Shafted (37 page)

But there was no way she was going to give up her independence to satisfy his insecurities. And no way was she giving up her flat and moving in with him, because then she’d have nowhere to go when she needed time on her own.

16

The Larry Logan Show
rocketed straight to the top of the ratings and stayed there, going from strength to strength over the next few months as the stars queued up to get an invite to appear.

Larry was delighted that he’d totally blitzed Raine Parker’s long-held ratings record, and was also spitefully thrilled when
Star Struck
slid so far out of favour that it was axed by Oasis and shunted off to a rarely watched Sky channel. He never stopped trying to persuade Stephanie – who he now admitted to ‘liking a
lot
’ – to move in with him. But she was still too camera-shy, and he was too busy to keep hassling her about coming out as a couple, so they settled into a mutually agreeable routine of getting on with their individual day-to-day lives while spending nights together whenever they could – albeit always at his place, because she didn’t want to risk him going to hers and being followed.

Happier than he’d ever been in his life before, Larry completely forgot about Tania Baxter.

But she hadn’t forgotten him. And he was about to feel the full force of her ever-growing obsession for him.

Tania was frustrated that she still hadn’t been contacted by the reporter several months down the line. She was also infuriated that no matter how many times she called the studio, using different names and accents, they still wouldn’t put her through to Larry. So when she finally got lucky and managed to get one of the highly sought-after tickets to be in the audience for his show, she thought she’d finally cracked it, and formulated a foolproof plan to thwart his people.

Still sure that all it would take for them to be together was for Larry to see her, Tania decided she would sit in the audience and watch the show. Then, when Larry was saying his goodbyes and everyone thought it was all over, she would rush onto the set while no one was expecting it and let him know what had been happening behind his back.

Convinced that the old bitch who’d claimed to be his agent had been lying about the girlfriend – because there had been absolutely nothing about it in the papers – Tania took extra-special care with her appearance on the night of the show, wanting to ensure that Larry would be completely wowed when he saw her. Then, excited at the prospect of getting back together with him, she made her way to the TV station and waited in line with the rest of the women – sneering at their stupidity as she listened to them all fantasising about him spotting them in the crowd and whisking them away. She felt like telling them all to shut their stupid mouths, because there was only
one
woman he would be whisking anywhere, and that was her!

Keeping her head down as she passed the security guards standing on either side of the main doors, Tania reached the desk and handed her ticket over. But then, just as she was about to follow the women who were already making their way into the studio, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

‘This one?’ the security guard asked, looking at Ayshia for confirmation.

Nodding, Ayshia said,‘Could you escort her out, please – and make sure she doesn’t come back.’

‘What’s going on?’Tania yelped as the guard took a firm grip on her arm and marched her towards the door. ‘I’ve got a ticket! You can’t do this to me!’

‘You’re barred,’ the guard told her, marching her down the steps and pushing her firmly into the road. Folding his arms then, he glared at her, challenging her to try and get past him.

Fully aware that she stood no chance of physically forcing her way back inside, Tania folded her own arms and glared right back at him, determined not to leave just because he’d told her to. But he obviously liked the staring-out game because he didn’t turn and walk away after a few minutes as she’d expected. And in the end, it was
her
who couldn’t take any more.

Screaming that she was going to come back and blow the station up, Tania finally gave up and stomped away with as much dignity as she could muster – which wasn’t much, given that she was already crying uncontrollably.

Running almost all the way home – which, fortunately, was only a mile or so away if you used the subways – she let herself into her flat and threw herself down on the couch to cry some more.

Everything was hopeless. She’d tried so hard, but she was never going to get to Larry. And if she couldn’t be with him, she didn’t see any point in living.

Filled with self-pity, Tania dragged herself into the kitchen and rooted through the drawers and cupboards. There were plenty of knives she could have used to slice her wrists, but she was far too beautiful to do that to herself. When she was found, she wanted to be as flawlessly perfect in death as she had been in life. And the only way of ensuring that was an overdose.

