Obesssion (3 page)

Oh, sod the fruit. It wouldn’t hurt to take a break for five minutes. I poured myself a drink from the bottle Gabe had opened, and sat down at the table to flick through the newspaper abandoned at breakfast. My eyes may have been focused on the pages in front of me, but in my head I was remembering the guy in the café. I should have taken the ice after all; I didn’t realise I’d been scalded at the time. I was too embarrassed about throwing my drink all over him, too shocked at how I’d felt when he took my hand, and too scared that I’d spoken without realising it. I’d swear I hadn’t said anything, yet he’d answered me.

I’d been stressed about the photo shoot. That was all. It wasn’t significant.

I took a swig of wine and replayed the moment in my head.

He looked as though he’d tumbled straight out of bed, his hair over-long and messy, flopping onto a strong forehead above the most arresting dark blue eyes I’d ever seen. I noticed eyes. I spent so many hours interviewing people, I’d become an expert on eyes. His weren’t just dark, I’d seen tiny flecks of amber when he smiled at me, the tiniest little laughter lines around his mouth.

He looked like a man who smiled frequently, unlike Gabe, who only used his smile when he wanted something.

CHAPTER 2

2.1 Suki

I smiled when Elaine, one of the people Gabe had invited, told me how much she admired our devotion to each other. How affectionate we were—what a lovely husband I had.

In front of everyone, Gabe
was
adorable. Especially in front of Jon Craigowan and his wife, Anita. I never could decide if I should feel shocked at Gabe’s blatant two-facedness, or admiring of his political guile.

Jon Craigowan was the hot new face of Formula 1 racing. He’d only joined the team a year ago, but he had a string of wins to his name already and had been tipped as a future championship winner. This was Gabe’s fifth season. He had yet to clinch the title and every time Jon finished ahead of him, he seemed to get a little harder, colder and more remote.

Dinner was finally over. The presents had been distributed and opened, we’d been photographed in every room, with every group, enjoying our so-called Christmas festivities. As everyone relaxed over drinks, Gabe rattled a knife against his glass and called for attention. He beckoned me to his side, to stand next to the giant tree.

“
I want to thank everyone for coming here today.” He smiled around the room, the image of a relaxed man. “I know it seems rather
summery
to have Christmas,”—he paused while a ripple of laughter moved through the room— “but I’m sure you don’t mind taking part and helping us to celebrate just a little early.”

Nodding to the hired help, he held up his glass.
“We’ve got some champagne coming round, and I’d like to propose a couple of toasts.” The two waitresses stepped forward, pouring and topping up, then standing back with the remains of the bottles.

Gabe slipped one arm around my shoulders, gazing down at me lovingly.
“First, I’d like to thank Suki for pulling this off. She’s done an enormous amount of work today, as usual.” A brief pause. “To Suki.”

“
To Suki.”

When everyone had murmured and sipped, he bestowed his lazy grin on the room.
“And I want to let you in on a secret. It seems like the right time when all our nearest and dearest are here.”

I stiffened. His fingers pressed into my upper arm, easing me closer. Obediently, I leaned against him.

“I’m hoping that pretty soon I’ll be able to follow my good friend Jon in another area of life. Suki and I have decided to try for a baby.” The smile froze on my lips. I couldn’t believe he was telling everybody. “It’s early days,” he continued, his loving smile aimed at me, “but I’m hoping to give you some good news very soon.” He pressed a brief kiss against my temple. “So watch this space.”

Craig, his father, stepped forward.
“I’ll claim this toast, Gabe. To Gabe and Suki—and hopefully the patter of tiny feet very soon.”

I sipped my champagne and fought to stay calm. I think there was another toast; I missed the details, I was too busy fuming. Before I could say anything to him, he’d slipped away to talk to his PR agent and I was left fielding the excited buzz from his family.

My parents were more reserved, Mum giving me a brief, awkward hug while Dad managed a stiff smile. I escaped into the kitchen, only to be followed by Anita.

“
It was a lovely dinner, Suki. Thanks for inviting us.” She hoisted baby Mindy a little higher in her arms. “We’re going in a minute, before Mindy starts making a fuss.”

