Angel Uncovered (15 page)

'Oh, right, and I should respect your opinion, should
I? Seeing as you're such an expert in physiotherapy.' And
with that Cal stormed out of the room, slamming the
door behind him, which caused Honey to burst into tears
again.

It took Angel a good half hour to calm her down and
by the time she had they were both exhausted. Honey fell
asleep in her arms and Angel gently put her on the bed
and lay down beside her. What was going on with Cal?
She couldn't believe how badly they were getting on.
They had never quarrelled like this before. Two hours
later he still hadn't returned. Angel called his mobile but
he'd switched it off.

'Come on, Honey,' she said, strapping her daughter
into her buggy. 'Let's go and find your daddy.' But when
they got to the gym it was empty. She tried his phone
again but there was still no reply. Maybe she'd missed
him and he was on his way up to the suite. She was just
navigating the pushchair through the gym doors when
someone said, 'Here, let me hold them open for you.'

'Thank you,' she replied gratefully, then instantly
wished she hadn't because the man helping her was
Connor. He smiled at her in a predatory way. 'Hi, Angel,
looking for someone?' She made to carry on walking and
ignore him, but he positioned himself in front of the
buggy so she couldn't get past.

'Cal,' Angel answered through gritted teeth.

'Pity. Thought for a minute it might have been me,
that you might have reconsidered our little proposition.
I was disappointed – I really thought you'd be up for it,
given your track record. And, you know, if you didn't
fancy the threesome, we could do a four-way. My wife
has always had a bit of a thing for your husband. Or how
about just the two of us? I know we could be so good
together.'

Angel glared at his cocky, handsome face, his left
cheekbone looking puffy from the row of recent stitches,
and hissed back, 'I'll say the same thing that I said to your
wife: fuck off! And don't ever come near me again or I'll
go to Phil and tell him what you've been up to. I don't
think he'd be impressed, do you?'

Connor smiled.

'I'm his star player, Angel. Do you really think he'd be
interested in what a glamour girl, who gets her kit off for
a living, would have to say? Let's not argue, I really want
us to be friends.'

But she looked right through him, and after shrugging
his shoulders he stepped aside and Angel pushed the
buggy past without another word.

Cal was back in the suite when she walked in. She felt so
shaken up after seeing Connor that she almost wanted to
tell him everything. But he was stretched out on the sofa
and looked very low.

'Hiya,' he said.

'We just came to look for you,' Angel replied. 'How was
your work out?'

'All right,' he said flatly.

Angel unfastened Honey from her buggy and came
and sat next to him.

'I'm sure your knee will be okay,' she tried to reassure
him again.

'God, I don't know, Angel.' He turned and took Honey
from her for a cuddle. 'I'm sorry I snapped earlier. It's
just that my knee's been hurting a lot lately and I can't
help stressing about it.'

Angel wanted to carry on reassuring him, but Cal had
obviously decided that was all he was going to say. He
concentrated on Honey, making her giggle by playing
Peek-a-Boo with her.

'Would you like a refill, Angel?'

Liam was passing round the champagne. Angel had
already had two glasses and really should have stopped
there, but she felt so miserable she needed something to
pick her up. She was surrounded by happy couples and
the comparison between them and her and Cal was too
painful. Cal had switched to charm mode for dinner and
chatted away to everyone. But he didn't talk to Angel, and
whereas in the past he would have been checking every
now and then to see whether she was okay, he barely
looked at her tonight. It seemed to her that she might just
as well not have been there. So she decided to drink.

By the time her main course arrived she was already
feeling too drunk to really eat anything. She picked at
her food and switched from champagne to white wine
which she drank as if it was water. She was just topping
up her glass again when finally Cal looked at her. He
raised his eyebrows as if to say, Go easy, but Angel carried
on pouring the wine, then raised her glass to him and
said, 'Cheers.'

During the meal they'd stuck to an alternate boy/girl
seating plan but after dinner they all swapped places and
the women ended up at one end, men at the other.