Gathering together every tablet she could find – including an old packet of paracetamol that the previous tenant must have left behind, because it was absolutely filthy when she dragged it out of the gap it had slipped into at the back of the cutlery drawer – she poured herself a glass of cheap flat cola, and carried it into her bedroom.

In full tragic-heroine mode by now, Tania wrote a letter to Larry, telling him all about how his so-called friends and colleagues had conspired to keep them apart, and saying that she was truly sorry she wasn’t strong enough to keep on trying, but that she would wait for him in heaven. Folding it neatly when she’d finished, she stood it on the bedside table where it would be easily spotted when they broke in and found her body. That done, she pulled her suitcase out from under the bed and took out her precious newspaper clippings. Selecting the one which most clearly showed her and Larry kissing at Bone that night, she sat on the bed with it and cried his name as she touched his beautiful face with her fingertip.

Still clutching the clipping, she tipped all the tablets into her hand – blissfully unaware that there were nowhere near enough to kill her but more than enough to irreparably damage her internal organs. Then, just as she raised the pills to her mouth, she took another look at the clipping – and could have kicked herself.

The reporter’s name was right there in the story! She’d wasted all this time waiting for him to find her when
she
could have contacted
him
all along. All she had to do was ring the
Herald
.

Rushing back into the living room, she rooted around for last week’s
Herald
, which she’d bought for the picture of Larry on the cover. She’d had to cut him out carefully, though, because he’d been kissing some stupid bitch who’d claimed to have cancer and reckoned that meeting him was her dying wish – although Tania suspected she’d probably shaved her own hair off just to get his sympathy. Finding the paper under a pile of clothes, she located the switchboard number and jotted it down. Then, cursing herself for having thrown her mobile at the wall that time, because she hadn’t been able to afford to replace it, she pulled her coat on and rushed out to the payphone around the corner.

Telling the switchboard operator when she finally got through that she wanted to speak to Sam Brady, Tania was gutted to be told that he was on holiday at the moment.

Saying, ‘You must have his mobile number, so can’t you just give me that?’ she was irritated when the woman said that she couldn’t give out that kind of information. ‘But he’s looking for me,’ she told her desperately. ‘He went to my mum’s house trying to find me, but my dad wouldn’t tell him where I’ve moved to. Please, you’ve got to help me. It’s a matter of life and death!’

Thinking that the girl was being a tad overdramatic, the operator said, ‘Look, love, I really can’t give you his number. But I’ll take your details, if you like, and pass them on to another in-house reporter. If they think you’ve got a story, they might contact you.’

Annoyed, because she’d really wanted the man who was interested enough in her to come looking for her, Tania mulled this over for a moment. Then, deciding that any reporter was better than no reporter, she gave the woman her name and address.

‘And what’s the nature of your story?’ the operator asked when she’d jotted them down.

Narrowing her eyes when it suddenly occurred to her that if she gave her story away to this woman she might go and sell her own version, Tania said, ‘It’s about me and Larry Logan. But I’m not telling you any more than that. Just make sure a reporter contacts me, or I’ll go to the
News of the World
.’

Hanging up then, she bit her lip, wondering if that might not actually be a good idea anyway. But she didn’t have any more change and, anyway, she’d have to get a copy of the
News of the World
to get the number, but it wasn’t out for another four days and she couldn’t wait that long. So she’d wait and see if the
Herald
contacted her first. At least it was local, so Larry would be guaranteed to see it. And she was pretty sure that all the other papers would soon come begging for interviews.

Sam Brady had shoved Tania Baxter to the back of his mind by the time he got the call from Hannah telling him that the girl was looking for him. After being threatened by her dad that night, he’d hit a complete dead end trying to track her down. He didn’t know any of her friends’ names, so he couldn’t ask them if they’d seen her; and she wasn’t on the electoral register, so he couldn’t find her from that. And after driving round and round Stretford for several nights on the off chance of spotting her on the street, he’d finally given up, because he had better things to be getting on with – like
earning
money, instead of spending it on petrol chasing wild geese.

