River Deep (11 page)

‘I will be paying you back my whole life, I promise, in love and thanks and large vodkas and a free lunch today,’ she told Sarah, who looked at her as if she didn’t think that was nearly enough.

‘Ohhh Mum, look at that crane!’ Sam grabbed his mum by the arm and pointed out of the window.

Maggie glanced at Becca, who had shut her eyes and was feigning sleep. The tension, the anticipation of seeing Louise, had churned her up into all sorts of knots overnight and now she couldn’t explain the way she was feeling. ‘It’s almost like a first date feeling,’ she’d told Sarah when she’d picked her and the kids up that morning. ‘I’m dreading it, but I feel sort of fluttery and excited at the same time. Don’t ask me why but I just
know
that I have to do this, that it’s really going to change things.’

Sarah had stopped dead in her tracks, causing Sam to stumble a little and Becca to walk into her back.

‘Maggie,’ she’d said, her voice low, ‘I’m not really sure how I got involved in this wild goose chase, but we’re going now – so fine. But listen, please. Get this into perspective. Your frankly weird insistence on getting a look at Christian’s new bird is not going to change anything. You seeing her is not going to make any difference. I’m sorry, mate, but you’re clearly insane and tough love is pretty much all I’ve got spare right now. Now let’s get this over with and get to the-fun-day-out-with-the-kids bit OK?’

London Bridge station was practically empty, and as they walked out on to Tooley Street, only the few tourists who had decided that a Sunday morning was the best time to brave the London Dungeon were in the street.

‘Blimey,’ Becca said. ‘It’s like that zombie film when they have to go and hide in a shopping mall to stop getting eaten alive!’

‘Becca! When did you see a zombie film!’ Her mother asked her sharply.

Becca rolled her eyes. ‘God, Mum, everyone watches eighteens at my age!’ She looked at Maggie for affirmation, but Maggie avoided her eyes, sensing that now was not the right time to back Becca up.

‘It’s across the road in The Galleria: there are a few shops and a café. I thought the kids could wait there while we go and take a peek?’ she asked Sarah, hoping she wouldn’t make her go on her own after all. Sarah shrugged and, taking Sam’s hand, crossed the empty street.

After they had installed the children in the café with two large chocolate muffins and two hot chocolates topped with whipped cream, Sarah eyed them both sternly.

‘If either one of you moves an inch from here we’re going straight back home. No transport museum, no clothes shopping, nothing. OK?’

Becca and Sam exchanged a look. ‘OK!’ they both agreed.

Sarah looked at Maggie. ‘Right then. Five minutes. If we don’t see her by then I’m coming back here, all right?’

Maggie took a deep breath and nodded.

As she led Sarah out of the galleria, past the Riverside Bookshop and into the narrow back streets behind it, she felt her pulse quicken and her skin begin to fizz and tingle with nerves.

‘We spent ages looking for the right location,’ she told Sarah. ‘We wanted somewhere near to the heart of the City but with a bit of character, somewhere central but where the rent wouldn’t be astronomical. I found the building; it’s in a converted warehouse. A year ago it would have been out of our reach, but renting is really cheap right now. I even got them to give us a year’s lease, rent free. Of course we’ll have to make the business really work in that time. If we’re not established within twelve months they could just boot us out. A risk, but …’

Maggie let her voice trail off, disconcerted by the sound of it bouncing off the high buildings and narrow cobbled streets. She stopped in her tracks and reached for Sarah’s arm.

‘There it is on the corner. Fresh Talent 2.’

Just as she had specified to the glazier, the large windows had been fitted with rough-finished opaque glass, within which the Fresh Talent logo was picked out in smooth clear glass. With the huge glass and steel doors set into the Victorian arched doorway, it was just as she had imagined it. Classy. Contemporary, but not bland.

‘Ow!’ Sarah said with emphasis, and Maggie realised she had been gripping her arm rather tightly. ‘So what now? Are you going in? Do you want me too?’

Maggie stared at her. ‘No! We are not going in! My God, if she realised who I was that would make me look insane!’ Sarah raised an implacable eyebrow. ‘No, we’ll just wait here, get a glimpse of her going in or out or something.’ Maggie scrutinised the window, trying to catch a glimpse of movement through the sweeps of clear glass. ‘Hang on, someone’s coming out!’ she whispered, backing both her and Sarah against a wall.

‘Oh for God’s sake,’ Sarah mumbled. ‘We’re not bloody Cagney and Lacey.’

