Millie's Game Plan (23 page)

Outside, the air was warm and syrupy with the scent of honeysuckle. Over the fence, the sound of the neighbour’s TV was belting through an open window. Before I had chance to move my car, Josh asked if I’d mind him joining me. I had intended bending the dog’s ear about the calamitous state of my life. Mungo was a great listener. ‘Sure,’ I said, half-heartedly.

We fell into step and turned into Poplar Crescent and continued in silence, Mungo sniffing and squirting as we went. Josh had his hands tucked into his chinos as he side-kicked a stone into the road. He’d elected to come on this walk, it was down to him to make conversation if he wanted to. He stopped and I walked on. Then, realising he wasn’t catching up, turned to look back. ‘What the…?’

Josh was upside-down, walking on his hands along the verge. His shirt was riding down over his back, exposing a well-toned torso, which lifted my spirits – and my heart rate. I waited till he caught up with us. When Mungo stuck a wet snout in his face, Josh dropped back to his feet, brushed off his hands and smiled.

‘Should you be doing that on top of dinner?’

‘Probably not.’
He was standing quite close to me now and there was a distinct twinkle in his eye.

‘So, tell me…how come you’re not going to the Summer Ball?’

That again. I turned away and began walking. ‘I told you, Lex is in France.’

He moved into step beside me. ‘Would you consider going with me, then? You already know a few people in the village.’

Something inside me skipped a little. I had no idea whether Lex would be in France or not, he could easily turn up with somebody else.

On the other hand…
I focussed on the pavement moving like a conveyor belt beneath my feet.

‘Okay.’

‘That’s assuming Lex wouldn’t mind?’ he added.

I drew a deep breath and let out a huge sigh. ‘Lex is history.’

My announcement hung in the warm night air like a large, wobbly bubble, as I waited for Josh to respond. ‘So, you’ve finally worked him out, then?’

I stopped to look at him.
‘Meaning?’

‘Well…he has quite a reputation.’

‘He does?’ I was feeling like the last person to get the joke.

‘Well, I’m not one for gossip but he’s known around the village as Letch Marshal.’

‘Letch?’ And to think I’d imagined Lex could be the father of my children. I’d taken his enthusiasm as genuine, his ardour a sure sign Millie Carmichael was the woman of his dreams. Instead, he was a love rat. Maybe I’d sensed it all along. I smiled and shook my head. Imagine if I’d got in deeper and let my plans run away with me? Sacha’s words of wisdom echoed in my head. My smile turned into a grin and I started to chuckle.

‘What’s funny?’

‘Me.’

‘You?’

‘I hadn’t sussed him at all.’ I was laughing now. ‘At least, not until this afternoon.’

‘Why, what happened?’ The prospect of relating my grapple with Lex was a confession too far. Josh sensed my hesitation.
‘Sorry, none of my business.’

I shook my head and let out a snort of laughter. ‘
Letch
Marshall? And you didn’t tell me?’

‘Well, no. It wasn’t my place to.’

‘You had my undivided attention, all that night, and you said nothing? Shame on you, Josh Warwick.’

‘Listen, you were so disappointed at missing the concert, I was hardly going to say, “It could be worse – you could be the next scalp on Lex’s belt,” was I?’

‘You didn’t give me the slightest indication – not a nudge, not a hint. Nobody did.’ Although, Arabella had almost spelled it out when she’d reeled off that list of his past girlfriends.

‘In any case, you and Lex looked so – together – at Dominic’s dinner, how was I to know you weren’t the woman to tame him?’

‘Tame Lex? I can’t even get Mungo to walk to heel.’

He laughed then and, for a moment, it felt like we were connected; like two best buddies sharing a joke. At the disturbing shift in mood, I began walking again.

‘He’s had a reputation for years,’ he added. ‘Serena was one of his early scalps.’

‘Really?’

Josh tapped a stone with his foot. ‘He treated her like dirt and went off with her best friend.’

‘Poor girl. Still, she looks none the worse for it, now. I mean, she’s stunning. Who cares about Lex?’

‘Well, she did at the time.’

Just like I had, earlier today. ‘It must have been hard for her at Dominic’s dinner, then.’

‘That’s why I went.
For moral support. She knew Lex would be there.’

‘Why didn’t she stay away?’

‘She wanted to see everybody else.’

‘But why did Dominic sit her at our table?’

‘You’re assuming he knew how she felt about Lex.’

‘Oh, no!’
I stopped and put my hand out. ‘Serena would have been stranded at Clavering with Lex, and no moral support from you. How did she cope?’

He smiled.
‘Absolutely fine. Dominic took her under his wing – rather enthusiastically, I think.’

‘Good for her.
And one in the eye for Lex.’

