The Cinderella Reflex (36 page)

Authors: Joan Brady

He grinned. “I heard. And part of me is not surprised. But for a journalist she can sure get her facts wrong. I don’t have any ‘personal’ plans with Paulina, if that’s what she told you.”

“Oh?” Was he going to try to lie to her? That would be unbearable. “Well, maybe she had some of the details wrong but she seemed quite sure you were practically engaged. Anyhow, it’s none of my business.”

“We had a thing in the past but it was over. When I rang her to come on board for the relaunch of Atlantic she seemed to think it was for more than just business – that it was my way of getting back with her.” He frowned. “But it wasn’t.”

Tess wondered whether she could believe him. She remembered Paulina’s words when they’d met at the traffic lights that day, when she was returning to work after having coffee with Jack:
“You know we’re seeing each other.”
And then Helene’s: “
Paulina’s hoping he’s going to put a ring on it soon.”

Had Helene got her facts wrong, like Jack was suggesting? Was Paulina spinning the story the way she wanted it to be? Spinning stories was how she made her living after all.

Or – and she had to face this – was Jack another lying cheat like Chris Conroy?

He caught the look in her eyes. “Maybe I need to have a conversation with Paulina, to make sure there’s no crossed wires. Just in case. But look, I didn’t ask you here to talk about her. The thing is . . . “ He paused, took a deep breath. “I can’t stop thinking about you, Tess. And if you and Chris have split up for good – which I assume you have because, and forgive me if you haven’t heard this yet, he announced the date of his wedding the other day – do you think there might be a chance for us to get to know each other better?”

Tess thought of her conversation with Verity – about how she’d clung on to a fantasy about Chris because it meant she didn’t have to get involved with anyone else, didn’t have to risk getting her heart broken again. About how she’d wished then she’d lived a braver life.

Maybe now was the time to start. It was true she had been taken in by Chris not once, but twice. But she’d allowed herself to suffer for it for far too long, at least the first time around.

Her instincts were telling her to believe Jack but maybe that was just because she wanted to believe him? The fact was that she could be proven wrong about him too.

But she knew if she wanted her life to be different she was going to have to start taking risks. Hearts got broken all the time. But she knew now they also mended, when they were given the chance.

“There’s this job in London,” she said. “Sub-editing at a top glossy. And the chance of writing too. I’m not sure if I want to take it.”

“What’s stopping you?”

“I thought I might go back to college – to art college. Or do both, you know? The magazine is only a temporary gig.”

“Sounds exciting.”

“It is. But it’s not that simple.”

“Actually, it is,” Jack said firmly. “I’m just glad you’re not thinking of going to work in New Zealand, which is where all the ex-Atlantic 1FM staff appear to be heading. London is only an hour away. So can I get back to my original question? If you’re really over Chris, I suggest we leave all the boring career stuff for another time and make the most of this lovely hotel.”

“I thought you said you got a suite because you had work to do,” Tess reminded him with a smile.

“I have a five-hour flight ahead of me. Plenty of working time there if you want to do something else tonight?”

Something else was
exactly
what Tess wanted. And she was done with putting obstacles in her own way. Whatever she decided to do in the future, right now, in front of her, was a delicious chance of happy ever after. Or, at the very least, a wonderful night of unbridled lust with Jack McCabe. Who wouldn’t want it?

She closed the distance between them and from there it was only a short step to the bedroom. Tess gave up thinking about anything but being in the here and now, feeling Jack’s skin on hers, the taste of his mouth, the way he spun magic into the night with his whispered endearments.

Just like she’d imagined, everything was different with him. It wasn’t just the way he looked – the dark hair curling around the nape of his neck, his tanned, athletic body, the girlishly long eyelashes she loved. You’d have to be blind not to have noticed already that Jack McCabe was drop-dead gorgeous. She’d experienced his distinctive scent before too, that expensive aftershave mingled with his own, unique essence. But the feel of him was new. The heat of his skin; the strength in his muscled arms as he folded her into him; his touch, sure on her body. It felt as if he was one-hundred-per-cent present with her. All of his senses seemed to be so acutely tuned to hers that, at one time, it felt like they were breathing as one person.

“Do you believe in soul-mates?” he asked her at one point. He was propped up on one elbow, looking at her quizzically.

“I didn’t,” she said. And it was true. She’d had plenty of romances, apart from the torch she’d carried for Chris for all that time. But she’d never felt this magnetic pull to a man before. “Do you?” she turned the question back on him. “Believe in soul-mates?”

“Never gave it much thought before now to be honest.” He raised his eyebrows. “Maybe we should get a joint reading done with Rosa and see if she can explain this connection between us?”

“I’m not sure I want it explained.” She shifted beside him.

“Me neither.” He pulled her closer.

They stayed awake all night, until five in the morning when Jack had to leave for the airport. She heard the soft click of the door behind him and sometime after that she must have fallen asleep.

When she woke, it was to the unmistakeable voice of Chris Conroy filling the room. Tess jerked up into a sitting position, adrenaline flooding her system. Her eyes darted to where the radio had come on automatically.

“
And now it’s time for your very own Agony Aunt
of the Airwaves on Atlantic 1FM. On this morning’s programme
we’re relaunching a slot that was very popular with
listeners earlier on in the year. So here to answer all the problems of you lovelorn listeners we have our own Psychic Granny! Rosa is ready and waiting to solve all your dilemmas. Good morning, Rosa!
”

Tess looked around her, disorientated by the strange surroundings. She noticed the enormous yellow sofa, the pink roses, still resplendent in their vase, the empty bottle of champagne. But Chris and Rosa were prattling on, spoiling everything. Tess felt herself catapulted out of the room and into the past. She thought about all the hoops she’d forced herself to jump through as she tried to fit in at work. How she had become so fixated on playing catch-up with her peers that she had almost lost sight of the great adventure she had been on – travelling the world, seeing unforgettable places, making lifelong friends along the way.

That’s
who Cinema Tess is, she realised. Not the person Chris had tried to convince her to become – someone who would change herself over and over again to suit external circumstances. But then, if she hadn’t met up with Chris again she might never have learned that lesson. To listen to her own inner voice, the voice that would always tell what the next best thing for her was.

And if she hadn’t worked at Atlantic 1FM she wouldn’t have met Jack, who was hopefully scheduled to have a starring role in her next Big Adventure. She reached over and switched the radio to ‘off’. She nestled back under the duvet, savouring the silence. Jack would be halfway to New York by now, but delicious fragments of the night before teased the corners of her mind. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to replay their magical night together over and over in her head. Eventually, only when she knew she couldn’t delay her checkout time any longer, she packed away the memories for some other time.

Then she swung her legs out of bed, eager to begin the next phase of her life.

Showtime
, she thought excitedly.

THE END

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