Sapphire (9 page)

‘I promise, I won’t go near those sites again. I’m going to get a job and I’ll pay you back.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Christine continuing to chain smoke, before Sapphire said more gently, ‘Do you think you need to get help with the gambling, Mum? There are helplines you could ring.’

Christine shook her head dismissively, ‘I’m not an addict, Sapphire, I just had a blip. I swear it will never happen again.’

Sapphire just prayed she could trust her.

SAPPHIRE COULDN’T BEAR
to confide in anyone about her mum; it was almost as though if she didn’t tell anyone then she could pretend it hadn’t happened. Jay and her friends noticed she was down and kept asking her what was wrong. She shrugged it off saying she was worried about Georgia’s hen weekend, and they seemed to believe her. Inside she was a mass of anxiety about her mum. She called her every day and went round to see her as much as she could, terrified that her mum might start gambling again. Christine swore that she wasn’t. If only her dad were still alive, then none of this would have happened. But it was pointless to wish for that; as usual Sapphire just had to stay strong – strong enough for both her and her mum.

‘So what do you want for your birthday?’ Jay asked her as they lay in bed. He hadn’t said the L-word again and Sapphire was almost beginning to think she must have imagined it; or that if he had said it, he had regretted it and hadn’t really meant it. ‘I want to get you something really special.’

Sapphire put her head on his chest, ‘Well I have seen these Louboutin shoe boots on Net-a-Porter. They’re wicked, very, very sexy. I’d love a pair.’

She spoke without thinking. In spite of Alfie’s many,
many shortcomings he’d always been very generous at birthdays and Christmas and had lavished expensive gifts on her and she had become used to asking for lovely things. Realising her mistake she looked up at Jay.

He frowned as he said quietly, ‘I’m not sure I could afford to get you those, Sapphire.’

Sapphire felt awful. ‘I’m sorry, Jay, I wasn’t thinking. I’ll get the boots for myself if Georgia’s hen weekend goes well. You could get me some perfume – I’m nearly out of Coco Chanel.’

‘Okay,’ Jay replied, but Sapphire sensed she had made him self-conscious. She sighed. ‘To be honest, I’m really not into birthdays; you don’t have to get me anything at all.’

‘Of course I want to get you something!’ Jay said, outraged at the suggestion, ‘You’re my girlfriend!’

‘Okay, babe, whatever you get me I’m sure it will be lovely.’ Sapphire felt too emotionally drained because of the recent events with her mum to continue the conversation and turned over.

But Jay hadn’t finished. ‘I bet you wish you were with someone who could buy you expensive things.’

‘No, Jay, I really don’t, believe me. Now please can I go to sleep, I’m knackered.’

The days before her birthday continued to be so busy that Sapphire barely gave it a second thought. She had Simone on the phone at least three times a day asking yet more questions: what beauty products did Sapphire’s salon use? Would the hens be given any free samples? What thread count were the hotel’s Egyptian cotton sheets? And on top of the daft questions were the outrageous demands. ‘Georgia really wanted to give all her hens goodie bags with gifts, would you put those together, Sapphire? And as well as beauty products, what about some jewellery?’ Each time, before she had the chance to object, she’d
think about the publicity everyone would get and that stopped her from complaining. ‘Good for publicity’; it had better be bloody good for publicity after all the favours Sapphire was pulling in from other businesses.

‘Anyone would think Georgia was some massive Hollywood star with all these requests, instead of a C-list soap bunny,’ Sapphire grumbled to Jazz after she finally managed to get Simone off the phone. ‘And I wouldn’t mind but she hasn’t paid me a penny yet. I’ve sent two invoices already.’

‘You know what these types are like – complete tight-wads, expecting something for nothing,’ Jazz replied.

‘Maybe she’s waiting until she gets the money from the magazine shoot,’ Sapphire wondered. ‘God, and as for dealing with Simone every day, it’s doing my head in! I can’t believe that Cal ever went out with her! She’s so demanding! I can’t wait for this weekend to be over!’

‘At least there’s your birthday to look forward to,’ Jazz pointed out.

Sapphire frowned at her friend, ‘Just promise me you’re not going to surprise me with anything. You know I hate surprises.’

Jazz sighed, ‘That’s only because you’re such a control freak. Sometimes you just have to let things go. You can’t be in control of everything.’