'I'm really glad I've met you three,' Candy said then. 'I
feel much better about going to LA now.'

Angel agreed and rather indiscreetly said, 'Just so long
as we don't have to spend any time with those two witches
Gabrielle and Simone. God, I can't stand them! And have
you met Gabrielle's bodyguard?'

'Yeah, you mean Odd Bod or whatever his name is,'
Suki replied. 'Apparently he's totally devoted to her.
Some American film star was supposed to have wanted
him for herself and offered him a shit load of money but
he wouldn't leave Gabrielle.'

'Perhaps she pays him for other services,' Angel
giggled. Unfortunately that was the other moment Cal
chose to look at her. He seemed annoyed that she was
being bitchy but, fuck, he didn't know the half of it.

The three other women laughed and Madison added,
'At least Simone and Gabrielle won't leave a carbon
footprint after the flight over to LA – they can just go on
their broomsticks!'

'Shh, ladies,' Candy said, giggling. 'They're over
there.'

They all looked across the restaurant to where Simone
and Jamie, Gabrielle and Connor, were being shown to
their table. Both women shot poisonous looks in Angel's
direction as they sat down.

'God, I'm so glad I'm not with them!' Suki declared. 'I
can just imagine Gabrielle and Simone working out how
many calories are in their dressing-free salad and Connor
and Jamie leching after all the good-looking women in
the restaurant.'

All four girls laughed loudly at this and Cal shot Angel
another warning look which she once again ignored.

'You didn't have to be quite so bitchy,' he said when they
returned to their suite after dinner. 'I understand your
problem with Simone but Gabrielle hasn't done anything
to you. She's the Captain's wife, for Christ's sake. Please
be nice.'

It was on the tip of Angel's tongue to let Cal know
exactly what the Captain's wife was like, not to mention
the Captain, but instead she opened the mini-bar and
grabbed a half-bottle of wine.

'D'you want one?' she asked, opening the wine and
pouring herself a glass.

'No, thanks, and don't you think you've had enough?'
Angel was drunk enough not to care, and shook her
head. 'I'm just enjoying myself, Cal.'

'Well, I'm going to check on Honey then off to bed,' he
answered, going through to the side room where their
daughter was sleeping. Angel took a large slug of wine for
courage then walked over to the double bed. She
stripped off all her clothes then lay down on her tummy
and waited. It had been ages since she'd been naked in
front of Cal as she'd felt so self-conscious about her body
after Honey's birth.

'Cal,' she said softly when he came out of the
bathroom, 'do you still want me?'

'Of course I do,' he answered, getting on to the bed. He
was wearing a white towelling robe and Angel undid the
belt and pulled it off him. God, she loved his body, she
thought, reaching out and stroking his skin. In her head
she wanted to do everything with Cal that she hadn't
done for ages.

He obviously had other ideas. After caressing her for
the shortest time, he entered her and then it was like he
wanted to get it over and done with as quickly as possible,
which was how she'd been with him lately. He had his
eyes closed and didn't even look at her. It was strictly roll
on, roll off sex. As Angel lay underneath him she felt she
could have been anyone. Instead of bringing them closer,
this felt as if they were even further apart.

Back home in Brighton Angel felt almost overwhelmed
with sadness about the state of her marriage. She kept
trying to tell herself that everything would be okay after
the tournament, but a small voice said, What if it isn't? A
few days before she was due to fly out to the States she
met up with Jez and Gemma for dinner in London. Both
of them were so excited about her trip – Jez had planned
out a number of hairstyles he wanted her to try; Gemma
had put together Angel's outfits, each one of which
apparently was a fashion must-have.

Angel appreciated everything her friends had done
but couldn't begin to share their enthusiasm. She was
intensely nervous for Cal, who remained pessimistic
about his knee holding out whenever they spoke, and
hated the thought of herself being anywhere near
Gabrielle and Simone. She was convinced the gruesome
twosome would do all they could to make her life out
there as difficult as possible.

