Bad Girls (41 page)

Amber ordered fizzy water, and Tony, following suit, a Coke.

‘You’re not drinking,’ he said as the waitress left, ‘so I won’t either.’

‘That’s really thoughtful,’ Amber said, smiling at him.

‘You look beautiful,’ he said, reaching for her hand across the table, enveloping it in his much larger one. ‘I like your hair that way.’

Much to Slava’s disapproval, Amber hadn’t made her usual perfectionist effort in getting ready this evening, just pulled her hair back into a high ponytail and slipped on a simple strappy cotton sheath.

I think I must have wanted to see if Tony still liked me if I wasn’t all done up, she reflected. And guess what? He does.
Matka
might be right about him being a good guy.

‘I want to get things straight between us, Amber,’ he said simply. ‘I know we started off – uh – in a weird kind of way.’ His square jaw tightened. ‘I know I don’t come out of it too well. I’m just on the road so much, I don’t get a chance to meet quality girls like you, and I was lonely. I took the easy way, I guess. Cut some corners.’

‘I don’t come out of it any better than you,’ Amber pointed out.

‘Amber,’ he said frankly, ‘my folks didn’t raise a fool. I can tell you’re a good girl. You got yourself in a bind, and you won’t ever hear any judgement from me about how we met. But I want to put all that behind us and start again. Can we try to do that?’

Amber stared at him. It was hard to see Tony as a real person; he was so much the larger-than-life Texan, with his easy grin and his cookie-cutter handsomeness. But his words sounded genuine, and she could read nothing but sincerity in his expression.

‘I don’t want you to worry about anything for a while,’ he continued. ‘You just take the time you need to get back on your feet. I’ve got you a driver, and I’ve set up a credit card for you – it’ll get dropped round tomorrow. I’m gonna give you my contact details and the PA in our LA office can help with any day-to-day stuff you need. I’m gonna be travelling big time for the next two weeks at least – Kazakhstan, Moscow, all over the Middle East – so I wanna make sure you’re OK before I head out of town.’

‘I’ve got money of my own for daily expenses,’ Amber said quickly. ‘I don’t need a credit card from you. I feel bad enough about how much you’ve spent on me so far. I’m going to need to pay you back for that – you’ll have to tell me how much it’s been—’

‘Please! Let’s not ruin dinner by talking about money!’

Tony waved his hand in vehement negation, the big Patek Philippe watch sliding down his wide, tanned wrist and nearly knocking out the waitress, who had just arrived with their drinks.

‘But I—’ Amber insisted.

‘Later, OK?’ Tony said. ‘Here’s to starting over.’ He held out his Coke to Amber, waiting till she gave in, picking up her Pellegrino glass to clink against it. ‘So!’ He grinned. ‘You seen any good movies lately?’

‘Not recently,’ Amber said demurely, sipping her water. ‘But my roommate at Cascabel was a big fan of
Pretty Woman
. . .’

Tony choked on his Coke.

‘Funny!’ he said when he could speak again. Amber reached out and dabbed his pale blue shirtfront with some fizzy water, in case it stained.

‘Thanks, baby,’ he said. ‘Hey, who knew you had a great sense of humour too?’

‘Not me!’ Amber said happily.

They had just finished their dinner – beet and walnut salad for weight-conscious Amber, pepperoni and sausage pizza for Tony – when a rustle of excitement, blowing through the restaurant like a warm sirocco, alerted the more experienced diners to the fact that there was a major celebrity sighting in the offing. The waiting staff were sucked to the door as if its opening were a vacuum; a minute later, they flowed backwards, like a movie being shown in reverse; then the
maître d’
appeared, ushering a man who was instantly recognizable to everyone at Pace.

‘Ohmigod, it’s Joe Jeffreys!’ hissed a woman at the next table to her date. ‘And is that –
ohmigod
, it
is
! It’s
her
!’

Joe towered over his companion, who was as small and fragile as he was tall and imposing. Jennifer Downs, angel-faced A-list movie star, was barely over five foot three and couldn’t have weighed more than a hundred pounds soaking wet. Her huge, thickly lashed eyes were as big as Bambi’s, her lips a pale pink Cupid’s bow, her cropped pale blonde hair a halo of light that perfectly completed her waif-look. She wore the same white slip dress that she had had on earlier that day, but she had, thankfully, removed the theatrical crucifix that had been added for the hovering news cameras.

‘So I guess they’re back together?’ Tony muttered to Amber.

At that moment, Joe’s gaze, which had been roaming idly over the crowded dining room, lighted on Amber. His blue eyes widened as they met hers; obviously she was the last person he expected to see, having, as far as he knew, left her still in treatment at Cascabel when he was thrown out.

