Miss Wrong and Mr Right (12 page)

‘Oh goodness. Thank you,’ she said touching her cheek where his lips had been.
 

‘Lombardo is an Italian name?’ asked Ryan. ‘You don’t look Italian.’

‘No I’m not. My hus… husband is Italian,’ she looked down at her wedding ring and stuffed her hand in her pocket. There was a silence.

‘How are Bella and Edward?’ she asked. Ryan looked surprised.

‘Wow, you know your stuff. They’re good. How are your…?’

‘Amy and Felix,’ grinned Sharon.

‘Cool names, what breed are they?’ asked Ryan.

‘No. They’re not dogs, I love dogs… but I got children instead. I mean they’re my children. I didn’t get them from a breeder, a surrogate, I gave birth to them…’

Ryan nodded. Sharon went on.

‘I love
Manhattan Beach
, I’ve seen every episode. I just can’t believe you’re not a real dentist… I mean I know you play a dentist, but I’m having to stop myself from asking for a checkup!’
 

Ryan was nodding along gamely at Sharon’s babbling.

‘Not that I need a checkup. I’ve just been, only one filling, I splashed out on a white one,’ she pulled open her mouth and leant in to show him.

‘Sharon!’ I said, but Ryan seemed used to this.

‘Your dentist did a great job. If you ever came to Manhattan Beach I would try and do the same!’ he said.

‘Ryan only has thirty minutes for lunch,’ said Byron. What she really wanted to say was
this woman could have a gun.
Sharon sensed he was about to go and started to gabble.

‘Nat, Natalie told me that they’re unveiling the huge billboard picture of you above the theatre today, for
Macbeth
!’
 

‘Yeah. It’s really cool. Natalie tells me it’ll be on the front page of some London newspaper?’ grinned Ryan.

‘The
Evening Standard
?’ asked Sharon. Ryan went to answer, but Byron indicated they had to get going.

‘Okay, Sharon, well it’s been real cool to meet you,’ he said. ‘But I have to go and do an interview…’

‘I’m not just any old fan,’ blurted Sharon. ‘I
am
a fan, but I’m Natalie’s best friend. She knows I would never stalk you, or go through your bins. Well, I’d take your bins out for you…’
 

‘Ryan has to eat lunch and thin he has an interview,’ said Byron who was now looking annoyed.

‘Sharon, if you’re Natalie’s friend I’m sure I’ll be seeing more of you, and you’ll have to come and see the premiere,’ said Ryan.

‘I’m coming!’ cried Sharon as he walked away. He turned, blew her a kiss and then disappeared round the corner with Byron.

‘BYE!
’
she shouted down the empty corridor.
 

‘Jeez Sharon,’ I said.

‘Oh my god, I met him. Natalie, I met Ryan Harrison… He’s beautiful and he kissed me… He invited me to the premiere!’

‘I know, I was here too. You also showed him your fillings and offered to take out his bins.’
 

‘Oh shut up. It was just nerves…’ she looked at her watch. ‘Crap. I am
so
late back to work. I’m going to have to have a lie down in the sorting office, in the parcel bin.’
 

We took the stairs down, and emerged into the sunshine on Raven Street. All five storeys of the theatre had been covered with our most dramatic poster yet. Xander was standing on the pavement coordinating three guys in cherry pickers who were assembling large pieces of canvas which made up a giant Ryan Harrison.
 

‘Look at those legs,’ said Sharon. Our eyes travelled up Ryan’s huge hairy footballer’s legs, standing astride the main door.

‘Can you see up his kilt?’ she said moving to stand in the entrance and look up. I smiled and shook my head. Ryan’s kilt took up the second and third floor of the building, and his torso the fourth and the fifth. His head and shoulders were still to be assembled.

Sharon stopped for a moment and looked at the Old Library opposite. It remained stubbornly swathed in plastic. A small gap had been made, and builders had been moving in and out for the past few days.

‘So any more info on Jamie’s pop-up venue The Big O?’ asked Sharon.

‘No. It’s very hush-hush. I’ve managed to find out he’s secured public liability insurance and a liquor licence, and they launched a Facebook page a few days ago.’ I looked troubled for a moment.

‘Cheer up Nat! You get to spend the day with Ryan Harrison… I have to go back and change the pads which moisten stamps,’ she said. I gave her a hug. ‘Thanks so much. When do I get to see him again?’
 

‘I’ll see what I can do,’ I grinned, and with a wave goodbye, Sharon went off towards Charing Cross.
 

