It Was You Page 14

  ‘They could tell you to put your tits away,’ muttered Sophie.

  The comment would have been inaudible to Eleanor, but she sensed a retort and flared nevertheless. ‘What did you say?’ Her left eye twitched and she looked about to blow. ‘I missed your last comment.’

  ‘Did you?’ said Sophie. She leaned back on the sofa and looked bored.

  I forced myself to look back at Eleanor. She was now red as well as shiny: a buxom tomato.

  ‘Right, here are your drinks,’ said David. He was walking towards us, juggling three large glasses of wine. Eleanor and I each relieved him of a glass and he sat back down in the empty sofa space which had been preserved for him.

  ‘Thanks, David,’ I said.

  Eleanor, the florid, ticking time bomb, nodded at him.

  Nobody spoke.

  ‘Gosh, this sofa is comfy,’ said David.

  ‘I’ve tried that,’ I said.

  He looked at me and frowned. ‘What?’

  ‘She has just been very rude about my dress,’ Eleanor snapped loudly.

  David jumped, his eyes immediately darting to Eleanor’s cleavage. ‘What breasts?’ he said. ‘Er, I mean what dress? I mean who’s been rude?’

  Sophie burst out laughing and, had my mood not been so fatally crushed earlier in the evening, I would no doubt have joined in. However, at that moment, the exchange merely increased my levels of anxiety and irritation.

  ‘Eleanor,’ I sighed, ‘the dress is lovely. Sophie wasn’t criticising it. She was simply using it to illustrate the advantages of a fresh perspective. Don’t worry.’

  ‘Don’t you patronise me,’ Eleanor spat.

  I turned to her, astonished by her response. ‘I wasn’t trying to patronise you. I was simply reassuring you that the dress is fine.’

  ‘Alice,’ said David quietly, ‘let’s just change the subject.’

  I drank my wine. ‘Why does everybody always want to change the subject?’ I said. ‘You know, sometimes issues do have to be resolved – no matter what the time or place. Actions have to be explained and feelings expressed. Feelings can’t forever be left suppressed and unexpressed, you know.’ The words spilled out in an inarticulate stream of tipsy consciousness.

  ‘What is she rambling on about?’ Eleanor looked at me, whilst placing a red-taloned hand on David’s knee.

  ‘I think maybe…’ David looked at me uncertainly. ‘Do you know, Eleanor, I’m not entirely sure. But what I do know is that Alice is a remarkably bright woman, who usually makes a very good point.’

  I felt my lower lip wobble. ‘Thank you, David.’ I offered him a watery smile and kissed his cheek.

  He smiled kindly at me.

  ‘Get off him,’ hissed Eleanor menacingly.

  Sophie leaned forward. ‘What did you say to her?’ she asked.

  David held up a hand. ‘I think—’

  ‘I told her to get off him,’ repeated Eleanor, eyeing Sophie dangerously.

  ‘That’s what I thought you said.’ Sophie’s jaw tightened and my sense of foreboding deepened. ‘I just don’t understand why you spoke to Alice so aggressively and why you referred to David as if he was something you’d picked out at the Sainsbury’s meat counter.’

  ‘How dare speak to me to me like that?’ Eleanor leaned threateningly towards Sophie. ‘May I remind you who has paid your wages for the past two months?’

  ‘David pays my wages. You’re a former client who paid a fee for our services, nothing more. I’m sorry if such basic business concepts are beyond you.’ Sophie drained her cocktail. ‘And even if you had paid my wages, you can’t buy respect, you have to earn it. And you haven’t earned it – from any of us.’ She edged forward in her seat and made as if to leave, but Eleanor reached in front of David and myself, and put a restraining hand on her arm.

  ‘If it wasn’t for the fact that David is my boyfriend,’ she seethed, ‘I would make sure I was the last client your company ever had. You’ve been an obnoxious little bitch from the start.’ She looked at me. ‘Both of you have.’

