Deranged Marriage (46 page)

‘Not here, not even one.’

‘Well, that’s good.’

‘It’s great but it’s not enough. George still has the public’s sympathy. I want him stopped. I want him back in New York. I want to get on with my life.’ I was ready to let it all go. I sounded more assertive than I had in months.

‘Don’t worry Hol, we’re on to it.’

*

‘Holly Miller has resumed normal service,’ I announced to Lisa who was on my laptop surfing the net.

‘Really?’

‘Yeah. And I’ve got work to do today. What are you up to?’

‘I’m going to work, too.’

‘What?’

‘Well, I’m doing Max’s accounts.’

‘Do you even know how to do accounts?’

‘You’re not the only one with a laptop you know.’ I laughed as Lisa went to the spare room and came back with a very sexy looking laptop. The girl was amazing, even her computer was good-looking. She set herself up opposite me and we worked, mainly in silence, all day. I felt as if I was in the office, the day was so constructive. My mother was right; things were looking up. But then I remembered the paternity question and things began to nosedive.

*

The following day I received two phone calls which led me to believe that maybe my mum was right. The first was from Francesca, saying that the detective had unearthed some information for us and we were to have a meeting. The second was from Joe.

Lisa answered the phone, and passed it to me. As soon as she said his name I felt sick. What if he was phoning to tell me that he had thought about it and couldn’t be in our lives? There was only one way to find out.

‘Holly, I’ve been thinking.’

‘Right.’

‘And, well, this isn’t easy, please don’t think it’s easy.’ My heart skipped a beat.

‘Right.’

‘But you are right. If this baby is mine then I want to be involved and as we can’t know that for sure, then I am going to have to swallow my pride and be braver than I have been.’ My eyes filled with tears.

‘Joe, are you saying that you want to be part of our lives?’ Oh, please God, let that be what he was saying.

‘Yes.’

‘That’s fantastic.’ I laughed. Then Joe laughed and in laughing I felt the release of all my fears. ‘You’re the most amazing person ever,’ I said, full of emotion.

‘I need this Hol.’

‘Me too.’

‘Can I see you, later, to talk?’ he sounded nervous.

‘I’ll cook dinner, tonight, my place at seven thirty?’

‘I’ll be there.’

After I’d hung up, the smile wouldn’t go away, neither would Lisa’s.

‘I’ll prepare something this afternoon and then I’ll spend the evening at my flat,’ Lisa offered.

‘Are you sure?’ I was dubious as to Lisa’s cooking talents and I really wanted to impress Joe.

‘Don’t worry I won’t cook but I’ll buy stuff and plan the menu. What about oysters?’

‘Yuck. I’m pregnant remember, I need to eat good wholesome food.’

‘But that’s not very sexy.’

‘What I want is toad-in-the-hole, with onion gravy and apple crumble and custard.’

‘Not all on the same plate?’

‘No, of course not.’ Disappointingly I hadn’t had any weird cravings. Just normal cravings; sweets, especially cola bottles, chocolate (any kind) and frozen yogurt. I was addicted to frozen yogurt.

‘OK, I can shop for that. Trust me.’

‘I do.’ At that time I trusted everyone. I even trusted myself. I was right about Joe. One hundred per cent right.

Chapter Forty

I was so happy. Joe was back in my life, he was going to be there for me. I knew that it must have been the hardest decision he’d ever had to make, I knew it was a huge sacrifice on the part of his pride and I was so grateful.

I could see the light; it had been there all along. It might seem harsh but my reservation being that George might be the father of my child, therefore I shouldn’t ruin him, no longer bothered me. George might be the father but there was no way I was going to let him continue to ruin my life. Even if I had to ruin him. I was dealing with things, the way Freddie always told me that I should. I was going to have Joe in my life and get George out of it. Something I should have done a long time ago.

I felt amazingly empowered as I arrived for the meeting with the private detective. Actually I was quite excited, because I’d never met one before. I was kind of hoping he’d be a bit like Inspector Gadget. Complete with gadgets.

I swept into the office and kissed every member of staff. Happiness was just the warmest feeling, like being wrapped in the softest blanket; it was the best day ever. I was the happiest person ever. Joe might not be my boyfriend per se, but he was back in my life. It seemed more likely that he would turn out to be the father of the baby, and maybe he would forgive me. The way things were going, all going my way, I actually believed he would forgive me.

