Angel (20 page)

'You say the best things, but I know I only looked
okay because you did such a good job of my make-up.'

'Bollocks, you looked fab, now come on, let's
have a drink!' The two of them piled into a cab and
hit the very stylish Blue Bar, where they ordered
champagne to celebrate Angel's TV debut.

Angel was delighted with how the show had
gone but she was secretly upset that Mickey hadn't
even called to wish her luck – she was sure she had
told him about the TV show. She couldn't help
thinking that she always remembered his schedule
and made sure she watched his TV appearances. It
wasn't something she wanted to reveal to Gemma,
though.

'Tony still hasn't spoken to me,' Angel confided
after several glasses of champagne. 'I've texted him
and left a message saying sorry; I just don't know
what else I can do.'

Gemma sighed. 'You know how stubborn he is.
I'm sure he'll come round, just forget it for now.
I've had a go at him about it as well.'

Two bottles of champagne later, Angel stopped
worrying about her brother and Mickey. It was
fantastic having a girls' night with Gemma. She was
laughing more than she had in ages.

'So what are you doing this Saturday night?'
Angel asked as they got ready to leave, hoping she
and Gemma could crash out in front of a DVD, get
a takeaway and generally veg out. Gemma seemed
slightly evasive and muttered, 'I think Tony's got
plans for dinner. Sorry. Another time, babe.'

'Never mind,' Angel answered quickly, trying
not to look too disappointed.

She might have said
never mind
, but she woke up
on Saturday morning with a feeling of dread at the
prospect of a whole weekend on her own. Mickey
had told her he was knackered and that it wasn't
worth her flying to see him in Newcastle. Finally,
she decided to spend the day riding, and then she
would chill out on her own. A glorious blue,
cloudless sky greeted her when she opened the
curtains. She quickly showered, grabbed some
breakfast, dressed in her jodhpurs, T-shirt and
riding boots and jumped into her new silver
Mercedes CLK 55 AMG Cabriolet to drive out to
the stables. Manda, the stable girl, had Star ready
for her and Angel wasted no time in heading out
into the countryside. She loved being out in the
open, not watched or judged by anyone, just being
herself. She rode for hours, stopping only to share
an apple with Star.
See
, she told herself,
I can survive
on my own
. By the time she decided to head back to
the stables, the weather had changed dramatically.
Ominous purple clouds dominated the sky and the
wind had suddenly picked up.

'Let's get home before it rains, boy,' she urged
Star. The last thing she wanted was to be caught in
a thunderstorm with him; he could be a bit skittish
around loud noises and was liable to bolt. Galloping
across the field, they made it back before the
thunder but couldn't avoid the torrential rain and
Angel was quickly soaked to the skin. Manda was
there to look after Star and after thanking her,
Angel jumped into her car.

'Shit,' she said out loud, realising that she had
absolutely nothing to eat or drink in the flat, so
she'd have to stop off at the shop. Miraculously she
found a parking place on Hampstead High Street
and dashed through the rain into the store.

She kept her head down, quickly walking
through the upmarket deli, but she could sense
people staring at her as she filled up her basket. She
was dripping great pools of water wherever she
walked and her white T-shirt had become totally
transparent, showing off her pink lace bra. She
prayed that no one recognised her but, typically,
just as she was putting a couple of bottles of wine
into her basket, a young lad came up and asked for
an autograph.

She was in the middle of loading her shopping
onto the conveyor belt and fantasising about a hot
bath and a large glass of wine when, to her horror,
Cal and Simone wheeled a trolley stuffed with
luxury food right behind her.

Shit shit shit
, she thought,
talk about being caught at
a disadvantage.
She ducked down, piled the last of
her stuff onto the belt and looked on impatiently as
the checkout girl slowly pushed her groceries
across the scanner. It would only be a matter of
seconds before Cal saw her. She mentally urged
the girl to move faster, got out her purse and
pulled out her credit card, ready to make a run
for it.

'Hi, Angel, how are you doing?' The voice came
from behind her. She turned round slowly, composing
her features into a casual smile. Cal smiled
easily, as if he had completely forgotten their
humiliating last meeting, when she had tried to
molest him and he had ended up undressing her.
But Angel was still so embarrassed that she could
barely bring herself to look him in the eye. She
mumbled something about being fine, then she
looked up at Simone, who was a glamorous vision
in a white trouser suit, and muttered, 'Hi.' Simone
gave a barely audible reply and looked Angel up
and down as if she was something the cat had
dragged in.

