Santa Baby (27 page)

She had given her dad a brief rundown of what had been going on, omitting certain details such as the hot tub.

‘Ha-ha, Dad,’ Tiffany replied, ruffling her sister’s hair.

‘Don’t be mean. Can’t you see how exhausted Tiff looks?’ Marie put in.

‘I was only teasing! Sorry, Tiffany.’

‘It’s OK. I am feeling a bit knackered, to be honest.’

‘You two go into the living room, and I’ll bring through a carrot, orange and ginger juice for each of you. It’s a great pick-me-up,’ Chris said.

Tiffany pulled a face.

‘It’s actually nicer than it sounds,’ Marie told her.

‘It’s not!’ Lily-Rose shouted.

They settled in the living room. Tiffany curled up on her favourite armchair, Marie lay on the sofa, legs propped up on cushions, which was supposed to ease the fluid retention she was suffering in her legs. ‘I’ve seen elephants with slimmer ankles than me,’ she said mournfully.

‘They’ll go down once you’ve had the baby.’

‘They’d better. My ankles were one of my best features. I don’t want to end up with the curse of cankles.’

Tiffany checked her phone and there was a text from Sean.
Maya much better thanks. See you soon. I didn’t realise I gave you a hard time. Sorry x

‘Message from Raul?’ Marie enquired.

‘It’s from Sean, letting me know his daughter is OK.’

‘And are you OK? You seemed so upset on the phone when you rang earlier.’

‘Yeah, I am. I think it maybe all got a bit too much.’ She smiled at Marie. ‘Honestly, I feel so much better. Seeing you and Dad is just what I needed.’

‘And getting the text from Sean, judging by the smile on your face?’

‘Oh, I’m just relieved that his little girl is better,’ Tiffany replied, realising that her step-mum was right, and not wanting to admit it. She couldn’t still have feelings for Sean, could she? What kind of masochist was she!

*

On Saturday morning there was a small piece in the
Mirror
about her being seen leaving the nightclub with Andy Lloyd and inevitably a couple of paps appeared outside her family house. They were like parasites, Tiffany thought to herself, only able to feed off everybody else’s lives. She did her best to ignore them and spent the weekend chilling out with her family: taking Lily-Rose to her dance and drama classes on Saturday to give her parents a break; helping her dad paint the box room pale yellow, which Marie decided was gender neutral as she hadn’t wanted to find out whether she was having a boy or a girl; watching
Dr Who
and
Harry Hill’s TV Burp
with Lily-Rose. She offered to babysit to give Marie and Chris a chance to go out, but Marie was too exhausted, so Tiffany and Chris watched
Carlito’s Way
again, one of her dad’s favourite films. On Sunday she went bowling with Lily-Rose and Chris and had one of her dad’s stupendous roasts.

Andy sent a text saying that he understood, but she should text him if she ever fancied dinner. Tiffany had to smile, she couldn’t imagine him staying single for long. There was nothing from Raul, but that was hardly surprising seeing as she had not replied to any of his texts or messages. By Sunday night Tiffany was feeling altogether more grounded. And then Raul turned up in his silver Aston Martin.

Tiffany and Lily-Rose were on Wii Dance when the doorbell rang. Chris went to answer it and returned with Raul, who was carrying an enormous bunch of pink lilies. Chris, who was an avid follower of Formula One, was completely star struck to find himself in the presence of a sporting hero while Tiffany was mortified to be caught out dancing to Mika’s ‘Big Girls (You Are Beautiful)’ by the gorgeous Raul, even if she was still cross with him. She should have been glammed up to
the
max, with perfect make-up, so she could have looked all sultry and unattainable, instead of appearing slightly sweaty, with barely a scrap of make-up on.

‘Tiffany, I’m so sorry to intrude like this but I had to see you,’ Raul said, while Chris and Lily-Rose stared at him. Any minute now Lily-Rose would come out with her list of questions, and Marie would come in and make an inappropriate comment about Raul’s body. Her two worlds were colliding! And she wasn’t prepared for it. Mika was still singing about big girls being beautiful in the background. Tiffany put down the Wii remote. She had to get out of there. ‘OK, let’s go outside.’ She started walking out of the living room, followed by Raul who was still clutching the flowers.

‘Can I get you anything to eat?’ Chris asked hopefully. ‘Anything to drink?’

‘No, thank you,’ Raul replied.

Tiffany marched out into the garden and stood on the patio, hands on hips, ready for battle.