‘Lex, apparently, had other diversions – some female music students from
Oxford. He took a couple of bottles of champagne over, and that was the last anyone saw of him.’

Cristal, I imagined. ‘So, I’d have been stood up, anyway?’

‘I doubt it. He’d have found his way back to you with some plausible explanation.’ He was looking quite intently at me, now. ‘He’d have been daft not to.’

And I’d have been pretty thick not to spot the signals Josh was telegraphing my way. He might not have dropped any hints about Lex’s reputation, but he was certainly dropping one, now. But how, exactly, did that make me feel? ‘Um…what date is the summer ball?’

He smiled. ‘The same weekend Lex is in France.’

That’d teach me. I’d have to phone Vonnie and find out.
‘Of course.’

He stepped towards me and murmured close to my ear, ‘Saturday. Eight o’clock.
Strictly formal dress.’

I suppose I
should have stepped back but I was liking it too much. ‘You knew he hadn’t invited me, didn’t you?’

‘I had a hunch.’

‘What do you know that I don’t?’

‘Vonnie let it slip she had no idea who he was going to turn up with.’

‘He’s going, then?’

‘Are you worried about bumping into him?’

Was I? I remembered how jealous Lex had seemed over me spending the night in the crypt with Josh, which was pretty rich bearing in mind his own conduct. I smiled. ‘Actually, I’d quite enjoy seeing his reaction.’

Josh levelled a look at me. ‘I hope you’re not planning on using me to score points.’

‘No. Absolutely not. I wouldn’t.’ My hand shot out to his arm. ‘I’m not like that...at least, I don’t mean to be.’ The feel of his broad, firm muscle beneath my fingers was disturbingly good. ‘No. I…I’d be really happy to go with you.’
Would I?

His eyes were studying mine; a smile softening the corners with fine creases. ‘And I’m really happy to hear that.’

I swear my insides started to melt – like a tub of ice-cream in the microwave – it was pooling, warm and syrupy, deep within me. I was one, huge, Millie-bocker-glory. All Josh needed to do was scoop me up.

And he might have done if Mungo hadn’t lunged at a cat across the road, yanking me after him. I was straddling the white line by the time I regained control. The moment was well and truly lost.

When we reached the end of Poplar Crescent, I could still hear the neighbour’s TV. I turned towards the house and pulled the car keys from my pocket. ‘How long will it take you to get back to London?’

‘I’m staying in Marshalhampton this week.’

‘Oh, good.’ Why did I say that? ‘I’ll just let Mungo in,’ I said and shot into the house.

Josh was standing by his open car door when I returned. ‘I’ll pick you up on Saturday. Will seven-thirty be okay?’ he asked.

It was fully dark now, with just the light from Mum’s porch and a street-lamp. As he looked into my eyes, I could feel my heart pumping hard against my ribcage. ‘Seven-thirty is good.’

‘I’m looking forward to it.’ Then he put a hand on my arm and kissed my cheek. And, chaste though it sounds – hell, after Lex, it would only have been
more chaste if we’d shaken hands – my nerve endings tingled and I swear my heart fluttered like a bird.

‘You seem more cheerful,’ Mum said, as I kissed her good night.

‘Do I?’ I picked up my briefcase. ‘I was a bit wound up when I came home. Thanks for a lovely meal.’

‘He didn’t, by any chance, invite you to the ball, then?’ she called as I headed for the stairs.

I’ve often thought my mother was a witch. I stopped on the bottom stair. ‘Why would you think that?’

‘Well, he had the chance to invite me but he didn’t.’ She appeared in the doorway. ‘And I’m unattached,’ she added, with a coquettish tilt of her head.

I laughed. Mum and Fun didn’t partner up very often, these days. Even though her dark eyes were heavily shaded from lack of sleep, she was an attractive woman. With a decent make-over, she could probably still turn a few grey heads. ‘Mum…do you fancy him?’ I teased.

She scowled. ‘Don’t be ridiculous. But I think he likes you. You want to tell that Lex of yours to watch out.’

Seizing the moment, I told her Lex and I were no longer an item.

‘So you could go with Josh, after all.’ She was staring at me now, her eyes widening to reveal a satisfied twinkle.

‘It’s only a village dance, Mum, not a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.’

‘You know exactly what I mean.’

I certainly knew I wasn’t in the mood to debate it right then. ‘See you in the morning.’

I turned and climbed the stairs. Behind me, I could feel my mother rubbing her hands with glee and thanking God for His intervention.

‘Que Dios te bendiga.’
May God bless you, she said, and as I turned the corner of the stairs, she added, ‘Isn’t it wonderful news about Trina?’

I stopped. Ruling out the Nobel Peace Prize, I ventured, ‘She’s pregnant again?’

