Two-Faced (16 page)

A scowl of frustration on his brow, Liam clenched his fists as Michelle turned and ran away. He couldn’t believe she’d just lied like that. After everything that had happened between them, and all the conversations that they’d had before it got physical, he’d really thought she was different from all the other girls he’d been out with. But whatever game she was playing, he deserved an explanation.

Michelle had already turned the corner of her road by the time Liam caught up with her. Still shaking, when he tried to get in front of her she swerved around him and continued on to her gate.

Right behind her, Liam followed her up the path. ‘I’m not going away until you’ve told me what’s going on, Michelle. And if I have to sit out here all night, I will.’

As she tried to slot her key into the lock, Michelle jerked her arm away when Liam reached out and put his hand over hers.

‘Just tell me what I’ve done wrong,’ he pleaded. ‘Please, Michelle, I
love
you.’

‘No, you don’t!’ she cried, the tears streaming down her cheeks now.

‘Oh, baby, don’t cry,’ he said, reaching for her.

‘Don’t
touch
me!’ she yelled, pushing him away. ‘Just leave me alone!’

Hearing the commotion, Kim came storming out. When she saw Michelle in tears, she glared at Liam. ‘What the hell have you done to her? And who the bloody hell
are
you, anyway?’

Liam didn’t answer. He was too busy staring at Mia who had just come down the stairs and was standing behind her mother, a sheepish smile on her lips.

Turning to see what he was looking at, Michelle’s eyes flashed with hatred as she glared at her sister’s mock-guilty expression. ‘You
bitch
,’ she gasped. ‘You did it on purpose, didn’t you?’

‘Did what?’ Kim asked, looking from one to the other of them.

‘Ask
her
,’ Michelle blurted out, still staring at Mia. ‘Well, go on, then –
tell
her. Tell us
all
.’

‘Oh, chill out,’ Mia drawled, as if Michelle was blowing it totally out of proportion. ‘You’d have found out sooner or later, so what’s the big deal?’

‘Will someone
please
tell me what’s going on?’ Kim demanded, hands on hips now.

‘Don’t worry about it. I’ll deal with this,’ Mia said as she stepped outside and reached for Liam’s arm.

‘What the hell’s going on?’ Liam asked, looking from Mia to Michelle as if he didn’t know which was the real one.

Gazing tearfully back at him and seeing the confusion in his eyes, Michelle said, ‘It’s not your fault, it’s
hers
. She’s my sister, in case you hadn’t guessed, and she’s obviously been lying to you. But it’s too late to change anything. The damage is done.’

‘Oh, stop being so dramatic,’ Mia said scornfully. ‘You must have known it wouldn’t have worked out. Anyway, he’s with me now, so you might as well go and crawl back into your boring books with your imaginary lovers – ’cos that’s the only kind of man
you
’re ever going to get!’

Michelle bit her lip, fled up the stairs and locked herself in the bathroom.

‘Oi!’ Kim bellowed, thundering after her. ‘Where’s that deodorant and them tights I sent you for? Sammy’s gonna be here any minute!’

Taking advantage of the fact that they were alone, Mia turned back to Liam and sighed. ‘See what a lucky escape you had?’

‘God, you’re sick!’ Liam hissed, stepping back towards the gate. ‘That’s your
sister
. How could you do something like that to her?’

‘Oh, don’t be mad at me,’ Mia wheedled as she followed him out onto the pavement. ‘I was going to tell you, but I didn’t get much chance ’cos we’re always too busy kissing when I see you. But it’s out now, so at least we won’t have to sneak around any more.’

‘What are you
talking
about?’ Liam gasped, unable to believe that she seemed to think that they could carry on as normal. ‘I don’t even
know
you.’

‘My name’s Mia,’ she told him, lowering her voice and glancing back to make sure that her mum wasn’t at the door again, listening. ‘And you
do
know me – a damn sight better than you ever knew
her
. I’m your girlfriend, remember?’

‘
Girlfriend?
’ Liam repeated incredulously, looking at Mia as if she was stark staring mad. ‘I didn’t even know you
existed
. I thought you were
Michelle
.’

‘Yeah, well, now you know I’m not,’ Mia purred. ‘And we’re in love, so nothing has to change.’

‘Get off me,’ Liam snarled when she reached for his hand, disgusted that she’d tricked him into bed and now seemed to think that they could just carry on as if they’d done nothing wrong.