I was still beaming as I went into the boardroom with Francesca and Freddie behind me. The private detective was already there.

‘Hi, I’m Holly,’ I said, flashing him my new super special smile. It was a smile to end all smiles. He was wearing a rather smart suit, with a pink shirt and tie. His hair was neatly combed. But even the fact that he wasn’t a cliché couldn’t disappoint me.

‘I’m Tom Broadbent.’ He shook my hand.

‘Shall we get down to business,’ Francesca said, as Freddie poured coffee. Tom pulled his briefcase on to the table and opened it and reached inside. He pulled out a brown envelope. It was the tiniest bit James Bond.

‘It seems that Mr Conway isn’t as devoted to you as he makes out,’ he said.

‘Really?’ Part of me didn’t care, he could have been in love with a donkey as far as I was concerned. But then part of me did care because I wanted rid.

‘No. He’s seeing a young girl called Debbie, who works at a nearby cafe. He goes there every morning for breakfast if he doesn’t have an early appointment. She serves him at the table, which she doesn’t do for anyone else—’

‘Sorry Tom, but can we cut to the chase,’ Francesca interrupted.

‘Of course. Well for the past few evenings she has gone to his flat and left about four hours later.’

‘Shit, he’s improved since he shagged me, if he can last four hours,’ I said, then covered my mouth in shock horror. Everyone looked a bit disgusted, but I giggled. Joe’s phone call made me happier than ever, I could only have been happier if I knew for sure he was the father and he told me that he wanted me back. But for now, this was good enough.

‘I’ve got photos of them together, although they are not very compromising. I know that something is going on. She goes to his flat late at night, I think it’s just sex. I spoke to her in the cafe, pretended to chat her up and although she brushed me off and said she had a boyfriend, she didn’t give away anything else. Here are the photos and her name and address, also the name and address of the café. Do you want anything else from me?’

‘No, that’s brilliant,’ Freddie said, taking the photos and looking at them. ‘She’s pretty,’ he added. I took a look.

‘Oh, poor girl, she could do so much better.’

‘Yeah, well he’s famous and fame is a powerful aphrodisiac,’ Francesca pointed out, wisely.

We said goodbye to Tom, and Freddie showed him out. Then he came back to the boardroom and poured more coffee. I was halfway down my second cup before I realised I’d given up coffee.

‘Oh dear, I don’t think I should drink this,’ I said, putting it down and frowning.

‘I’m sure one cup won’t hurt. What are we going to do next?’ Francesca asked.

‘Well I can come back to work now,’ I answered. I didn’t need to hide away now that George would be out of favour with the media.

‘Yes, you can, which is great, but I meant about George.’

‘I reckon we should tip off a newspaper,’ Freddie suggested, rejoining us at the table. ‘I heard that the
This
Afternoon
show is about to offer him a daily slot, but I don’t think they will if he is embroiled in scandal. At the moment he’s a bit of a housewives’ favourite but only because they all think he is so completely devoted to you. So I say we tip off the
Daily
News
and let them uncover the scandal. We can sit back and enjoy the ride.’

The old Holly would let things rest, but the new Holly would secure the future for her child, and maybe for her relationship, but definitely for herself. If George was stopped, if all he had built his celebrity status on was taken away from him, he would be left with nothing, but then that was no longer my problem.

‘Do it. Finish it for good.’ The war was nearly over and I was the victor elect.

Freddie called a journalist from the
Daily
News
, and arranged for Dixie to bike over the photographs and details that Tom had given us.

‘He was really pleased, says he owes us one for the tip-off,’ Freddie said. The irony is that it was the
Daily
News
that first ran George’s story, so he owed his success to them, but now he would blame them for his downfall. Them, and us, but most of all his own stupidity.

The marriage-pact story was about to be dead and buried. Although another story was just beginning.

*

I arrived home to find Lisa and a stranger in my kitchen.

‘Hello,’ I said, looking at the unknown woman who was wearing an apron. Not my apron, because I didn’t own such a thing.

‘Holly, this is Sarah, she has come to prepare your dinner.’

‘Really?’

‘Hi,’ Sarah said.