The door swung open and some kind of workman emerged with a ladder. He propped it against the wall and shinned up it to examine the first-floor window.

‘Workman on a Sunday,’ Maggie said with some satisfaction. ‘They must be desperate.’

Sarah looked impatiently at her watch. ‘Look, she’s not coming out. She’s probably not even here. Let’s go—’ Before she could finish the doors swung open again and Louise, it had to be Louise, appeared, tipping her chin back to talk to the workman. Both Maggie and Sarah opened their mouths and gawped in silent unison. She was not what they had expected.

The first thing they noticed was her hair. A golden blonde and perfectly straight, it fell to below her shoulders and was tucked back behind one ear. Her skin was a light gold, and even from her vantage point Maggie could see that her glossed lips were full and sultry.

‘Collagen,’ Sarah whispered, reading her mind. ‘Not sure about the tits, but silicon or not that girl is stacked!’ Both women observed the curves of her breasts, which tapered into a tiny waist and a flat stomach. She was wearing hipster jeans, but it was still obvious she had a perfectly rounded bottom and strong, toned thighs. ‘What was that I was saying about J-Lo?’ Sarah muttered. The conversation between Louise and the workmen over, she gave him a little smile and returned inside. She’d been visible for maybe twenty seconds.

‘Well.’ Sarah turned to look at Maggie. ‘That was a turn-up.’ But the space where Maggie had been standing was empty and Sarah saw that her friend had sunk on to the curb, head in hands. She sat down next her.

‘Hey, Mags?’ She rested her hand on her shoulders and felt them tremble beneath her fingers. ‘Come on. We knew this was going to be hard.’

Maggie raised her head and took a gulp of air. ‘But she’s not, she’s not …’ She gestured wildly at the space where a few moments ago Louise had stood, as if her dimensions somehow still occupied the air. ‘She’s nothing like me. I expected her to be … similar, you know? I expected her to be Christian’s
type
, like I am. Like he said I was. She’s all … She’s really sexy and beautiful. Just look at her!’ Once again Maggie pointed at the empty pavement outside Fresh Talent 2. Sarah sighed with exasperation as she watched the workman glance in their direction, and helped her friend to her feet.

‘Come on, we’re attracting attention,’ she said, hooking her arm through Maggie’s. Maggie glanced back over her shoulder and shook her head.

‘I don’t know, Sarah, I just thought that if I saw her it would be obvious what it was about her that made Christian want her, and I could change myself to be like her.’

‘Well it
is
obvious why he wants her!’ Sarah exclaimed angrily. ‘Men are so predictable. All they want is bits and bobs to play with.’

‘Yes but, but she’s the opposite of me. She’s …’ Maggie cupped her hands in front of her bust. ‘And all …’ She couldn’t find the words, but Sarah knew she was referring to the San Tropez tan and full-lipped smile. ‘I can’t compete with that. All these years I thought Christian really loved
me
and wanted
me
. Stupid, skinny, flat-chested me. And all along he wanted a … a … bombshell! I’ve been on borrowed time since day one!’

Sarah put her arm around Maggie and brought her to a standstill.

‘That’s not true, Mags. Look, I know I’m not Christian’s biggest fan, but I know how he looked at you when you were first together, and for most of the time you were a couple. He thought you were the bee’s knees. He loved every bit of you.’ She paused a moment before adding, ‘You know what I think? I think this Louise is just a reaction against you. Just a really bigarsed, cowardly way of getting you out of his head. OK, so she’s a stunner but that doesn’t mean you aren’t. You’re really beautiful in an unusual way. She’s just … well, she’s just pretty in a very
obvious
way,’ Sarah finished, realising that her word hadn’t come out in exactly the way she’d planned. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a tissue, which she spat on and rubbed roughly under Maggie’s eyes.

‘Now come on, can you pull yourself together for the kids? Let’s go shopping and forget all about this until we get home tonight, and then you and me’ll crack a few bottles of wine and rip the brassy tart to shreds into the small hours, OK?’

Looking at Maggie’s face, Sarah instantly regretted her tough love approach of earlier. Perhaps reality smacking her friend in the face like a wet fish was the last thing she needed. Maybe it would have been safer to keep her delusional for a couple of weeks longer, just until she started to feel better about herself and had a few rebound snogs under her belt. This was too soon.

‘You know, you have to stop all this crying,’ Sarah said to her gently. ‘It’s going to give you wrinkles.’

