‘Well, I ought to be getting back,’ said Bella. She held out her hand. ‘Thank you for the seek-and-rescue service. My phone buddies and I are very grateful. Not to mention my mother.’
He ignored her hand. ‘You’re going?’ He sounded amazed.
Well, damn it, what did he expect, when he told her nothing and didn’t let her have so much as a hot drink?
‘Needs must,’ said Bella, with a determined smile. ‘I’ve got to see an agency about a job, and then I have to pick up my real life again.’
‘I—’
‘Yes?’
‘Yes, of course, you must go. Your real life.’ Suddenly he wasn’t so difficult to read at all. He sounded bleak and disappointed.
‘It’s been nice knowing you,’ said Bella, softening a little.
He shook his head.
‘Well, goodbye.’
And she ran off down the steps of the bandstand and out towards the main eastern gate of the park as fast as she decently could.
He did not come after her.
4
‘Lonely Prince Has Night Out with the Boys’ – Cindy in the Daily Despatch
Anthea of Jodie’s Jobs was glad to see Bella.
‘Christmas temping, is it?’ she asked, after giving her a hug, calling up her file and providing her with some warm, stewed coffee from the bubbling machine.
Bella held her hands round the cup gratefully. ‘Actually, I was looking for something a bit longer term than that.’
She ran through everything she had done since the last time Anthea took her details.
Anthea sucked her Biro. ‘To be honest, we don’t get a lot of call for fish counters. How urgently do you need a job?’
Bella had checked her bank balance that morning. ‘Today would be good.’
‘Ah. I see.’ Anthea’s fingers flickered over the keyboard as she talked. ‘Well, Christmas temping hasn’t started yet. But I could do you a stand-in receptionist at a dentist’s. He’s a bit of a bastard, actually, so a lot of the girls won’t go back. But if you’re desperate …’
‘What sort of bastard?’
Anthea read aloud off the screen, ‘“Smarmy to the rich clients. Bullying to the staff. Has been known to throw things.”’ She peered at Bella. ‘You could go and see him today, start tomorrow, if you like.’
Bella pulled a face. But it was gainful employment and faster than she could have hoped. ‘How much?’
Anthea told her.
Bella was surprised. ‘That’s not bad.’
‘Pig’s Premium,’ said Anthea, and they both laughed.
‘I’ll do it. Give me the address.’
The dentist’s consulting rooms were in a smart Belgravia house and they were in a shambles. A harassed woman was trying to talk on the phone, deal with a new appointment for a bad-tempered client and take a credit-card payment at the same time. Bella stood quietly by and watched until, eventually, she was done.
Then she stepped forward and introduced herself. The woman nearly wept with relief. As it turned out, she was the wife of one of the partners, helping out because The Man, as she called him, had sworn at the temporary receptionist on Friday and the girl had told him he could stuff his job.
‘You’re a godsend,’ she told Bella. ‘I didn’t dare hope they’d get a replacement so quickly. Of course, you’ll have to see The Man first. He insists on that. But I’m sure it’s just a formality. I’ll show you to the waiting room.’
But the phone started ringing again. So Bella found her own way to a luxurious room full of squashy sofas and tables holding glossy magazines. It could have been the drawing room in a country-house hotel, she thought, smiling at a nervous small boy in school uniform and by-passing the glossies for a pile of today’s newspapers.
The Man kept her waiting for ages. Otherwise, she would never have read the gossip column in the Daily Despatch. And when she did, she sat bolt upright, feeling sick. It was only a snippet:
What does a chap do when a girl dumps his big brother? Takes him on the town to forget.
Prince George is a regular at Mayfair’s supersmart Funky Bôite. But it was the first time regulars had seen the Prince of Wales there. Looks like he was having a good time.
But it was the blurry photograph beside the gossip item that made Bella feel as if the world had just turned flat and she was sliding off it. Half a dozen people were pictured dancing. One of them was waving a champagne bottle over his head. In the forefront was a blonde in a backless black dress, glancing over her shoulder at the camera while her partner’s