‘
What the hell
?’ he mouthed at her without breaking stride.

‘He just stared right at you!’ Tony exclaimed.

Amber shrugged. ‘He didn’t know I left this morning,’ she pointed out. ‘It must have been a shock to see me out and about.’

‘Why would he care?’ Tony asked possessively.

‘Oh, we were together in rehab for weeks,’ she explained, as Joe and Jennifer’s entourage passed by, heading for a corner table, a stunning Latina woman in a red silk dress bringing up the rear. ‘You see the same faces every day from eight in the morning till curfew. And you get to care about how everyone’s doing. It’s like a really intense instant friendship.’

Amber stifled a yawn. ‘Actually,’ she said, ‘I’m used to going to bed early, and this is getting way past my bedtime. Do you mind if . . .?’

‘No, of course not! I’ve got an early start tomorrow myself.’

Tony swivelled in his chair, looking for a waiter, but everyone was still distracted by the presence of Joe and Jennifer. Stars of so huge a wattage would have been mesmerizing in normal circumstances, but considering the size of the scandal that had broken that very day, it was near-impossible for anyone to look anywhere but over at their table.

‘I’ll go find someone,’ Tony said, pushing back his chair and standing up. ‘I’m not waiting around for ’em all to stop crawling up Joe Jeffreys’ ass.’

I suppose I can’t blame him for being a little jealous, Amber thought. Joe is pretty impressive.

‘Amber?’ A man in a tight-fitting black shirt and equally snug black trousers materialized beside her. ‘My name’s Kai, and I work for Joe Jeffreys. He’s asked me for your contact details. Do you have a current phone number I can give him?’

Amber’s lips parted in surprise. ‘Seriously?’ she said.

‘I’m sorry?’ The man leaned in closer.

Oh, why not?
Amber shrugged.

‘OK,’ she said, giving him her mobile phone number. ‘It’s a UK number, but it works over here.’

‘Great!’ he said, noting it down quickly on his personal organizer and vanishing discreetly just as Tony returned to the table.

Never a dull moment,Amber thought, wondering what on earth she was getting into now . . .

‘Y
ou should come outta the shade,’ Bobby said to Petal. ‘Soak up some rays. You’re white as a ghost.’ He guffawed at his own wit.

‘I can’t tan,’ Petal said coldly, rubbing Factor 30 into her long pale legs. ‘I just burn.’

‘Go get sprayed then,’ Bobby suggested. ‘There’s a Mystic Tan at the strip mall.’

‘I like being white,’ Petal said even more frigidly. ‘It’s my look. And if I were tanned, my hair wouldn’t work.’

‘Hey, you’re in LA now, baby,’ Bobby said complacently. ‘You gotta fit in.’

He stretched out, flexing his big pumped arms behind his head, making the Lilo he was lying on bounce on the bright water of the pool.

‘Me, I tan every day,’ he said. ‘And I do different positions. You can’t just lie there in the booth, or you don’t get even colour all over.’

‘Fascinating,’ Petal muttered.

He’s such a moron! she thought vindictively. I don’t know how Mum can bear him. He looks like a big slab of meat.

She looked over at Bobby, who was rocking on the Lilo, his skin orange, shiny with oil and stretched tightly over his large, juiced-up muscles.

‘You don’t need to keep your distance, if that’s what you’re getting your panties in a twist about,’ he said to Petal. ‘I don’t go for little girls.’ He scratched his balls through the Lycra fabric. ‘Older ladies – sorry,
cougars
– know stuff you little girls would not
imagine
.’

‘That’s my mum you’re talking about,’ Petal said, outraged.

‘Hey, you should be glad that she’s happy,’ Bobby said. ‘You know. Getting some.’ He leered again. ‘And when I say “some”, I mean “a lot”.’

God, I’m so glad I’m not in the main house with them, Petal thought gratefully. The grandly named ‘pool house’ was basically a big garden shed, with a pull-out sofa bed, peeling paint, and narrow shower cubicle and toilet only concealed from the rest of the space by a wonky corrugated plastic sliding door. Still, it had a sink, and a fridge whose loud, steady hum was white noise to Petal, helping her to sleep. Its windows were large and the thin curtains didn’t keep the sunlight out very well, but Petal still had her eyemask from the airline flight over.

And the crucial part was that she had her privacy from her mum and Bobby, who were hellish to be with. Linda acted kittenish around Bobby, which was very embarrassing for her daughter, and Bobby responded by smacking Linda playfully on her bottom and calling her ‘doll’, which, somehow, was even worse . . .

