Down London Road (9 page)

Joss’s eyes danced as they searched my face and then Cam’s. ‘Els, this is Cameron MacCabe. Just call him Cam. Cam, this is my friend Ellie.’

‘Your boyfriend’s sister?’ Cam asked casually, as he stepped towards them.

‘Yeah.’

He stuck his hand out to Ellie, a friendly, gorgeous smile on his face that made my heart thump. A painful ache pierced my chest. He hadn’t smiled at me like that. ‘Nice to meet you, Ellie.’

Apparently, Ellie wasn’t immune to his charm – she beamed back at him, all her wariness disappearing. She shook his hand. ‘Joss says you’re a graphic designer?’

A customer came up to the bar, so I served him while
Cam spoke with my friends. I managed to listen to the customer with one ear and to Cam with the other.

‘Aye, but I’m struggling to find a job here. If I don’t get one soon I might have to leave Edinburgh.’

‘Oh, that would be a shame.’

‘Yeah.’

‘Any luck finding an apartment?’ Joss asked him, and I suddenly realized that the two of them must have got along well enough on Saturday night to manage a real conversation during the busy hours.

‘I’ve seen a few I’m interested in. None as nice as the place I have now, but you have to live where you can afford to, right?’

‘What about Becca?’ I asked before I could stop myself. I handed my customer his change and waited for Cam’s answer.

Cam’s brows drew together as he looked at me. ‘What about Becca?’

I’d been to Becca’s flat for a party. It was a huge place in Bruntsfield and she shared it with three other people. Still, I thought there must be room for Cam. ‘She’s got that big old place on Leamington Terrace. Surely there’s room for you.’

He gave a sharp jerk of his head in rejection to the suggestion. ‘We’ve only been dating a month.’

‘How did you meet?’ Ellie asked. I wasn’t surprised. Ellie was a hopeless romantic and looked for a love story wherever she could.

My stomach flipped unpleasantly as I thought of Cam and Becca creating a love story together.

What was wrong with me? I was with Malcolm and Cam was a bloody pain in the butt.

‘A party a friend hosted.’

‘You must get on well, what with Becca being an artist too?’

His mouth quirked up at the corner. ‘We have a difference of opinion on what constitutes art, but aye, we get on well enough.’

‘Meaning you’re just as condescending to your girlfriend as you are to me?’ I grumbled and subsequently ignored Joss’s little noise of amusement.

Cam flashed me a surprisingly coaxing smile. ‘You were there, Jo. Don’t tell me you didn’t think her art was shit.’

Joss laughed outright while I just shook my head, trying not to encourage him with an answering grin. ‘You’re supposed to be her boyfriend. You’re supposed to support her, not take the piss out of her.’

‘You’ve met Becca, right? Like she needs anyone else blowing smoke up her arse. The girl’s the most arrogant person I’ve ever met.’

‘Wait –’ Ellie looked confused. ‘You don’t sound like you like her very much.’

‘Of course I do,’ Cam grunted. He shrugged and shot Ellie a roguish smile. ‘I find her arrogance sexy … as well as amusing.’

I looked away, pretending interest in the customers out on the small dance floor. I wondered if Malcolm felt that way about Becca. And if he did, how did I fare in comparison? Unexceptional and insecure?

God, I hoped not.

‘You okay, Jo?’ Joss asked, bringing my gaze back to them. They were all staring at me, including Cam.

I nodded, giving Joss a soft, reassuring smile. ‘Sure.’

Her brow furrowed. ‘Is Cole okay?’

I flinched inwardly, aware of Cam’s body tensing at the mention of Cole’s name. I didn’t want him to know the truth about Cole. If he was so determined to see what everybody else saw when they looked at me, then I didn’t want to change his misconception. ‘He’s fine.’ I didn’t elaborate, hoping she’d drop the subject.

Of course Joss didn’t. ‘He seemed quieter than usual on Sunday. Is everything okay with him?’

Yes, now shut up!
‘Of course.’

Ellie threw me a sympathetic look. ‘When Hannah hit fourteen she went into classic teen mode. Moody and quiet. It’s worse when they’re shy like Hannah and Cole because when they’re feeling down about something they become so introverted.’