‘I’m so happy. It’s just one baby this time. Due in January, God willing.’

‘That’s great news.’ And it was
, I told myself.

The prospect of being the vicar’s date at a humble village ball kept me awake so long, I overslept. There wasn’t time to go home to change, and since Mum was a size fourteen, I had to go to work in the same suit, which caused SS Ostler to wiggle his ugly eyebrows suggestively. ‘All night meeting at Marshal & Crowe, was it?’

I smiled sweetly back at him.
‘Whatever it takes to keep the business.’

‘Really?
I heard you were giving it away.’

‘Oh, that’s funny. And I heard you couldn’t give it away.’

‘The thing is, Millie, people pay good money for what I’ve got.’ He pointed to his Blackberry. ‘DJ Leisure – seventy-two grand. Just came in.’ He watched while my brain wrestled with the numbers.

Bugger! That would nudge him at least twelve grand ahead of me. ‘Oh, well done, Simon. You’re truly an inspiration. Thank you.’

As he turned and sauntered away, his head wobbled in that conceited way that made me want to launch a can-can kick at his groin. I don’t know how I resisted.

Instead, I reminded myself that on Saturday night, I would be spending an entire evening with Josh Warwick. And I had a pretty good feeling he was going to look fantastic in a dinner jacket; although, I wasn’t sure yet, how I’d feel about the dog-collar. No, that did rather put a dampener on the prospect.

It was a slow day at the office. New girl, Natasha, was showing us her first ever pitch presentation. What she lacked in presentation skills she made up for in hypnotherapy. I nodded off so many times, I earned a bigger round of applause than she did.

I was slipping. First, the
Marshal & Crowe account coming in over budget, then Odious Ostler overtaking my lead and now, falling asleep on the job. I had to get a grip. So, I spent the rest of the afternoon purging my client database for hot prospects. No way was I going to lose that holiday for Mum.

As the staff gradually began to head home, I stayed at my desk and looked busy. I’d decided to visit Lulu again. Our parting conversation had played on my mind, so I rang her mum to find out when I could visit. Lulu, it turned out, had come home earlier in the day and Carla – her mother – was very grateful for my offer to pop
round. ‘To be honest,’ she whispered into the phone, ‘I think she needs someone like you to talk to her…about her drinking. I don’t seem to be getting through.’

‘Oh, of course,’ I said, mentally examining the chasm of my inexperience – of counselling, that is, not
drinking, I had a fair few stories to relate, there. ‘I’m sure it’s just a phase.’

‘But it’s every night – afternoons, sometimes. I’ve even rung the help-lines and they won’t come and talk to her; they say she has to see them voluntarily. I’m at my wit’s end.’

No wonder she’d threatened to chuck Lulu out. I’d seen those brats on Boot Camp TV. In fairness, I’d never found Lulu especially bratty, just high-spirited and frequently pissed.

My credentials for coaching kids in the performing arts were good, I’d passed the criminal record check, Hamlets is registered with the authorities and I’m pretty confident in what I’m doing. However, dealing with a juvenile alcoholic, well…that was for the professionals. Luckily, I knew one.

Josh answered the vicarage phone on the second ring. I explained the situation and asked him for some advice. ‘I haven’t a clue what to do. What if I say all the wrong things and drive her further into the bottle? Can you suggest any kind of strategy – top ten tips for rescuing alcoholics?’

‘If only it were that simple.’

I pulled a face. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to be flip.’

‘I know. Would you like me to come with you?’

Was that a good idea? It was one thing, me preaching temperance to Lulu, quite another wheeling in the local clergy. ‘Ummm…’

‘Don’t
worry, you can introduce me as a friend. I’ll leave the dog-collar and bible at home.’

‘Oh, no.
It’s just…I didn’t want you to give up your evening. I thought you might have some advice. I’m a bit out of my depth.’

‘Millie, I offered because I’m happy to. And we probably won’t make any impact tonight but maybe, over time, we can help her.’

We
can help her… ‘Are you sure you don’t mind?’

‘Positive. Now, where shall I meet you?’

An hour later, we were sitting on Carla’s L-shaped couch, facing Lulu who was reclining along one side of it. Her eyes were delineated with mascara the consistency of tarmac. She’d recovered some of her spirit since Sunday and gave Josh the once-over. ‘Blimey, Mill, you get through the blokes don’t ya? What ’appened to that posh one with the flash car?’

‘I dumped him.’

‘He looked like a creep, anyway.’

Carla lowered a tray of steaming coffee mugs onto the table. ‘Lulu, don’t be rude about other people.’

‘Well he did, and Millie’s dumped him anyway so it don’t matter.’

‘
Doesn’t
matter.’

