to
get some ideas, so she had Angel try on a number
of different outfits and model them for her. By now
Angel was feeling decidedly jaded, so while Gemma
was deep in conversation with one of the assistants,
she quickly nipped back into the fitting room and
took a line of coke, praying that the music would
drown out the noise of her sniffs.

Three more dresses later, Gemma finally
declared herself satisfied.

'Let's go for a drink – Tony said he might meet
us later.'

They wandered along the King's Road in
Chelsea and ended up at Max's, a trendy bar that
had just opened. Gemma quickly texted Tony to let
him know where they were.

'You seem to have livened up,' Gemma commented
as they sipped their drinks.

'Must be the alcohol,' Angel replied, praying
Gemma didn't think it was anything else.

'How are you feeling now about seeing your
mum?' Gemma asked her.

Angel definitely didn't feel up to a heart-to-heart. 'To be
honest I'm trying not to think about it. It was a mistake and I just want
to forget it.'

Gemma was about to ask her something else
when she caught sight of Tony. She waved at him
and Angel's heart missed a beat when she saw Cal
walking behind her brother.

'You look knackered,' her brother told her
bluntly, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.

'Thanks, that's just what Gemma said. Are you
going to join in the criticism as well, Cal?'

Cal gave her his slow sexy smile, which turned
Angel to jelly. 'No, you don't look so bad.'

'Well, I think I'd better try and repair the
damage,' Angel joked, making her way to the loos.

She considered herself in the mirror. The others
were right, she did look knackered; she had dark
shadows under her eyes, and her skin, which
usually glowed with good health, looked sallow.
Immediately she reached for her Touche Eclat.
That's better
, she thought, disguising the dark
circles. Then she put on blusher, more eyeliner and
mascara and lip gloss. She was sorely tempted to
take a quick line, but her fear of being found out
overrode her need and she returned to the table.

'Hasn't worked,' her brother told her. 'You've
got more make-up on but you still look knackered.'

'Shut up,' Gemma told him, putting her arm
round Angel. 'You look fine now, babe, we've just
been worried about you.'

Angel frowned; she wasn't prepared for this. It
looked like a set-up.

'Gemma told us you met your real mum and it
didn't go so well,' Cal said gently. Angel took a deep
breath, willing herself not to cry.

'Yeah, well, it wasn't quite what I had hoped for,'
Angel said in a brittle voice, anxious not to break
down in front of them. 'Anyway, I really don't want
to talk about it, so can we change the subject –
where have you two been?'

'Getting measured up for our wedding suits,' Cal
replied.

At the mention of weddings, Angel's spirits
plummeted still further – was she going to discover
that Cal really was engaged? That would be the
perfect end to a perfect day. She waited for him to
say something but he just talked about the
preparations for Tony's wedding and stag night.

'Oh, that reminds me,' Gemma said, 'I want you
to be in charge of organising my hen night, Angel.
Of course it would be you, who else would I want?'