Remix (2010) (32 page)
Though I’m only famous for being Ric’s girlfriend, and nearly being murdered by Phil and Emma, it’s been good for business. The Google ranking on my website has rocketed from three to five. I’ve sold almost my entire stock of horses, and am working hard to replace them. Only Teasel and Saladin remain in the office/showroom. Saladin turned out as well as I predicted he would when I bought him in a sorry state last spring. I’m proud of my work. With perfect dapples, a dark grey mane and tail, tan harness and crimson velvet saddlecloth with gold fringing, he looks as splendid as he did more than a century ago when he was new. He’s a special horse. Dave Calder says he wants to buy Saladin. I’m not sure how serious he is - or whether I can bring myself to part with him.
Ric bought himself a couple of side-by-side penthouse flats in SE1, on the edge of the Thames near the Globe, and has had one adapted into a state-of-the-art recording studio. He’s working on his solo album; he’s really excited about it. He comes to see me on the Harley, or I bike over London Bridge to his place. When he’s out of London, Dog stays with me.
James and I are back to our old easy relationship, just the way we used to be…more or less. We still see each other at least once a week; he comes to my place or takes me out for a meal, and him, me, Ric and Jeff go out together quite often too. But James has changed. Sometimes I catch him looking at me, and I have a dark suspicion he is keeping a scrapbook with newspaper cuttings about me. A few weeks ago I dropped into his flat to pick him up for another trip to the garden centre. (His garden’s improved with all the work we’ve put into it, and next summer, when the new plants have settled and grown, it’ll be really nice.) On the sofa were open copies of the
Sun
and the
Daily Mail
- not at all his normal reading - with bits cut neatly out of their pages. I pretended not to notice, and next thing they weren’t there, he’d whisked them away. But he’ll find another girlfriend soon, no doubt. He’s such a nice guy.
Three months on, Jeff’s still dropping in unannounced, and still a pain. He’s never going to mellow, but I’ve got used to him, and it’s as though he now accepts me, both as Ric’s girlfriend and as one of the gang - I’m in the inner circle in a way Emma never was. He still calls me Vikki half the time. He’s caustic with me, but then he needles Ric even more, sometimes to a point where I don’t know how he puts up with it. In an odd way, it’s how Jeff expresses his affection. Ric’s easy-going with him, though on a couple of occasions he’s kicked him out when he’s gone too far. This doesn’t seem to bother Jeff, or stop him from returning. James sometimes says, “I wouldn’t do that, old chap,” if Jeff’s about to do something extra outrageous, and we’ve all started chanting it in unison as appropriate. Even Dave Calder does.
How have I changed? Well, my muscles are stronger and my reflexes faster because I now take Jitsu lessons twice a week. I never want to feel as powerless again as I did that night at Phil Sharott’s. It also occurs to me that I wasn’t quite as hopeless at private investigating as I thought - after all, Ric and I got to the truth in the end. But mainly it’s my feelings for Ric, which have grown and spread like one of those invasive creepers they advise you not to plant in
Gardeners’ Question Time
in case it gets totally out of hand
.
I haven’t felt this way before, it’s new to me, uncharted territory. It’s like drinking champagne all the time but never getting drunk or having a hangover. And that’s all I’m going to say; I’m superstitious, I don’t want to boast or tempt fate. Will Ric and I still be together in a year’s time? In five years? I’ll have to wait and see. I don’t look too far ahead; none of us knows what the future will bring.
But now is good.
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If you have enjoyed reading
Remix
, you may like another novel by Lexi Revellian,
Replica
.