Why, oh why, did she have to bump into them
now? If she had to see them at all, why couldn't
it have been when she looked her best?
Somebody
up there definitely doesn't like me
, Angel thought
grimly. She carried on unloading her shopping,
but Cal was determined to engage her in a
conversation.

'I saw you on TV last night, Angel. You did really
well.'

'Cheers.' She shrugged. 'I think I was lucky with
the questions.'

'I didn't realise it was fancy dress, though,' said
Simone cattily.

'Well, you know me, I like to make a spectacle
of myself wherever possible,' Angel said, and
immediately regretted it, not wanting to bring
back memories of the last time she'd seen Cal.

'So, are you out tonight?' Cal asked, obviously
keen to change the subject.

God, she wished he would stop asking her
questions.

'Ah, no, crash night tonight. I'm all clubbed out.
How about you two?'

'Cal's cooking dinner for Tony and Gemma,'
Simone replied, with a knowing grin on her face.
Angel immediately wished she hadn't asked. Now
she knew why Gemma had been so cagey when she
asked her what she was doing on Saturday night.
She couldn't help feeling excluded, even though
Cal and Simone were the last people she would
want to have a cosy dinner with.

Cal cleared his throat. 'Yeah, why don't you
come as well?'

The look on Simone's face would have had most
other grown men running for the hills.

'That's really nice of you,' Angel said, 'but I need
to crash and I promised Mickey we'd have a long
chat tonight; he's still away on tour.'

Thank God Angel had to concentrate on paying
for her shopping and so didn't have to talk any
more. As soon as she'd done so, she said a hasty
goodbye. Waving at Cal and ignoring Simone, she
walked towards the exit as swiftly as she could. But
just before she pushed open the door, Cal strode
up behind her, holding out his denim jacket.

'I really think you should borrow this,' he said
quickly. 'I've just seen a photographer outside and
they'll think Christmas has come early if they see
you like this.'

They both looked down at Angel's transparent
T-shirt.

'I'll be fine,' Angel protested.

'No, really, take it,' Cal insisted.

'Thanks,' Angel muttered back, putting on the
jacket. 'Taking your jackets is turning into a bit of
a habit.'

'And I did want to ask you round for dinner
tonight. I know you haven't spoken to Tony for
ages and it's time you guys buried the hatchet. It's
not just the four of us, there are going to be some
friends of mine there as well.'

'Cal!' Simone shouted sharply from the
checkout. 'I need you here!'

'I'd better go,' Cal told Angel. 'Why don't you have a think
about it and call me later?'

Back at her flat, Angel showered and changed,
poured herself a large glass of wine and decided to
call Gemma to tell her what had happened.

'I definitely think you should come,' Gemma told
her. 'It's about time you and Tony started talking
again and it would be good for you to put that night
behind you. And I'm so sorry I didn't mention it
yesterday. I didn't want you to feel left out.'

'Oh, God, Gemma, I don't know. I could barely
even look at Cal, never mind spend a whole night
with him.'

'Yeah, but there'll be loads of other people there.
And think how much it'll wind up Simone!'

'True, the look on her face when she sees me will
be priceless.' The thought perked her up a bit. She
took a deep breath. 'All right, I'll come if you
promise to sit next to me, and promise you'll make
sure I don't drink too much.'

'Done,' said Gemma. 'Now you'd better phone
Cal.'

It took Angel several attempts to summon up the
courage to ring him. When she finally did, Cal was
obviously in the middle of cooking and sounded
busy and preoccupied.

'Hi, it's Angel,' she said quickly, wanting to get it
over with. 'I'd love to come tonight, if that's still
okay?'

'Of course, great,' he replied. 'See you later.'

Well, she hadn't really expected him to say he
was looking forward to seeing her, had she?
Get real,
girl
, she told herself sternly.

