(2012) Evie Undercover (27 page)

Evie started to stand up. ‘I suggest we skip the peach teas and hightail it to our various destinations. We
’ve not
ordered them yet and I want an early ni
ght. What about you, Gabriela
?
D
o you want to go clubbing
with Rachel and Jess
or have you had enough for one evening?’

‘If you want to come with us, you’re very welcome,’ Rachel told her.

‘I don’t think s
o, thank you, b
ut it’s very kind of you to ask me. I wonder if I could go back with you, Evie
.
I
can
take
a cab
from
your house
to my
apartment
.
I’d
like
to see where you live, but not to visit as we both
now
have an early morning tomorrow.’

‘If you really want to. I won’t ask you in, though
–
it’s a bit of a pigsty
at the moment
and you might get a culture shock.’

They all laughed.

Gabriela looked round at the three of them, and smiled warmly. ‘How lucky I was to meet Tom
, and through him
to meet the t
hree of you.
I know that I’m going to enjoy being in England very much
. V
ery much indeed.’

‘
It’s only a few minutes from here,’ Evie said, as they turned off Camden Road. ‘It’s very convenient for everywhere.’

‘I can see this,’ Gabriela said with a smile.
‘You are fortunate to be living in such a place.’

‘It was Rachel who found it.’
Evie’s mobile phone
sounded. ‘Sorry, it’
s my phone,’ she said, taking it out. ‘
It
’ll
be Rachel or Jess
.
We’ll have
left
something
behind
, you watch
.
Hi!
’ she said into the
handset
.

H
er editor’s voice
was loud
at the other end
of the line. S
he
abruptly
stopped walking
and listened
,
stunned horro
r
on her face.
‘Of course
. I understand
,’ s
he gasped
into the phone
as t
he line
fell silent. S
he
clicked to end the call
, stared at the
handset
, the blood draining from her face, then slid it into
her pocket
.

‘Oh, God
,
’
she whispered, and she cupped her hands in front of her mouth.

‘Evie
, what is it? You have gone so pale.
’ Gabriela’s voice came
through the drumming in her ears
.

Oh, no!
She
’d forgotten
about
Gabriela in the panic of the moment.
She must get rid of her
fast
so she could think clearly,
decide what to do. If there was anything she
could
do.
Her eyes filled with
tears, and s
he
pressed her
knuckles
to her eyes to stem the flow
,
but the tears
fell
over her fingers
and trickled
down her arm.

‘Evie? Evie, what is it?’
Gabriela’s
voice rose a notch in alarm. She put her hand on Evie’s arm. ‘Has something happened to Tom?’

‘No, really
,
he’s
fine.’ She tried to
steady her voice. ‘
A
t least as far as I know. It’s just that I’ve had a bit of a shock
–
well, a huge shock really.’ She pushed back the strands of hair that were sticking to her damp face
and tried to smile reassuringly
.

Gabriela opened her bag, took out a tissue and gave it to her.

‘I just need to clear my head and think what to do,’ Evie told her. She blew her nose. ‘I feel awful about this, Gabriela,
but
I may have to sort
out
some things in the morning
.
I don’t think
I’
ll
be able
to
look
for
clothes to
morrow.
Would you mind if we g
a
ve
the Lock
a miss? We can always go another time.
’

‘Of course
I don’t mind
. Y
ou are obviously very distressed. You will find
something beautiful in your wardrobe to wear
tomorrow
night, I’m sure. Tom will love you in whatever you wear.’

Evie broke out again into loud sobs.

Gabriela went closer to her and put her arm around her shoulders. ‘Do tell me what is wrong, Evie,’ she said gently. ‘We are like sisters, remember? You say you need to think what to do. Well, two heads are better than one, are they not? Let us put our two heads together and sort out whatever it is. It cannot be anything so bad that together we cannot put it right. You don’t want to
be awake all night and too tired to enjoy your date with Tom
, do you?’

‘I doubt I’ll be going anywhere
with Tom
,’ she wept. Gabriela tightened her grip on Evie’s shoulders.

‘Are you crying because Tom
has just told you that he
is unable to see you to
morrow
? If you are, it will only be because he is too busy
,
there could be no other reason. Or has he said that there is some other reason, and is that why you are crying?’

