The Piano Man Project Page 0,42
who chained Mimi to the railings.’
The fireman looked Billy up and down, and then slid his gaze back to Honey. ‘And then you ate the key,’ he said, nodding slowly. ‘Bit of a ménage à trois, as they say.’ He looked incredibly pleased with his own sophistication.
‘Petit pois, mon amigo,’ Billy replied knowledgeably, and Honey turned her eyes to the skies.
‘Any chance you might go and crap that key out, love?’ the firefighter poised over Mimi with the bolt cutters shouted. ‘Last chance before I go in!’
Honey shook her head, mortified by the fact that a couple of journalists still lingered around, laughing openly and scribbling in their notebooks. How had she managed to go from heroine to member of a weird sex trio in the matter of an hour?
‘I’m going to go and check if Mimi’s okay now,’ she said, smoothing her hair.
As she walked away, she distinctly heard the fireman mention the words sugar daddy, and Billy say yes please, two sugars.
Honey sat on the floor outside Hal’s door that evening, her head tipped back against the wall, her jean-clad legs stretched out in front of her. He’d ignored her knock of course, aside from the obligatory curse to confirm he was alive. She hadn’t really expected more, but she’d hoped all the same, because she found that of all the people she knew, he was the only one she wanted to tell about the bizarre afternoon she’d just lived through. She’d been sitting there for almost an hour already, telling him the story, even though he wasn’t interested and most probably wasn’t listening.
‘And then the fire brigade had to be called out to cut Mimi’s cuffs off because I’d swallowed the key and they were stronger than they looked. I mean, you’d imagine they’d be pretty flimsy given that they’re designed for the bedroom, but no, not those ones. God knows where Simon got them from, they were bloody industrial! And of course Nell had scarpered by that point and Mimi gave the firemen the impression that the cuffs were mine, which, given that I’d eaten the key, wasn’t that big a stretch of the imagination really, was it?’
Honey shook her head, remembering the barely concealed laughter on the faces of the firemen.
‘I’ll most probably get the sack. I’d have walked out this afternoon if it wasn’t for the fact that I’d just given my very own war speech; I can hardly desert the troops now, can I? They think I’m some kind of brave heroine who’s going to lead them to victory. Except I’m not brave, Hal, and I’m no one’s heroine. I’m ordinary, quite often stupid, and I’m scared stiff I’m not going to be up to the job.’
On the other side of the door, Hal thought how very, very wrong she was. She was the least ordinary person he’d ever known. Funny, yes, and fearless, yes, but ordinary, never. She just hadn’t realised those things yet.
He wasn’t going to answer her tonight, that much was obvious.
‘I better go in,’ she said after a while. ‘I’m tired Hal, and this one-way conversation thing is wearing me out tonight. Just for the record, I could have done with a friend right now, and I hoped it’d be you. But then I don’t suppose we’re friends, are we really?’
Nothing.
Resigned, Honey went home to curl up in bed and wait for sleep to come and rescue her.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Friday dawned cool and grey, and found Honey knocking off work early to go home and cook bolognese for her hot date with Robin. She’d gone into work full of trepidation that morning, only to find that Christopher was out of the building for a meeting at head office and wasn’t expected back all day. Honey tried not to wonder if he’d been called in as a result of Tuesday’s shenanigans. There would undoubtedly be fallout from their actions, but it seemed that thankfully it was to be staved off for the weekend at least.
Mimi, Lucille and Billy had been waiting for her at the door when she’d arrived at work, presenting her with a fruitcake baked by Patrick and a rousing rendition of ‘For She’s a Jolly Good Fellow’. Much as Honey loved cake and appreciated the support, she left work filled with worry about next week. Lucille followed her to the door.
‘Put it all out of your head for now and have a lovely weekend, dear,’ she said, holding on to Honey’s forearm with a twinkle in her eye.