In the Name of Love (21 page)

Afterwards he remained sprawled out on the sofa. Darcy lay next to him and tentatively laid her head on his chest. If he would just hold her, she would feel better about so many things.

‘Darcy,’ Drew murmured, a minute or so later.

‘Yes?’ she replied expectantly.

‘You’re squashing me and I’ve got to take a slash.’

Darcy got dressed while he was in the bathroom. Maybe she could stay over. It had been a while since she had done that, but she could suggest they watch a film and order a takeaway. Drew seemed to be in
much
better spirits when he walked back into the living room.

‘You’ve totally cured my hangover, babes. Your lips have got the magic touch.’ That was the closest he got to giving a compliment.

‘What d’you want to do now?’ she asked. ‘I thought maybe we could watch a film.’

‘I wish I could, Darcy, but I promised Rich I’d meet him for a drink tonight. He’s having problems with Serena. She’s being a complete bitch about him wanting to go on our boys’ trip to Thailand.’

Darcy knew better than to ask if she could come for a drink as well, so instead she called a taxi. Drew was on the phone again when she left so she let herself out. She was a fool and she hated herself for giving in to him.

India was in bed by the time she got home. Darcy drank the best part of a bottle of red on her own, didn’t eat anything and practically passed out in bed. She woke up feeling hungover and depressed. India was not sympathetic when she saw her in the kitchen, trying to force down a glass of water.

‘He didn’t ask you to stay over, what a surprise.’ And then, because Darcy looked so dejected, she dropped the judgemental act and added, ‘Come on, Darcy, you’ve got to stop seeing him. He’s so bad for you; he’s just messing with your head. Drew only cares about himself, you’re way better off without him.’

Darcy bit her nails, her hands were shaking; she was going to be shit at work today,
again
. ‘If I don’t have Drew, what do I have?’

India sighed. ‘You’ve got yourself, you’ve got a good job – whatever you think of it, loads of people want to work in TV – you’ve got friends. You’re stunning-looking.’ She didn’t mention Darcy’s family in the list, there was no point – they had never been there for their daughter.

Low as she felt, Darcy appreciated the comments. She felt bad about yet again choosing to spend time with Drew rather than India. She was weak; she was pathetic.

‘How about we go and see a film tonight?’ her friend suggested. ‘Just us. We could get a pizza first.’

Not for the first time, Darcy silently thanked God for India. She was a true friend, who had always been there for her, and unlike so many other people, saw through the rich-girl façade to the real her. ‘Thanks, India, I’m definitely up for that.’

‘And no texting Drew,’ India added.

‘No, I promise.’ She only hoped she could keep to it.

Darcy was actually starting to feel better until she saw Charlie at work, glowing from a weekend of sunshine and sex with Felipe. Darcy fetched coffee for the production meeting, and then took notes like a good little PA and tried to avoid looking at Charlie’s radiant face. It was like staring at the sun. It hurt. But she couldn’t avoid overhearing Charlie chatting to Aidan after the meeting, all about her wonderful time with Felipe. She was talking quietly but Darcy was sitting at the neighbouring desk so unfortunately could hear every single word.

‘I had the best news ever first thing this morning,’ Charlie said as she and Aidan went through the research notes for their show.

Darcy froze at her computer. How much good luck did one person deserve?

‘You remember that director I contacted about Kris? He got back in touch with me and said he would definitely see Kris again when he came out. I can’t wait to tell him! It’ll give him something to look forward to and he needs that so badly.’

Charlie had taken the decision to be open at work about what had happened. There was no point in trying to hide the fact that her brother was in prison as the press had already reported it.

‘When’s he out?’ Aidan asked quietly.

‘Three weeks. I want him to come and stay with me in London, but he hasn’t said whether he will or not.’

‘It’s going to be hard for him being around you though.’ Darcy spoke up without thinking and was treated to frosty expressions from Charlie and Aidan.

‘I don’t think it’s for you to comment,’ Aidan said pointedly. ‘Have you finished the running order yet?’

‘Why do you say that?’ Charlie demanded, instantly on the defensive.

‘I only meant because you’re so successful and he’ll be feeling down on himself after …’ Her voice trailed off.

