Paradise (36 page)

‘Bollocks!’

‘Just ignore her,’ Cal replied. Angel had told him about Simone’s interview. ‘She’s a bitter and twisted woman. I’m not going to waste any more of my time being friendly to her. She had my sympathy once, but no longer.’

Angel had a horrible feeling that Simone might come over, but clearly she thought better of it as she turned round again. Angel changed places with Rufus so she did not have to see even her back view. Talk then turned to the party Cal wanted to have at the house for all their friends and family, and Angel tried to forget about Simone. The fact was that she had burnt her boats now, neither Cal nor Jez or Gemma would be friends with again, so she would be out of Angel’s life. Hopefully she would never have to see Simone again. Or, if she did, then Angel felt perfectly entitled to ignore her.

As Angel and Cal were driven back to the house in a taxi, Cal’s BlackBerry beeped with a message. He frowned as he opened it. ‘Someone’s winding me up,’ he commented. He started to hand his phone to Angel. ‘Before you look, I’ve never met this woman before.’

Angel looked at the picture of a topless blonde, who looked like a right slapper – all parted glossed lips and come-hither eyes. The accompanying message read,
Thanx
for
last
nite
cant
wait
to
play
with
u
again
.

‘Who’s it from?’

‘It’s not a number I recognise. It could just be a mistake . . .’

‘Or it could be someone hoping that I would see the message and wonder if you had been playing away with Miss Tits Out.’

Cal shook his head. ‘That seems a bit paranoid.’

‘You know the saying. Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you,’ Angel said darkly.

‘Just forget it,’ Cal told her, then lowered his voice. ‘So will
you
play with me later?’

Angel swiped a punch at his arm, but whispered back, ‘Maybe,’ knowing full well that she couldn’t wait to get Cal into bed. He turned her on like no other man.

But Cal was wrong in thinking the picture message had been a one off. By the following morning five more pictures of the blonde had been sent to his phone, with the accompanying texts getting more explicit. He ended up having to call his phone company to get them to block the number.

‘I bet it was Simone,’ Angel said when he told her what he’d done over breakfast. ‘She’s such a vindictive bitch, I bet she’s beside herself now we’re back together.’

‘Forget about her, she’s unimportant.’ Cal checked his watch. ‘I’m going to collect Honey in twenty minutes, how about we go back upstairs first?’

And by the time they’d finished making love, Angel had forgotten about Simone.

THE SATURDAY OF
the party Angel and Cal were holding was turning out to be a glorious summer day; the hottest of the year, the forecasters were saying. The red-and-white-striped marquee was already up on the lawn; the caterers were about to arrive; Cal had gone off to buy last-minute supplies; Honey was with her grandparents. All Angel had to do was get ready. She had just spent the most blissful month with Cal and Honey. She and Cal had taken time out from work. They’d spent two weeks in the South of France, and then more chilled out days in Brighton or staying by the pool in their garden. She had heard nothing from Ethan – not that she’d expected to. According to the press, he was still seeing Kayla. Angel hoped he was happy.

Meanwhile Simone was back on the London clubbing scene and had been photographed looking the worse for wear coming out of Movida and The Embassy, several weeks in a row. Angel was hugely relieved that Simone had moved back to London; clearly she realised she was never going to bag a wealthy footballer in Brighton. Mind you, Simone was going to have her work cut out for her, as she would be competing against women who were way younger than her. Angel only thought about Simone when she was confronted with a
picture of her, otherwise her antics seemed to belong to another time.

She pottered happily about the house, making sure everything looked okay, then went back upstairs to change. She was just slipping into a white, thin-strapped sundress when the entry phone rang. ‘It’s the caterers,’ the caller informed her. Angel buzzed them in. They had been to the house several times before and so knew where everything was.

It was so hot that Angel couldn’t be bothered with wearing much make-up. Her long hair felt too hot against her bare skin so she arranged it into two loose plaits. She chose a pair of silver flip-flops, put on the love heart necklace and was good to go. She was sure Gemma would have something to say about her looking so casual, and not on-trend enough for a party, but Angel couldn’t care less. She wanted to feel relaxed, and did not want to be uncomfortable in some Body Con dress or tottering about in heels.

