being me,” she said stiffly, and turned and headed back into her office.
Alice scuttled to her desk. Audrey had been in a strange mood all day. She’d taken every possible opportunity to put her in her place. She’d even sent her out in the rain to get her lunch, which was something she didn’t normally demand of anyone. She was probably angry with her for not coming back to the table last night. With a quick rush of shame Alice remembered how she’d run off home. Why hadn’t she had more backbone? She could at least have said goodbye!
But Audrey hadn’t actually said that this was what was upsetting her. And she had been quite drunk. Maybe she couldn’t remember, Alice thought hopefully. But her hope instantly evaporated. More likely she could remember, and she’d seen John follow her out and give her his handkerchief. Maybe that was what was angering her: her husband being nice to the black sheep of Table For Two.
Alice sneaked a look at Audrey’s bouquet as Hilary attempted to stuff it into a vase. It was even more enormous than usual. And it was just for being me. Alice had to hand it to Audrey: she must have done something pretty amazing after she’d left. John hadn’t seemed like a man in the mood to blow fifty pounds on flowers for his wife. He’d actually seemed quite angry.
Trying to look as invisible as possible, Alice sidled over to Hilary, on the pretext of helping her arrange the flowers.
“Can I ask you something?” she whispered. She nervously looked over in Audrey’s direction, but her boss had already sealed herself into her glass office and was frowning heavily at her computer.
“Do I look like a sodding florist?” Hilary muttered as she stabbed another hyacinth into the vase. “Kevin never sends me flowers. Do you think she does this just to torture me?”
“You’ve worked here a long time . . .” Alice started delicately.
“Too bloody long!”
“Did you ever meet the first five clients? You know: the ones who all got married?”
“I hadn’t joined when Audrey matched them,” Hilary replied, ramming in a handful of fern. “She hired me a few months after. But I did meet them later on; she was forever rounding them up for photo shoots with the local paper.”
Alice sneaked a glance at Audrey’s office to double-check her door was firmly closed. “Did they seem happy?”
“Of course not—they were married by then!”
“What I mean is—do you think they stood the test of time? Do you think they’re all still married?”
“I doubt it. Actually, at least one of the clients came back to us a few years later. She wanted help getting back into the scene after her divorce.”
“Divorce?” Alice felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.
“Audrey never mentions it, of course. She didn’t want to take her back on as a client. I think she was terrified in case anyone remembered her from all the publicity.”
“So just one couple got divorced . . . ?” Alice whispered hopefully.
“Oh, at least! There were rumors about one of the other couples too.” Hilary paused in her flower-arranging, trying to remember. “She was African; from Nigeria, I think. She only had a few months left on her visa.”
Alice gasped. “Are you saying Audrey matched a marriage of convenience?” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It was even worse than Sheryl had said. She wished she’d never started digging.
Hilary shrugged. “It was only a rumor; who knows? And I’m not saying she’d have done it deliberately. Knowing Audrey and her ability to read people, which is precisely zilch, she probably never had a clue. But it certainly made the chances of hitting the matchmaking jackpot a lot higher if one of the parties wanted to get a ring on her finger within the fortnight.” Hilary frowned heavily at her lumpy floral display.
“You didn’t hear any rumors about any of the couples already dating before she actually matched them, did you?” Alice asked innocently, barely able to breathe as she did so.
Hilary suppressed a snort of laughter.
“No, but I did always think there was something fishy about Audrey’s cousin.”
“Audrey’s cousin?” Alice echoed in dismay, her head beginning to spin.
“Yeah, he was a second cousin once removed, or something like that. Whatever, he never looked too enamored with his wife. I don’t think I ever saw him exchange two words with her. He was a strange-looking guy; looked like he’d hit hard times. I don’t reckon