Anita had a genuine innocence about her. I always found her refreshing to spend time with. I was determined to be friends with her, even though I knew it annoyed Gabe.
“Thanks for coming. Mindy looks so pretty, I can’t imagine her being any trouble.”

Anita laughed, and pressed a noisy kiss against her daughter’s cheek, making the baby giggle.
“I’ll just go and change her before we leave. If Jon looks for me, tell him I’ll be five minutes.”

Jon stuck his head round the door moments later, while I measured ground coffee into pots.
“Hey, Suki. Have you seen Anita anywhere?”

“
Yes, she’s gone to change Mindy. She asked me to tell you she’d just be a few minutes.”

“
Oh, okay.” His gaze flicked across the work surface. “Can I give you a hand with anything?”

The waitresses were clearing away the debris from the dining room and Gabe was talking to a group of people.
“If you don’t mind, would you grab the milk from the fridge, please, and pour some into those jugs?”

“
Sure.” He flashed me a quick, easy smile, suddenly looking familiar. For a moment, he looked like the guy from the café; he had that same sexy smile. Jon was a serious piece of eye candy and Gabe battled with him in that arena, too. They were both popular faces in the press and the media, and vied for lucrative sponsorship deals as fiercely as they fought for supremacy on the track.

“
Congratulations on Montreal, by the way.” His most recent win had left Gabe smarting with a reluctant third place.

“
Thanks. It was a tough scrap. Gabe was unlucky, it should have been his.” He poured milk as he spoke, turning back to me when it was done. “Do you want me to put sugar out as well?”

“
I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” Gabe’s cool voice washed over us. I jumped. This was ridiculous; he made me feel guilty even when I hadn’t been doing anything.

“
Of course not, darling. Jon was just helping me with the coffee.”

“
No need, I can do that.” He moved forward to take the pots I’d prepared, giving Jon a patently false smile. “Hey Jon, I just heard about the Zircon campaign. I believe you were in the running. Bad luck.”

“
Oh, yeah.” Jon shrugged, looking totally unworried. “Did you get it?”

“
Yeah.” Gabe sounded nonchalant. I glared at him.

“
Well done, mate. I’m not bothered about Zircon.” Jon flashed him a beaming grin. “Pulsata asked me to front their next campaign, so I thought that was a better bet. I pulled out from Zircon. It was good you could cover it instead.”

I blinked, busying myself with the teaspoons.
Oh Christ.
Gabe had been talking about the Zircon advertising for months, convinced he was their first choice. I risked a quick look at him. His cool expression stayed in place, with a hint of a friendly smile as he lifted the pots of coffee. I doubt if Jon saw the way his fingers clenched around the handles, the knuckles showing white against his skin.

2.2 Gabe

As I leaned forward in my chair, unleashing the full force of my super-blast-cannon on the massed aliens on the screen, I let my mind wander. Instead of seeing green-faced aliens, in my head I superimposed Craigowan’s cheesy grin in my sights. Mentally blasting him off the face of the earth gave me some small satisfaction.

It gnawed at me that he’d risen so effortlessly to Formula 1, and now swept through the rankings as easily. His pathetic wife irritated me, too. The only reason he’d married her was because he’d knocked her up, but, as usual, he’d managed to turn it into another round of good publicity.
Bastard
.

For once, just once in my life, I’d love the opportunity to wipe that smirk from his face. Maybe I could dig up some dirt on him? He’d been famous for his skirt chasing activities at one time—what were the chances of me turning up a love child somewhere? See how the Pulsata people liked him then.

The game finished, I leaned back and took a swig of my beer. Suki was in bed, no doubt dreaming of Craigowan. I wasn’t happy about their little whispering session in the kitchen. Did she already know he’d pulled out of the Zircon campaign? Surely not.

Suki
. It didn’t use to be like this.

There was a time when her adoring looks were genuine. Our whirlwind romance could have come straight out of a trashy romance novel: handsome racing driver weds innocent girl. I’d already taken her virginity and her heart. I would have given her mine, but it’d been ripped out of my chest a year earlier.