Perking up when Hannah told him about Tania having called them looking for him, Sam asked if the other operator who’d taken the call had passed it on to another in-house reporter yet. He was relieved when Hannah told him no.

‘I know you’re on holiday,’ she said. ‘But the girl specifically asked for you, so I asked Jen to let me get hold of you first and see if you were interested.’

‘’Course I’m interested,’ he said, already getting his pen ready to write down the address. ‘How long ago did she call?’ he asked then, wondering if she’d have had time to follow through with her threat to contact the
News of the World
.

‘About ten minutes,’ Hannah said, laughing when Sam hissed a jubilant ‘
Yes!
’

Tania frowned when she heard the knock on her front door just half an hour after making her phone call and coming back home. It was hard and fast, like a copper’s knock. Or, worse, her dad’s.

Afraid that it might be him, even though they hadn’t spoken since their last argument, she tiptoed to the door and pressed her ear against it. There was no spyhole, so she’d have to listen instead. But there’d be no mistaking it if it
was
him because he had a distinctive way of breathing through his nostrils that made him sound like he was perpetually furious.

Hearing nothing but the shuffling of feet, and a deep, weary sigh, Tania jumped when a note suddenly came through the letter box. Wondering now if it was a debt collector or some other official she was trying to avoid, she eased herself down and picked the note up as quietly as possible in case the person was still standing there, waiting to catch her out. Unfolding it, she gasped when she saw Sam Brady’s name and mobile number.

Fumbling with the lock, she yanked the door open and rushed out onto the communal landing. Finding it empty, she galloped down the stairs and shoved the heavy outer door open. Seeing a man making his way to a car across the road, she called out to him.

Turning back, Sam Brady looked her over and smiled, saying,‘Nice to see you again, Tania. Must say you’ve changed a bit since last time, though. I almost didn’t recognise you at the studio that night.’

‘Were you there?’Tania asked, leading him back up to her flat. ‘I didn’t see you.’

Chuckling softly, Sam said, ‘Don’t think you were paying too much attention to anyone, that night. Too busy throwing yourself on Larry’s car.’

‘God, did you see me?’ she murmured sheepishly. ‘I made a right fool of myself, didn’t I?’

‘Not at all,’ he lied, waving her into her flat ahead of him when she opened the door. ‘Wasn’t sure it was you at first, to tell you the truth. Then it clicked, and I thought, hmmm . . . wonder what that was all about. Hope you’re going to tell me all about it?’

‘Yeah, ’course,’Tania said. Then, blushing when she took him into the living room, she said, ‘Sorry about the mess and the smell. It’s damp, but the council are dead lax about coming out to fix stuff.’

Telling her that he’d close his eyes and breathe through his mouth, Sam looked around and nodded approvingly. ‘Cool flat. Is it all yours, or do you share?’

‘It’s mine,’ Tania told him, thinking that he was nothing like any of the other adults who’d come in here since she’d moved in and who had all looked down their noses. Like her dad – whose fault it was that she was here in the first place, because he’d kicked her out just for
borrowing
some money out of her mum’s savings jar. He’d only been here once, and had refused to sit down or touch anything; just stood there looking around with a disgusted sneer on his ugly face. And the cheeky-bitch social worker who’d helped her to get the flat, and then thought she had a licence to come round every week to check that she was keeping it tidy.

‘Love a tea, if you’re brewing?’ Sam said, sitting down on her couch as if he’d been there a thousand times before. ‘Unless you fancy something stronger?’

‘Oh, sorry, I haven’t got anything,’ Tania admitted, blushing as she added, ‘I haven’t even got any tea bags, to tell you the truth. The social’s been kind of messing me about with my money.’

‘Lucky I brought this, then,’ Sam said, bringing a half-bottle of white rum out of his pocket. ‘Not that I make a habit of carrying booze around, you understand, but I was supposed to be going to a mate’s to watch the footie when I got the call to say you were looking for me.’