Gemma sensed her mood and was instantly sympathetic.
'Angel, it will be fine,' she tried to reassure her.
'You're friends now with some of the other . . .' Gemma
was clearly about to say 'WAGs' when Angel interrupted
her. 'Please don't say that word! I think I'll scream if I
hear it again! I've already had Carrie on the phone this
week wanting me to do a shoot showing off my WAG –
God, I can't believe I've just said it again – wardrobe!'

'And are you going to?' Gemma couldn't stop herself
from sounding excited.

'No, I'm not!' Angel shot back. 'I'm not a clothes
horse!'

Jez rolled his eyes. 'Angel, you just don't know what's
good for you, do you? You could have done the shoot,
demanded a shit load of free designer gear and kept it!
And even if you didn't want it, you could have given it to
your nearest and dearest. Really, darling, I think you're
being a tiny bit precious.'

Angel looked at Gemma's disappointed expression and
sighed. 'Sorry, Gem, I just hate feeling like the only
reason people are interested in me is that I'm married to
a footballer. I'm my own person. I've worked hard to
make it in my career.'

At this passionate outburst Jez burst out laughing.
'Angel, I never in a million years thought I'd hear you
come out with a feminist diatribe.'

'A what?' she shot back.

'Nevermind.' Jez continued teasingly: 'You don't need
to worry your pretty little head about stuff like that.'

'Watch it!' Angel warned. 'I could take you any time.'

'You could,' he admitted. 'But you wouldn't want to, I
fight dirty.'

'And I'll forgive you for not doing the shoot, on one
condition,' Gemma put in.

'Go on?'

'When you're away, you've got to promise to wear all
the clothes I've got for you.' Gemma's violet eyes took
on a determined glint. 'I'm going to get you in
Heat's
best dressed section if it's the last thing I do! You're
going to upstage Gabrielle Carter, and show her up for
the matchy-matchy, over-accessorised label whore she
is!'

At the mention of Gabrielle, Angel put her head in
her hands and groaned, 'Please don't say her name!'
As she hadn't been able to tell Cal about Gabrielle's
sordid invitation, she didn't feel that she could confide
in Gemma and Jez, but suddenly she wanted to and
before she could stop herself she had blurted out the
truth and even dropped in catching Connor and the
waitress in a compromising position at the World Cup
Ball.

For a moment Jez was speechless, then he let rip. 'The
fucking nerve of them! I hope you gave her what for,
Angel? God, you could make life difficult for them,
couldn't you? Put a word in some journalist's ear?'

'No, Jez!' Angel said warningly. 'That's exactly what I
don't want to do. They'll know it's come from me. You've
got to promise not to tell anyone, and that includes
journalists?'

'Okay,' he replied, rather reluctantly, 'I promise.
Though it would be such sweet revenge.'

'Oh, I'm sure they'll get their comeuppance. I'm not
the only one they've asked by a long way, and I bet there
are plenty of girls who've done the dirty with them. In
time I'm sure the story will come out, I just don't want it
to come from me. Yesterday Connor even had the
audacity to send me this!'

Angel reached into her bag and pulled out a leather
jewellery case. She opened it to reveal a dazzling
diamond necklace by Chopard.

'Sweet Jesus!' Jez exclaimed, reaching for the necklace
and holding it up so the diamonds sparkled seductively
in the light. 'That is to die for! It must have cost a
fortune.'

'What are you going to do with it?' Gemma asked.

'Send it back to him – obviously!' Angel said determinedly.
'There's no way I want anything from that
bastard.'

'But it's
sooo
beautiful, and aren't diamonds a girl's best
friend?' Jez said dreamily, causing Angel to take the necklace
away from him and put it straight back in its box.

'He also enclosed this note: "
Dear Angel, never say never
. . . enjoy the rocks, Connor
".'

'Oh.My.God!' Gemma was outraged. 'It sounds as if
he's trying to buy you now! What a skanky bastard! And
who would want to have a threesome anyway?' At this Jez
looked very interested in the menu and Angel rolled her
eyes at her friend.