‘These are for you.’ Raul moved forward to try and give the bouquet to her, but when Tiffany’s arms remained folded he put it down on the table.

‘Welcome to my world,’ she said. ‘As you can see, we haven’t got round to installing the hot tub yet, but apparently Asda do a great inflatable one. And I don’t think you’ll find any Dom Perignon in the fridge, Tesco’s Pinot Grigio is as good as it gets here. And Daddy had to let the butler go, which is why he answered the door to you himself.’ She sounded sarcastic and spiky, which was fine by her as she felt sarcastic and spiky!

‘I like Pinot Grigio,’ Raul replied. He stepped forward. ‘Tiffany, I am so sorry about abandoning you the other night.’

‘Yep, well, don’t worry about me, I had a great time clubbing.’

‘So I saw.’

Tiffany was not going to explain herself to him. ‘So what was so important? Phone call to Holly Beech? I saw her picture at your house. Are you sure she’s your ex?’

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair and for a moment looked uncertain, even vulnerable, not at all the confident Raul she’d thought he was. ‘I’m sure she’s my ex. The truth is my youngest sister has been battling an alcohol addiction for many years. We all thought she was doing OK but the other night she got arrested for drink driving and became abusive to the police officer and ended up in jail. The reason I had to leave you was to help my mother arrange bail for her and a place in rehab. It took a while.’

‘Oh.’ Now Tiffany felt awful for being so rude. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘No, I am sorry. I should have told you what was going on, but I was right in the middle of it. Please, Tiffany, give me another chance.’ He lowered his voice. ‘Before the phone call we seemed to be getting on very well.’

An image flashed through her mind of Raul caressing her naked body, of her touching his. Yes, they had been getting on very well …

‘But it’s more than a physical connection. I really like you, Tiffany. Very much. And I think we could be good together.’

There was no denying it, Raul was a total charmer. And it was working. Tiffany was thawing. ‘I like you too, Raul.’

He smiled, a sexy, lazy smile, a cat that nearly got the cream smile, ‘So can I drive you back to London? We could go out for dinner or go back to my place?’

Tempting, very tempting. But it had been a roller-coaster few days, and Tiffany didn’t know if she was quite ready to plunge back into that life.

‘I’m going to stay here tonight.’

‘But you will see me again?’

She nodded. And now Raul moved towards her and put his arms round her. ‘I’m not leaving until you tell me when.’ Dipping his head, he kissed her lightly on the lips. Tiffany would have been more than happy for the kiss to deepen, but at that moment her dad came out into the garden, which kind of killed the moment. Perhaps she and Raul were destined never to go any further. Immediately she sprung away from him.

‘Sorry!’ Chris called out. ‘Just came to see if you guys wanted anything.’

‘We’re fine thanks, Dad. In fact, Raul has to get back now.’

‘I do?’

‘You do,’ Tiffany said firmly. She needed to keep her two worlds apart for just one more night, then she would feel strong enough to return to her new life. Also tonight she was finally going to sit down and write to Tanya, something she had been putting off for far too long.

Four days later Tiffany was in a panic about what to wear to the premiere of the latest Johnny Depp film, to which Raul had invited her. The words ‘premiere’ and ‘Johnny Depp’ kept exploding in her head like fireworks. What the hell should she wear! She was a stylist, for God’s sake! She had to look sensational on the red carpet, nothing less would do. And Raul was used to going to these events with frigging supermodels! How could she compete?

Usually Tiffany had a very clear idea about how she wanted to look, but right now as she sat on her bed with Angel, who was also coming to the premiere, she felt as if her fashion mojo had completely deserted her. It didn’t help that it was very hot – around 28° in London,
and
even now in the early-evening, it was still boiling – so all her stylish LBDs were completely wrong and she would melt in anything that wasn’t in a thin floaty material. Nothing she tried on seemed right.

‘Just relax, Tiff, and wear something you feel happy in. You must have an outfit like that.’ Angel looked cool and calm in a white maxi-dress, her long hair down and held back by a white flower clip at the side. ‘What about that?’ She pointed at a yellow lace strapless prom-style dress. ‘Didn’t you say the other day that lace is very now?’

Tiffany selected the dress from the rail. It had been an impulse buy a couple of weeks ago that she had completely forgotten about. She held it against her and looked in the mirror. Against her tan the dress looked fresh and summery. And she had the perfect accessories to go with it – a pearl necklace and matching bracelet, and a pair of leg-lengthening nude platform slingbacks, not Louboutins but they still looked good. And she liked the fact that her outfit was made up of high-street brands.