Scared that she might have really blown it when he walked away, Mia was about to run after him when Sammy pulled up in his car.

‘How’s my star today?’ Sammy asked, rolling the window down and beaming out at her. ‘All set to knock their socks off?’

Mia sighed as Liam disappeared from view around the corner. He might be pissed off with her for the way she’d gone about it, but he couldn’t deny that their relationship was already a thousand times better than anything he could ever have expected to have with Michelle. He was bound to forgive Mia when he’d cooled off. Especially if she got this job today, because only a fool would turn down the chance to have a TV star for a girlfriend. And Liam was no fool, she was sure of that.

She turned to Sammy and gave him a broad smile. ‘Yeah, I’m ready. Just give me a minute to get my tights on.’

Still raging about what had just happened, Liam marched across the busy Princess Parkway without even pausing to check if it was safe to do so. But if he’d thought things were bad enough already, they were about to get a whole lot worse.

Snapping his head round when a car screeched to a halt just as he was about to step up onto the facing kerb, he glared at the driver.

‘Fuckin’ idiot!’ the man yelled, baring an angry mouthful of gold and slamming both hands down on the steering wheel. ‘Don’t just fuckin’ stand there –
MOVE!
’

Sitting in the back, Kedga Bull dipped his head to see who was causing the obstruction. When he recognised Liam his eyes glinted. He shoved his door open and leapt out.

‘Yo!’ he growled, stepping up to him so that they were nose to nose. ‘I’ve been lookin’ for you, you grass!’

‘You’d best back the fuck up,’ Liam warned him quietly, feeling the strange air of calmness which always descended over him before a storm erupted.

A flicker of uncertainty flashed through Kedga’s dark eyes as he peered down into Liam’s cold green ones. Davy Boyd and his boys had kicked the shit out of him after this cunt had worded them up where to find him, and he’d been laid up in the MRI for two days as a result. When, after getting out, he’d learnt that Liam had been behind it, he’d started gunning for him. But when no one had seen him around Kedga had figured that he must be lying low somewhere – shitting himself at the prospect of this confrontation. Now, though, he was standing here with this bad-ass look in his eyes, and that made Kedga nervous.

Kedga shook his gun down from his sleeve into his hand as cars swerved around them and held it at groin level so that only Liam could see it.

‘Get in the car, motherfucker.’

‘That meant to scare me?’ Liam sneered, already tensing for action.

‘Nah, it’s meant to tell you you’re about to die,’ Kedga told him. ‘Now, move it!’

Swerving instinctively when Kedga tried to grab him, Liam brought his elbow down hard on the back of the man’s neck. Stamping on his hand, he snatched up the gun and pointed it at Kedga’s mates when they jumped out of the car – just as a police van came barrelling around the corner and screeched to a halt.

‘It’s all right,’ he yelled, holding up his hands. ‘It’s not mine . . . I wasn’t gonna use it!’

The cops were on him in a flash, some battering him down to the ground with their batons while others tried to blind him with pepper spray.

8

‘You clever girl!’ Sammy announced excitedly. ‘You’ve only gone and got it!’

‘Don’t lie!’ Mia squealed, clutching the phone to her ear. It had been two weeks since the audition and she’d been chewing her nails to the knuckle ever since, waiting for this call – desperately trying not to listen to the little voice of doubt that had been nagging away at her.

‘Believe me, I’m as shocked as you are,’ Sammy told her, chuckling throatily. ‘But I assure you it’s no lie. You are the Wonder Wax girl! They called just five minutes ago, and it’s confirmed!’

Screaming down his ear, Mia started bouncing around the room like a lunatic. Kim snatched the phone off her before she ripped it clean out of the wall, cleared her throat, and said, ‘Hello, Sammy, it’s me. I take it we’ve got it, then?’

‘We most certainly have, my dear!’ Sammy said, and waited until she’d got all her own excited squeals out of the way. Then, giving her all the details – insisting that she wrote them down and repeated them back to him – he said, ‘Make sure you’re both ready at seven o’clock sharp tonight, because I’m taking you out for a celebratory dinner. This is the start of a wonderful career,’ he went on, sounding every bit as thrilled as Kim and Mia were. ‘And I’ve got to admit that there have been times when I’ve wondered if that young lady really had it in her. But, by God, she’s done me proud –
and
you, I’m sure.’

