Agent Provocateur (35 page)

She puts her hands over her ears as the phone rings again and her answer phone clicks. She will not wreck any more lives, starting with Eddie’s.

‘Sorry I’m late.’ He kisses Betty’s cheek, and then Alison’s. Betty has forgotten to be angry, because Matt, being Matt, has plied her with drink.

‘Shall we go and eat straight away?’ Matt says. I'm starving.’

‘OK.’ Betty stands up and grabs hold of Johnny.

‘I do love you, you know,’ she says, into his ear, but loudly enough for everyone to hear.

‘I love you too,’ he replies, pretending to ignore the fact that she is once again drunk. He thinks of Grace. They drank at dinner, but she didn’t get drunk. He cannot imagine that she would ever get drunk like Betty. He feels immediately guilty at the unfair comparison.

They go to the nearest Chinese restaurant where they order set meals because they all want to try everything. Matt feels the tension but ignores it as they all eat. Alison knows about the tension and is starting to doubt Johnny. Betty is oblivious to the tension because she is properly drunk, and Johnny is drinking too much, which is not usual for him. Matt is looking a bit puzzled as he concentrates hard on his food.

‘What’s going on?’ Matt asks Alison when Betty and Johnny have both staggered to different loos.

‘Nothing,’ Alison quickly replies, but she knows. Even she is lying. She begins to think that Matt is the only person who is innocent.

‘We’re having dinner with two fucking drunks. Betty normally gets pissed really quickly but Johnny doesn’t.’

‘I know. We’ll probably have to take them home.’

‘Who wants another bottle of wine?’ Johnny asks, sitting down again, and when no one replies, he orders one anyway.

Grace pours herself a brandy. She sits in the dark, thankful that she does not have to work that evening. She replays the events, trying to figure out what she is doing. She had decided to walk away, but instead she bared her soul to him. In return she felt as if he was giving some of his to her. But not all of it, because he wasn’t a cheater. Grace has finally met the man she has been searching for. The one who doesn’t want to be unfaithful. She just wishes that she hadn’t fallen in love with him.

What is he doing now? Is he holding her hand, kissing her, looking into her eyes? It is almost too much to bear. Jealousy is not one of Grace’s downfalls. She rarely envies others because she believes in getting what she wants. However, she is being eaten from the inside out by her jealousy. Betty was horrible to her, and Grace hated her for that, but now she just feels pathetic because she wants to be her. She wants to kill her and fill her shoes. She wants to hold the door open to Johnny when he gets home from work, pour him a drink, cook him dinner, curl up on the sofa with him, have his babies. Finally she laughs at herself and her new insanity. Grace has never felt remotely maternal. She saw her parents make such a mess of being parents she is far too terrified to try. But the thought of Johnny and her and a child or two feels right. It won’t be like her life; it will be perfect. She is sad but she is happy at the same time.

‘Who’s coming back to ours for brandy?’ Johnny asks, as he signs the credit card slip.

‘I’m a bit tired, actually,’ Matt answers, desperate to get away from his friends for once.

‘Nonsense. Let’s go,’ Johnny insists. He has discovered that when he is drunk he cannot think and that is his new favourite discovery. Alison raises her eyebrow and shrugs. Then as Johnny marches out of the restaurant, she grabs hold of Betty and helps her up.

‘I feel like I’m taking my pissed teenagers home,’ she says, laughing.

‘Only worse,’ Matt replies, running after Johnny.

When they get back to the house, Johnny pours four brandies, rather generous measures, while Alison goes and checks that the cat has food. Alison comes into her own in a crisis and she sees this as one.

She grabs Matt, and drags him into the kitchen.

‘I’ll talk to Betty, while you ask Johnny if there’s anything on his mind.’

‘Why?’

‘Because he’s acting strangely and he might tell you.’

‘Fine then,’ he sighs. He would much rather be tucked up in bed with his arms around his wife than questioning his drunk friend. Matt doesn’t really like problems because he never knows how to deal with them.

Alison coaxes Betty into the kitchen and sits her down on a stool.