Next Angel faced the task of deciding what to
wear. She didn't know whether she should be smart
or casual, but after trying on a number of outfits,
she decided to go for her favourite jeans, a gold silk
camisole and a black cropped puffed-sleeve jacket,
accessorised by a gold love heart on a long chain.
By now it was getting close to eight and, paranoid
about turning up late, she only had time to slap on
some tinted moisturiser, a brush of bronzer,
mascara and lip gloss.

'That will just have to do,' she said, taking one
final look at her reflection and grabbing Cal's
denim jacket and a bottle of champagne.

Cal's house was a twenty-minute walk away from
her flat, just off Hampstead High Street on one of
the most sought-after roads in the area. Stunning
four-storey Georgian houses lined the avenue. Cal's
was painted white and a beautiful purple wisteria
hung round the door. To her huge relief, Gemma
was already there and answered the door. Through
the enormous living room, Angel could see Cal and
Tony out in the garden chatting. Feeling butterflies
about seeing them, Angel followed Gemma outside.
Cal was charming and kissed her cheek, then said he
had to check on something in the kitchen and
needed Gemma's help, leaving her alone with Tony.

The two looked at each other for a moment, then
spoke at the same time.

'I'm really sorry,' Angel said quickly, trying to get
out her apology before he had a chance to speak.

'No,
I'm
really sorry,' said Tony, much to her
surprise. 'I was out of order saying those things to
you. I was so angry with that jerk slipping you those
drugs. Have you dumped him yet?'

Angel grimaced. 'No, but let's not talk about him.'

'Come here then,' Tony said, holding out his
arms and they hugged.

Reconciled, they walked towards the house,
Tony updating her on the news from Brighton. As
she listened, Angel was free to observe Cal's house
and garden. She liked what she saw very much. The
garden was stunning, with gorgeous plants and
flowers surrounding a decking area for sitting and
chilling out, steps leading down to a patio built
round a large pond with koi carp. Tucked along the
side of the house was a sauna and hot tub. Inside,
Cal had kept all the original features: the fireplaces,
the coving and the cornices. Beautiful crystal chandeliers
hung from the impressively high ceilings
and the oak floors had been stripped and
varnished. He had wonderful taste, she thought,
and he had furnished the house with a few simple
but stylish pieces of furniture. It was a bit
minimalist for Angel's liking but the overall feeling
was one of space, clean lines and luxury.
My God,
he's come a long way
, Angel thought, remembering all
too clearly the grotty, cheerless two-bedroom flat
he'd shared with his mum.

They joined the others in the kitchen, and both
Gemma and Cal smiled in relief when they saw
them.

'The others are in the dining room,' Cal said.
'Why don't you go through and I'll get you a drink?
What would you like, Angel?' He handed Tony a
beer. Cal was casual in a tight black T-shirt and
combats – he looked sexy and athletic and it took all
Angel's willpower not to openly stare at him.

The spacious dining room was painted a delicate
pale violet and was dominated by a large oak dining
table with solid-looking chairs grouped around it.
Through the double doors to the living room,
Angel could see comfortable sofas arranged around
the fireplace.

'He's definitely in touch with his feminine side,'
Gemma whispered to Angel as they made their way
over to the others.

'Does Simone live here?' Angel asked.

'Some of the time, but mostly she's away filming,'
Gemma answered.

Cal's friends turned out to be two of his Chelsea
team-mates, the Spanish Antonio and French Jean-
Paul, and both were absolute charmers. Angel sat
next to Antonio, who was clearly very taken with her
and flirted outrageously all evening, even when she
said she had a boyfriend. Cal was at the far end of the
enormous table – at which Angel felt a mixture of
disappointment and relief – with the lovely Simone
at his side. She had finally made her appearance
halfway through the starters. Everyone else had
gone for the smart-casual look, but Simone had gone
for all-out glamour and was wearing a turquoise silk
dress with a plunging neckline, no back and an
enormous slit up one side. She looked stunning, but
slightly out of place. Simone had done a double-take
when she saw Angel, and for a moment looked so
furious that Angel was sure she'd make a scene, but
instead she watched Angel closely and suspiciously.
Angel felt self-conscious at first, but several glasses of
wine made her mellow enough not to care. She had
made things up with her brother, and Cal wasn't
looking at her like she was the Antichrist. Perhaps
she could put that night behind her.