A Class Apart (14 page)

Kate shook her head. “I’ll fight you for him, though. He’s beautiful.”

Jenneen laughed. “By the look of it there are a few others you’ll have to fight too,” and she nodded towards the next table where the women, with complete disregard for their men, were openly admiring the man with jet black hair and an expression to match.

Conrad was aware that they were talking about him, but chose to ignore it. He was used to it. He sipped the champagne Bob had offered before he’d left, and out of the corner of his eye watched Julian and Ashley.

“Where’s Bob?” said Ellamarie, looking around.

“Watching the carol singers with Blanche,” said Julian, still looking at Ashley. He saw her flinch and felt pleased. He needed to know that she still cared.

“Blanche who?” said Ellamarie, looking at him with innocent eyes.

Julian wished himself a thousand miles away. “Oh,” he said, suddenly pulling himself together. “I’m forgetting my manners. Ladies, this is Conrad Frazier, Conrad, let me introduce you.”

Jenneen, Kate and Ellamarie all gave Conrad their most attractive smiles, but his only response was one of polite disinterest.

“And Ashley you’ve met,” Julian added.

Conrad looked Ashley up and down in quick appraisal.

“Actually, we haven’t ever met,” said Ashley, gritting her teeth. At any other time she would have been intrigued finally to meet the partner she had heard so much about, but under these strained circumstances, and given Conrad Frazier’s aloof and arrogant manner, she was finding it extremely difficult to be polite.

Julian appeared surprised that this was their first meeting. “Ashley’s an Account Director here in London,” he explained. “She’s a very good one too.”

“Patronising bastard!” Kate hissed to Jenneen.

Ashley looked at Conrad’s face and decided she would be very happy for this to be their last meeting too. Remembering just in time that he was her boss, she shook his hand, then turned away before he could treat her in the same offhand manner he had her friends.

“Somehow I don’t think Ashley’s impressed,” Ellamarie muttered to Jenneen.

“Why don’t they go?” said Kate.

“Because Blanche is over there with Bob,” said Ellamarie. “Jesus, he is so stupid at times, he just doesn’t think.”

“Here they come now,” said Jenneen, and as one the three of them, Kate, Jenneen and Ellamarie, looked up. Loyal to Ashley they might be, but they were all dying to get a good look at Blanche.

“I always imagined her to be dark,” said Ellamarie.

“Me too,” said Kate.

Jenneen nudged them, and nodded towards Ashley.

“Oh God,” Kate whispered, “it must be like living a nightmare.”

And indeed it was. Despite all the champagne she had drunk, Ashley was now quite sober. Her stomach was churning, and all she wanted to do was run. It was hard to comprehend that standing there, right in front of her, was the man she loved. And he was treating her like a stranger. That hurt more than anything else. And she now had to endure the humiliation of being introduced to his future wife. She closed her eyes, trying to fight off the rising nausea.

Blanche was upon them and taking Julian’s hand. She turned and smiled at Ellamarie.

“I borrowed your husband for a while,” she said. “I do hope you don’t mind.”

“Not a bit,” said Ellamarie. What else could she say?

Blanche looked at Julian expectantly.

“Blanche,” he said at last, “let me introduce you. This is Ashley, Ellamarie, Jenneen and Kate. Bob and Joel you’ve already met. Ladies, this is Blanche Wetherburn uh, Conrad’s cousin.”

Conrad choked and turned away to hide his smile. Bob too couldn’t resist a grin.

“Hello,” said Blanche. “Now let me see if I can remember your names. Darling, you really are perfectly dreadful at this sort of thing. You,” she said, turning to Kate, “are Kate.” Kate nodded. “And you,” she continued, looking at Jenneen, “are Jenneen.” Jenneen smiled a very insincere smile. “And you,” Blanche went on, “are Ella Mary . . .”

“Ellamarie,” Ellamarie interrupted, smiling sweetly. “Mur, as in murder.” Bob avoided Julian’s eyes.

“Perhaps we should be going back to our own table now,” Julian said.