Pleased with her appearance, she headed downstairs, expecting to have a chat with the caterers. But when she walked into the kitchen there was nobody there. Maybe they were on the terrace, setting up the BBQ? She wandered outside but there was no sign of them and their van wasn’t on the drive. That seemed odd. ‘Hello,’ she called out, as she went back into the house. ‘Who’s there?’

There was no reply, and Angel wondered where they were. She walked along the hallway and into the living room where she froze. Scrawled on the huge Venetian glass mirror above the fireplace was the word ‘Bitch’ in blood-red lipstick. Whoever had written that must still be in the house.

Angel was gripped by fear. For a second she didn’t know what to do, then adrenaline kicked in and she kicked off her flip-flops and sprinted back along the
hallway, desperate to get out of the house. But the front door was double-locked and the key wasn’t where it usually was. Someone must have moved it. The feeling of fear intensified as Angel ran towards the kitchen. She’d left the door there open to the terrace. She could get out that way. But that door also had been shut and locked. She let out a gasp of terror. It was no good even trying any of the windows which were all locked and barred. She crept back along the hallway, heading for the phone. But the sound of a key jangling caused her to spin around. She was completely stunned when she saw Simone walking towards her.

‘Going somewhere, Angel?’

‘What the fuck are you doing here?’ But then Angel’s voice failed her as she saw that Simone was holding a large kitchen knife. She kept walking towards Angel, forcing her to cower against the wall.

‘You always ruin everything for me,’ Simone said in an unnervingly calm voice. ‘Wasn’t it enough that you stole Cal from me? Why did you have to ruin things with Matthew as well?’

‘What are you talking about, Simone?’ Angel didn’t know whether to keep her talking or try and make a run for it.

‘He was with Ethan when you left that message and he heard. He refused to believe me when I told him it was just you being a vindictive bitch. Said he’d always had his doubts about me. I mean, what is so fucking special about
you
?’ Now the calm voice had turned passionate. Simone pointed the knife directly at Angel. ‘Why does every man always want you?’ She gave a bitter laugh. ‘Why do you always get who you want? Even Matthew said he’d fuck you.’

Angel was aware that she was trembling. She could feel the sweat trickling down her back. Her mouth felt
dry. She swallowed, trying to stay calm. ‘Was it you who broke into the house before?’

Simone shook her head distractedly. ‘Don’t be thick. I paid one of the gardeners to do it . . . he was about to be sacked. You see, not everyone loves you, Angel. I hate you for what you’ve done to me.’ She took another step forward. Angel pressed herself against the wall. She could smell the alcohol on Simone’s breath. There was a sheen of sweat on her face, and her usually immaculate eye make up was smudged. Angel tried to push away the thought that Simone looked unhinged, like a woman who had nothing left to lose.

‘And you sent the pictures to Cal of that blonde, didn’t you?’

Simone smirked. ‘Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. You can never tell with Cal, can you? I thought he was faithful to me, but he was shagging you. You thought he was faithful to you, but he was shagging that Italian. I wonder who it will be next?’

Simone was ranting now and Angel felt sick with fear but she was sure she’d just heard a car pull up in the drive. It must be Cal! Simone was so focussed on Angel, she seemed not to have noticed.

‘He’s still got feelings for Madeleine, I mean, why wouldn’t he? She’s so beautiful and sophisticated, and she
is
having his baby. But I think he still wants me . . .’

‘Please, Simone, I’m sorry if I’ve upset you . . . I didn’t mean to. Why don’t you put the knife down? You don’t want to do anything you’ll regret.’ Oh, God, Cal! Come now! Angel thought desperately.

Another bitter laugh. ‘Believe me, if I hurt you, I wouldn’t regret it.’

Simone took another step forward and grabbed at the silver necklace round Angel’s neck, ripping it off her. Angel let out a cry of pain and terror as Simone swung at her with the knife. She was sure it was going
to strike her and was powerless to do anything about it. But suddenly Angel saw Cal running up behind Simone and taking her completely by surprise. He seized her arm, forcing her to drop the knife. It was Simone’s turn to scream out in pain as she tried to free herself from his grip. But he held on to her tightly, pinning her arms behind her back.

