All That Glitters (27 page)

‘Have you discovered anything?’ Stacey asked, and Chastity paused.

‘I found some pictures of Johnny, from way before you knew him, from when he was a children’s TV presenter. I was looking at a news and picture agency site – mainly for
YourHappyEverAfter.com
but also because I wanted to see old photos of me because I really
am
that egotistical – and I came across loads of pictures of Johnny.’

Ella bit her lip. ‘Go on,’ she said.

‘Well, he’s with
so
many different women in these pictures! Most of them span about a couple of years, and in every one he has a different woman. He was definitely a player before he got properly famous.’

‘But that doesn’t mean anything,’ Ella said, ‘and I know what he’s like. Even though he’s gorgeous he’s also quite insecure, and he flirts with girls to make himself feel better. It’s like he only feels happy when he’s being adored by women.’

‘But so many women?’ Chastity pressed. ‘I’ve spent a bit of time looking at the photos, and I’ve managed to identify a few of the women in the pictures. They all work in TV, and they all could have potentially helped him in his career.’

Ella felt a wave of anger rush through her, and she struggled to contain it. She was really starting to feel like Johnny Cooper was in her past, and she wasn’t sure she wanted Chastity bringing him up all the time. ‘So what?’ she said. ‘People tend to date people they meet through work – it’s nothing new.’

‘Chastity might have a point though,’ Stacey said. ‘Johnny could be one of those men who only sleep with people to get ahead.’

‘And you think that’s why he slept with me?’ Ella asked. She knew she looked upset now, but she couldn’t pretend she wasn’t. ‘That’s a load of bollocks. There’s no way he’d have done that.’

‘Will you come and look at the photos though?’ Chastity asked softly. ‘Come and see if you recognise any of the women Johnny was photographed with.’

Ella shook her head in disgust. ‘If it means we can put a stop to this train of thought of yours I’ll do anything,’ and she stood up. ‘Come on then, show me these photos.’

The girls walked into the office, and Chastity made Ella sit down before handing her a stack of printouts. She started to sift through them, and with every photo she looked at she felt more ridiculous. What was she doing? She didn’t recognise any of the girls with Johnny, and she didn’t see the point of doing this. She needed to move on, not stare at endless photos of Johnny looking happy with other women.

‘Anything?’ Chastity asked softly, as Ella shook her head. She turned over photo after photo, and was about to give up on the whole thing when something made her freeze. It couldn’t be, could it? She stared at the photo more closely, and instead of looking at the woman to the left of Johnny she concentrated on the man on his right. His arm was casually looped around Johnny’s broad shoulders, and it looked like he and Johnny were the best of friends.

‘What is it?’ Stacey asked. ‘Do you recognise someone?’

Ella felt her body turn to ice. ‘I do.’

‘But I don’t understand why you’re so upset,’ Chastity said, after she’d poured Ella a brandy. The girls had retreated into the tranquillity of their living room, and as they made themselves comfortable Ella tried to calm down.

‘It’s hard to explain,’ she began, as she struggled to work out what the photos meant. It must have been a coincidence that they’d been photographed together. There was no way they knew each other, or that they were as close as the series of photos suggested. And even if they had met once, it didn’t mean anything. It couldn’t.

Stacey cleared her throat. ‘Why don’t you start at the beginning,’ she suggested, ‘and tell us who the person with Johnny is?’

Ella glanced at the photos again and felt sick.

‘He’s called Sancho Tabora, and he runs—’

‘He runs
SanchosWorld.com
,’ Chastity said. ‘I’ve heard of him. He wrote some really bitchy blog posts about some of my outfits last year.’

‘Yes. That’s him.’

‘So how do you think he and Johnny know each other?’

Ella bit her lip. ‘I don’t know,’ she admitted. ‘They probably met at some showbiz party or something. It’s just . . .’ Her voice trailed off. She’d promised Danny and Aaron she’d never reveal the truth about his sexuality to anyone, so how could she explain that Sancho had been blackmailing Danny?

‘It’s just what?’ Stacey asked softly.

‘It’s just that I hate Sancho Tabora, and I’m freaked out by the idea that he and Johnny could be friends.’

Ella watched Stacey and Chastity give each other concerned looks, and she knew she wasn’t making any sense.