“And I am Ashley,” said Ashley, standing up and holding out her hand. “It’s so nice to meet you, Blanche. I’ve heard a great deal about you.” Blanche took Ashley’s hand, and looked at her with interest. “I work at Frazier, Nelmes,” Ashley explained.

“Oh, I see,” said Blanche, and she did. “Very nice to meet you. I expect we’ll be seeing a lot more of one another, in the future.”

“Really?” said Ashley. “That will be nice.”

Julian looked decidedly uncomfortable and was longing to tear Blanche away. But Blanche wasn’t finished yet.

“Yes,” she was saying, and she turned to Julian. “I don’t think there’s any harm in telling anyone now, do you darling?” and she reached out for his hand.

Julian closed his eyes.

“You will be the first to know,” Blanche went on, turning back to the table. “Julian and I have set the date. We are going to be married at Easter.”

NINE

Jenneen dropped Ashley at her flat. She offered to go in with her, but Ashley had insisted that she wanted to be alone. She had a lot to do before she went home tomorrow, she told Jenneen, and there were more reports to be got together so she’d have to go into the office in the morning. And she hadn’t wrapped all of Alex’s presents yet. If she didn’t get a move on she’d never get any sleep tonight.

Jenneen’s heart went out to her. Fate had a cruel way sometimes of adding to the agony one already suffered. If only Julian and Blanche hadn’t decided on Easter.

She waited for Ashley to go inside, then drove off.

Her heart sank as she pulled up outside her own flat in Argyll Road. Sitting on the steps, his long grey raincoat falling over his knees, head resting in his hands, was Matthew.

“Dear God.” she muttered, “they’re all crawling out of the bloody woodwork tonight.” She was tempted to drive on, but he had seen her, and she knew that he would only wait till she returned.

She opened the car door and got out. “What are you doing here?” she snapped.

He looked up, but made no move to get to his feet. “I wanted to see you, Jenn.”

She slammed the door and locked it.

“I think we should talk.”

“I don’t think we have anything to say to one another, Matthew.”

“I do,” he answered.

“You want something, don’t you? You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t.”

He grinned. “You’ve got a very suspicious nature, Jenneen Green, uh Grey.”

Jenneen froze. Was it a deliberate slip of the tongue?

“Something the matter?” Matthew asked, pulling himself to his feet.

“Yes, you!”

“Don’t be like that, Jenn. Look, I promise, I haven’t come here tonight for any other reason than to see you. I don’t want any money, no favours. I just want to talk.”

“Pull the other one, Matthew.”

He shrugged. “OK, don’t believe me. But you’ll see.”

Jenneen looked at him suspiciously. It wasn’t like him not to be drunk when he came to see her, and she could tell just by looking at him that he wasn’t. He smiled and she looked away.

“You’re shivering,” he said. “Why don’t we go inside? I think you’ll want to hear what I’ve got to say.” To her surprise she saw that he looked doubtful and unsure of himself. “At least, I hope you will,” he added.

Had something happened that she didn’t know about? Had he decided that his revenge had gone on long enough? Oh please God, if only that were true.

“Let’s go in and have a drink.”

“No thanks,” she said wearily, “I’ve had plenty already.”

“Then keep me company,” he said.

“You mean sit and watch you while you do an impression of a sponge,” she replied, nastily. “No thanks.”

“I’m on the wagon,” he said.

“Oh? I wonder how long you’ll be able to keep that up.”

“Please, Jenn, I’d like to talk to you.”

“Matthew, I’ve already told you, we have nothing to say to one another.”

He thrust his hands in his pockets and turned away. For a moment she thought he was going to leave, but then he turned back. “Look, it’s just that I want to tell you how sorry I am, and I can hardly do it here, in the middle of the street, now can I?”

“Matthew, I’m not interested in your apologies. The only thing I am interested in is seeing you disappear from my life, for good!”

“Jenneen, please,” he said. “I’ve got to talk to you. Please! Let me come inside.”

A sudden gust of wind made her pull her coat tighter round her, and she wiped the drizzle from her face. She knew she had no choice but to take him in. If she didn’t, he’d probably only force his way in.

She led the way up the stairs to her flat. Once inside she took off her coat and followed him into the lounge. He was at her small bar, pouring two drinks. She was surprised to see him with an orange juice. Perhaps he really did intend to become a reformed character.

