Two-Faced (43 page)

‘I see,’ Sammy said, exchanging a semi-amused glance with Michelle.

‘I wouldn’t mind so much,’ Kim ranted on obliviously. ‘But she’s the one who did the dirty on me, but she goes on like
I
’ve done something to
her
.’

‘Mum,’ Michelle interrupted softly. ‘Shut up, you’re giving us a headache.’

Kim gaped at her. Then, seeing the laughter in her and Sammy’s eyes, she tutted and gave them a sheepish grin. ‘Was I going on with myself?’

‘Er,
yeah
.’

‘Sorry. She just does my head in.’

‘Anyway,’ Sammy said forcefully, to prevent her from starting again. ‘Michelle and I have been talking, and we think it’s best if you both come to stay with me for a while.’

‘Oh, there’s no need for that,’ Kim argued. ‘Thanks for the thought, but I doubt they’ll come back – whoever it was. And it won’t take long to clean up.’ Shrugging, she added, ‘Might miss the telly, but at least I’ve still got the portable in me room, so we’ll have something to watch.’

‘I’d really rather you came to my place,’ Sammy insisted. ‘So, could you at least humour an old man?’

Kim grinned at Michelle and shook her head. ‘What’s he like?’ Then, spreading her hands, she said, ‘Okay. I suppose it can’t hurt. And at least we’ve already got our bags packed.’

‘Oh, lord, the bags,’ Sammy said, remembering that he’d dropped them on the doorstep. He rushed back downstairs.

30

Liam eased the bedroom door open and smiled when he saw that she was awake. He carried the cup of tea that he’d made over to the bed, handed it to her and sat down on the edge of the mattress. ‘Feeling any better today?’

Nodding, Mia sipped at the tea. Incredibly, she
was
feeling better, and it was all thanks to him. It was three long weeks since he’d rescued her, and he’d looked after her with the patience of a saint: washing her, feeding her, mopping up her sick, and comforting her when the withdrawal pains and the awful itching and shivering had threatened to drive her crazy. And throughout it all he’d talked to her, telling her all about his childhood and how he’d ended up in Manchester, and about being in prison, and how he’d been working to turn his life around since getting out.

And Mia had loved it, soaking up every word and lapping up his gentle attentions. The only downside being that, just like the last time, he thought she was Michelle. But Mia didn’t care.
She
was the one being held in the arms of the only man she had ever loved, and as long as nobody took that away from her, she didn’t care how many times she had to hear him calling her by
that
name. He might
think
that he was in love with Michelle, but in reality Mia was the one he’d revealed his innermost thoughts to – and had made love to. And he might not yet have made love to her
this
time around but he soon would, she was sure. He was too much of a gentleman to take advantage of her while she was ill, but when he knew that she was fully recovered he would take her in his arms and tell her that he never wanted to be without her again.

‘You’ve got some of your colour back,’ Liam told her as he stroked her hair back from her face. ‘You’re starting to look like your old self again.’

‘Thanks to you,’ she murmured, closing her eyes and pressing her face into his hand, savouring the feel of his skin against hers.

‘You’ve been really strong,’ he reminded her, not wanting to take all the credit. She’d made an enormous effort to kick the drugs. And it hadn’t been easy, because she’d really suffered at times. But she’d been determined. For days now she hadn’t even asked for any of the gear that he’d got from Darren, which was a fantastic sign. And if she carried on like this Liam was sure that she’d be up and about in no time.

‘Have you thought about contacting your mum yet?’ he asked, broaching the subject which always seemed to dampen her spirits but which he knew needed to be raised. ‘You know she must be worried sick about you.’

‘She won’t be,’ Mia said quietly, taking another sip of her tea. She wished that Liam wouldn’t keep trying to talk about this because it reminded her of the outside world and she didn’t want to think about that. She wanted to stay here for ever, just the two of them.

But that wasn’t going to happen.

Aside from the fact that the house they were staying in belonged to a dead man whose daughter could walk in at any time to clear out his belongings, Liam had to go back to Ireland soon because there were things that needed to be sorted out over there. He’d be coming straight back, though, because now that he’d been given a second chance with Michelle he was determined to make it work. And, in light of the threat that Steve still posed, he’d actually been considering asking her to move over to Dublin with him. But for them to be truly happy in the future she needed to reconnect with her family first – especially with her mum. No matter how badly she might have been treated in the past, or how much she’d been pushed aside in favour of Mia, Liam knew that she would regret it if she left it too late.

