The Hating Game (25 page)

Painfully,
Mattie pictured what she looked like just now – no make-up, wet hair, and dressed in a bloody checked shirt. For God’s sake, she was even wearing
trainers
!

‘
Jesus.
’ Kyle voice was tight and angry. ‘What the hell is she doing here?’

Chloe reached the table and put a hand on Kyle’s arm.

‘
Hi, lover,’ she purred in a silky voice. ‘I missed you. You left so early this morning, I didn’t eve
n get a chance to kiss you goodbye.’ She pulled his chin towards her and planted her painted lips on his. The extra cameraman zoomed in and Mattie could hear the whir as the lenses caught the expression on her face.

Keep your face still,
she told herself. Don’t show the camera or Chloe any sign of emotion. She bit down hard on her lower lip and looked over at Kyle. Was he really surprised? Or was everything he’d been telling her complete rubbish? Maybe he was in on this; maybe he’d been trying to really play her, to destroy her for good.

‘
Cut!’ Nate yelled, coming towards them. Kyle jerked away from Chloe and wiped his mouth, leaving a big smear of red lipstick across his cheek.

‘
What the
–?’ Kyle swivelled towards Nate and Chloe, his eyes flashing. ‘Chloe, what the hell are you doing?’

Chloe
just smiled and waved her fingers in the air. ‘Bye, Kyle. See you back home!’ She disappeared through the swinging doors into the kitchen.

Kyle turned to Mattie, his eyes wild.

‘
I’m not with her! I never have been! She’s just
angry because I told her I only wanted to be with you. I had nothing to do with this whole thing. Tell her, Nate. Baz! Tell her!’

But Nate just stayed silent
.

Baz thumped Kyle on the back. ‘Relax, mate – and thanks again for helping us set this whole thing up.’

Kyle
shoved away Baz as if he was diseased. ‘Mattie, please. I wasn’t involved in any of this.’ He tried to grab her hand but she pulled it out of reach just in time.

‘
Fuck it,’ Kyle said angrily as he pushed his chair out.

Mattie looked up at him in surprise. She’d rarely heard him swear – or seen him so angry. His face was red and sweat beaded on his brow.

‘
You can’t seriously think I was a part of this,’ he said, looking down at her. ‘You can’t. I only came on here because you wouldn’t talk to me any other way.’

Mattie stared
. The Kyle she’d known wouldn’t be involved in something like this. But she’d never thought her father would leave her, either. She tried to shove the thought away. How had that worked its way in there?

Kyle
reached out with his other hand and a gentle expression slid over his face. ‘Come on. We don’t need this circus. Let’s just leave. We can start our own business together – equal partners this time. I’ll help you pay off whatever debts you have, and we can start again.’

Was he serious?
Mattie dragged her eyes away and pressed her fingers to her throbbing temples. Confusion swirled inside. She might have been wrong about Chloe and the clients. Maybe – she needed more time to really think about it. But did Kyle expect her to abandon two hundred thousand pounds? To trust him again, just like that?

‘
Come on,’ he said, moving towards her again. ‘Let’s go.’ His hand closed around hers but she pulled out of his grasp, shaking her head.

‘
No. No, Kyle.’ Seeing Chloe reminded her how painful that whole post-Kyle episode had been. Whether he’d been telling the truth or not, just knowing how much he could hurt her was terrifying. She couldn’t put herself at risk again. Emotionally or financially.

Her mum was right. Financial independence
was
critical, the key to happiness. All Mattie had left now was her business. And she’d do everything she could to keep it going, to keep
her
going. On her own, without help from anyone. It was safer that way.

Mattie
pushed out her chair and stood up. Heart pounding, she elbowed Nate and Baz out of the way and headed towards the door.

‘
Mattie!’ she could hear Kyle calling. ‘Mattie!’

But she ignore
d him, walking out into the still-pouring rain, climbing inside the car and slamming the door behind her.

‘
Just go,’ she said to the d
river, desperate to get away. ‘Go!’

He started the engine and Mattie watched the Manor House fade away into the February gloom. She’d made the right decision, of that she was sure. She’d protected herself and her business.

So why
did she feel so sad?

A
t the studio a couple hours later, Mattie took some deep breaths and told herself she’d feel better soon. She had to, anyway – in a few minutes she’d be on set, ready to meet the man for her final date.

She
walked over to the mirror in the green room. Even though she’d had a lengthy session of hair and make-up, her face still looked pale and drawn and her eyes . . . She tore her gaze away and plopped down on the sofa.

Stop being an idiot, she told herself. There’s no way you could walk away from the show, away from your business. You made the right choice. There wasn’t even a choice to make!

‘
Um, you okay
?’ Nate poked his head into the room, hiding his body behind the door.

‘
Fine.’ S
he didn’t even have the energy to snap at him.

‘
A
ll right.’ Nate looked at her as if assessing the possibility of an implosion. ‘Well, this will be quick. Seamus will go through a brief introduction and then the final man will come out of the pod.’

‘
Great.’ Mattie
stared at the wall, his words washing over her.

‘
So
, come with me, then.’

Mattie got to her feet and followed Nate through the now-familiar passageways towards the studio.

‘
And here she is, our l
uscious single lady, Mattie Johns!’ Seamus was crowing out onstage.

God, she was sick of him. She was sick of all
of this. Mattie put up her hands to cover her eyes from the glare of the lights as she walked out and settled onto her stool.

‘
First your father lets you down
, then your ex – or should I say former fiancé, ha ha! – spurns you for another sexy single lady.’ Seamus leered at her. ‘It hasn’t exactly been a good day for you, has it, Mattie?’ He paused and looked at her expectantly.