‘Hmm.’ Sapphire wasn’t at all sure. Jazz didn’t have a business to run or a mum with a gambling addiction, everything was so easy for her. To stop herself snapping at Jazz she went over to the window where Vanessa had recently finished setting up a new display of exquisite black lace La Perla lingerie. Something didn’t look quite right to her and she began making changes.

‘I rest my case,’ Jazz called out, going back upstairs to the beauty rooms.

‘I can’t help it!’ Sapphire shouted back. ‘It’s just the way I’m made!’

She knew her control freakery wasn’t her most loveable quality. The trouble was she’d had to rely on herself for so long she didn’t know how to behave in any other way.

On the morning of her birthday Jay brought her breakfast in bed – fresh croissants, orange juice and a glass of champagne.

‘Happy birthday, babe,’ he said, setting the tray on the bedside table

‘This is so sweet of you!’ she exclaimed, leaning over and kissing him.

‘And here’s one of your presents,’ he said, handing her a package which she was sure was perfume. ‘You’ll get the other one later,’ he added as Sapphire ripped off the paper to reveal the bottle of Coco Chanel.

‘Thanks Jay.’

He’d just had a shower and looked gorgeous. A black towel was wrapped round his waist, showcasing his sexy chest. Sapphire took a sip of champagne and decided that she would unwrap a far more exciting present than scent as she reached out and whipped off Jay’s towel. ‘Now that’s what I call a present,’ she said, admiring what was now on view. ‘Tell me it’s all for me.’

‘It’s all for you,’ Jay murmured taking her in his arms and kissing her.

Afterwards Sapphire stretched out in bed. She felt very mellow, maybe her birthday wasn’t going to be so bad after all. ‘So what have the girls got planned for me tonight? They just told me to dress up.’

Jay shook his head, ‘No idea, they wouldn’t tell me.’

‘Oh come on! I bet you know,’ Sapphire protested, running her hands down his body and ending up on the part which had just had a spectacular workout.

‘They knew you’d try and get it out of me, so they said it was better if I didn’t know,’ Jay replied.

‘That’s because I have ways of making you talk,’ Sapphire murmured, now moving down the bed and kissing Jay’s chest, abs and going further still.

Just at that moment the doorbell rang. Sapphire was all set to ignore it. ‘Babe, get the door,’ Jay told her, ‘I need a rest!’

Sapphire grabbed her black silk robe and padded to the door. She looked on the video monitor and saw a woman in the lobby holding an enormous bouquet. She buzzed the woman up and took delivery of the exquisite arrangement made up of some of her favourite flowers – white roses, yellow roses and lilies. Jay was such a sweetheart! She put the flowers on the dining table and went back into the bedroom to thank him.

‘You really didn’t have to, you know,’ she said, walking in as he sat up in bed.

‘Didn’t have to what?’ he asked.

‘Get me those beautiful flowers, they must have cost loads.’

Jay shook his head, ‘They didn’t.’

Sapphire laughed at the lie. ‘Well, anyway, they are beautiful and it was so clever of you to get all my favourites.’

Now Jay looked blank, ‘I got you roses, babe.’

The doorbell went again. Another delivery of flowers for her. This time a sweet bouquet of twelve white roses, with a note saying, ‘
To
my
beautiful
Sapphire
,
love
Jay
x
.’ So who were the other flowers from?

Jay followed her into the living room and saw the first arrangement lying on the table. ‘Oh, I see what you mean now,’ he said, sounding slightly put out. ‘So who are those from?’

Sapphire shrugged. ‘No idea.’ She ripped off the small white card attached to the bouquet and read it. As she took in the words, suddenly her heart felt as if it was beating that little bit faster. ‘Happy Birthday Sapphire,
looking forward to working with you and getting to know you better. Ryan x’

‘Who are they from?’ Jay repeated.

‘Just Alfie’s new business partner,’ Sapphire said, trying her best to sound casual but aware that her cheeks were flushing. She slipped the card into her robe pocket.

‘Very generous of him,’ Jay said suspiciously.

‘Oh you know what these businessmen are like. He just wants to make sure that I carry on using the club for the hen nights.’

‘Hmm,’ was all Jay said. He didn’t sound convinced. Sapphire was about to reassure him when the doorbell rang again.

‘More flowers?’ he said with a slight edge to his voice. Sapphire tried to see it from his point of view, but really, he didn’t have to be such a baby.

