kosher as they’re a subsidiary of Excelsior – the vendors on Japan! Will talk you through when you’re back in the office.
‘What do you want to do?’ asks Beth.
Alice counts to ten in her head, concentrating on taking slow deep breaths in and out. ‘I want to kill him, is what I want to do.’
‘Who was that disgusting man?’ asks Beth, sounding as if a lightbulb has gone on in her head that no one else can see. Alice waits for her to offer more.
‘That creep who owned Temple Homes. The one who assaulted you.’
Alice shakes her head, not knowing what he’s got to do with anything. ‘David,’ she says. ‘David Phillips.’
‘Where’s that site? The one he wanted you to work on.’
‘Bradbury Avenue,’ says Alice, a slight irritation to her. How was this solving the very big problem of Nathan?
Beth snatches a look at her watch. ‘Will it still be open?’
‘What, the site?’
Beth nods.
‘I don’t know. Why?’
‘Call David and find out if you can meet him there.’
Alice turns in her seat. ‘Why would I do that?’
‘Just ask him to meet you there now.’
‘Absolutely not,’ snaps Alice. ‘I never want to speak to him again.’
‘Just do it,’ says Beth, her eyes not leaving the road in front of her. ‘I’ve got an idea.’
‘And what do I do if he says yes?’
‘We’ll revert to Plan B.’
Alice begrudgingly looks up his number, unsure of whether she deleted it from her phone after their encounter. She almost hopes that she has.
When she sees it, she fights the urge to lie to Beth. ‘I don’t want him to think that what he did was okay,’ she says quietly, remembering his hands on her behind, his rough fingers kneading her breast.
‘Believe you me, he won’t get away with it,’ says Beth, ‘if you please just do as I say.’
‘Are you honestly asking me to trust you?’ says Alice, her voice high-pitched and laden with irony.
‘Yes,’ says Beth firmly, and for some reason Alice believes her.
‘David!’ she enthuses, superficially. ‘It’s Alice. How are you?’
‘Oh, Alice,’ he replies. ‘Well, this is a surprise. I thought after—’
‘It was a misunderstanding,’ she says. ‘And not something that should interfere with business.’
‘Well, I’m pleased you feel that way. I have to say, I was somewhat surprised by your overreaction.’
Alice bites her lip, desperately trying to stay calm.
‘Listen, I was wondering if I could take a look at the site after all? Just to get a clearer picture of your vision for the interior. That is, if you’d still like me to . . .’
‘Of course,’ he booms. ‘It’s still very much a building site, so we have to be careful, but I’ll gladly show you around. When are you free?’
‘I was thinking in maybe half an hour or so, around six, if that works for you?’
‘I’m afraid the site is closed for the day now,’ he says.
Alice looks to Beth who spins her finger, intimating for her to wrap the conversation up.
‘Ah, that’s a shame as I’m literally coming past it. Never mind, perhaps another time.’
‘Well, if you’re passing, I suppose you could pop in. It’s all supposedly locked up – health and safety and all that.’ He laughs throatily. ‘But if you go around the back, there’s a loose hoarding that you can slide across. Don’t tell anyone I told you though, or they’ll come down on me like a ton of bricks. I’ve already been paid a visit because kids treat it like a playground, and if anything happens to one of them, apparently it’ll be on my head. How ridiculous is that?’
‘Crazy,’ says Alice, desperate to get off the phone as Beth gives her the thumbs-up.
‘Perhaps we could meet for dinner to discuss the way forward. I’d hate for you to miss out on this opportunity, just because—’
Alice cuts him off, unable to listen to this odious little man any longer.
‘Fine, I’ll give you a call tomorrow,’ she says before putting the phone down and turning to Beth. ‘Now what?’
‘Just ask Nathan to meet you there,’ says Beth authoritatively.
‘But what for?’
Beth turns to look at her and they share a momentary understanding. An unspoken agreement that everything will be all right.
‘Where the hell are you?’ barks Nathan through the loudspeaker. ‘What’s going on? We’ve got to complete on Japan.’
Alice feels bizarrely detached – as if she’s landed in a movie of someone else’s life.
‘Did you hear me?’ he goes on. ‘Time’s running out.’
‘Who for, Nathan?’
‘What do you mean, who for? Us. You. AT Designs . . .’ He