‘No, it’s nothing to do with Tom. Well, it is, but not like that.
’ She turned to Gabriela, her face bleak. ‘
Oh, Gabriela, I’ve been really, really stupid and I don’t know how to get out of the mess I’ve got myself into. I just don’t know what to do.’

‘Well, I do. For this minute, anyway.
You say we are close to
where you live
,
so
we shall
go
there
, sit down and have a coffee, and
you will
tell me what has happened. Then I shall tell you what you should do, and you will soon be full of smiles again. Come now, Evie. You have been a good friend to me all week
. I
t’s my turn now to be a good friend to you. Let
me help you with your problem.
Now, where
is your house
?
’

With Gabriela’s
arm still around Evie’s shoulders,
they started walking again
.

Run, Evie, run
!

‘Y
ou
make yourself comfortable
while
I get you a drink
,’ Gabriela ordered. ‘
Have y
o
u
any
wine? I think
that
maybe you need something stronger than coffee. You have obviously had a terrible shock
and wine will be the best thing for it
.
’

‘
A glass of w
ine sound
s
good. Thanks, Gabriela
.
You’ll find some bottles
over there
in the
corner
.’ She indicated
a small wine rack under the window
.
Gabriela went and took two bottles from it.

A few minutes later,
she
returned
from the kitch
en
with
the bottles and two glasses
. ‘
This will help you feel better,’ she sai
d as she sat down opposite Evie
and
poured them each a glass.

Her tears slowing do
wn, Evie wiped her eyes again.

Gabriela
pushed one of the wine glasses tow
ards Evie
and
picked up her glass. ‘I believe it is right to say Cheers,’ she said, ‘when it is the first time you are in a place. Cheers!’ She waited for Evie to
raise
her glass, and together they began to drink their wine.
After a couple of sips, Gabriela put her glass back on the table.

‘You’re right,’
E
vie said. ‘
The wine’s hitting the spot
.
Good thinking, Gabriela.
With
this, plus
what I’ve already had at Wagamama, I’ll sleep like a log tonight and
I’ll
see things more clearly
in the morning
.
Cheers, indeed!
’ She took another drink, and sat back, cl
utching the glass in her hands.

Gabriela raised herself slightly, leaned across the coffee table and
re-
filled
Evie’s nearly empty glass.

Evie
raised
her glass to her lips
again
, had a
nother
drink, then put
the glass
down
on the table and
looked across at Gabriela.
‘Y
ou know, y
ou’re being really nice, and all I’ve done is
made you have a later night than you wanted, and change our plans for tomorrow
.’

Gabriela gave her a warm smile ‘I’m here for a year
, Evie
,’ she said
.
‘
There will be other Saturday mornings at Camden Lock.
You
are what is important now
. N
othing else matters.
’ She picked up her glass and took a small sip. ‘
Cheers!
’ she said
, raising it again
with
a little laugh. ‘This
time it is
because
I see your face looking better now.
I think you are now feeling that t
hings are not so bad as you first thought
.’

‘
Wrong.
T
hings are
n’t bad – they’re
fucking awful.
I’ve screwed up big time.
Oops.’
Evie
pushed herself
upright and stared at Gabriela. ‘
Naughty me.
That was rude of me. I shouldn’t talk like that in front of you. ’Snot polite.
Cheers anyway.
’
She
clanked her glass against Gabriela’s before cradling it against her chest once again
.
Some of the wine spilled on to her top. ‘And that’s not
po
lite
either
,
’
she muttered
looking down at the wet patch.
‘Naughty wine.’
She
wiped
the damp spot
with her hand.
More wine spilled.
‘Only one thing to do,’ she said with a giggle, and she drank the rest of the wine in the glass and put the glass back on the table.

Gabriela filled it again.

‘
N
ow that
you feel a little better
,
this is
perhaps the time to tell me what has happened to upset you so much.’

Evie sat back
against the sofa
and sighed
deeply
. ‘There’s not much to tell. I’ve got myself into a pickle –
that means
into a mess
, you know
–
and
I can’t
see how to get myself out of it.
It’s a
nasty mess, m
ess, mess.
But you
mustn’t
worry,
good friend
Gabriela
.’ She waved her finger vaguely in Gabriela’s direction. ‘
I’ll sort it out, one way or another.
I know I will.
’