is rich doesn’t interest me,’ I reply, sliding out of my chair. I’m so serene and so cool and proud of the way I’m handling myself, because what I really want to say is, bitch, please; I don’t live in no house. I live in a chateau! ‘The fact he’s hung like a horse and fucks me like the energizer bunny however, does.’
So that wasn’t exactly serene or cool and worse, as I turn, I find myself face-to-face with Remy’s mother. Her hazel eyes as wide as saucers while, behind her, Everett looks like he’s about to explode. With laughter.
‘I’m sorry you had to hear that, Josephine.’ I tilt my chin a fraction higher than its been all evening. ‘But it’s true. Or at least it was in the beginning. I also happen to love him. And sure, the house is very nice, and it keeps the mystery somewhat alive that I don’t have to wash his sweaty gym gear or his underwear, but I know I’d love him as much if we were living in a hovel. I’d just have to teach him to do his own laundry, I guess.’
With a nod in her direction, and though I may live to regret it, I take the arm that Everett offers.
‘Did you see her face? That was fucking hilarious, Rose.’
‘Stop. A compliment and you used my name. Are you trying to kill me?’ I keep my eyes straight ahead because if I look at him, I might be tempted to sneak a peek at the table behind us, and I’m not sure that will do me any good.
‘What happened to Remy?’
‘He was waylaid by one of the journalists from Le Monde. Publicity for a good cause and all that.’
‘Okay, so where are we going?’ I ask still tottering alongside him.
‘We’re going to dance. I reckon one quick spin around the dancefloor and the Weird Sisters will have pissed off elsewhere.’
‘The Weird Sisters?’
‘You know, double, double, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble. Get a black Amex card, then firm and good is the charm.’
‘Pretty sure those weren’t Shakespeare’s words. Anyway, I thought you were working tonight.’
‘I’m working it.’
‘Ha. Not with me, you’re not.’
‘Nah, you’re the job. At least until lover boy gets back.’
‘Does that mean I get to boss you around?’
‘Nope.’ At the edge of the dance floor, his hands move into the proper position; right hand at my back, his left resting on my shoulder, very unlike Remy’s earlier grip
‘Ooh. Someone knows how to dance,’ I tease as we join the revellers on the dance floor.
‘The army teaches a man many things.’ As I open my mouth to speak, he adds, ‘And most of them unfit for discussion in polite company, Heidi, so don’t ask.’
Urgh! And back to Heidi again. ‘It’s the braids, right?’
‘Something like that.’
‘You know, you’re like the kid in grade school who annoys because he doesn’t have the emotional maturity to say he likes a person.’ Oh my God, the man’s face is priceless as he glowers down at me. ‘That was a joke, Everett, not a dick. No need to take it so hard.’
On the downside, he doesn’t speak to me again once—not for the whole song. And as I’m deposited back to the table, or rather dumped, Remy still isn’t back.
‘Journalists,’ his mother offers with a shrug, breaking her conversation with the man to her right. ‘They can be so demanding. I’m sure he won’t be too much longer.’ She smiles kindly before returning to her tête-à-tête, leaving me to check my phone, as a girl does to fill in the time.
Since I last checked, I’ve received a text from an unknown number. There’s a video file attached. My thumb hovers over the file as I debate the merits of playing versus pressing delete, knowing in my heart and in my head that no good can come from pressing play.
A corrupted file?
A ruined phone?
It’s not enough that curiosity killed the cat as I press play anyway.
45
Rose
I take a sip of my drink and use the napkin it was served with to catch a tear at the corner of my eye, hating myself a little more as I hit play for the second time. Out here, in the hotel cocktail bar, Ella Fitzgerald croons quietly from concealed speakers about the wayward ways of a wayward town where love is bought and sold.
Love that’s lightly spoiled, she sings.
It’s something that sounds painfully familiar right now.