I stopped outside the theatre and stared across at The Big O. A couple of guys in hard hats approached the plastic, pulled it to one side and filed in. They had forgotten to fasten it shut. It flapped in the light summer breeze. I waited for a car to pass, then crossed Raven Street to the other side of the pavement. I approached the gap, trying to nonchalantly peer inside, but the sun was bright and I couldn’t see anything in the gloom. Suddenly Jamie emerged almost crashing into me.
 

‘Whoa, Nat. Hello there,’ he grinned. He was wearing a tight black t-shirt and blue jeans, and was holding a long roll of paper in one hand. He looked effortlessly gorgeous.
 

‘Hi!’ I trilled. There was a silence.

‘Trying to get a sneak peek?’ he asked.

‘Yes, busted… Can I see?’ I asked, making to go through the gap.

‘All will be revealed,’ he smiled moving to block my path. I stared up at him for a moment then looked away.

‘Impressive poster,’ he said pointing behind me to Ryan’s huge head, which was being slowly unfurled and stuck to the fifth floor of the building.

‘Thanks,’ I said. There was another awkward pause.

‘Look, Nat. We’re going to be bumping into each other quite a lot over the next few weeks. Do you fancy a coffee?’ he asked.

‘Um, sure,’ I said, surprised. ‘There’s a coffee place a few doors down.’
 

‘Hang on,’ he said and ducked between the plastic, returning without the roll of paper. He leant down, and I thought he was going to kiss me on the cheek, but as I offered my left side, I realised he was ducking under a scaffolding pole. He hesitated, laughed, and then gave me a swift peck. As his warm stubbly cheek pressed against mine I caught the rich, warm smell of his hair… I was taken back to the night before our wedding, as we lay in bed and I pressed my face into the crook of his neck, the same smell of his skin, his hair… Jamie pulled away and we started to walk towards Grande
in an awkward silence, passing several gay bars.
 

A couple of the barmen were opening up for the early shift, and the sight of Jamie made their heads snap round. A couple of women did double takes too, although much more subtly.
 

A voice in my head started to scold me.

‘You’re a fool Natalie Love… He’s even better looking than he used to be… You should have married him… If you’d gone through with it, you’d have kids, and a house!’
 

‘Don’t be ridiculous!’
I replied to the voice, still in my head.
‘We’d be stuck living in Sowerton with no prospects, our kids might have ASBOs, how would that be any fun?’

‘Are you okay Nat?’ asked Jamie. We had reached the entrance to Grande, and Jamie was holding open the huge glass door.

‘What?’ I said, coming back to the present.
 

‘You were rolling your eyes and muttering to yourself…’
 

‘I’m making a mental note, about work,’ I lied.

‘You should use the memo app on your phone… looks less weird,’ he said. We reached the counter and Jamie said hi to the skinny pale barista with dreadlocks.

‘Hi Jamie,’ he grinned. ‘How’s it going?’

‘You know, swings and roundabouts,’ said Jamie reaching inside the pocket of his jeans and pulling out a wad of notes. ‘This is Nat,’ he added introducing me to the man I’ve wordlessly bought coffee off for the past five years.

‘Hi,’ he said cautiously.
 

‘Hello,’ I said.

‘Me and Nat go way back,’ said Jamie. ‘I was meant to marry her, but I have no clue what kind of coffee she drinks?’

I looked at Jamie in disbelief.
 

‘It was a long time ago. We were just teenagers!’ I cried.

‘Tall americano, right?’ said the barista.

‘Yes,’ I said, and scuttled off to find a table. I was so annoyed. Why did Jamie have to introduce me to the coffee guy, and tell him about our past? We say hello and he knows my order, I even tip, and that’s enough for me. I grabbed a table at the back, facing a side street through the window. Jamie came over a few moments later with our coffees.

‘Are you going to blurt that out to everyone?’ I asked.

‘You left me at the altar Nat, do you know what that does to a guy?’ he said.

‘For what it’s worth… I’m sorry…’ I said.

‘Thank you. Although, you’re only saying sorry because you’ve bumped into me.’

‘Have I just bumped into you?’ I asked.

‘
Of all the theatres in all the cities in all the world…You choose to walk into mine
,
’ he said, doing a terrible Humphrey Bogart impression. Despite myself I laughed.

‘I thought you were happy living in Canada?’ I asked.

‘I was, but I’ve been back a few times, and now I’m back for good, so you can stop avoiding me.’