'Oh, sorry, babe, I forgot,' Gemma said hastily.

'I don't know why you've gone so quiet,' Angel said to
Jez.

At this he put back his head and said to Gemma, 'All I
can say is, don't knock it till you've tried it.'

Gemma's eyes widened. 'You and Rufus haven't—'

Jez cut across her. 'We're taking LBR – life before
Rufus! Do you think I would share the love of my life with
anyone else? They might be better in bed than me and
then what would happen?'

'Surely not, Jez,' Angel said dryly. 'Because then,
wouldn't the world have to stop turning and all the stars
fall out of the sky?'

'Oh, shut up,' he said, all mock-petulance. 'Anyway to
go back to Connor and that incident with the waitress . . .
it could have been so much worse. It could have been –'
he paused for dramatic effect '– a spit roast!'

'Thanks a lot, Jez!' Angel exclaimed, grimacing. 'I
already have the totally unwanted image of him having a
blowie, I really didn't need to add to it.'

'Well, I'm starving,' Jez replied. 'So if there aren't any
further revelations about what our England Captain gets
up to, shall we order? I'm guessing you won't want the
roast, Angel?'

After dinner Angel felt like going on to a bar. She
wouldn't be seeing her friends for over a month and
wanted to spend as much time with them as possible now,
but when she suggested it both Gemma and Jez made
their excuses.

'I'm sorry, Angel, I haven't seen Rufus all week
because of work and I promised to get back at a reasonable
time,' Jez said.

'And I really need to get home,' Gemma put in. 'I'm
flying to Spain in the morning for a shoot and I haven't
packed yet.'

'Great,' Angel said gloomily. 'Not only have I got to
face a month with the Witchy WAGs, but now my best
friends are blowing me out.'

'Babe!' Jez replied. 'We're so not. And I don't mean to
sound snipey but Gemma and me have both been
working really hard lately – I was in the salon from halfseven
this morning and I didn't finish till seven this
evening, and I bet Gemma had an equally long day.
Whereas you . . .'

Angel interrupted him, 'Okay, okay, I get your point. I
just had to do a quick shoot this morning. I do realise
how lucky I am, Jez. I'm sorry if it sounded like I take you
both for granted, I know how hard you work.'

'I wasn't having a go!' he assured her. 'Just get yourself
home and have phone sex with that gorgeous husband of
yours who, by the way, should so be doing an underwear
campaign! He'd be perfect on a billboard in a pair of tight
white briefs.' Jez's face took on an enraptured expression.

Angel knew this was a wind up. She shrugged
dismissively. 'I can't see Cal ever doing anything like that.
You know he hates that kind of thing. I could just about
see him advertising a car or maybe sunglasses, but pants?
No way!'

'Ah, well,' Jez replied. 'A man can dream.'

Outside the restaurant they said their goodbyes and
while Jez hailed a taxi Gemma hugged Angel and said,
'You'll be fine out there, Angel, I'm sure.'

'Promise you'll text me every day?'

'Promise you'll call me! I want all the gossip, and
detailed descriptions of all the outfits – and I mean
detailed!'

As soon as she arrived home Angel phoned Cal. It was
just after eight a.m. in California and she wanted to catch
him before he started training, needing to talk to him,
needing reassurance. But as he had been so often in the
past months, he was distant and barely spoke to her.
When Angel said she was feeling a little nervous about
her stay in LA he dismissed her fears, telling her that
she'd be fine, she should just see it as a holiday.
Some
holiday,
Angel thought bitterly, then changed the subject.
'How's your knee?'

'Holding out,' Cal said abruptly. 'Look, I've got to go
to training now. I'll speak to you later.'

'Okay, love you,' she said sadly.

'Love you too,' he replied before hanging up.

Angel sighed. Lately it had been hard to hold on to that
belief.

