Paparazzi Princess (10 page)

We followed her with some difficulty as she darted this way and that through the throng of shoppers, only pausing occasionally to do serious damage to her dad’s credit card. I looked at my watch and was amazed to see we’d been there for almost an hour. When Pia and I went shopping, we’d always take our time and have a good look around before buying anything. Riko was a whirlwind, grabbing a couple of designer purses here, scooping up a whole shelf-load of perfumes, lipsticks and eye shadows there, then moving on to scented candles. Once paid for, she’d toss the bags to us to carry for her, as if we were her servants.

‘How about we go and get a drink?’ I pleaded as another carrier bag was thrust my way. ‘They do fab organic smoothies.’

Riko checked her watch then nodded. ‘Um. Sure. Good idea. I’m just going to the Ladies then I’ll join you.’

‘Oh. I’d better come with you then,’ I said.

Riko looked horrified. ‘I’m not a baby.’

‘I know but your dad said we had to be your minders and not leave you alone,’ I said.

Riko rolled her eyes. ‘Gimme a break, guys. We’re just hanging out, OK? We’ve only got another hour before we’re picked up. What are you? Prison warders? Come
on
. I’m a big girl, I can go to the bathroom by myself. Give me
some
respect.’

I glanced at Pia, who shrugged. ‘Your life,’ she said.

‘OK,’ I said, but I didn’t feel happy about it. ‘There’s a café on the lower ground floor. Do you know where it is?’

Riko nodded. ‘Sure. I
have
been here before you know. Down the escalator, right? Anyway, you have my mobile.’ She didn’t wait for an answer. She glanced quickly at her watch again, then took off.

‘See you in five,’ she called over her shoulder and then she was gone.

Pia glanced down at the bags piled all around us and laughed. ‘You’ve got to admire her cheek. I wonder if she’d have helped us carry anything
we’d
bought.’

‘Of course,’ I said. ‘NOT.’

We slowly picked our way through the crowd to the lower ground floor escalator but I couldn’t resist the temptation to stop to try on a few perfumes. ‘Mmm,’ I said as we sniffed in tuberose, amber and vanilla scents.

Pia pulled me away. ‘We’d better go,’ she said. ‘In case Lady Mori gets to the café before us.’

There was only a short queue of people waiting to be seated in the café. After a short while, a handsome man with a name tag that said Vincenzo showed us to an area in the corner of the café with white leather seats studded with silver buttons.

‘Very posh and a half,’ said Pia as Vincenzo gave her a large menu. She glanced at the drinks list. ‘Oops. Poverty alert. A fresh juice costs seven pounds. Orange is five pounds. Um. Maybe we’d better skip drinks. I’ve only got a tenner and that has to last me the rest of the week.’

I took the menu from her and winced at the prices. ‘We could share a bottle of pineapple juice, that’ll only be three fifty.’

‘Deal,’ said Pia. ‘You have the pine, I’ll have the apple.’

Vincenzo came back to take our order and gave us a disapproving look when we asked for one drink between the two of us. He flounced off and a few minutes later, our drink arrived.

‘I can’t help but think about all the money being spent here,’ I said, ‘and how the people I met on Christmas Day had nothing.’

‘I know but I’m sure a lot of these shoppers do their bit. I’m always reading about how rich people and celebrities do loads for charity. Some give away tons of dosh, others organise parties where everyone has to pay for their supper and then they auction stuff off,’ said Pia as she took a slurp of the juice. ‘Mm, yummy. And why
shouldn’t
they enjoy their money too?’

‘I guess. It’s just a lot to get my head around. I seem to be experiencing amazing extremes lately, you know, the super rich and the seriously poor.’

Pia nodded. ‘I know what you mean, but people do what they can in different ways. I mean, whose to say who does more good? Someone like your Aunt Maddie who gives her time or a millionaire who gives his money? Both make a difference.’

‘I guess. But there’s a huge imbalance in the world, don’t you think?’

Pia laughed. ‘You should become a politician if it bothers you so much. Me, I’d rather become very rich then make big donations to help out.’

‘That’s what Charlie says too. Hey, do you think we should order something for Riko?’ I took a tiny sip of our juice then handed the glass to Pia. She also took a small sip. We knew we had to make it last.

Pia pointed to a wall clock. ‘She’s been gone quite a while.’

‘Bound to be a queue at the Ladies. Always is.’

‘Or she’s running up her credit card again.’

‘Probably,’ I said. ‘You don’t think she came while I was trying on perfume, do you? Maybe she was really quick, got here and didn’t see us, then went to look for us.’