‘Do you want me to call her?’ he asked now, thinking that maybe she just didn’t feel strong enough for the inevitable barrage of questions.

‘No!’ Mia blurted out. ‘Please, Liam, stop pushing me. I’ll do it in my own time.’

‘You keep saying that,’ he persisted gently. ‘And I know you; you’ll just let it slide, and before you know it, ten years will have passed.’

‘And we’ll be married with eight babies, and that’ll be all the family we need,’ Mia giggled, reaching for Liam’s hand and linking her fingers with his.

Liam smiled fondly down at her and kissed her on the forehead. ‘You’re ringing her,’ he said firmly, standing up. ‘I’ll give you two days, and if you still can’t face it I’ll do it for you. Because she needs to be told that you’re okay.’ Glancing at his watch, he said, ‘Anyway, I’ve got to nip out to get some shopping. Is there anything you want me to get for you?’

Telling him that she needed cigarettes, and wouldn’t mind a drink now that she was feeling better, Mia looked up at him mock-sulkily, adding, ‘When can I get up? I’m sick of lying here on my own all day.’

‘Your clothes are over there,’ Liam told her, nodding towards an armchair in the corner on which he’d placed a neatly folded pile containing jeans, T-shirt, a pair of trainers, and a set of underwear – although the bra had been a guess, because he had no idea about sizes of stuff like that.

Uttering a surprised ‘Oh’ because she hadn’t even noticed them, Mia gave him a grateful smile. ‘Thanks. I’ll try them on while you’re at the shops.’

Liam winked at her and went out. When she heard the front door open and close a few moments later, Mia pushed the bed covers off and lowered her feet to the floor. Feeling like a little old woman because her legs seemed so weak, she walked slowly out onto the landing and along to the bathroom. The only time she’d been out of bed in the entire time she’d been here had been to go to and from the toilet. As she ran a bath now, she decided to explore the second bedroom and see where Liam had been sleeping while he’d been refusing to take advantage of her.

His bed was neatly made, his clothes folded and laid on top of his rucksack – as if he thought he might need to pack them in a hurry. His green army jacket which he only ever wore with jeans was hanging on the back of the door. Resting her head against it, Mia inhaled the scent of him before sliding her hand into a pocket. Disappointed to find it as empty as the rest of his pockets, both in that jacket and his suit coat, which was hanging on the door of the old wardrobe, she switched her attention to his rucksack. Finding nothing in that, and unable to get into his Samsonite case because it was locked, she glanced around the room itself.

Mia pulled a disdainful face at all the old man’s things that were lying around, then spotted a stack of newspapers and magazines sticking out from on top of the wardrobe. Thinking that it would be nice to have something to read while she was soaking in the bath, she stood on her tiptoes and reached for them, but they spilled over as she was pulling them towards her and fell messily onto the floor around her. Cursing under her breath, she squatted down to scoop them up. But, just as she was about to pick up a magazine which had fallen open, she hesitated when she saw her own face smiling up at her.

Snatching it up, she looked at the cover, frowning when she saw that it was a
TV
Quick
from a couple of months earlier. And the frown deepened when she went back to the picture inside, because it was part of an advert for a company called Blaze Cosmetics, and she didn’t remember doing a shoot for them.

But she must have, because there she was.

Either that, or it had been taken from a reel of unused shots from a different campaign and sold on without her permission.

Staring intensely at the picture now, Mia scrutinised her hair and her make-up, trying to remember when she’d been made up exactly like that in the past. People thought that you always looked the same when you were made up, but it wasn’t true. A shade of eyeshadow or lipstick, or just the angle of the eyeliner tail could change the entire look of your face. And Mia knew her face in every form better than anybody, but she just didn’t recognise this shot. And that surprised her, because it was really good, so she should have done.

Liam had arrived back from the shops, but she’d been so busy concentrating on the picture that she hadn’t heard him. She jumped when he came into the room to tell her that he’d turned the taps off because the bath had been about to overflow and spun around with the magazine still in her hand.

