Read Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend Online

Authors: Jenny Colgan

Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend (15 page)

BOOK: Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend
10.3Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads
 
‘Now, don’t scream, Philly,’ said Carena. ‘I’m sorry, Sophie. The excitement just overcame me for a moment there.’
 
‘Really,’ I said.
 
‘I realise this must come as a shock to you.’
 
Uh, d’uh. My insides were telling me I wasn’t as half over him as I’d hoped. Oh God, oh God, oh God. He
had
been ready to propose. Just not to me!
 
‘Well, I’ve had other things on my mind,’ I said stiffly.
 
Carena and Philly immediately assumed the ‘Sad Face’ I remembered so well from my childhood.
 
‘I was sorry to hear about your dad,’ said Carena, although she sounded a lot more convincing about this than she had about Rufus. ‘I really was. I wish . . . I would have come to the funeral.’
 
‘Well, you didn’t,’ I said briskly. I couldn’t talk about that now.
 
There was a long pause at the table. A long pause. I wanted to wait till I felt I’d made my point, but it was getting ridiculous. And I was going to be incredibly late for work.
 
‘So you’ve tamed Rufus!’ I said finally. ‘Amazing, well done you!’
 
‘And they said it couldn’t be done,’ said Carena, her colour returning.
 
‘Without faking a pregnancy,’ I said. ‘I’m kidding, OK.’
 
I made a superhuman effort to swallow all my gall. I might be talking to Carena again, but I’d never be one of her little lapdogs.
 
‘If you like, you can tell me all about it.’
 
Carena glanced at Philly. ‘Shall we?’
 
‘Oh, do,’ said Philly. ‘It’s genius. I can’t believe it worked.’
 
‘I
know
,’ said Carena.
 
I picked up my teaspoon. It was, literally, quite greasy.
 
‘Well, you’ve heard of that book called
The Rules
?’ started Philly.
 
‘From, like years and years ago?’ I said. ‘Like the nineties or something? And you’re just meant to never answer the phone.’
 
‘Oh, it’s a bit more than that,’ said Carena.
 
‘This is genius,’ said Philly. ‘Let’s see . . . a man is desperate to sleep with you. What do you do?’
 
I thought about Rufus in the bedroom then banished it from my head. It hadn’t been his finest arena, to be sure.
 
‘I do not know,’ I answered truthfully.
 
‘You don’t sleep with him!’ said Philly.
 
‘You haven’t slept with him?’ I said, looking at Carena, who looked like the cat who’d got the cream. ‘But you slept with half the Klosters Olympic team.’
 
Her face fell. ‘We all have a past, Sophie.’
 
‘You really haven’t slept with him? But remember the yacht crew in Antigua?’
 
‘I don’t really miss you that much as a friend,’ grumbled Carena.
 
‘Does he think you’re a
virgin
?’
 
‘He really is desperate,’ said Philly.
 
‘Let me see,’ I said.
 
Faux-reluctantly, Carena lifted her elegantly manicured hand from underneath the rickety Formica table. It didn’t look like it belonged there, but sure enough, on her fourth finger was a huge, huge, huge diamond.
 
‘Shit.’ I whistled. ‘He really
is
desperate.’
 
And I wondered if this was the right time to tell her that after the spanking he was a tad . . .
 
Ah, she’d find out soon enough.
 
‘So we wanted to see you were OK,’ said Philly, leaning over and fixing me with a limpid gaze designed to express sincerity and caring. ‘After everything that’s happened . . .’
 
‘Yeah, yeah, yeah,’ I said, stirring my tea. I’d started taking sugar - the boys always made it really sweet - and without noticing dropped a couple of cubes in my glass. The girls simultaneously winced.
 
‘What on
earth
are you doing?’ said Carena. ‘Sugar! It’s . . . sugar . . . it’s . . .’
 
‘Delicious,’ I said. ‘Want some?’
 
‘You’ve changed,’ said Philly.
 
‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I have.’
 
Philly leaned forwards. ‘You know, there’s one thing I wanted to suggest,’ she said.
 
‘Oh yes?’
 
‘Have you thought about the Priory?’ she said. She and Carena glanced at each other.
 
‘What are you talking about?’ I said. ‘I don’t need the Priory. I need a job that pays more than minimum wage!’
 
‘Do you think you’re in denial?’ said Philly, looking pointedly at my tea.
 
‘Do you think I’m addicted to
sugar
?’ I asked.
 
She shrugged. ‘You know, people go in for all sorts of reasons, ’ said Carena. ‘Exhaustion, stress - your father’s death may be making you depressed.’
 
I knew it. They’ve always wanted to get inside the Priory in case there’s anyone famous in there.
 
‘You think?’ I said. ‘You think my father’s sudden death might be making me sad?’
 
‘Maybe you feel guilty about it,’ said Philly.
 
That took the wind out of my sails a bit. Without knowing she’d hit the nail completely on the head. Of course I felt guilty. If I’d answered my phone . . . If I’d been at home . . . If I’d gone to be with him . . . If I’d looked after him before . . . If I’d been the kind of daughter he deserved, after working hard all his life. Of course I felt fucking guilty.
 
‘I feel
sad
,’ I said emphatically. ‘That’s exactly how I should feel. I don’t need to give someone lots of money I don’t have to recognise the fact that I’m sad. I’d need a mental hospital if I
wasn’t
sad.’
 
‘Of course,’ said Philly. ‘But, you know. The Priory is practically a luxury hotel. The perfect retreat to bring your body and soul back together.’
 
‘Why don’t you go then?’ I said. ‘Oh, no . . . you said you need a soul.’
 
Then it struck me. ‘Are you doing their PR by any chance?’
 
‘Um, maybe.’ Philly forgot herself for a moment, then put her serious face back on.
 