‘What’s your beef with this Sancho guy?’ Stacey pressed, and Ella buried her head in her hands. She really didn’t feel like she could share Danny’s secret, but she
could
tell them about how Sancho had ruined her life.

‘I spotted Sancho in the audience of the first
Wonderland
that Johnny and I filmed, and after that I think he got a photographer to trail us and take photos of us in lots of compromising positions. After he got the snaps of us in Paris he began selling all the photos to the papers for a fortune. If he hadn’t cottoned on to the sexual tension between Johnny and me, we’d never have been caught out.’

‘But what if Johnny and Sancho are friends, and Johnny told him about your relationship?’ Chastity suggested. ‘What if he didn’t guess and he knew about your affair because Johnny spilled the beans?’

Ella’s mouth dropped open. ‘Johnny never would have done that to me!’ she exclaimed. ‘I know you find it difficult to believe, but Johnny really loved me, and he never would have hurt me like that.’

‘He hurt you by not getting in touch after your affair was exposed,’ Chastity muttered, and then she sighed.

‘Look, maybe Ella’s right, and Sancho just guessed about the affair,’ Stacey suggested. ‘He probably knows what Johnny’s like – Ella, don’t give me that look, you said yourself that Johnny’s a flirt – and he took an educated guess after seeing you both together.’

Chastity shrugged. ‘Maybe. Or maybe there’s more to it than that. God, I wish you’d let me hire a private detective so we can just be done with it,’ she said.

‘I’m not having a private detective follow Johnny!’ Ella shrieked. ‘And I’m getting really uncomfortable with all this talk. Chastity, I know you’re trying to help, but honestly, I’m nearly over Johnny and I’m wondering if this is going to make me feel worse.’

Chastity wasn’t about to give up. ‘Babe,’ she began gently, ‘I just have a feeling something’s not quite right here – and I know you feel it too.’

Ella began to speak – to say she felt nothing of the sort – but Chastity wouldn’t let her.

‘We’re starting to find stuff out now, and I think the only way you’re going to have complete closure and be able to move on is if you know why Johnny ditched you.’

Stacey agreed. ‘Chastity’s right,’ she said. ‘You’re always going to wonder why Johnny never phoned you back. I know you’re practically over him and that you want to move on, but you’re always going to wonder what happened.’

Ella frowned and thought for a moment. Her friends
did
have a point, and she supposed that once they’d done their digging and come up with nothing, it would all be over for good. ‘I don’t want to hire a private detective,’ she said finally. ‘They cost fifty grand or something, and it just feels really underhand.’

Chastity smiled. ‘We can find out about Johnny and Sancho’s friendship in other ways,’ she said, and she grinned at Stacey, who immediately knew what she was getting at.

‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘What if someone we knew befriended Johnny – say at a nightclub or something when he’s a bit drunk – and got to know him better?’

Ella shook her head. ‘Who do we know who can do that for us?’ she asked.

‘How about me?’ Stacey suggested, and as Ella looked up at her, she saw her step-sister’s eyes had taken on the same expression as Chastity’s – they were gleaming with determination.

Ella tried not to laugh. Both of them were so set on doing this for her, and saying no to either of them didn’t seem to be an option.

Chapter Eighteen

‘So we’re ready to go?’ Chastity asked excitedly, as she shifted from one foot to the other. She was dressed in thick black tights, Topshop khaki shorts, a Vanessa Bruno wrap cardigan, and her skin and hair were sparkling. Chastity had never looked lovelier, but Ella didn’t notice just how beautiful her friend was. All her attention was trained on
YourHappyEverAfter.com
.

With one tiny click of the mouse the site would be up and running, and their launch – a quiet go-live where they checked the site didn’t have any technical problems – would begin. It was scary and exhilarating all at once.

For the last month the girls had worked every hour they could, and they only stopped to grab something to eat or to hang out with Nash when he came over. When Ella couldn’t sleep – often because she was wired from spending too much time in front of her computer – she worked even more. Work, and the website, had become her obsession. It was the first time since Sweet Dreams had gone under that she’d created something tangible out of her thoughts and imagination, and seeing the site come together was addictive. She wondered why she’d let the failure of her cupcake business put her off trying to achieve things. Working was invigorating – it felt so much more honest than when she was married to Danny and her main career was being a wife – and it was also a distraction. A distraction from how she’d let Danny down, a distraction from how Johnny had treated her, and . . . well, it was a distraction from Nash and the feelings she refused to admit she had about him.

