off without him,’ Ellie said consolingly. ‘You don’t need crap like that. Trust me, you’ll find someone a million times nicer. What a slimy git. Good riddance.’
Roo flinched. ‘Don’t say that.’
‘I bloody well will say it! He’s a sleazebag and you’re well out of it.’
‘You haven’t met him, though.’
‘I’m glad I didn’t! Oh, come on.’ Ellie leaned across the table and gave her arm a squeeze. ‘You’ll be OK. There are loads of fantastic men out there, just waiting for you to meet them. Lovely men, men who don’t lie, men who aren’t married… ooh, I know, you liked the look of Zack McLaren, didn’t you? When I start there next week I’ll find out if he’s single, then maybe—’
‘Sshh.’ Roo jumped as her mobile started to ring. Snatching it up from the table, she pressed it to her ear and whispered, ‘Yes? Yes. No. No, I know. Yes, me too. OK. Right. Yes. Bye.’
The furtive look on her face told Ellie who’d been on the other end of the phone. ‘That was Niall, wasn’t it?’
‘Yes.’
‘And?’
‘Nothing.’
‘What did he want?’
‘Just… seeing how I am.’ Furtiveness was now mixed with defiance.
‘Is that all?’
‘Pretty much.’ Furtiveness and defiance combined with guilt. Roo drank some more wine and paid close attention to the glass.
‘You’re still talking to him, then.’ Was this how it felt to be a barrister, cross-examining in court?
‘Looks like it.’
‘Still seeing him too?’
‘Maybe.’ Pause. ‘Yes.’
‘Oh God.’ Ellie shook her head. ‘Why?’
‘Don’t look at me like that,’ Roo wailed. ‘I love him!’
So this was why Roo hadn’t liked her calling Niall a slimy git. Marveling at the power he had over her, Ellie said, ‘But he’s married.’
‘Not happily, though!’
‘Still married.’
‘But it’s not his fault.’ Roo leapt to his defense. ‘She trapped him.’
Ellie gave her a long look. ‘You mean, like in a big metal man-trap?’
‘Worse than that.’
‘So you’re telling me they have children.’
Two bright spots of color appeared in Roo’s cheeks. ‘One child. Only one. Look, he’s not a bad person,’ she pleaded. ‘He’s just trying to do the right thing. He was about to finish with her when she told him she was pregnant. He could have walked away, but he didn’t. He stayed for the sake of the baby. But she’s just been a complete nightmare. She’s made his life a misery—’
‘The baby?’
‘No! The wife! Yasmin.’ Roo’s lip curled. ‘That’s her name. Isn’t that just so… princessy? And she’s a complete bitch, you have no idea. Seriously, he tried so hard to make it work, but it was just impossible.’
‘So he’s going to leave her?’
‘Well, yes, of course he will.’
‘When?’
‘Soon.’
‘Why doesn’t he leave now?’
‘He can’t do it yet, not while the baby’s still so young. He has to stick it out until it’s a year old. Otherwise it just kind of looks bad, you know?’ Roo paused. ‘You don’t approve, do you? Don’t tell me I’m doing the wrong thing. You’re not allowed to nag.’
‘When it all goes wrong, am I allowed to say I told you so?’
‘It’s not going to go wrong. He’s brilliant. I’ve waited years to be this happy!’
‘But—’
‘Oh please, don’t say anything else,’ Roo begged. ‘When you meet Niall you’ll understand. I love him.’ She clapped her hand to her chest. ‘And it’s not my fault he’s married.’
Chapter 12
If you wanted to make grumpy Londoners talk to you, Ellie had discovered the answer. All you had to do was carry a huge cellophane-wrapped bouquet home from work.
‘Those for me, love?’ said the newspaper seller outside Brace House as she left the building on her last day there.
‘Ah, thanks, you shouldn’t have!’ a taxi driver yelled out of his window.
‘Cheers, darlin’, they’re my favorites,’ said a transport worker on the underground.
‘How did you know it was my birthday?’ beamed a stranger in the street.
It was like living in Mary Poppins world.
Actually, it made a nice change, having her final commute transformed into such a jolly affair. Maybe lugging flowers around wherever you went should be made compulsory. Reaching Nevis Street, Ellie let herself into the flat. Tony was already here; she could smell his Acqua di Parma cologne.
He came to greet her. ‘Hello, sweetheart. Are those for me? You didn’t need to do that.’ Delighted by his own wit, he relieved her of the cellophane-wrapped bouquet then gave her a warm hug. ‘You’re looking good.’
‘You too.’ Tony was over for a few days to meet with film producers and give a few interviews. It was lovely to see him again.