Divas (29 page)

It was the strangest feeling for a girl who couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t been the cynosure of all eyes. It should have been intensely frustrating for Lola to find herself
suddenly vanishing from the radar that had picked her up every time she stepped outside her house; but to her great surprise, she found herself enjoying it tremendously.

Everything in her life was upside down. It had taken her fiancé’s overdose and coming out to make her realise that she hadn’t wanted to marry him after all. It had taken his
horrible older brother, who she still passionately disliked, to give her a taste of the kind of sex she had been craving her whole life, without ever being aware of it.

And it had taken her being arrested for the murder of her own father to give her the kind of anonymity she had never had, and show her how much she liked it.

Lola passed the paparazzi as if she were wearing a cloak of invisibility. As always, there was a line of yellow cabs waiting outside the Plaza, and she paused a moment for the doorman, who
always in the past would have scrambled to open the door of the first one for her. It took her a little while to realise that he wasn’t going to bother; she obviously wasn’t going to
tip him, nor was she pretty enough to make it a pleasure to do her a service.

God
, she thought as she opened the door and climbed in.
Pretty girls really do have an easier time of it. I must be
much
nicer to plain girls in future.

‘
Lola!
’ everyone screamed as she entered Madison’s apartment.

If Madison’s neighbours were on the ball, Lola thought dryly, they would be ringing the tabloids right now to let them know that Lola Fitzgerald was partying with her girlfriends: the
screams were certainly loud enough to have been heard all down the corridor.

‘Oh my God,
Lola?
’ Devon exclaimed, sitting up straighter in the chair in which she’d been lounging, and goggling at the dowdy secretary who had just walked into the
room.

In a dramatic gesture, which she enjoyed tremendously, Lola reached up and pulled off her wig and wig-cap in one smooth movement, revealing her pinned-back blonde hair.

‘I would never have known it was you!’ Georgia marvelled. ‘I would have walked straight past you in the street!’

‘
Darling!
’ Madison rushed towards Lola, arms out wide in an embrace.

Right
, Lola thought with that small cold part of her brain that she had learned to access ever since the first time one of her friends had betrayed her.
You’re all over me now
that I don’t need a place to stay. But when I needed something, you couldn’t get me off the phone fast enough.

Tall, Amazonian Madison, enfolding Lola in a hug, made her disappear momentarily into a Gucci-scented whirl of cream silk and pale suede. Re-emerging, Lola looked wryly at her four friends, all
dressed exquisitely, and pulled a face.

‘I’m going to get changed straight away, ’ she said. ‘Mad, come and talk to me while I do?’

‘Of course!’

Madison looked mightily relieved that Lola didn’t seem to have any resentment towards her because of her refusal to let Lola stay in her apartment. Snatching up two glasses of kir-laced
champagne, she strode quickly after Lola down the hall to her bedroom.

‘You’ve lost weight, honey, ’ she said, handing Lola one of the glasses. ‘All the stress, right?’

‘You can’t imagine, ’ Lola said, sitting down on the bed and slipping off her heels so that she could take off her nasty scratchy-wool trousers.

‘Where did you
get
that outfit?’ Madison asked, distracted by its horror.

‘David bought it for me at Macy’s, ’ Lola said.

‘Ewww!’

‘David’s a real sweetie, ’ Lola said. ‘I’m so happy Jean-Marc met him. They’re getting married, you know. In London. Next month.’

Standing up, peeling off her sweater, wearing just her silk La Perla bra and French knickers, Lola reached for her glass of Kir Royale and sipped some, her big brown eyes watching Madison
limpidly. Madison’s green eyes widened as she digested the news.

‘Oh, whoops!’ Lola clapped a hand over her mouth. ‘Mad, I can’t believe I told you that, it’s such a secret! Please,
please
don’t tell anyone! You know
what the press is like – David and Jean-Marc just want to sneak off and have a really quiet ceremony, and if
anyone
knows it’ll leak out. Please, you have to promise you
won’t tell!’

‘Oh, I won’t, I promise I won’t, ’ Madison assured her.

‘No, really!’ Lola insisted. ‘Jean-Marc’s been so good to me – you know he’s paying for everything, right? And he took me in and says I can stay as long as I
want.’

She stared hard at Madison, who did have the good grace to look uncomfortable at this.

‘So I mustn’t,
mustn’t
let him down – you promise you won’t tell, Mad?’

‘Cross my heart and hope to die, ’ Madison swore.