  David sat up sharply. ‘Eleanor, I won’t tolerate—’

  ‘Your boyfriend?’ Sophie stared at Eleanor incredulously. ‘You are joking, surely? Firstly, David is all man, so how dare you demean him by using the word boy? And—’

  ‘Sophie,’ began David, ‘let me—’

  ‘And call me a bitch if you want because, actually, yes, I have said some very unflattering stuff about you behind your back but she,’ Sophie placed her right arm around me and pointed at me with her left hand, ‘she hasn’t had a bad word to say about you. And the fact that you are so fucking rude and unpleasant to someone who has never done you any harm just about sums you up. And let me tell you this for nothing, the only reason she and David have anything to do with you, anything at all, is because they, and everyone else here,’ she waved a hand at the room, ‘are just too fucking polite to tell you to piss off. Well I’m not. So piss off! Oh and another thing,’ Sophie stood up, ‘for fuck’s sake put some clothes on!’ She pointed at Eleanor’s chest. ‘Yes, you’ve got big tits but then so has Simon Cowell and my Uncle Bill’s dairy herd. Let me tell you, deary, no one’s fucking interested.’

  It was at this point I realised that pretty much all conversation around us had ceased; the only noise being what sounded like a faint ripple of anonymous applause from a far corner of the conservatory.

  Eleanor Black’s mouth opened and closed wordlessly, giving her the appearance of one of the larger puffer fish I had seen with Phoebe at the zoo.

  Sophie bit her lip and blinked back what looked suspiciously like tears. She looked first at me and then at David. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she said quietly, her eyes still fixed on him. ‘I think I’ve let you down.’ And with that, she walked rapidly out of the conservatory and disappeared into the blissfully unaware kitchen crowd.

  David was staring at the ground. ‘Oh dear,’ he said.

  I looked about me. The various small groups had politely recommenced talking amongst themselves although, judging by some of the smirks and glances in our direction, the recent floorshow was the preferred topic of quiet conversation.

  Eleanor Black finally found her voice. ‘It is beyond me why you would ever choose to employ someone like that,’ she hissed.

  David’s gaze remained fixed on the floor. ‘Because she’s excellent at her job,’ he said simply, ‘and also—’

  ‘That’s no justification for—’

  ‘I hadn’t finished, Eleanor,’ he continued calmly. ‘She’s excellent at her job and valued by clients for her honesty and straightforwardness.’

  ‘Straightforwardness? Her language is—’

  ‘And I value her for her honesty and integrity also; both professionally and personally. Now,’ he looked up at her, ‘would it be easier for you if Alice and I left?’

  ‘I… I…’ Eleanor stared at David in confusion, as if he was speaking some unknown language.

  ‘Or would you like us to stay?’ he asked.

  She appeared to collect herself and rose to her feet. ‘Stay,’ she said, walking away. ‘People want to meet you.’

  I watched her be swallowed up by the crowd, as David leaned back into the sofa and closed his eyes, clearly as shell-shocked as I was. We’d been at this party for less than an hour and in that time I had been reduced to a complete emotional wreck. However now, I told myself, was not the time to dwell. I had to find Sophie.

  I made to stand up. ‘I’d better go after her,’ I said to David. ‘She was very upset.’

  He opened his eyes, placed his hand on my arm and stood up. ‘No, I’ll go, Alice. You stay there and relax.’

  Relax? I could only assume that he was existing in some sort of parallel universe.

  I tugged at his jacket. ‘I meant I was going to find Sophie, David, not Eleanor.’

  ‘I know you did,’ he said, turning and walking away. ‘So did I.’

  Chapter 18

  I wasn’t certain how long I sat the
re alone, following David’s exit in pursuit of Sophie, but I was already quite far down my second glass of wine, by the time I was jolted back into awareness by Jon’s arrival.

  ‘I know I’ve missed something,’ he said. ‘I’m just not sure what.’

  I raised my head and he looked down at me questioningly, before joining me on the sofa. His appearance was, of course, an immediate reminder of our earlier disagreement and succeeded in lowering my mood even further – something which, up until that point, I would have thought impossible. I returned to studying the contents of my glass and shrugged.

  He gestured towards the kitchen. ‘A short time ago, Sophie rushed past me looking like she wasn’t having a great time. I caught up with her and she said she was fine but had an urgent call to make. And I’ve just seen David looking like an official mourner. What’s happened?’