‘Prison. You can say it, Darcy!’ Charlie snapped. ‘For fucksake, it’s none of your business anyway.’

Darcy didn’t want another falling out with her. ‘I’m sorry, Charlie, you’re right.’ And she put her head
down
and carried on typing, though she was aware of Aidan and Charlie exchanging looks. The two of them went off for coffee after that.

‘Christ, that woman drives me insane!’ Aidan exclaimed once he and Charlie were in the canteen. ‘She’s always listening to everyone’s conversations. It’s like she’s just waiting for them to slip up.’ He expected Charlie to agree with him whole-heartedly, united against Arsey Darcy. Instead she sipped her coffee and looked thoughtful.

‘Do you think she’s right, though, about Kris? I hadn’t thought of it like that. I just thought he’d be glad to be away from Manchester, to have a fresh start. But maybe it will be hard for him.’

‘Of course she’s not! It will be so much better for him to be with you.’

‘Yeah, I think so too. She was probably just trying to wind me up. That is Arsey Darcy’s speciality.’

‘Anyway, enough of her.’ Aidan lowered his voice to a whisper. ‘I have news about
moi
.’

‘Oh?’

‘Put it this way, you’re not the only one to have enjoyed a weekend of sex, sex and sex.’

Charlie clapped her hands together. ‘Yay! Your sex drought is over. Who is he?’

Aidan glanced around to make sure no one was in earshot. ‘He’s called Felix and he’s a barrister.’

‘I thought you had a bit of a spring in your step this morning,’ Charlie teased.

‘That’s not the only place, darling,’ Aidan quipped,
prompting
giggles from the pair of them. He swore Charlie to secrecy and they both returned to work, ignoring Darcy.

‘I need something classy and sophisticated. Something that says, “I am meant to be with your son, so back off, Dragon Lady,”’ Charlie told Zoe the following evening at the boutique. It was Operation Find the Perfect Party Dress. The two women had decided to make a night of it and Zoe had cracked open a bottle of Cava; Adele’s
21
was playing in the background.

‘I don’t think you should wear black, it’s too boringly safe and shows a lack of imagination,’ Zoe commented, flipping through the rails of clothes. She held up a subtly patterned leopard-print dress.

Charlie shook her head. ‘She’s bound to think leopard print equals slut.’

‘The woman clearly has no sense of style,’ Zoe replied. ‘Okay, give me a few minutes. I’ll find you the perfect outfit.’

Charlie relaxed on the sofa, sipping her wine, while Zoe rushed round the boutique picking out dresses. Charlie was pretty sure that Señora Castillo de Rivas was going to be very hard to please and equally sure that the beautiful Paloma would have a wardrobe full of designer numbers to choose from. This party would be the first time Charlie met Felipe’s family and she wanted to make a good impression.

Five minutes later Zoe hung the selection of dresses in the fitting room, then held the curtain open. ‘Ms Porter, could you step this way? Your garments await you.’

‘Liking the customer service!’ Charlie teased as she did as she was asked.

None of the dresses felt right, however. They showed too much flesh, or they were too prim and proper. It was that age-old problem of when you needed to buy a dress, you couldn’t actually find anything you liked. Charlie was trying to think if she had anything at all in her wardrobe that she could possibly wear. But then Zoe handed her a scarlet Robert Cavalli number. Charlie took one look at the price tag and whistled. It was way more than she usually paid.

‘If you like it, I’ll give you a discount.’

Charlie half hoped she wouldn’t like it because it was so eye-wateringly expensive. But as she slipped on the scarlet silk jersey dress and looked at herself in the mirror, she knew it was the one. The dress showed off her figure without being in any way slutty. It was a sexy, sophisticated, grown-up dress that said,
I mean business and I deserve to be with your son
. She stepped out of the fitting room.

‘That’s the one. I knew it would be,’ Zoe commented.

‘If you knew that why did you make me try on all those other dresses?’ Charlie grumbled.

‘Because you wouldn’t have realised that this was your dress until you had done that.’

‘Do you play those kinds of psychological games with all your customers?’

‘Of course. Why else do you think I’m so successful?’ Zoe held out a pair of gold sandals. ‘All you need are these and a gold clutch bag,’

‘Hair up or down?’ Charlie asked, experimenting
with
twisting her long hair into a bun and then letting it cascade over her shoulders.