‘We’re ready,’ Ella said with a small smile. She checked the content on the site was immaculate, ensured the analytics in the backend had been put in properly and was ready to register their traffic, and then turned to look at Chastity. ‘Shall we?’ she said with a deep breath.

Chastity bit her lip and then did a little jump. ‘Let’s do it!’ she grinned, as she hovered behind Ella’s chair, and Ella clicked the mouse.

YourHappyEverAfter.com
was live, and their new business had begun. The pale pink site, written by ‘Crystal in her Palace’, a ‘former WAG who wants to make the world a better place’ was out there, and Ella and Chastity couldn’t contain their excitement. They’d reached a milestone, and not only had they created a site that they were proud of, they’d also transformed along the way. They were no longer heartbroken and listless, but energised and excited about the future.

Who needed to be married to a footballer when you could create a career all for yourself?

‘So it’s finally live!’ Nash announced as he walked into the girls’ living room with a bottle of champagne. He couldn’t stop smiling at them, and Ella basked in his presence. Ever since they’d lived together, there was something about him being around that made her feel relaxed. Safe.

‘I checked
YourHappyEverAfter.com
out at home, and the site looks impressive,’ Nash continued. He was in his usual London-rugged uniform of jeans, shirt and trainers, and Ella couldn’t pull her eyes away from his body, his face. Was he aware of the effect he had on women . . . on her? She wasn’t sure.

‘Thanks,’ Ella replied, and she swallowed hard. It was too soon to be thinking about getting involved with another man – not when she was probably still on the rebound from Johnny – and it was definitely not cool to be thinking about Nash this way. He was a friend, not a potential lover. It was ridiculous.

‘Now it’s live we can finally get our lives back. Or try to get them into some sort of order,’ Chastity added, as Nash popped the cork on the champagne bottle and poured them each a glass.

‘Ah, that’s where you’re wrong,’ Ella replied, as she took her champagne flute from Nash and took a sip. She didn’t look him in the eye while she was having these thoughts about him. She just couldn’t. ‘This is where it starts to get tough: we now have a website to run and make successful.’

‘I’m sure you’ll manage it,’ Nash said easily. ‘If anyone can do it I know you can.’

Ella tried not to blush. ‘How are things going with the model agency?’ she asked, deflecting the conversation away from her. The rush of launching the site, and the adrenaline that came with it, was having a strange effect on her.

‘It’s going well,’ Nash said as he sat down in his usual spot on the sofa. ‘We need some capital if we want to expand, so I’m talking to some investors about potential funding.’

‘It sounds extremely serious,’ Chastity said with a frown, and Nash ran his hands through his hair.

‘It’s not too bad. Ansku and I have different opinions on the various ways we could grow the company, and we need to work out which way to take it before we get serious with investors.’

‘What’s it like working with Ansku?’ Chastity asked curiously. ‘Ella and I get on great, despite having our differences in the beginning, but how’s it working out with Ansku? Do you get on?’

Nash considered this for a moment and then smirked. ‘It can be difficult. We get on really well out of work – she’s good fun and I enjoy her company – but we’re still finding our way working together. She can be quite fiery.’

Ella concentrated hard on keeping her face composed. She didn’t begrudge Nash a relationship, albeit one with a stunning and intelligent model, but she didn’t want to know about it. Nash was
hers
: her former manager, her friend. She knew it was crazy, but she hated the thought of sharing him with anyone.

‘Well, here’s to your agency becoming a success,’ Ella said, halting the conversation about Ansku and raising her champagne flute in the air. She made sure her tone was light, and tried to ignore the heavy feeling in her heart.

‘And here’s to YourHappyEverAfter,’ Nash replied, and Ella forced a smile. Her happy ever after? If her fairytale ending was going to involve a man she doubted it would happen for a very long time. Best just to enjoy the website and concentrate on making it a success instead.

‘So, I met him! I met Johnny!’ Stacey called as she bustled into the girls’ flat. She dumped her shopping bags on the parquet floor, ripped her coat and scarf off, and rushed over to the sofa.