She quickly changed into the dress. ‘What do you think?’ she asked Angel.

‘Fabulous.’

‘Are you sure it looks OK?’

‘Yes, yes! Now quickly do your make-up, Cal and Raul will be here in a minute.’ She smiled at Tiffany. ‘I’m glad you made it up with Raul. He’s very taken with you. Cal saw him at some charity event the other night and apparently he could not stop talking about you.’

‘I think it’s my novelty value. Maybe he’s just tired of supermodels and wants a bit of rough.’

Angel shook her head disbelievingly. ‘Don’t be so down on yourself. You’re a beautiful and talented woman and Raul should count himself lucky to see you.’

Tiffany paused in putting on red lipstick to say, ‘Thanks, Angel, I appreciate you saying that.’

She shrugged. ‘What else are big sisters for? Now, I’m going to open some fizz and we can have a quick glass before the men get here.’

She was just returning with two glasses of champagne when the doorbell rang. ‘I’ll get it,’ she called out. ‘Oh, hiya, Sean,’ Tiffany heard her say, ‘I’ll just buzz you in.’

Tiffany wasn’t prepared for this; she had assumed that Cal would be driving them. She hadn’t seen Sean since his daughter was taken ill. She had thought of him, though, hoping that Maya was OK, and that he was …

Angel breezed back into the bedroom with the champagne. ‘Here you go.’ She clinked her glass against Tiffany’s. ‘Cheers. Your first red carpet outing! Enjoy!’

Tiffany heard the front door open and Sean walk into the flat.

‘Hi,’ he called out. ‘Where would you like me to wait?’

Tiffany felt awful hearing him ask that, like some kind of servant. ‘Wherever you like,’ she called back. ‘And help yourself to a drink.’

Angel remained in the bedroom, talking to her, though Tiffany was itching to see Sean. Then the men arrived and, while Angel let them in, Tiffany nipped into the kitchen where Sean was sitting at the table, checking his phone. He looked up when she walked in and she was struck again by his good looks.

‘Hi, Sean, how’s Maya?’

‘Much better, thanks. It’s just one of those things we all have to live with. How are you?’

‘Good, thanks. Yeah, everything’s fine. Work … everything.’ Tiffany was babbling, and she felt self-conscious standing in front of him in her party dress, holding a glass of champagne. There was a glass of tap water in front of Sean.

‘And you’re seeing Raul Garcia tonight?’

‘Yep.’ Tiffany could hear the men walking into the flat. ‘And hopefully Johnny Depp. He’s one of my all-time favourites. I love him in whatever he’s in …
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape
, brilliant.
Donnie Brasco
, fantastic.
Pirates of the Caribbean
, long but good.’ There she went, babbling again.

‘Well, don’t let me keep you from your guests.’

He sounded so formal and distant, talking to her out of politeness. And she had wanted to be friendly, to prove that there was no hard feeling on her side. But the same couldn’t be said about him …

‘Um … I’d better go and say hi. See you later, Sean.’

Raul and Cal were standing by the fireplace chatting when Tiffany walked into the living room. Both men looked staggeringly handsome in black tie, confident, wealthy, masters of their universe. Again she felt bad thinking about Sean having to wait in the kitchen.

‘Tiffany, you look beautiful … a cool sorbet for this hot night,’ Raul declared, in his typical over-the-top way, walking over and kissing her on both cheeks. ‘Missed you,’ he whispered.

‘And I have a bone to pick with you, Miss Taylor,’ he continued. ‘You always make yourself out to be some kind of working-class heroine and yet here you are, living in the lap of luxury in one of the most desirable parts of London!’

‘Well, first, it doesn’t actually belong to me. And second, I still don’t have a hot tub. And I am guessing your suit is bespoke.’ She pulled back his sleeve. ‘You’re wearing an Omega watch. Your shoes look handmade. Whereas my entire outfit comes to less than two hundred quid.’

‘And yet you make it look priceless.’

She caught Cal and Angel smiling at each other knowingly as if to say, Look at those two flirting.

The four of them drank champagne and chatted. Raul and Cal knew each other fairly well and so conversation flowed easily. But all the time they sat in the living room, Tiffany kept thinking about Sean. Raul was gorgeous, charismatic, charming, very sexy. But Tiffany missed the banter she’d once experienced with Sean. When it was time to leave she gathered up the champagne glasses and went into the kitchen, determined to have one last crack at getting him to loosen up.