‘I would say up if you can. Get it done professionally when you’re in Spain.’

Charlie wrinkled her nose, she didn’t want to spend precious time away from Felipe in a hairdresser’s. ‘I’ll get it blow dried before I fly out.’

She treated Zoe to dinner at her favourite Thai restaurant as a thank you for her help and for the discount, and returned to her flat feeling happily mellow from the several glasses of wine. The mellow feeling didn’t last as she picked up her post from the hall table. There, on one of the envelopes, was the familiar handwriting of the nasty message sender. Her heart sank as she wondered what vicious taunt awaited her this time. She contemplated ripping it up and throwing it into the bin without reading it, but then couldn’t stop herself from opening it. Inside was a picture of her brother with
Jail Scum
scrawled across it in black. How low could they get? She angrily screwed up the picture then smoothed it out and put it back in the envelope. It seemed a strange coincidence that she should have received this message just after she had been talking about Kris. She remembered Darcy coming out with her comment about him. Could she be behind the messages? She must have been angry with Charlie for the negative comments she had made about her and for the misunderstanding about Felipe. But Charlie had apologised, and surely even if Darcy didn’t like her very much she wouldn’t resort to these methods …

She let herself into her flat and wandered into the
kitchen
to make herself a cup of tea, determined that the message sender was not going to put a downer on her. But she couldn’t help wondering what would motivate someone to act like this – it had to be about jealousy, or else someone felt they had been slighted by herself and Aidan, though she couldn’t think who, or why someone would feel like that. She shoved the note into the folder along with the others and then tried to forget all about it. She was seeing Felipe tomorrow night and wanted only to think about him, not about someone who was deliberately setting out to upset her.

Chapter 14

‘DO I LOOK
okay?’ Charlie asked, standing in front of Felipe in her scarlet dress.

He gave a low whistle. ‘You look more than okay, you look beautiful and very, very sexy.’ He was sitting on the bed. He reached out and pulled her on to his knee.

‘You’re sure I look sophisticated enough? I don’t want everyone to be looking at me and thinking I’m your bit of rough.’

Felipe kissed her shoulder, deliciously exposed by the dress. ‘That’s a pity because I thought that’s exactly what you were.’ He couldn’t resist teasing her. And then he couldn’t resist kissing her, and one thing led to another and they ended up in bed again, after only just having got dressed for the party.

‘You’ve ruined my hair!’ Charlie protested afterwards as she looked in the mirror and saw that her sleek blow-dried style had now become wild and curly.

‘Good, I prefer it like that.’ Felipe told her as he straightened his tie. ‘Now come on or we’ll be late.’
He
didn’t add that his mother absolutely loathed unpunctuality.

‘Great,’ Charlie grumbled. ‘That’ll be a mark against me before I’ve even opened my mouth.’

She had been anticipating a large house, but even so the sheer size and grandeur of Felipe’s parents’ country
cortijo
nearly took her breath away. It was a huge seventeenth-century mansion with white stone walls and weathered terracotta tiles on the roof. It had turrets and even its own bell tower. Surely this was a castle and not a house! The impressive driveway was lined with tall poplars, standing straight as guards, and in the distance beyond them she could see extensive olive and orange groves. Felipe pulled up on the wide driveway beside the house and immediately a parking valet appeared to park his car. It was a world away from anything Charlie had experienced before. She suddenly felt on edge … and very far from home. She tucked a stray curl behind her ear.

‘Don’t look so anxious,’ Felipe reassured her, holding her hand. ‘My mother won’t bite, and we don’t have to stay long.’

The party was already in full swing when the couple walked inside. Guests in beautiful designer creations were milling around in the elegant drawing rooms which opened on to two courtyards with elegant stone fountains and lemon trees on one side and a sun terrace on the other. There were stunning views over rolling hills covered in the vines the family cultivated for their famous sherry. Attentive white-coated waiters offered glasses of champagne and exquisite canapés: slivers of
smoked
salmon and caviar, tiger prawns wrapped in Parma ham, seared carpaccio of beef. It was just as well that Charlie wasn’t a vegetarian like Lori … Mind you, she was so nervous about meeting Felipe’s parents that she had no appetite at all.