‘Maybe but I doubt it. You stay here and I’ll go and look then I’ll text you when I find her.’

Pia went off and as I sat waiting, I saw Bridget O’Reilly waiting in the queue. She waved and came over. ‘Hey, Jess. You all alone? Mind if join you?’ Before I could answer, she’d tucked herself into Pia’s empty seat. She tapped a foot against one of the heap of carrier bags by the chair. ‘Any good bargains?’

‘Some, there’s a sale on.’

‘That’s why I’m here. Good Christmas?’

I nodded. ‘Yes, actually.’

‘What did you do?’

I glanced around, then took a sip of the juice. ‘Oh, you know, the usual.’ I was determined not give anything away.

Bridget smiled. ‘Not still worried about talking to me, are you?’

I shrugged a shoulder.

‘Ah, who’s to see us here? I’ve a few days’ break left and I’m doing a bit of shopping and today, I’m not at all interested in where you live or who lives there. Now, would you like another juice?’

It was tempting but I shook my head.
No harm in a bit of a chat, though, as long as it’s not about Porchester Park
, I thought. I liked Bridget and she was the only one of the paparazzi who didn’t make me feel like I was a nobody. ‘How was your Christmas, Bridget?’

‘Oh, it was fine,’ she said flatly.

‘Did you go back to Ireland?’

Bridget shook her head. ‘No. Both my parents have passed on now.’

‘Any family over here?’

‘Aren’t you the inquisitive one today? Ever thought of becoming a journalist with that enquiring mind?’

‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to be nosy.’

Bridget smiled. ‘That’s OK. To be honest, Jess, Christmas isn’t my favourite time of year. I do have family: a daughter, but she’s off on her gap year. She’s in Australia at the moment and, before you ask, I’m separated from my husband so I spent Christmas alone with the telly.’ She made an attempt to laugh. ‘Ah then, aren’t I the sad one?’ She sat up straight and smiled. ‘Not really. It was fine.’ I got the feeling she was acting brave and had actually been lonely over the holidays.

‘I think it’s a tough time for a lot of people,’ I said. ‘There’s a lot of expectation and build up. I’ve been thinking about it a lot. We have to do an essay for school on the perfect holiday, that sort of thing.’

‘A beach in the Caribbean with a cocktail in one hand and a good book in the other, now
that
would be my perfect holiday.’

‘I think that’s where a lot of the residents are,’ I said then realised I’d let out private information and clamped my hand over my mouth. ‘Oops!”

Bridget smiled. ‘Ah go on, it’s OK. I’m off-duty today so anything you say is off the record.’

Even though I liked Bridget, I wasn’t totally convinced, so I decided to test her. A great idea flashed through my mind. I’d pretend to give her a really juicy story but it would be a monstrous fib. I’d tell her she wasn’t to tell anyone then if it got mentioned in the paper, I’d know I couldn’t trust her. If the story didn’t appear, I’d know that I could.

‘Actually there
is
something amazing happening.’ Bridget leant forward. ‘Tom Cruise is coming tomorrow and may be going to buy the penthouse duplex. Tomorrow morning in fact, at nine-thirty. All very hush hush.’

Bridget’s eyes lit up. ‘But I thought . . . is he really?’

I nodded. ‘This is strictly between us, right? You said off-duty, off the record.’

‘Of course,’ said Bridget. ‘You can trust me.’

At that moment, my phone bleeped that I had a text. It was Pia saying no sign of Riko. As I texted her to come back, Vincenzo came over to tell Bridget there was a table for her. I put my phone away.

‘So. Tom Cruise, our secret, yeah?’ I said. ‘Dad would kill me if he knew I’d told you.’

Bridget stood up and nodded. ‘Today I’m just another bargain hunter. Your secret’s safe with me.’ She put a finger to her lips, winked and walked away.

Well, we’ll soon see about that
, I thought, as I watched her take a table near the front of the café.

Moments later, Pia appeared. She looked flustered. ‘Riko not been here, then?’

I shook my head and told her that I’d been chatting with Bridget. She laughed when I told her about the Tom Cruise story. He’d been in town for a premiere, so it was plausible.

‘Brilliant. We’ll get all the gossip mags and check,’ she said, then glanced at her watch. ‘We should try calling Riko. I’m starting to get worried. She might have got lost. This place is vast.’

I pulled out the piece of paper with her number on and called it on my mobile.

‘Bummer,’ I said. ‘It’s gone to voicemail.’

Pia giggled. ‘Maybe she’s just on the loo.’