‘Oh, she certainly has,’ Kim replied, beaming at Mia who had stopped bouncing and was grinning at her like a Cheshire cat, waiting to hear what was being said. ‘Anyway, thanks for letting us know. And we’ll see you tonight.’

‘It
is
definite, isn’t it?’ Mia asked as soon as she put the phone down. ‘Not just him
thinking
I’ve got it?’

‘It’s definite,’ Kim assured her gleefully. ‘They’re faxing the contract over later tonight, so we’ve to go into the office in the morning to sign. And Sammy’s taking us out to dinner to celebrate.’

‘Oh my
God
!’ Mia squawked, rushing over and hugging her tightly. ‘I can’t believe it!’

‘Neither can I!’ Kim exclaimed, jumping up and down with her now. Then, facing the wall that divided their house from Pam’s, she yelled at the top of her voice, ‘
MY DAUGHTER’S GOING TO BE A TV STAR, SO STICK THAT IN YOUR PIPE AND SMOKE IT, YOU FAT COW!
’

On her way downstairs, Michelle heard what her mum said and guessed that Mia had clinched the TV ad. But if she was expecting congratulations, she’d be in for a long wait, because Michelle still hadn’t forgiven her for what had happened with Liam. And it didn’t make any difference that it had turned out exactly as she’d always feared it would, because Mia still shouldn’t have done it.

Sidestepping her mum and Mia now, Michelle headed for the kitchen.

Tutting when she saw the morose look on her other daughter’s face, Kim said, ‘Come on, Shell, don’t you think it’s time to let bygones be bygones? Your sister’s about to be a star, so get a smile on your gob and try telling her how well she’s done!’

‘Oh, leave her,’ Mia sniped, giving Michelle a dirty look. ‘It’s her problem if she can’t accept the truth.’

‘
Truth?
’ Michelle repeated incredulously. ‘That’s not what you told Liam, is it?’

‘Yeah, well, he knows the truth
now
,’ Mia retorted smugly. ‘And he’s still glad he’s with me and not you, so there’s no point pining over him, ’cos you’ve got no chance.’

It was a lie, but she wasn’t about to admit that to Michelle. In fact, Mia hadn’t seen or heard from Liam since he’d followed Michelle to the house that day, and his phone had been switched off whenever she’d tried to ring him. But that didn’t mean that he wasn’t
ever
going to come round again. They had shared something really special, and Mia was still convinced that when he’d calmed down and thought things through he’d realise that she’d been forced to do it that way and would forgive her. But until then, she had plenty to keep her occupied – like getting ready to be famous!

‘When are we doing the shoot?’ she asked her mum now, turning her back on Michelle.

‘Three weeks,’ Kim said, picking up the paper that she’d written it all down on to check. ‘Fifteenth of April, ten a.m. start.’

Glancing at Michelle now and seeing the tears glistening in her eyes, Kim felt sorry for her. It was never easy losing a boyfriend, but she must have known that she couldn’t compete with Mia. Although it had to be said that Mia really shouldn’t have gone there. But, like they said, all was fair in love and war; and the boy was obviously serious about Mia if he was still seeing her after everything that had happened, so Michelle really ought to accept that she’d lost and let it go.

‘Fancy coming out to dinner with us tonight, love?’ Kim asked her now, hoping to raise her spirits a little. ‘I’m sure Sammy won’t mind an extra one at the table.’

‘
Mum!
’ Mia protested. ‘This is
my
night, and I don’t want
her
there! Anyway, she hasn’t been interested in helping me so far, so why should she get to join in with the good bits?’

‘Oh, don’t worry, I don’t want anything of yours,’ Michelle told her.

‘Good!’ Mia retorted frostily. ‘’Cos you’re not getting it.’

‘Come on, girls,’ Kim cajoled, looking from one to the other of them as they locked hostile stares. ‘You’re sisters, so don’t you think it’s about time you stopped all this fighting and arguing and made an effort to get along?’

‘
No!
’ they both said in unison. Then, sneering, Mia added, ‘I hate her, and I wish you’d never had her! All she’s ever done is creep around in my shadow like a stupid little dog.’

Sneering right back, Michelle said, ‘Believe me, I wouldn’t want to be
any
thing like you.’

‘Just as well,’ Mia spat. ‘’Cos you could
never
be as good as me. You’re way too ugly and thick, and that’s exactly why Liam chose
me
!’

‘More fool him,’ Michelle murmured as she turned and marched back up to their room.