‘Where did you come from?’ I asked, wondering if Lisa had hired a caterer, which seemed a bit extreme even by Lisa’s standards.

‘We’re friends,’ Lisa explained. ‘And when I told her it was you, and why you were celebrating, she offered to cook dinner.’

‘Toad-in-the-hole, with rosemary and onion gravy, fresh baby vegetables and for dessert, homemade apple crumble and custard.’

‘Fantastic.’ My stomach rumbled in anticipation. ‘I tell you the thing about pregnancy is that I’m hungry all the time. Now all I have to do is find something to wear that makes me look sexy and not like a sack of potatoes.’ That wasn’t easy. Even maternity clothes couldn’t perform miracles.

Lisa and Sarah left just before Joe arrived. All I had to do was to take the food out of the oven and serve it. I was wearing my red maternity dress which was a bit shorter than it had been, because I was a bit bigger. A lot bigger. I thought back to the early days, before it all went wrong, but after I’d slept with George, when I asked Freddie how to get a man to fall in love with me. He suggested a red dress and no knickers. As I looked at my red dress I guessed this wasn’t exactly what he had in mind. And as for no knickers, well I couldn’t do that. I didn’t want my baby to catch a cold.

I was applying perfume liberally when the buzzer went. I felt a bit nervous but I was still euphoric. I’m not sure how those emotions mixed, but I felt heady, relieved, and also shy. I felt like I was on a first date.

‘Hi,’ I smiled, and this time I did kiss him—on the cheek—but it was a start.

‘Hi,’ he hugged me.

‘My God, you are enormous. I’m sure you weren’t this big last week.’ He laughed and I looked at him. The eyes, the lips, the trademark grey jumper and black trousers.

‘Thanks, Joe.’ I put his hand on my stomach and willed the baby to move. It did.

‘It’s amazing, I can feel it.’ Joe looked delighted. I led him in and sat him at the table. I wanted to get the food out of the way, I don’t know why but it was something less to think about. While we ate the most delicious toad-in-the-hole ever, I told him about George and the private detective.

‘So the media circus will be over now?’ Joe asked. I hadn’t seen him smile for a long time and it felt so amazing. I wanted to keep pinching myself because I almost couldn’t believe that Joe was here. What if I was dreaming. Imagine how pissed-off I would be if I woke up and found out all this was a dream. But it wasn’t. I was definitely awake. The baby kicking, my exhaustion, and a little tiny pinch on the leg confirmed my status.

‘It’s his fault, he did this. He started it and now I’m going to finish it.’ It was fighting talk but I hoped the fight was over.

‘He’s a sleazebag.’

‘We know that. I think he’s actually made the worst mistake a minor celebrity can make.’

‘What’s that?’

‘Believing his own publicity. But I don’t care about him, not even a bit. How do you feel about this?’ We’d finished our main course and I was watching him sipping his wine, while I drank water.

‘I just know I need to be here. When you told me you were pregnant all I could think about was the fact you cheated on me, and then I was so angry that it might not be mine. I’m not angry any more just hurting a little. But Holly, I can’t ignore all this and I want to be a part of it. I figure that when we do the test then I might have more difficult decisions but for now I want to be around, I want to be involved as if it were my baby.’

‘I really hope it is.’

‘So do I. I want it to be mine more than anything.’ His eyes filled with tears and I realised how hard this was for him. ‘But I want to be there from now on. I need to be there from now on. Is that all right?’

‘Of course. You can do the whole caboodle if you want. Birthing classes, hospital appointments, shopping for the nursery. I have to warn you that it’s not all fun. You have to watch videos, read books, there is a lot to learn.’ I felt as if I was addressing a child, but then Joe was childlike that evening.

‘God there’s so much I don’t know. What about names? Have you thought about names? And the birth. Can I be there?’ As his words gushed, I cringed at the thought that the man I wanted to win back was going to see me with my legs spread open and looking horrific like the woman in Dr Miriam’s book. But then I thought, if he was there and if he saw the birth maybe he’d fall in love with the baby, regardless. That was what I wanted, and that was what I needed. My baby deserved the best in life and Joe was the best. There was no doubt of that.

‘If you think you can handle it,’ I joked. ‘I haven’t chosen any names yet and I don’t know the sex. I’d like it if we chose names together.’