Poolside at the Four Seasons Hotel Beverly Hills – or
WAG HQ as Angel had taken to calling it – she was aware
that she was the centre of attention. All the other WAGs
who were sunbathing in their designer bikinis and shades
were staring at her, not for what she looked like but
because she was swimming and actually getting her hair
wet! Hardly any of the other girls ventured into the water
and if they did they kept their heads well out of it,
mindful that they could not afford to have a bad hair day.
Angel could almost hear the collective gasp of horror as
she emerged dripping from the water and grabbed her
towel. While the England team battled to stay in the
tournament, around the hotel pool an even more
ferocious battle was raging – the battle to be top WAG.

Angel smiled to herself as she strolled back to her
clique because, yes, while the men had to be united as a
team on the pitch, their wives had divided into several
distinct groups. Angel was part of what she called the
'grounded WAGs', women who actually had careers
outside of being a footballer's wife. They included
Madison, Suki and Candy – though Candy had a foot in
another camp, the Style WAGs, who rocked the latest
trends. And then there was the clique centred round
Queen WAG Gabrielle, including Simone and Lauren –
the Wicked Witches of the WAGs or WWWs.

Since her arrival in LA two weeks ago the WWWs had
given Angel the cold shoulder; she hadn't been invited to
dinners that other WAGs had gone to – which was fine by
her as just being in the same room as Gabrielle and
Simone made her skin crawl – and they never missed an
opportunity to make a snide remark, like now as she
walked past them and heard Lauren say, 'Well, I expect
her implants help her to float in the water. They're big
enough, aren't they?'

Angel only stuck her impressive chest out still further
and smiled to herself, thinking how very pissed off
Gabrielle would be to know that Connor had continued
to send gifts to her even though she immediately sent
them all back. The diamond necklace had been followed
by a white Chanel J12 watch with white diamonds, and a
gold Jimmy Choo clutch bag. He must be mad, Angel
thought, he couldn't seriously think that these gifts
would impress her enough to consider his proposal. But
then again maybe they would work with other girls . . .
Thank God she had her own friends here to keep her
sane.

Much to her surprise she was actually enjoying herself
in LA. England were doing well so far and Cal was
playing brilliantly. Angel loved the whole LA vibe – loved
the climate, the perfect blue skies – she hadn't
experienced the infamous smog yet, the exotic flowers
and palm trees everywhere. She liked the way people
said, 'Have a nice day.' Even if they didn't really mean it,
it beat being served by someone back home who looked
as if they'd rather spit in your coffee than wish you that.
And whereas in the UK she often felt she stood out with
her surgically enhanced figure, she fitted in perfectly
here with her blonde hair and tan – in fact, when she
looked around, plastic surgery seemed practically compulsory
in LA. And it seemed no part of the body was off
limits. Only yesterday Candy had had them all in fits
when she told them about butt hole bleaching.
'Apparently lots of girls do it out here,' Candy said
knowledgeably. 'It makes it look prettier, not so dark.'

'Like, who cares what it looks like?' Angel laughed.

'You're not seriously thinking of having it done, are
you?' Suki asked, open-mouthed with astonishment.

'Don't be mad, of course not! But I might consider a
designer vagina after I've had kids, what do you reckon?'

'Do your pelvic floor exercises and you won't need it!'
Madison shot back.

Now the women were flicking through the tabloids –
an activity all the WAGs engaged in as soon as they were
delivered to the hotel – but whereas Angel's group took
the coverage of the WAGs with a pinch of salt, Gabrielle
and her clique took it very seriously indeed, wanting to
know who had the most column inches devoted to them.

'Have you noticed,' Madison said, pointing to the
pictures of Gabrielle, Simone and Lauren taken on a
shopping trip on Rodeo Drive, 'that those three are never
smiling when they're photographed? They always look so
miserable, don't they? Whereas we four –' she pointed to
a picture of Angel, Suki, Candy and herself pictured
outside the über-stylish Japanese restaurant Koi in
Hollywood '– are smiling.'