‘I have never avoided you. Sharon invited you to her wedding, but you never came.’

‘You were invited to mum and dad’s fiftieth birthday… My nan’s eightieth… You were invited to them all!’

‘I was busy…’ This wasn’t true. I had chickened out of seeing him on all three occasions. The latter made me feel very guilty. I had always loved Jamie’s nan. ‘Okay Jamie. Cards on the table, I’m really sorry. I should never have let things go so far and then have done what I did… But I was right back then, wasn’t I? Would either of us be doing what we do now if… if we’d got married?’ I paused and took a sip of coffee. Jamie smiled.

‘I accept your apology Nat… It’s just, I never quite got over it and the past fifteen years have been tough,’ he said.

‘They have?’
 

Jamie nodded and took a sip of coffee.
 

‘That day, when I left you, I went straight to the pub on the green and started to drink… I didn’t stop for days. I carried on and then got into drugs. Marijuana, crack, smack…’

I put my hand to my mouth in horror. ‘Really? Crack and smack?’ I asked. He nodded.

‘After that I spiralled out of control. I missed my rent, and ended up homeless on the streets…’ He looked around and lowered his voice. ‘I even ended up giving blow jobs on the street, for cash.’

‘What?’ I whispered wide-eyed.

‘Which is tough in Devon, ‘cos it’s all country lanes…’ he said.
 

‘Hang on. I heard you lived with your mum and dad… They wouldn’t have let you…’

Jamie dissolved into fits of laughter.
 

‘Your face Nat… was a picture!’

‘What? It’s not true?’ I said, blushing.
 

‘Course it’s not true!’ he guffawed. ‘I moved to Canada, got into theatre production, and started up my own company. A few months ago I sold it for a fortune.
Cher-ching
!’

I stared at him with my mouth still wide open. I went to protest, but heads were turning in Grande, as the big glass door was pushed open by Tuppence Halfpenny.
 

Despite the balmy weather, she was dressed in a floor-length fur coat of soft pink. Her caramel-coloured hair tumbled down her back and she was immaculately made up, with huge lashes and her glossy lips slightly parted.

‘Hello,’ she said icily looking between me and Jamie. She placed a small square Louis Vuitton case on the table.

‘Hey sexy,’ he said leaping up. She raised her palm in front of his face.

‘No Jamie, I’m camera-ready. I can’t be smudged.’

‘Are you going to be on camera?’ I asked.

‘It’s a figure of speech. Shouldn’t you know that, working in the theatre?’ she said.

‘I
do
know that, but seeing as you don’t have a theatre yet, I presumed otherwise,’ I said, bristling.

‘You see, she doesn’t know today is our launch!’ said Tuppence.
 

‘I told you it’s…’ started Jamie, but Tuppence cut him off.

‘The ex-fiancée, who probably stalks you on social media,
doesn’t know about our launch
! What hope do the ticket-buying public have?’

‘Tuppence, I told you. It’s a soft launch,’ said Jamie looking between us.

‘Any softer Jamie, and it’ll be through the eye of a bloody needle!’ snapped Tuppence. ‘I hope this flash mob thing doesn’t leave us with egg on our faces. If there are less than a thousand I am NOT going up on that…’

Jamie stood up and went to put a hand to her mouth.

‘It’s all in hand sexy girl… You just worry about looking gorgeous and I’ll…’

She pushed him away again.

‘I mean it Jamie. It has to be perfect. I’m taking a chance on you…’

She eyeballed him for a moment, then threw her shoulders back. Her coat fell open to reveal a show-stopping showgirl outfit of black corset, stockings and suspenders. Again I marvelled at her figure, how did she manage to pull in her corset so tight? Did she eat? Jamie slid his hand inside the coat and round her tiny waist.

‘You are going to be the biggest thing in the West End,’ he said puckering up and leaning in. Tuppence eyed me, sitting awkwardly in my jeans and blouse and grinned. Despite her perfect shaped mouth and straight teeth, it was a hungry grin. I wondered if she ate bog roll.

‘Bigger than
Macbeth
?’ she said spitting the words out cattily. Jamie laughed.

‘God, that puts me between a rock and a hard place,’ he said looking at both of us.

‘Tell her what she wants to hear, Jamie,’ I said. ‘Or you’ll be left to deal with your own hard place…’

Tuppence narrowed her eyes at me.

‘I’m going to go Jamie,’ she said. She pulled a business card out of her coat and slid it across the table.