  Reluctant as I was to focus on the situation, I realised I was going to have to update him. ‘Well,’ I sighed, running a finger absently around the rim of my glass, ‘Sophie told Eleanor Black to put her boobs away. Except she used the word “tits”. And she said also said “fuck”. A lot.’ I looked at him miserably. ‘And very loudly. You know the way she does when she’s cross.’

  ‘Oh,’ he said, clearly trying not to laugh.

  I shook my head. ‘It’s not funny.’

  ‘I think you’ll find it is a bit funny.’

  I looked at him blankly, envying his apparent ability to firewall all the negative emotions which had been so evident earlier in the evening.

  ‘And if the conversations I’ve just been party to, are anything to go by,’ he continued, ‘I’m surprised Sophie didn’t get a round of applause.’

  ‘Well, as a matter of fact…’ I smiled involuntarily.

  He returned the smile and I looked up at him, feeling suddenly torn. I desperately wanted him to be happy and, as I had told Miriam earlier that evening, I accepted that he had every right to be. But at the same time, I now realised that I was having extreme difficulty in being completely selfless about the situation. And the idea of him having a relationship which changed our relationship, wasn’t an easy one for me. Not only that, I remained undeniably hurt and bewildered that he didn’t want to share such a significant part of his life with me.

  Meanwhile, he was talking again. ‘So, I don’t think it’s a problem.’ He nodded his head towards the kitchen. ‘No one in there will have heard anything and Eleanor isn’t likely to want to provide any details. Even if it leaked out, most people are just going to be grateful that someone told her to put some clothes on.’

  ‘Sorry, what?’ I looked up at him and held up my near-empty glass. ‘I’m afraid I’m not focusing very well at the moment. I drank this far too quickly,’ I said, trying to smile, before giving it up as a bad job. I sighed, lowered my wine glass and relaxed into misery, instinctively leaning my head against his shoulder. ‘I’m so sorry about earlier, Jon,’ I said quietly. ‘You are such a good friend and I just don’t want that to change.’

  I felt him suddenly stiffen and I sat up, experiencing an agonising realisation that, however close I thought we were, he clearly now felt differently. Or maybe, I thought miserably, he had always felt differently.

  He turned towards me. ‘Shall we leave?’ he asked. He looked serious and, I guessed, unhappy at the thought of an early exit.

  ‘I wish I could,’ I said, taking his suggestion as objective confirmation that my evening was now beyond recovery, ‘but I don’t want David to feel abandoned.’

  He made no response.

  ‘Anyway,’ I continued, attempting to pull myself together, ‘whatever I do, there’s no need for you to leave. I haven’t needed seeing to my door in quite a while now. And you know far more people here than I do. Go and enjoy yourself. I’m just going to stay here and keep out of mischief until David gets back. I’ll send a few texts and try to find out what’s going on.’

  ‘Right,’ he said, standing up almost before I had finished speaking. ‘I’ll leave you to it. But let me know if you do decide to go home. It’ll save me looking for you at the end of the evening.’

  ‘Of course,’ I said in surprise. ‘I wouldn’t just…’ My voice trailed away as he headed back towards the main kitchen crowd, without waiting for me to complete the sentence.

  I sat back on the sofa, heaved a sigh and reached for my bag. Taking out my phone, I texted David.

  Have you found Sophie?

  I then sent a second text to Sophie.

  Are you ok? David was looking for you.

  I stared into space, clutching my phone, awaiting a reply. I didn’t think there was much more I could do. I began to wish Jon hadn’t taken me at my word and left quite so immediately. My phone buzzed. It was a text from Sophie.

  I’m fine. Just feeling stupid. Saw David. Now on way home. Have sister with me tomorrow but will see you Monday. xx

  I placed my phone back in my bag, stood up to see if there was any sign of David and immediately spotted him winding his way towards me. He saw me and raised a hand. A few seconds, and multiple ‘excuse me’s, later and he was back at my side. I felt a rush of relief at his return.

  ‘Well, I caught her,’ he said, as we sat back down.

  ‘I know,’ I replied. ‘I had a text. How is she?’

  ‘Tearful. It’s very strange to see her like that. Usually, she’s so…’ He made a fist with his hand and shook it at the ceiling.

  I nodded. ‘Yes.’

  ‘But she didn’t really want to talk,’ he continued. ‘She said she just wanted to get home.’

  ‘She wasn’t quite herself all evening.’