Crap.

Cam straightened to his full height so that he stood a few inches taller than me. His eyebrows were raised in question. ‘Fourteen?’

Thank you, Joss and Ellie
.

‘Cole,’ Joss explained to him, seeming way too eager to share information about me with him. I was seriously considering giving both Ellie and Braden a lump of coal for their Christmas present this year as a thank-you for turning Joss into a normal person who annoyed her friends with her terrible matchmaking skills. ‘Jo’s little brother. She takes care of him.’

Cam’s gaze sliced to me, his eyes sharp as he took me in, in all my new colours.

Yes, Cam, I read and write and I have a pretty good vocabulary. I’m not cheating on my rich boyfriend. I’m being a responsible adult
to the teenager under my care. There go all your little preconceived notions. Asshole.

I shrugged at the questions in his eyes.

As for Joss, she could not be stopped. ‘We all let Jo keep her phone on her in case Cole needs her, so cut her a little slack if you see her checking it obsessively. She’s a little overprotective. She’s a really good sister.’

Would you stop pimping me out!
I threw an accusatory look at Ellie, whose eyes grew round with confusion. ‘I blame you,’ I told her.

Ellie sighed, the confusion melting from her gaze as understanding dawned. ‘Would it help if I trained her better?’

‘It would help if you hit the
RESET
button on her.’

‘Hey,’ Joss protested.

Ellie shook her head vehemently. ‘No, I like the new Jocelyn.’

‘Well, I’m lost.’ Cam’s gaze bounced back and forth between us.

Yeah, if only you’d stay lost.
‘Never mind.’ I shook my head and looked at Joss. ‘What are you doing here tonight anyway?’

Joss smiled wickedly. ‘Just checking in.’

I couldn’t help the irritation that settled into my eyes and Ellie choked on her laughter. ‘I think it’s time we checked out.’ She took hold of a reluctant Joss and tugged on her arm.

‘Fine,’ Joss muttered, her calculating gaze shifting between me and Cam. ‘Jo, tell Cam about Cole’s comic books.’

I groaned inwardly. ‘Goodnight, Joss. ’Night, Els.’

Ellie waved and ushered Joss out of the bar.

Even though the conversation around us was a wordless babble of noise above the music, silence reigned within the bubble containing me and Cam behind the bar. No noise could penetrate the thick tension between us.

Finally Cam took a step towards me. For the first time since I’d met him (and it was weird to realize that I’d met him only twice, since it seemed like we’d known each other a lot longer), Cam looked uncomfortable. ‘So … Cole’s your wee brother, then?’

Screw you.
I stared at him blankly, trying to decide what I should say. Finally, I came to the conclusion that it would be better if Cam and I remained at a distance. No matter how much Joss wanted him to see me in a different light, I didn’t want him to. He’d jumped to his conclusions like everyone else, and frankly I didn’t want to be on friendly terms with someone who had taken to tearing me down, and that was before he had got to know me. I sighed and strode past him. ‘I’m going on my break.’

Cam didn’t answer me.

And for the rest of the night he endured my cold-shoulder treatment in tight-lipped silence.

As I had been on every Wednesday that had come before it, I was shattered the next day. My Tuesday shift at Club 39 followed by my Wednesday day shift at Meikle & Young was the worst part of my week. I shared the job as personal assistant to Mr Meikle with another girl called Lucy. I had never met Lucy, but we left little messages all the time to let each other know what had been done and what still needed to be done, so I felt like I knew her. She always put smiley faces at the end of any request so it didn’t come off as a demand. I thought that was nice and often wondered if Mr Meikle was pleasant to the girl with the smiley faces. I hoped so.

He certainly wasn’t pleasant to me.

That morning I’d almost managed to get everything right. With three hours to go in the workday, I had been sitting franking mail that was to go out that night, trying to get Cam’s stupid, arrogant voice out of my head, when Mr Meikle came out of his office and obnoxiously waved a letter in my face.

As I gazed up at him from my seat I wondered for a second if his problem with me had something to do with my height. I was a good three inches taller than he was, and he always looked rather nonplussed when we were standing together, and smug whenever I was sitting and he was standing over me. ‘Sir?’ I asked, my eyes crossing
as I tried to make out what the bloody hell he was dangling before me.