‘Do you want some water?’

Betty purses her lips and shakes her head. ‘Yes,’ she replies, sounding almost together.

‘Come on, I’ll get some.’

Alison hands her a glass of water and decides to put her to bed. ‘Come on, upstairs.’

‘Johnny?’

‘He’ll be up in a minute, he’s talking to Matt.’ Betty obeys and walks upstairs, with Alison on her heels. She manages to get her to take her make-up off and clean her teeth. Then just as she has removed her clothes, Betty pulls Alison over.

‘Ali, look,’ she says, opening the wardrobe.

Alison can barely believe her eyes as all sorts of things tumble out. She looks at Betty, and decides to leave it. She bends down and starts putting them back, shocked at what she is actually handling. Body paint she can cope with, handcuffs and blindfolds she can accept, but
Lesbians
from
Outer
Space
and
Lesbian
Mud
Wrestling
she has a slight problem with.

Finally, after Johnny has accepted their suggestion to stop drinking and join his wife in bed, they leave.

‘Did he say anything?’ Alison asks, as they start the short walk home.

‘Nothing that made sense.’

‘What did he say exactly?’

‘Well, he talked about golf and rummy, for some reason, and Dan, he doesn’t like Dan but it’s not Dan’s fault. Christ, Johnny never gets drunk like that.’

‘That’s what worries me.’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘Matt, you don’t think that Johnny could be having an affair, do you?’

‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

‘Would you know if he was?’

‘Of course I would. Even if he didn’t tell me, I’d know. We’ve been mates too long. We can’t keep secrets from each other. He’s not having an affair. Of course he isn’t.’ But Matt has his doubts, because if Johnny were having an affair, that would explain his behaviour perfectly.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

It takes two days before Johnny’s hangover truly lifts. He has guilt as a lodger, but he cannot stop thinking of Grace. He also thinks of his wife, and feels twisted up inside. But one minute he smiles, and the next he scowls at his behaviour. He is angry with his feelings, but he is also aware of the positive way they make him feel. He blames the hangover but knows the true culprit is himself.

Betty, being used to hangovers, recovers sooner. She forgets about how strange Johnny seems to her, and concentrates on arranging a perfect weekend in bed. She buys more underwear, goes to the beautician for a top to toe makeover, and reads all the sex tips that her magazine has ever written. She intends on ensuring that by Monday, Johnny will only have thoughts for her.

Their friends, however, are still having a few problems with the evening. Although one of them knows more than the other, they are jointly insistent on sorting things out. Without confiding in Matt, Alison resolves to get Betty to put an end to it all with Grace. Without fully understanding, but being increasingly convinced that Johnny is having an affair, Matt prepares for confrontation.

Grace goes out shopping for a new outfit, suitable to play golf in. She can’t help herself, although she is unsure of the outcome – whether it will leave her happy or in total despair. She has a couple of jobs before Saturday, but she does not mind because she is too consumed with happiness.

Nicole is worried about Grace. Not because of work, her professional life is fine, but she is worried about her personally. The more she thinks of the admission that she is in love with Johnny, the more she blames herself for allowing her to make such a bet in the first place. She should have known better. Nicole was upset when Grace told her how she’d been treated by Betty. She took it personally because Grace is special to her, but she knew that there was so much risk involved in Grace’s plan. Everyone was going to end up hurting. Things were falling apart.

Nicole decides to talk to Grace, face to face, about what is happening and put an end to the bet properly.

Alison emails Betty.

Betty

Let’s go shopping on Saturday and for a nice girlie lunch. I need to get out of the house and spend some money on myself before I go mad with decorating chores.

Ali xx

It isn’t strictly true, but Alison wants to make out that she needs Betty, not vice versa. However, she hopes that Betty doesn’t see through the decorating lie – Alison has never worried about decorating in her life – but she desperately needs to do something.

Matt sends Johnny an email.

Mate

A good game of golf on Sat is in order. Can’t bear to spend the day shopping for carpets, which is what the Mrs wants. Let me know.