Lola pulled on her jeans and silk Missoni sweater, a knit so light but so elaborately patterned in a peacock design that only the slimmest of women could have carried it off, and went back to
the living-room to be greeted ecstatically by the rest of the girls.

‘
Such
a good disguise, ’ Devon said admiringly. ‘
So
clever.’

‘You’re not all staying here, are you?’ Lola asked, taking prime position, in the centre of the white leather sofa, where everyone could see her. She sipped more Kir Royale and
fixed Madison with another big brown innocent gaze. ‘I didn’t know you had room for this many guests, Mad!’

Madison laughed brightly.

‘Oh no, just Georgia, ’ she said.

‘Devon and I are staying at Soho House, ’ India said, smiling at Lola. ‘The pool gets a bit crowded at the weekends, though.’

‘The Meatpacking District’s over already, ’ Devon sighed.‘I mean, Soho House is supposed to be a private club, but it’s like they let in every single hedge fund
manager in New York! And God, they bring in some trashy girls.’

‘We were there last night, ’ Madison said, pulling a face. ‘
Not
as exclusive as it used to be.’

‘But how are
you
, Lo?’

Georgia leaned forward, pushing back her red curls with both perfectly manicured hands, as if to bare both her ears to hear Lola’s answer better. She was wearing sprayed-on jeans and a
strappy green jersey top, large diamond studs glittering in her earlobes: even by Georgia’s hi-glam standards, she looked very dressed up for a quiet girls’ night in, Lola
couldn’t help thinking.

‘I’m still in shock, I think, ’ Lola admitted, reaching for a pack of cigarettes on the coffee table and lighting one up.

Lola had cried solidly for the past three days, ever since she was given bail. Getting back to the Plaza, being able, finally, to let go after all the drama of her arrest and the time in the
Tombs, had been as if she were a puppet and someone had cut her strings. She had collapsed. It had taken her two days just to get out of bed. And she probably would still be there, if the girls,
come to New York en masse to ‘see how she was doing’, aka get all the latest juicy gossip from her imploding disaster of a life, hadn’t kept ringing and ringing.

‘Is there anything to eat?’ she asked. ‘I’m starving.’

‘We got some negimaki rolls, ’ India said, jumping up.‘I’ll find you a plate.’

‘Oh, I’ll come too, ’ Lola said quickly, rising to her feet and following India to the kitchen.

On the granite counter top was a big plate of negimaki – grilled strips of beef dressed with teriyaki sauce and rolled up with finely sliced spring onions. It was perfect food for watching
your weight: rich-tasting and nicely chewy, so it felt satisfying, while the lean protein gave you energy without too many accompanying calories.

‘I got some plain boiled rice, too, ’ India confessed. ‘Madison was so cross. I had to promise to eat it all myself or throw it out with washing-up liquid poured over so she
couldn’t snack on it if she got a carb craving.’

‘Give me a spoonful, ’ Lola said. ‘I’m so hungry I could eat my own arm.’

India flashed her a quick smile. She was looking very pretty, Lola thought. India would always be the plain one of the group, comparatively speaking. But if you looked at her on her own, she had
a lovely, gentle face, with wide-set hazel eyes, framed by soft tumbling light-brown curls. And OK, she might not be a size four, but she had a very nice figure, slim, with a naturally flat
stomach. It was just the rest of the girls’ competitive starvation stakes that made India look larger than life by comparison.

‘Here you go, ’ India said, producing a takeout container of rice from the oven, which of course was only used as an extra cupboard: it was never actually turned on. India pulled out
two spoons and shot Lola a comical, naughty glance, like a little girl sneaking ice cream from the freezer behind her parents’ back.

‘Just a couple of spoonfuls . . .’ Lola said, loading hers up with rice and topping it with a negimaki roll. ‘Mmm,
lovely,
’ she said through a mouthful.

‘We can finish it off, ’ India said happily, scraping out some more rice. ‘Madison’ll be much happier if there isn’t any left. She really doesn’t like complex
carbs in the house.’

‘I’ve barely eaten for the last couple of days, ’ Lola said, taking another piece of beef. ‘It’s been so difficult at Jean-Marc’s.’

‘Really?’ India’s eyes widened. ‘I thought he was being amazing! We were all saying how lucky you were to have him still around!’

I am
, Lola thought dryly.
Considering he was the only person to offer to help me, I’m pretty bloody lucky to have Jean-Marc in my life
.