‘I was about to sign the letter you were sending out to this client, Joanne, when I discovered two errors.’ His face was red with frustration as he pulled the paper back to shove two fingers in my face. ‘Two.’

I blanched. Damn my lack of sleep. ‘Sorry, Mr Meikle, I’ll fix that right away.’

He harrumphed and slapped the letter on my desk. ‘It had better be perfect. Lucy can always manage it, for goodness’ sake.’ He strode back to his office and then snapped around, his eyes narrowed behind his glasses. ‘I thought I had two appointments this afternoon, Joanne?’

I had worked for Mr Meikle for almost two years now, so it was long past the appropriate time to correct him on my name. He’d called me Joanne instead of Johanna since the beginning, despite the fact that he was the one who handed me my wage slip every month. The wage slip that clearly said ‘Miss Johanna Walker’ on it. Numpty.

‘Yes, sir.’ In fact one of his appointments was with Malcolm. ‘You have Mr Hendry in fifteen minutes and a four o’clock appointment with Mrs Drummond.’

Without another word he slammed back inside his office. I stared at his door and then at the letter he’d slapped on my desk. Turning it over, I noted he’d circled the two errors in red pen. I’d missed the apostrophe in ‘Meikle & Young’s’ and had missed the colon after ‘telephone number’. ‘Pedantic twit,’ I muttered, pushing my chair back to the desk. It took me only seconds to find the file on the computer, fix the errors and print the corrected version off. I left it with him without a word and closed his office door behind me.

The firm rented its space on the first floor of one of the old Georgian buildings on Melville Street. The street was quintessential Edinburgh – picture-perfect period properties with their black wrought-iron fencing and shiny big doors. Mr Young’s office and reception area were in the front of the converted flat, and two other accountants’ offices were across the hall from Mr Meikle’s. Meikle’s reception area had a large window that looked down over the street. So did his office. It was a pity his personality didn’t match the refined elegance of the firm’s residence.

When Malcolm walked in, I hurriedly clicked the solitaire game off my screen so he couldn’t see I was mucking around, and I beamed at him, pleased to see him. This was where I’d met him.

After breaking up with Steven, I’d dated a few duds. Then several months later, Malcolm had walked into Meikle’s office for a consultation. While he waited for Meikle to call him in to his office for his appointment Malcolm charmed the pants off me with his self-deprecating humour and great smile. He’d asked for my number, and the rest, as they say, was history.

‘Hi, baby.’ Malcolm grinned at me, and I watched him with pleasure as he approached my desk. He wore another beautiful grey suit from Savile Row, his face cleanly shaven, his skin tanned even in winter.
Such a distinguished, classy man, and he’s mine,
I thought appreciatively.

And he came bearing gifts.

He held out a coffee cup and a brown bag. ‘Latte with chocolate sprinkles and a white chocolate chip cookie.’ His warm lips brushed mine slowly, gently, seductively. I
was disappointed when he pulled back, but he’d brought my favourite coffee and cookie, so I wasn’t complaining. In fact, my insides melted. ‘Thought you might need the pick-me-up. You work too hard.’

‘Thank you.’ I bestowed my most grateful smile on him. ‘I really needed this.’

‘Thank me later.’ He winked at me and I made a face, unable to stop the laughter bubbling up at his boyish grin.

Shaking my head, I waved him towards the seats. ‘I better let Mr Meikle know you’re here.’

A few seconds later, Meikle came out to greet Malcolm and they disappeared inside his office. I sat back with a contented sigh to enjoy my latte and cookie.

I smiled down at the cup and slid a glance towards the office door.

You’ve done well for yourself this time, Jo.

Don’t mess it up.

Feeling a little more awake now, I stared at the computer in boredom. I’d done everything that needed to be done today. I glanced at the filing system. It hadn’t been looked at in a while and it always needed reorganizing. I grabbed my coffee and took it over to the filing cabinets, where I slowly began to work my way through the system. Sure enough, there were misfiles. Mine or Lucy’s? Probably both.