‘Christ, Angel, are you all right? Did she cut you?’ Cal sounded frantic with worry.

Angel thought her legs might give way with shock, but she managed to say, ‘I’m okay,’ and walked over to him, keeping well out of Simone’s reach.

‘Of course she’s okay!’ Simone exclaimed. ‘She was the one who was going to use the knife on me! I managed to get it off her just in time. It was self-defence.’

She tried to turn and face Cal to plead her case but he didn’t slacken his grip. Instead he looked at Angel. ‘Are you sure you’re okay? I can see blood on your neck.’

Angel reached up and touched the mark the chain had left. ‘She ripped my necklace off.’

Cal clenched his jaw and tightened his hold on Simone, causing her to wince with pain, ‘What the fuck have you done?’

‘I just dropped in to say hi and she turned on me when I told her that you were planning to leave her and come back to me. I grabbed the knife as she lunged at me.’

Cal looked as if he didn’t believe a word. ‘I’m with Angel, Simone, and I’m never going to leave her. I love her, I don’t love you.’

Something in Simone seemed to give way at that but she burst out, ‘No, Cal! I know you love me . . . we’re meant to be together. She’s been ruining our lives for too long!’

He ignored her pleas and said to Angel, ‘You’d better
go and call the police.’ As she quickly made her way towards the phone, Simone continued to beg.

‘Cal, please, don’t be like this. We can work it out, I know we can. And anyway, it’s her word against mine.’

‘Every room downstairs has security cameras.’ Cal turned her round so she could see the tiny white camera in the corner of the hall ceiling. ‘You’ll be seen on film, threatening Angel with the knife. So smile, you’re on CCTV. And don’t ever come near my family again!’

It was early evening by the time Angel and Cal finished giving their statements at the police station. Simone had been charged and was being held overnight. The detectives seemed confident that she would be sent to prison, and in the meantime they would get a restraining order preventing her from going anywhere near Angel and her family. The party had been cancelled, but when the couple arrived back at the house, Frank, Michelle and Honey were outside on the terrace, with Gemma and Tony, Rufus and Jez. ‘Are you okay, love?’ Michelle asked anxiously.

Angel felt tears spring to her eyes. It had been a terrifying ordeal, and she dreaded to think what Simone would have done if Cal hadn’t arrived when he did. But she wanted to forget about it now.

‘I’m okay, Mum. We can talk when Honey’s in bed.’ Then Angel was hugging her family and friends.

Jez couldn’t resist quipping, ‘The whole scenario is just so
Single
White
Female
meets
Dynasty
! But Angel is so brave, she’s my hero now. Well, after Rufus, of course.’

‘Jez,’ Rufus said in a warning voice, worried that Angel didn’t need comments like that.

But she smiled and said, ‘Actually I need to laugh about it. And Cal is
my
hero.’ She turned and lightly touched his face. ‘And I’ve got something else to say . . .’
She felt as if she would burst if she didn’t get the words out. She hadn’t realised quite how much she needed to say them until now.

‘So have I,’ Cal said quietly. ‘For a moment back then, I thought I might have lost you, and I’ve got to say this now.’

They looked at each other and both said at the same time, ‘Will you marry me?’

‘Yes!’ Angel exclaimed at the same time as Cal.

‘Oh my God! You
so
are Liz Taylor and Richard Burton, I love it!’ Jez exclaimed, clapping his hands in delight. ‘Maybe we should get divorced and then remarry?’ he said hopefully to Rufus. ‘Just think of the presents. And I would get to wear another great designer suit.’

But Rufus was smiling and shaking his head as he handed out glasses of champagne to everyone. ‘Let’s have a toast to Angel and Cal. We always knew they belonged together.’

‘To Angel and Cal,’ everyone declared, raising their glasses.

Cal reached out for her hand. It was time for Angel to forget the past and embrace what she had always known: that Cal was her soul-mate and her lover, and she wanted him to be her husband again.

‘To us,’ Angel said, clinking her glass against his.

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.