I’d been seeing Elvira for almost two years. From the minute I first saw her, I knew she was going places. In her case, she was heading for cover-girl status with an eye on the glossiest of magazines. She was almost as ambitious as me and I couldn’t get enough of her. She was intoxicating. Her cool, groomed elegance was completely at odds with her passionate nature, inherited, so she claimed, from her Spanish family. My father laughed when I told him we’d marry. He thought she was only suitable for an affair and I was determined to prove him wrong. It took three proposals before she decided I was serious. Should I have realised then? It might have saved the pain of finding her in bed with her agent.

I made certain vows to myself: I’d never be put in that position again, I would marry, I’d live up to my father’s expectations and my wife would always look up to me.

Dad had told me to marry wisely and Suki was perfect. I’d moulded her, shaped her into the TV star she was now. Without me, she’d be nothing.

2.3 Josh

I waited in the hotel restaurant, dawdling over my coffee, my fingers playing absently with my Talisman. The slim leather band never left my wrist. I’d feel naked without it.

My newest target should be here any minute. Her fiancé had assured me she always ate breakfast and, with any luck, I’d get my first sight of her soon. Flicking through the newspaper, keeping an eye on the entrance, I almost missed the photograph in the TV section. Something jogged my brain and I backtracked, staring at the pretty face gazing up at me. It was
her
. The girl from the café.

Suki Bridgewater. Co-host of
Time Out
, the hottest show currently on daytime television. I scrutinised the picture carefully, unable to resist a smile. This was why she looked familiar, yet different. Her hair now fell in honey blonde waves to her shoulders and the freckles had vanished, probably blotted out with makeup. The sparkling eyes and broad, genuine smile were the same, though.

I’d heard of her—who hadn’t? I recalled her unsettled feelings
: I don’t want to go home
. The anxiety when I’d examined her hand.

A clatter of footsteps alerted me to a group of people walking up to the breakfast counter and I followed them with my eyes, my focus resting on the woman in the middle. Melanie. Even at 7:30 in the morning, she looked like a man-eater and I held back a shudder. If her fiancé didn’t trust her, why the hell did they stay engaged? She chattered in a loud voice to her colleagues. It sounded as though they were debating the merits of the two waiters. That was my cue.

Brushing against her as I sauntered towards the counter, I turned back and gave her a smile, my eyes raking her appearance. I watched her preen under my stare, stretching her neck, licking her lips and opening her eyes wide. I lingered, apparently unable to decide what I wanted to eat. As I’d anticipated, she moved to stand closer.

“
Are you here for the conference?” I looked at her again, unable to miss the flash of interest in her eyes.

“
Yes.” She held out one hand to me, confident, expecting me to take it. I didn’t disappoint. “Melanie Turpin, from the Bristol office. And you are?”

“
Josh Delaney.” A miniscule pause, perfectly timed. “
Not
from the Bristol office.”

My instincts were correct. I held her hand a fraction too long, reading her easily.
I like that he’s checking me out. Is he interested?

With a teasing smile playing across my face, I dropped my gaze to her generous cleavage, then back to her face.
“I’m only here for today. Maybe we could catch up during the lunch break?”

It was that easy.

2.4 Suki

I’d spent the day at the studios catching up on fan mail, writing my gossip column and planning the minute details of the upcoming shows. I’d have loved to spend the evening sprawled on the sofa with a trashy paperback, but I’d promised to go out for drinks with the girls from the office. I arrived home to find Gabe in a sparkling mood.

“
Hey, gorgeous.” He waylaid me as I climbed out of my car. Judging by the motorbike leathers he wore, and the helmet under his arm, I figured he was just on his way out. He wrapped his free hand around the nape of my neck and pulled me in close for a kiss. “There’s a bottle of Cloudy Bay chilling in the fridge, and I made tuna Nicoise for you. I know you’re going out tonight. I wanted you to have something to eat first.” My favourite wine and a salad I loved, but hated the time taken to prepare.
Bang
. Just like that, I remembered why I loved my husband.

* * * *

It was Tara’s birthday, and as always, we quickly started talking about men. I was seen as a target of envy for being married to Gabe, but it had started to grate on my nerves. I had a career, too. I’d worked equally hard to get where I was now, starting at the bottom and seizing opportunities as they came along.