Maggie raised a weak smile and took a deep breath as they headed back into the café.

‘Mummy!’ Sam jumped up and hugged his mum hard round the hips.

‘At bloody last!’ Becca exclaimed, eyeing Maggie closely. ‘Well? Was she a total slapper?’ she asked matter-of-factly.

‘Total,’ Sarah said on behalf of her friend. ‘Now, enough of that language and let’s go shopping!’

‘Well.’ Sarah topped up Maggie’s glass and handed her another biscuit. ‘It’s a modern miracle, but Becca’s in bed reading and Sam’s fast asleep. I think we managed to shop Becca out.’ She sat down next to Maggie. ‘You didn’t have to buy her all that stuff, you know. I mean, I know you’ve got that cash coming, but you’re still out of a job.’

Maggie smiled wanly and sipped the wine.

‘Yeah, well, Sam got a few things too and I like to buy her stuff, she deserves it. She’s a good kid really, you know,’ she told Sarah, who nodded silently. ‘Anyway, it looks like that cash is going to be gone before I even get it.’ Maggie told Sarah about The Fleur and her early investigations into its finances.

‘Oh my God! That’s terrible!’ Sarah said as Maggie finished. ‘They could be out of a home and a business and everything?’

Maggie nodded. ‘Yeah, pretty much. I haven’t really gone into it yet, what with one thing and another.’ Maggie briskly put the image of Louise out of her mind. ‘But it doesn’t look hopeful. So the cash … well, luckily the creditors can’t get their hands on my money so I guess I’ll have to find us a place to live and set us up while I get a job.’ Maggie gave Sarah a heavy-lidded look over the rim of her glass. ‘Don’t things happen in threes? Dumped for a sex bomb, made homeless twice in a row … What’s next?’

Sarah shook her head. ‘You’ll be fine, Maggie. Look at everything you’ve achieved in your life so far. You’re young. You’ll pick yourself up and get back on your feet really soon. This is a beginning for you, not an end!’ she insisted, and then continued, ‘Oh fuck it, let’s just get pissed. Maybe when we sober up things will have got better.’

‘I don’t think we can stay drunk long enough,’ Maggie said, holding out her empty glass. ‘But I’m prepared to give it a go.’

‘I’m sorry, Mum, Dad.’ Maggie looked at each of her parents in turn, feeling a little breathless. Although it was still early, the air in the bar was thick with heat. ‘I spent all of Monday going over and over this again and again, but the fact of the matter is I can’t see a way out of it. I think you’re going to have to declare yourself bankrupt.’

Keith shook his head and looked at Marion who reached for his hand and squeezed it hard.

‘I mean, look around you,’ Maggie added looking around the bar. ‘The place is empty except for you and me. That pretty much says it all.’

‘But what are we going to do, Maggie?’ Marion’s voice trembled. ‘Surely there must be something we can do to turn things around. Decorate, maybe? There’s some paint in the cellar …’

Maggie shook her head grimly. ‘I’ve been through it again and again. First of all you’d have to catch up with your loan repayments, and that’s all but twenty grand.’ Maggie scrutinised her parents. ‘Where did that money go? It certainly wasn’t into this place?’

Her parents exchanged a glance.

‘Well, your brother got himself in a bit of a fix, and then …’

Maggie held up a hand. ‘Don’t tell me, I’m already in enough trouble. I don’t need a fratricide charge added to the list.’

She took a deep breath and silently cursed her free-loading brother; instead of rebelling against her parents’ free-wheeling, hands-off style of parenting he’d made the most of it by manipulating and abusing them at every possible turn. What other man in his twenties would expect his parents to take out a loan to pay off his debts? She tried to get back on track.

‘Then, even if we could pay that off you’d have to right things with your current suppliers just to keep the place going and to get credit with new suppliers. Say another ten grand. And then we have to make a dent in the overdraft. A big one. I did look at reopening as a really good gastro pub. I mean, the location is fantastic and premises like these are really rare these days. But even if we’d cleared all those other problems, my money would barely refit the kitchen to a good enough standard, and that would only be possible if we bought reconditioned and second-hand stuff. To
really
overhaul this place we’d be looking at two hundred and fifty thousand pounds. If we ignored the pool room and just refurbished this room to begin with, we’d still need fifty or maybe sixty grand. And that’s assuming we’d already fixed things with the bank and your creditors.’ Maggie sighed and glanced around her. ‘I’m sorry, Mum, but there’s just no way we can pull it off.’