I shook my head. She had been gone a long time and I was beginning to feel anxious too. ‘Maybe but . . . I think she got it into her head to lose us. She wanted a bit of time alone. Hell. Her dad’s going to kill me if I go back without her. And so’s my dad. Double death. What should we do?’

‘Text her now. Tell her we’re waiting in the café and to come right away. It’ll be OK, Jess. She’s probably trying on some clothes somewhere. You know how she said she longed for a bit of freedom. I can hardly blame her. She’ll turn up soon.’

‘I hope so.’

Five more minutes dragged by. Another five and still no sign of her. I was starting to get a bad feeling.

I got up and went over to Vincenzo. ‘’Scuse me. Are there any other cafés on this floor?’

‘There are three down here. Over twenty in the whole shop,’ he said and moved off to guide another customer to a vacant table.

I went back to Pia. ‘More than twenty cafés! She could be at any one of them wondering where
we
are.’

‘No. She’d have phoned,’ said Pia. ‘And we were clear that we were down here.’

‘I guess. Oh God. The driver will be waiting out front for us in half an hour,’ I said as I scanned the crowds.

‘Plenty of time, then,’ said Pia, but she didn’t look as confident as she had earlier.

‘You girls finished?’ asked Vincenzo as he passed by again and took our empty glass. He indicated a waiting queue to the front of the café.

‘Oh yes. Sorry. Thank you. Um, please could you tell me where the nearest Ladies is?’ I asked.

‘First floor is the closest,’ said Vincenzo and he indicated up as if to say, up on other floors. ‘All signposted.’

We got up, paid our bill then walked outside the café. I noticed that there were a bunch of store guides on a table to the left. I took one. Each floor looked like a maze with stairs, escalators, cloakrooms and halls. My unease was making my stomach churn. Seven vast floors and thousands of people. We were never going to find her. I tried to call her but again, it went to voicemail. I sent a text saying that we were on the lower floor. I cursed myself for letting her out of my sight.

‘Should we stay here in case she comes to find us or go and look for her?’ asked Pia.

‘God, I don’t know. She didn’t say which cloakroom she was going to or on which floor. And Vincenzo said there are loads of cafés. She could be anywhere. Arghhhh. If we go looking for her, she may come down here and wonder where we are. Oh, I could kill the spoilt brat. I
wish
she’d answer her phone.’

‘OK. Decision time. You stay here. I’ll go and look again,’ said Pia. ‘Call me if she appears and I’ll call you if I find her.’

‘Good plan,’ I said. ‘Except probably better if
you
stay and
I
go and look. I’m taller and can see over more heads.’

Pia stood on her tiptoes and looked out at the crowd. ‘Hmm. Guess you might be right. You sure she has your number?’

I nodded. ‘Yes. If she’s lost, she could call me. I blooming well wish she would.’

Pia looked at her watch. ‘Stay calm, Sergeant Hall. Synchronise watches, now start mission.’

I saluted her. ‘And don’t move from this spot. I don’t want to lose you too.’

Pia returned my salute then I raced up the closest escalators to the ground floor then took another going up. Even though I felt really anxious, I couldn’t help noticing how stunning it was as I floated up through what seemed like a real underground Egyptian temple. All the walls were painted deep gold with hieroglyphics. Here and there, massive statues silently watched the manic shoppers.
No wonder all these tourists are here
, I thought as I scanned the crowds going up and down
. It’s like being in a
real
temple, only with loads of fab stuff on sale.
I got off at the first floor and pushed my way to the nearest Ladies. A notice on the door said,
CLOSED. Apologies. Try Second Floor.
Oh NO
, I thought as I raced off back to the escalator. Inside I was freaking out as I imagined how Dad was going to react when he found out I’d lost Riko.

After a frantic search, I eventually found the second floor Ladies.

‘Medical emergency,’ I called and ran past a dozen or so women standing in line. All the cubicles were occupied.

‘Riko, are you in there?’ I called.

An elderly lady stepped out of one of the cubicles a few moments later and gave me a peculiar look.

‘Um, just looking for my friend,’ I said and dashed out past the ladies in the queue again, as they looked daggers at me. I glanced up and down the corridor for the escalator sign. I saw one and followed the directions to where I could see escalators to all floors. But they weren’t the ones I’d been on previously.
God. Where am I?
I wondered as I hopped on
. It’s so easy to get lost in this place
. I pulled out my guide to see how many escalators there were.
Dozens. Riko might be lost but now so am I
, I thought as panic hit me again.