“So,” she said, leaning against the wall. “What do you want to talk about?”

“Us.”

“What do you mean ‘us’? There isn’t any us.”

“No,” he admitted. “But there used to be.”

“That was a long time ago.”

“I know, but I haven’t forgotten.”

Her eyes sparkled with anger. “Forgotten what? The way you beat me up? The orgy of benders you were committed to, and tried to drag me into? Your vile accusations? Is that what you remember, Matthew? Because it’s what I remember.”

“I suppose it is,” he sighed. “And I can’t say I blame you. There’s no excuse for the way I behaved towards you, except maybe I just couldn’t see sense for a while. I ruined my own life, and I tried to hang the blame on you. I’ve tried to punish you ever since, and now I’m ashamed, Jenn. Truly ashamed. And I want you to know that I don’t blame you. I never did, really, but as I said, I suppose it was just that I couldn’t make any sense of anything at the time. But I’ve decided to try and make a go of it again, and I wanted you to be the first to know.”

She regarded him closely, suspicion still in her eyes. “You’re not seriously expecting me to congratulate you, are you?”

“No. No, that would be too much to expect.”

“You’re damn right it would.”

“Jenn, please. Don’t be angry with me. I’ll repay the money I took from you, I’ll do anything to make it up to you.”

“It’s too late, Matthew, you’ll never be able to do that.”

“At least let me try.”

She looked at him, his eyes were sad, and she wondered if he really meant it. He was looking better. He had lost some weight, and his pallor was healthier than the last time she had seen him. He was looking into his glass, and she was reminded of a little boy whose mother had walked out and left him. She couldn’t help it, but she found herself feeling sorry for him.

“Matthew,” she said, her voice much softer now.

He looked up.

“Do you really mean it? Do you really want to make it up to me?”

He nodded. “Yes, Jenn. I do.”

“Then leave me alone. Please, just leave me alone.”

He sighed. “I want to. Believe me, I want to. But I can’t. I know it’s going to sound absurd after everything I’ve done, but I think I’m in love with you.”

She stared at him. Had he gone completely mad? “You do remember that it was you who finished it between us?”

“Yes,” he said. “I remember.”

“Then why?”

“I don’t know. I don’t understand it myself.” He sounded weary and defeated. His shoulders began to shake, and she realized that he was crying.

“Oh my God,” she said under her breath. “Matthew, please, pull yourself together.”

He looked into her eyes, and for the first time in over a year she was reminded of how handsome he was. She wiped the tears from his cheeks with her fingers, and allowed him to take the glass from her. Then, taking her in his arms, he kissed her. Tenderly, with no building passion, just tenderness and love.

She pushed him away. “Matthew, stop! Please stop! I can’t! Not after everything . . . No, stop!” she cried, as he took her in his arms again. This time he pressed himself against her, and buried his tongue in her mouth. “I can’t stop, Jenneen,” he growled. “I love you, don’t you understand?” She felt herself beginning to weaken. Oh God, what was happening to her? Did she have no control over her sexual appetite? This was madness. After all he had put her through, the humiliation, the degradation, still she responded to him.

Kate was lying in bed, her head propped up on one arm, gazing down at Joel, who was still sleeping. After a minute or two she touched the dark hair that was stuck to the side of his face, and ran her thumb across his early-morning beard. His eyelids were so dark they looked shadowed. She leaned over and dropped a kiss onto them.

His long lashes fluttered, and slowly his eyes began to open. Immediately a pain shot through his head. His hangover was worse than he had thought it was going to be, and all he wanted to do was sleep. Qudkly he closed his eyes again, and turned over. Kate snuggled in behind him, moulding herself to his body. She was running her fingers across his belly, sending his muscles into spasm. He caught her hand, and pulled it up to his chest. Jesus, there was nothing worse than waking up in someone else’s bed when you had a hangover. Especially when that someone was a woman desirous of attention. He turned onto his front, leaving her hand trailing across his back. If she wanted to tickle him somewhere, then let it be there. He liked that, and it would send him off to sleep again.