‘
So?
’ Mattie shrugged and clenched her jaw, focusing on a light near the studio door. He wasn’t going to get the better of her.

Seamus
was shaking his head. ‘Well, tomorrow’s a new day! And a new chance for romance . . . or not!’ The lights dimmed and the sickly purple logo flashed up. ‘So . . . let’s play
The Hating Game
!’

Anger filled
her as she stared at the purple hearts and sparkles. Bloody
Hating Game
! Just focus on the business, she told herself. That’s what’s important.

‘
Now, Mattie. There’s one man remaining in that pod over there.’
Seamus gestured towards the oval structure onstage. ‘Any idea who it might be?’

Mattie shrugged. ‘No.’
And I really don’t care.

‘
Well, let’s find out, shall we? Ex Number Four, come meet Mattie Johns . . . again!’

T
hat line was getting really tired, Mattie thought, as she continued gazing straight ahead. What did it matter which loser it was? Now that Kyle was out of the way, one ex was just as bad as another.

She squinted as a
well-built man crossed her line of vision. Who
was
that? Underneath his perfectly styled jet-black hair, something about the pale face was recognisable but she couldn’t quite place him.

‘
Hello, Mattie,’ the man said, handing her the usual bouquet of purple flowers. ‘It’s so good to see you again.’

Mattie took them automatically, her mind still working. There was something about the voice . . . slightly robotic sounding, even out of the pod. Her memory stirred.

Wait a second. Could that be
Adam
? The geek she’d dumped back in secondary school?

Her mouth dropp
ed open as she took in his tailored black suit and smooth skin. Whoa. He’d sure cleaned up nicely – the last time she’d seen him he could have done with a year-long stay in a fat camp and his face had looked like a pizza. Shame nothing could be done about those squidgy eyes, though. There was something about the way his eyes crowded his nose that made him look downright creepy.

‘
Hi, Adam,’ sh
e said, meeting his intense stare. Something else was different, Mattie thought, scanning his face. Oh – he waxed his unibrow! Her mouth twitched. Don’t laugh.
Don’t!

‘
So one date remains for our single lady,’ Seamus said. ‘One date, to find love – or hate. Tune in tomorrow at eight to see what it will be, and then make your Date Rate!’

Seamus
turned to the camera. ‘I’ll be back tomorrow night with all the action from Mattie and Adam’s intimate get-together! And make sure to watch next Sunday night, when we reveal the winner and the answer to the question you’ve all been asking: which lucky ex gets to spend two weeks alone with Mattie Johns? See you next time on . . .
The Hating Game
!’

‘
We’re out!’ a voice boomed.

Adam turned to Mattie. ‘I’m looking forward to our date tomorrow.’ The corners of his mouth lifted in a mechanical grin. His voice was so flat it sounded like he was reading off a cue card.

‘
Yeah.’ Mattie
couldn’t muster the energy to bother looking him in the eyes right now.

S
he walked off the stage, through the corridors and out the back door of the studio onto the South Bank. It had stopped raining and a giant moon hung in the sky, reflected in the Thames. She moved over to the railing at the side of the river and leaned against it, drawing in a big breath.

Forget Kyle
. Just forget him and move on. Whatever happened with Chloe, if he stole your clients or not . . . it doesn’t matter.

Once
you shut the door on a man, never re-open it. That’s what her mum always told her, usually after her father had turned up asking for Mattie. Back then, Mattie had jammed on her headphones and cranked up the music to escape the sound of her father’s pleas through the front door, trying to ignore the fact that she was longing to see him too.

She didn’t have any headphones now, but she’d just file today in the depths of her brain, in the place she never visited. All the hard work was already done – kicking him out, getting over him. No way could she go through that again. Her mum was right: never go back.

One more d
ate, then all this would be finished. She could resume her normal life again, rebuild the business, and all these mixed-up emotions would disappear. Sure, she still had to spend two weeks with whatever loser the audience chose. But after the Chloe fiasco today, it definitely wouldn’t be Kyle, and the two weeks would be a much-needed break. Mattie was already picturing palm trees, pina coladas and sun – these kinds of shows always ended up in the tropics, didn’t they? And she could deal with Giovanni or Adam hands down.

She breathed in again.
Everything would be fine. Just fine.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Twenty-
two per cent of people confess to secretly fancying their best friend’s partner;

eight point five per cent act on it.

JESS DROPPED HER HEAD INTO
her hands as she watched Chloe Collins burst through the kitchen doors on
The Hating Game
.

‘
I can’t bear to watch,’ she muttered, curling up on the sofa. Peeking through her fingers, she saw the stricken expression on Mattie’s face as Chloe bent to kiss Kyle. Watching Mattie reject Kyle’s plea for a second chance – and then Mattie accusing him of almost bankrupting her business – had been bad enough. But this . . . Jess shook her head.

How
had they managed to track down Chloe? Jess’s heart quickened – it hadn’t been something she’d said to that reporter, had it? She ran through her conversation with Deniz. No, whatever other damage she’d done, at least she hadn’t said anything about Chloe.

Jess looked over at the wardrobe
where the wedding dress hung under lock and key. The whole nation knew about it thanks to Deniz
,
but Jess just felt safer with it locked away. She couldn’t believe how stupid she’d been.

She picked up the phone
to call Mattie for the thousandth time, but the call went straight to voice mail. She wasn’t surprised. Whenever Mattie was angry or hurt, she’d completely blank people. It was what she’d done to Kyle – and her father, who Jess knew had tried to contact her a few times over the years.