Matt

Matt hopes that Johnny doesn’t remember that they got new carpets only a couple of months ago.

Nicole sends Grace an email.

Grace

How about a day out with your old boss on Saturday? My beloved is away and you know how terrible I am at being on my own. We’ll have a fun girlie day, and it would be doing me a real favour.

Nicole

Nicole believes that a day will be all she needs to talk Grace out of continuing with the bet.

Betty reads the email. She sees through it straight away, and is immediately reminded of that drunken night when Johnny was late and they both ended up a bit worse for wear. But she is no longer worried. She has everything under control. Johnny isn’t seeing Grace, she is sure of that, and they will spend the whole weekend under the duvet.

She fires an email back to Alison, saying sorry but she and Johnny have plans. She smiles as she presses send.

Johnny reads his email just after coming out of a meeting. He reads Matt’s, and wonders why he is wittering about carpets when Alison bored them all to death discussing it a few months back. He thinks of the planned golf game, and finds himself smiling at the thought of seeing Grace. He makes a mental note to buy her a gift, to say thank you for the opportunity to play at London’s top golf course. Then he tries to decide what to buy her. Betty likes being given chocolates and flowers – she says she is old-fashioned in that way. He is angry again, because he is thinking of buying Grace a present, but not Betty. Then he tells himself that a thank you gift is very different from a present he would buy for Betty. He calls up a gift service his company uses and arranges for flowers and chocolates to be sent to Betty on Saturday when he will be at golf. Then, with an extra pang of guilt, he adds a bottle of champagne. He then shops on the Internet and decides to buy Grace something connected with golf. He buys her a golfing cap. Totally un-romantic.

He forgets about his email, until Matt sends him another one, prompting him for an answer. He replies that unfortunately he has to play golf with a boring client. He crosses his fingers as he sends the lie.

Grace checks her emails. They are nearly all from Nicole, apart from one that Eddie has sent. She reads the message about spending Saturday with Nicole and feels immediately suspicious. Nicole never spends time with her at the weekend; they just don’t. She knows that this is about Johnny. Just as she is about to reply, telling her she can’t make it because of the golf, she changes her mind. Instead she tells her that she is seeing Eddie. That way, Nicole will not try to hassle her into changing her mind. And she doesn’t want to do that. She is looking forward to a day in the fresh air with Johnny.

Betty receives final copy for the profile on Grace and the honey trapping feature. The issue that it is going to appear in is being finalised already, as monthly magazines are always produced far in advance. She decides to email the final copy to Grace, just for her information. She adds a note saying that she hopes she is well. That way, Grace will know that Betty doesn’t feel at all threatened by her.

Grace has just sent an email to Eddie, saying that she needs to talk to him, when she receives Betty’s. She thinks that the woman is so transparent. Then she reads the profile and feels angry again. It is not a bad article, but there is Betty’s patronising tone running through it, especially in the interview with Grace. She smiles as she realises she no longer cares about that, and she replies saying:

Love the feature. You have made it so interesting. Glad that you are feeling well and seem calm about the bet now it is well underway. I have to say that I admire your composure. I’m not sure I would be as together as you, with so much at stake.

She smiles as she presses send. That will teach Betty to patronise her.

Betty receives Grace’s reply and all her composure melts away. She feels the threat, the distinct threat.

‘Hannah,’ she shouts.

‘Betty, I’m right here. Why are you shouting?’

‘Because I am angry. Fucking angry. Can you call Fiona’s office and get me a meeting, and also can you pull some strings and get me a hair appointment with Guido?’

‘Of course. Are you all right?’

‘I will be once my hair looks good.’ Fighting talk.

Grace calls Johnny. Upsetting Betty is no longer the goal, but it is looking like an attractive bonus.

‘Hi, it’s me.’ She likes the familiarity that comes with saying that.

‘How are you?’

‘Not bad. Listen, I just got a call from the club checking our reservation. It made me think that you might have changed your mind.’

Johnny can hear the hesitation in her voice: she sounds worried. He feels a jolt of affection.