I watched as Lulu curled her lip. ‘So, Lulu, how’s the leg feeling today?’ I asked.

‘Broken.’

Carla straightened up. ‘Do you mind if I leave you three chatting? I’ve got a few things to do.’ She smiled at me – a wealth of hope and expectation behind her eyes, before she headed out and closed the door behind her.

Conversation with a sober, sulking Lulu was tough going. It was only when Josh went on a major charm offensive, saying how much he’d enjoyed her performance in the first half of the show that she began to thaw. He empathised with her disappointment at missing the second half; he compared her portrayal of Rizzo with one he’d seen in the West End; he joked she could now set a trend for doing
Grease
on Crutches, ‘Well, they’ve done it on ice,’ he grinned.

She giggled, which made a pleasant change from her usual bawdy cackle. ‘You’re alright, you,’ she said, nodding her approval. ‘Not gonna dump him, are you Mill?’

‘Who says I’m even going out with him?’

‘Course you are. So what do you do, Josh?’

‘I work for a charity. I run a homeless shelter in London.’

The moment it was said, Lulu’s face sagged and her eyes darted across to mine. ‘Oh, Christ!’ she hissed. ‘Is that why you’re here? You’re setting me up with somewhere to go when Mum kicks me out?’

Josh’s head turned to look at me.

‘Lulu, no.
Not at all.’ It hadn’t even occurred to me. That’s how far out of my depth I was with disturbed teenagers.

Her shoulders slumped. ‘Did she ask you to set this up?’

‘No. Sorry Lulu, I didn’t even make the connection with what you told me on Sunday and what Josh does. I brought him round to cheer you up. He’s just my boyfriend,’ I said grabbing his hand to emphasise the point and praying he wouldn’t mind.

I could tell from the look on her face she didn’t entirely buy it.

‘Hey,’ Josh stepped in, curling his fingers around mine, which felt altogether too cosy, and gave his attention to Lulu. ‘What’s all this about you being kicked out, anyway?’

Her eyes darted from him to me. ‘It’s personal.’

‘Those kind of things usually are,’ he said, quietly. I remembered his tone of voice from our night in the crypt, when he’d soothed and comforted me. I sank back into the sofa, hoping to blend with the fibres so he could hold her attention and gain her trust.

After a while she said, ‘She don’t like my drinking but I drink because of her. Once I start working, and living in my own place, I won’t need to. It’s just for now. I mean, living here is so fucking diabolically crap!’

I glanced around the lovely sitting room, with family pictures on the wall and a fat tabby cat snoring on the windowsill. She was wearing this season’s Top Shop crimson blouse and leather skirt, and dipping her hand into a box of Celebration chocolates. Josh just nodded and said, ‘I remember times like that. I promise you, it will get better.’

It must have been an hour after Carla had left us when Josh wound up the conversation. We agreed to pop in again and Lulu smiled demurely when he stroked the top of her head. It occurred to me he might be bestowing a silent blessing on her.

As we turned to go, she asked, ‘So what do you drive then? A clapped out old van?’

He laughed. ‘Yes, I do sometimes – though it’s not completely clapped out.’

‘Thought so,’ she said. ‘You’re not the flashy type.’

I didn’t mention his Austin Healy, although if she could make it over to the window, she could see it for herself.

Carla sounded bright and breezy as she saw us to the door, ‘Do feel free to come again. It’ll be lovely to see you.’ She squeezed my hand, as if I might be about to perform some miracle. I only wished I could because Lulu was way too young to be pissing her life down the drain.

Josh and I stood beside my car. The evening sun was covered by cloud and a breeze was sniffing round my bare legs. ‘Thank you so much for doing that,’ I said. ‘You were brilliant.’

He shrugged. ‘It probably helped that she didn’t know me.’

‘In the light of our recent discussion, would it be wrong for me to buy you a drink?’

He grinned. ‘Sure. You can buy me a coffee, we could…’ his phone rang. ‘Excuse me.’ He flipped open the phone. ‘Hello, Josh Warwick…Oh, hello. Yes...’ He turned and walked a few steps away. ‘Yes. When?’ He glanced at his watch. ‘Okay. I’ll be there.’

When he turned, there was a deep groove between his eyebrows. ‘Sorry, Millie,’ he said as he approached. ‘We’ll have to do coffee some other time. I’m afraid I have to be somewhere else.’

‘Okay.’

‘You did a good thing tonight.’ He put a hand on my arm and dropped a peck on my cheek. ‘See you Saturday.’

He strode off to his car and drove away without a backward glance. And as his car faded into the distance, I stared down the road after him, till he disappeared around the corner. I could feel good cheer draining from me like water from a bust radiator. So, another night in front of the telly for me.