  He folded his arms and sighed. ‘You mean over Jon?’

  ‘You noticed then.’

  ‘I know you think of me as a bumbling idiot,’ he said forlornly, ‘but that one was hard to miss – even for me.’

  ‘I do not think of you as a bumbling idiot!’ I protested. ‘I’m the one forever putting my foot in it.’

  He offered me a tired smile and then rubbed his eyes. ‘I was exaggerating. I just miss social cues sometimes. And I find women particularly confusing,’ he sighed. ‘Anyway, Sophie was very upset. Kept repeating that she’d let everybody down and wouldn’t accept that I didn’t see it that way.’ He stared at the far wall of the conservatory.

  I touched his arm. ‘Are you OK?’ I asked gently.

  ‘No, I’m not.’ He shook his head. ‘Because this is actually all my fault.’

  ‘Oh, don’t be silly,’ I tutted.

  ‘It is,’ he insisted. ‘And that’s what I should have said to Sophie.’ He raised a hand to prevent any further objection. ‘I shouldn’t have engaged in anything beyond a professional relationship with Eleanor. If I hadn’t, the argument would never have arisen. In fact, we probably wouldn’t even be here.’ He looked at me, as if for a response.

  ‘Sorry, David,’ I sighed, ‘but if you’re after relationship advice or top tips on social interaction, you’re absolutely talking to the wrong person. I have demonstrated this very evening that I never know when to keep my mouth shut and,’ I slumped back wearily on the sofa, ‘of course, on top of that, you know that I’m incapable of spotting a total shit at fifty paces. Pardon my man-language.’

  He smiled. ‘Pardon granted. On the basis,’ he added, ‘that Edward was, indisputably, a total sh…’ He hesitated. ‘He was one.’

  We sat in silence for a moment.

  ‘I’ve got to sort things out, Alice,’ he said, eventually.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘There are a number of issues to address. However, the first thing I would like to do is leave this party.’

  ‘Oh God, me too,’ I said.

  He stood up and offered me his hand. ‘Shall we?’

  I allowed him to hoist me to my feet. ‘But I’ve got to find Jon. He won’t want to leave but I must say goodbye.’

  ‘Of course, and,’ he paused, ‘and we must take leave of our hostess.’

  I took a
deep breath and nodded. ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘We must.’

  Chapter 19

  It took us some time to find Jon, but we eventually tracked him down to the front reception room, where he was looking happy and relaxed as he chatted with a largish group, which included Ben Battersby. We walked over to the group and I tapped Jon’s shoulder.

  He turned, still smiling at whatever anecdote had just been recounted.

  ‘Hi,’ he said and then added, addressing David, ‘All well?’

  David nodded.

  ‘Good.’ Jon gestured towards the group. ‘Do you know everyone?’

  ‘We’re actually just heading off,’ I said.

  ‘Both of you?’ asked Jon. ‘So you don’t need seeing to your door?’

  David leaned forward. ‘Don’t worry, Jon, I’ll see her safely home.’

  ‘Oh, for goodness sake,’ I smiled. ‘It’s not even eleven and I’m thirty-two years old. But yes, I have David as my escort. So, you can stay and enjoy yourself.’

  He nodded and kissed my cheek. ‘I’ll see you soon. David,’ he raised his glass to him, ‘I’m pleased everything is OK.’

  Whilst David smiled and made some typically positive comments about the evening, I looked up at Jon and had a sudden and unexpected urge to ask him to quit the party, come for coffee, tell me all about his new relationship and reassure me that everything was going to be fine. I wasn’t certain what had happened this evening but I felt a distance opening up between us, which I was desperate to narrow.

  ‘Jon,’ I began impulsively, as soon as David had finished speaking.

  ‘Sorry, yes?’ He had already half-turned away from us to return to the group discussion and he now looked over his shoulder at me enquiringly.

  ‘Well, I just wondered…’ I glanced at David, who was now scanning the crowd, I assumed in search of Eleanor. ‘I just wondered if… I mean, I know you probably want…’

  Jon raised his left eyebrow, looking puzzled and, I thought, mildly impatient. I felt the gulf between us widen. I was making things worse. I shook my head and smiled. ‘I’m rambling. I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s the matter with me this evening.’