Petal’s phone buzzed, and she grabbed for it eagerly, over the moon to hear Dan’s voice.

‘Ohmigod!’ she exclaimed, jumping up to take the call inside the pool house. ‘Baby! What’s going on? Did you find out when you can come over?’

She’d rung Dan as soon as she got to Linda’s, two days ago; it was the first time they’d talked since she hung up on him at the recording studio, but the news of her expulsion from Cascabel had overridden any lingering resentment from the fight they’d had. Now she was desperate for him to visit her here; if she’d been chucked out of rehab, she might as well have the benefit of being able to see her boyfriend.

‘Pet—’ Dan started hesitantly.

‘Oh,
no
!’ Petal’s heart sank. ‘You can’t, can you?’

‘Things are really blowing up here,’ Dan said, the crack in his voice conveying how torn he was. ‘The single’s shooting up the charts – we’re flat out, doing photoshoots and interviews and all sorts when we’re not recording.’

‘That’s great,’ Petal said a little flatly, ‘but—’

‘I really miss you, pet!’ Dan said helplessly. ‘I wish you were here! But I’d hardly see you anyway, you know? I mean, we sink a couple of pints down Camden way when we’re done, but we’re knackered, you know what I mean? Fig –’ he named the singer – ‘isn’t even coming out with the lads any more. He’s getting all freaked out about his voice. Goes home early to drink honey and lemon! Never thought I’d see the day!’ Oh –’ he cleared his throat – ‘and I bumped into Tas and JC in the Hawley Arms.’

‘
Really
,’ Petal said ominously.

‘Pet, you should ring ’em. They feel awful. Tas cried all over me shoulder. You know they didn’t make a penny off selling that video to the
Mirror.
Someone nicked her phone at the club after she’d shown it around a bit. She doesn’t even know who it was.’

‘I believe that,’ Petal admitted. ‘I mean, I know she and JC would never go behind my back like that. But she should have been more careful with her phone . . .’

‘Pet, you sent her that clip at three in the morning, she was pissed off her head . . . what did you think was gunna happen? Of course she was gunna show it around, and then someone was bound to have it off her!’ he pointed out. ‘I mean, a sex tape of
Joe Jeffreys
– you never should have sent it to anyone!’

Petal sighed, acknowledging her own responsibility for the first time.

‘Tas and JC’ve been ringing and ringing,’ she said. ‘And texting non-stop. My phone’s full of messages.’

‘So ring back and let ’em know they’re forgiven,’ Dan advised. ‘They’re your mates. They didn’t mean any harm and they’re gutted that they got you chucked out of rehab. Tas looked bloody awful.’

‘OK.’ She sighed again. ‘I will. I really miss them. And you.’ Saying the words dropped her into a pit of misery. ‘I’m all alone here,’ she said sadly. ‘It’s
shit
, Dan. I never thought I’d say this, but I miss Cascabel.’

‘You’re having me on!’ Dan sounded amazed. ‘You hated it there!’

‘Yeah, but at least I had people to talk to . . . there was this guy Brian, he was OK . . .’

‘Oh yeah?’ Dan said jealously. ‘Brian, eh?’

‘Oh, for fuck’s sake, Dan, he was this whingy little wimp who followed Joe around like a dog. It was just that we liked the same music.’

‘I still can’t believe you were in there with
Joe Jeffreys
,’ Dan said in awe.

‘Well, yeah . . .’ Petal sighed. ‘If I hadn’t been, I wouldn’t have videoed them, and then I wouldn’t be living in my mum’s fucking
garden shed
, with her idiot boytoy telling me I’m as white as a ghost and I should go get a spray tan.’

‘Don’t you dare!’ Dan said immediately.‘I like you white! You’re my proper little Goth girl!’

Petal giggled.

‘You’d better not come back all brown and tarty with fake tits and bleached hair,’ he said. ‘Or I’ll scarper as soon as I see you at the airport.’

‘Oh,
Dan
. . .’ Petal was equally torn: happy that he was talking like a steady boyfriend, gutted that he was making it clear he couldn’t come and visit. ‘It’s so shitty here! I’ve got nothing to do, no one to hang out with – I’m trying to be good, you know, not do anything I shouldn’t—’

‘You staying off the white stuff?’ Dan asked.

‘Yeah.’

‘Good,’ he said, breathing out a sigh of relief. ‘We were caning it there. I was getting a bit carried away meself. I’ve knocked that on the head too. Just a pint or six for me in future. And you get to spend time with your mum, pet! That’s got to be a good thing!’