Laughing at her expression, Liam came towards her. ‘Sorry, didn’t mean to frighten you. I shouted twice, but you mustn’t have heard me.’ He glanced at the magazine and said, ‘What’s that you’re reading?’

Mia opened her mouth, about to tell him that she’d been trying to remember the shoot this picture had been taken at. Then she remembered that she was supposed to be Michelle and clamped her lips shut again.

When he saw the picture for himself, Liam murmured, ‘Ah . . . your sister.’ Sitting down on the bed now, he said, ‘I’ve actually seen that picture loads of times, but I didn’t want to mention it in case it upset you. I thought you might think they were just getting on with their lives without you, or something. But I’m sure it’s not like that. Mia’s probably just got commitments she can’t get out of.’ Snorting softly now, oblivious to the raging fire of jealousy that his words were igniting in her, he went on, ‘I must admit I was pissed off when I saw her on the TV the first night I was back in Manchester. But she’s your sister, so I can’t hold all that old shit against her for ever, can I? Anyway, we’re back together now and nothing’s ever going to get between us again, so I think we should just let it go and be happy for her.’

Mia couldn’t speak. She desperately wanted to be with Liam, but at the same time she desperately didn’t want Michelle taking her place in the limelight. It was Mia’s face they wanted, not her sister’s. And it was Mia who had worked her backside off to get her name known, so why the hell should that ugly bitch be allowed to walk in and steal the glory from her? It wasn’t fair!

Sensing that she needed to be left alone to put her thoughts in order, Liam stood up, saying, ‘I’ll get you a clean towel for your bath. Oh, and I got some cooked chicken from the deli; thought we could just have butties – if that’s okay?’

Mia nodded, then waited until he’d gone out of the room before standing up. Still clutching the magazine, she went into the bathroom, dropped her dressing gown and stepped into the water.

Soothed by the heat of the bath and the sheer luxury of just soaking after weeks of Liam wiping her face, arms and legs with a soapy flannel, she exhaled long and slowly to release the tension, and came to a decision as she stared at the picture.

Liam was buttering bread on the kitchen ledge when she came downstairs. Turning, he smiled when he saw that she was dressed. She’d been naked when he’d rescued her, and he’d carried her out wrapped in the sheet from the bed she’d been imprisoned on. And she’d been wearing Darren’s late grandmother’s dressing gown since she’d been here.

‘You look good,’ he said. ‘I guess I didn’t do too bad on the sizes after all, huh?’

‘They’re perfect,’ Mia told him, pulling a chair out and sitting down at the small table. ‘There’s, er, something we need to talk about,’ she said now, picking nervously at a crumb that had caught her eye. ‘I’ve decided to go and see my mum.’

‘Really?’ Tilting his head to one side, Liam gave her a questioning look. ‘You sure you’re ready for that? You don’t want to start with a phone call?’

Mia shook her head and smiled sadly up at him. She needed to reclaim her life before Michelle started to think it belonged to her. But, at the same time, she really didn’t want to lose Liam.

Silently chiding himself for asking the question, because he knew deep down that it hadn’t been out of concern for her but because of his own selfish desire to keep her to himself for a little longer, Liam nodded, and said, ‘Of course you should go home. I’ll make the arrangements soon as I’ve done this.’

‘We need to talk first,’ Mia repeated.

‘We’ll have plenty of time for that later,’ Liam told her, wanting to keep her focused on seeing her family in case she changed her mind again. ‘And if you’re worried about me,’ he went on, placing her sandwich in front of her, ‘don’t be, because I’m not going anywhere. Well, actually, that’s not strictly true,’ he corrected himself, grinning sheepishly. ‘I have got to go back to Ireland. But if you’re going home, I might as well arrange it around that. Give you a bit of time on your own with your folks before I get back.’

‘You
are
coming back, though, aren’t you?’ The panic was stark in Mia’s eyes. ‘You promise you won’t just go and leave me?’

‘Never,’ Liam assured her, raising her hand to his lips and kissing it. ‘Now, eat that. I’ll be back in a minute; I’ve just got to make a call.’

As she picked at the sandwich while he went out to make his call, Mia rehearsed what she had to tell him – praying that he would understand that she hadn’t done it deliberately this time; that it had been
his
assumption, and she’d been too ill too correct him.