It wasn’t more flowers but a package addressed to Sapphire. She opened it to discover the iconic blue of a Tiffany jewellery case. Inside was a beautiful diamond pendant. Who the hell could have bought her this? It was hardly likely to be her mother, and generous as Sam and Jazz usually were, she couldn’t see them stretching to this. It must have cost several thousand pounds. Jay stood next to her looking at the jewel. ‘Very nice. Who’s it from?’

‘I’ve no idea, babe.’

‘Well, aren’t you going to find out?’ He sounded seriously pissed off as he handed her the small envelope that accompanied the gift.

‘No way!’ she said as she read the message. ‘To Sapphire, Happy Birthday. I hope you can believe me when I say that I’m sorry for all the hurt I caused you. I miss us. Love Alfie x.’

‘I’ll have to give it back to him, there’s no way I can keep it.’

It was so typical of Alfie to unsettle her like this. He’d
always tried to buy himself out of trouble when they were married – Sapphire had a whole drawer full of ‘I’m sorry’ jewellery from Alfie.

‘It makes my perfume look a bit cheap, doesn’t it?’ Jay said, handing her back the card. He walked towards the bedroom.

‘Jay! I love your present and your roses. And my breakfast in bed.’ Sapphire went after him and took his arm. ‘I don’t want expensive presents, least of all from my ex-husband.’

Jay stood there looking so disconsolate, Sapphire couldn’t bear it. She put both her arms round his neck, ‘Please don’t be funny about this.’

Jay remained with his arms by his side for a few seconds before he softened and put his arms round her and hugged her. ‘Anyway,’ he whispered, ‘I still have another present for you tonight.’

‘Oh good,’ Sapphire murmured back, ‘you know I’m more than a one-shag-a-day girl.’

‘I didn’t mean that,’ Jay shot back.

‘What then?’

‘You’ll have to wait and see.’

After Jay went to work, Sapphire had several text messages to send. She thanked Ryan for the flowers and told him that she was looking forward to working with him. She was tempted to add that she was looking forward to getting to know him better too, but stopped herself. To Alfie she texted: ‘Thank you, but I can’t accept the necklace. I’ll give it back to you next time I see you.’ He instantly texted back, ‘It’s yours. Please keep it.’ He was so frustrating!

Sapphire had thought about having the day off – she hadn’t taken any holiday in ages, one of the drawbacks of running your own business. She took a long shower and toyed with the idea of going shopping, but in the end she
realised that she had so much on, she had better get to work. But Jazz was having none of it. As soon as Sapphire walked through the door she whisked her upstairs for some treatments.

‘My birthday treat – I’m giving you a facial and a manicure. You’ve been working too hard lately.’

Sapphire tried to protest but Jazz continued, ‘And it’s the wicked witch’s hen night in less than a week’s time; you’ve got to look your best for that.’

Jazz had a determined glint in her eye and Sapphire reasoned that just this once she would give in to her demands. It had been ages since she’d had any pampering treatments and she knew she could really do with them. She was relaxed for the rest of the day after that, but as the afternoon wore on, she felt uneasy as she started to wonder what her friends had got in store for her. Frankly, she wouldn’t put anything past them – one year she’d ended up in Amsterdam, another in Paris and she really didn’t have time for anything like that right now.

‘Happy Birthday, Sapphire!’

Sam, Cal, Jazz and her boyfriend Ben raised their glasses as Sapphire walked into the tapas bar with Jay later that night. Sapphire was relieved; she could cope with champagne and tapas. ‘I can only stay for the first part of the evening, if that’s okay,’ Cal said as he kissed her and handed her a present. ‘I’m catching an early flight to LA.’

‘I’m just glad that you’re here at all,’ Sapphire replied. She knew how rarely Cal went out these days and appreciated that he had made the effort for her.

‘So what did you think of Jay’s present?’ Sam asked expectantly as she gave Sapphire her gift.

‘It was lovely, it’s my favourite perfume,’ Sapphire replied, wondering why Sam thought perfume was such a big deal.

‘Oh,’ Sam sounded surprised.

Sapphire saw her look enquiringly at Jay, who shrugged and said quietly, ‘I haven’t given it to her yet, there were too many other distractions, like diamond necklaces from her ex and flowers from someone called Ryan.’

Clearly Jay was still feeling pissed off. ‘Don’t be like that babe,’ Sapphire implored him, ‘I’m giving Alfie the necklace back the next time I see him.’

‘Ryan sent you flowers?’ Sam asked in a way that showed her disapproval.