Right, that’s enough. I stood up.
 
‘I think you need to throw off your sadness,’ said Carena. ‘Buy a beautiful new dress. Go dancing. Lose some weight.’
 
Well, there’s nothing like being told to lose some weight to help you throw off your sadness.
 
‘You’re not listening, are you?’ I said. ‘I don’t have any money. I’m living on nothing. That’s why I’ve got a job. Why do you even think I’m down here?’
 
Carena looked around. ‘Oh, I thought you’d picked up a funky five-thousand-square-foot warehouse somewhere. Have they frozen your allowance whilst they work out the lawyer’s fees?’
 
‘Well, kind of,’ I said. ‘I don’t get it for six months. Well, four months now. I had to go and get a real job and things.’
 
Carena’s eyes widened. ‘You’re kidding?’ she said. ‘A job? No allowance?’
 
‘Nope.’
 
‘Oh my God. I can’t imagine.’
 
Philly rolled her eyes. ‘Oh, you know, some people
do
live without trust funds.’ She paused. ‘Not me, obviously, couldn’t do without mine . . .’
 
‘It’s not that bad,’ I said. Here was genuine sympathy at last.
 
‘Tell Gail to just bloody well sort it out!’ said Carena. ‘Or borrow my lawyer and sue her to hell and back.’
 
‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘That’s a genuinely kind offer. But it’s probably easier just to wait.’
 
‘Oh, you poor thing,’ said Philly. ‘What’s it like being poor? Tell us all about it.’
 
And she sat forward, perfectly painted mouth slightly open, desperate for squalid details. Carena too. Her gaze had caught my bra strap. I don’t know how you wash bras - you don’t put them in the machine, do you? I needed to call Esperanza again. So I’d just been letting them get a bit grubby.
 
‘What’s your flat like?’ said Philly, prompting me. And I was about to tell her.
 
Maybe make light of it, tell a few jokes . . . or just dissolve into tears and admit it was awful, everything was shit and please, please, could they like me again and could I stay in Carena’s guest suite? I felt I’d done my best to be strong about everything that had happened but now, I was sure if I abased myself enough and begged they would let me back in. OK, they’d patronise me for a bit, try to lend me clothes and things, but eventually it would all be forgotten and the remaining months would pass and I’d get at my money and all would be forgiven and forgotten and I could go back to normal. All I needed to do was eat a bit of humble pie now . . . tell them how dreadful everything was . . . tell them how unhappy I was and throw myself on their mercy. How hard could it be? Then everything could go back to normal . . .
 
I opened my mouth to start my tale of woe when the café bell tinged for people coming in.
 
‘Hey!’ said the man behind the counter. ‘So good to see my favourite boys today.’
 
‘Good to see you too, Avi,’ said a familiar, drawling voice. ‘Why, hello. Is that Cinders? On one of her posh lunches out? Sex in the Shitty?’
 
It was Cal, with Wolverine in tow.
 
Cal immediately clocked the talent at the table - Carena of course, blonde and gorgeous, Philly, putting the effort in - and his expression turned wolfish.
 
‘So what’s all this then?’
 
I suddenly felt really gratified that I was living with a hot guy. Nobody had to know how.
 
‘Oh, hello, mucky pup,’ I said, as if I was so unbelievably casual about seeing him I’d hardly noticed he was there. ‘This is my flatmate, Cal. Carena and Philly were just having to head off, I think.’
 
‘No, we’re fine,’ said Philly hurriedly. ‘Not all of us have to go to work in the morning.’
 
‘Quite right too,’ said Cal, smiling and showing his lovely teeth. ‘I wondered where Sophie had been hiding her friends. No wonder she was trying to keep them out of our way.’
 
I muttered something.
 
‘Would you like to sit and join us?’ asked Philly.
 
‘Would love to, darling, but we’re having tea on the run.’ He winked at her. ‘The kiln waits for no man. But Sophie’s invited you to our party on Saturday, right?’
 
‘
You’re
having a party?’ said Philly to me. This obviously didn’t quite dwell with her image of me as a depression-laden Priory case. Wolverine had moved closer to her and seemed to be trying to sniff her neck.
 
‘Oh, it’s just for a few friends,’ I said, feeling embarrassed, but quite pleased at the same time.
 
‘And you weren’t going to invite us?’
 
I arched an eyebrow and she retreated.
 
‘You should both come,’ said Cal sincerely, ‘beautiful women are always welcome.’ Carena batted her huge eyelashes at him. Hey, don’t start this again, I thought crossly.
 
‘Hey, Sophs,’ Cal said suddenly. ‘Are you done here? Come outside, I want to ask you something.’
 
My heart beat a bit faster. Ooh. And this was a perfect time to make an exit. Suddenly I didn’t feel the urge to confess everything and beg to come back at all. Suddenly, having mysterious gorgeous bad boys drag me out of coffee shops didn’t seem like such a bad way to live, particularly compared to someone else’s charity.
 
‘Excuse me,’ I said. ‘It was lovely to see you guys. Thanks for checking up on me!’
 
Phillly eyed me like I’d just gotten away with something. ‘I still really think you should come to the Priory with us.’
 
‘The Priory?’ said Cal. ‘What on earth are you talking about? She’s not going to the Priory! We need her here with us!’
 
He didn’t add, ‘Because she scours out the loo and washes our stinkables,’ and I was eternally grateful.
BOOK: Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend
10.3Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Pyrus by Sean Watman
The Boy Next Door by Katy Baker
La Séptima Puerta by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman
After and Again by McLellan, Michael
Prologue by Greg Ahlgren
The Thirteen Gun Salute by Patrick O'Brian
Another Chance by Beattie, Michelle
Romancing Lady Cecily by Ashley March