‘It’s his brother, ’ Lola sighed. ‘He keeps coming round and telling Jean-Marc to throw me out. There’ve been the
worst
scenes. I hear them screaming and
shouting. Niels even told Jean-Marc he thought it was me that turned Jean-Marc gay.’

India’s eye sockets were so enlarged by now her eyeballs were popping out dangerously.

‘
No!
’ she breathed. ‘That’s mad!’

‘I know!’ Lola shrugged helplessly. ‘He completely hates me!’ She pulled a face. ‘Don’t tell anyone, will you, India? Jean-Marc would be so cross if he knew I
was talking about it – his brother embarrasses him so much.’

‘Oh, I won’t, ’ India promised eagerly. ‘Lola, I’m so sorry – that must be so difficult for you—’

‘What’s up? Talking secrets? Ugh, are you two pigging out?’ Devon said in disapproval, entering the kitchen. ‘Is that
rice?
’

‘I ordered some, ’ India stammered guiltily. ‘Madison says I have to finish it or throw it out—’

‘Oh God, give me a spoon, ’ Devon said greedily. ‘Just a little bit. I get so terrible when I’m drinking.’

‘India, would you get my cigarettes?’ Lola asked. ‘They’re in my bag. If I don’t have one I’ll just keep eating . . .’ She pulled a self-deprecating
face.

India scurried out of the kitchen, always willing to help. Lola exchanged a glance of complete affection with Devon.

‘I can’t believe she got in
rice
, ’ Devon said, grinning. She allowed herself one heaped teaspoon of rice, chewing it slowly and making little noises of appreciation.
‘Not even
brown
rice. India is such a little piglet.’ She looked Lola up and down. ‘You’re thin as a rake, ’ she commented.

‘I think it’s the medication, ’ Lola said lightly. ‘Jean-Marc got this doctor in to see me when I came back from the bail hearing. She put me on some sort of
antidepressant. I haven’t wanted a bite to eat ever since.’

‘
Really?
Do find out what they are, won’t you?’ Devon exclaimed.

Lola looked panicked. ‘Don’t tell anyone about the pills, Dev. The lawyer says it might look bad if it gets out I’m on anything at all, what with the coke photos and
everything.’

‘Of course not! Oh God, will you listen to me?’ Devon tossed the spoon in the sink and threw her arms around Lola, hugging her tightly. ‘I’m going on about diets and how
thin you are, as if all that stuff was important, with what you’re going through! My God, they’re
stalking
you through the streets!’

Devon put up a hand to stroke Lola’s hair.

‘Poor Lo, ’ she said, her voice soft. ‘What you’ve been through! We came over as soon as we could.’

‘Dev! Stop hogging Lola!’ Georgia draped herself decoratively against the lintel of the door. She never merely stood when she could fall into an artistic pose. ‘Come through,
we’ve got a great idea for something to do tonight! Madison just thought of it!’

‘Aren’t we staying in?’ Lola asked, following Georgia down the corridor as Devon threw the empty rice container guiltily into the dustbin and swept some loose grains off the
counter top.

‘We
were
—’ Georgia said, ‘but Mad’s got
such
a good idea—’

‘I really shouldn’t go out at all, ’ Lola said doubtfully.

‘Oh God, don’t worry! Just put on that awful wig again!
No one
’ll recognise you in that!’ Georgia assured her blithely.

‘Georgia, can I ask you something? In confidence?’ Lola paused momentarily in the corridor.

‘Of course!’ Georgia turned to look at her, the thick red curls sweeping over her face. Gold earrings dangled to her shoulders, swishing against the white skin amply revealed by
Georgia’s emerald silk top.

‘I’m thinking of getting some work done . . .’ Lola confessed. ‘I saw myself in all those press photos, and it made me feel really bad about my—’

‘Oh my God! Your tits! You’re getting a boob job!’ Georgia pronounced instantly, her gaze dropping to Lola’s admittedly small (30B) breasts.

‘No!’ Lola said, insulted.

‘Bigger’s
always
better, ’ Georgia said smugly, regarding her own magnificent 32Ds.

‘I like being able to get into any clothes I want, ’ Lola contradicted, still offended. ‘Anyway, I was thinking of getting my chin shaved down a little bit. It looked really
pointy in the photos, especially when I’m in profile.’

‘Oh, I wouldn’t bother, ’ Georgia said instantly. ‘Remember when Dev got hers done and she was so cross because no one could tell the difference?’