‘Can I get you something while you are waiting?’ he asked.
A double vodka sprang to mind, but Tiffany dismissed that thought. She didn’t want Angel to think she was some alkie, even though the alcohol might have given her more confidence.
‘I’ll just have a tea.’
‘What kind of tea would mademoiselle prefer?’
All these questions! Tiffany could feel her cheeks burning with embarrassment as she looked through the bewildering list of teas arrayed on the expensive cream paper in the thick leather-bound menu. She hadn’t even heard of half of them!
‘I’ll have English Breakfast tea, please.’
And then, thankfully, the waiter left. Tiffany looked across at the door but there was still no sign of Angel. She scrabbled through her bag for her mirror and surreptitiously checked her appearance, quickly adding another layer of lip-gloss. Her hair still looked good – which it should after the time she had spent blow drying and straightening it. She had agonised over what to wear and in the end had gone for one of her
favourite
outfits: a black dress with sheer sleeves from H & M, and her leopard-print heels from Office. She had thought that she looked elegant and sophisticated, but now she felt as if her clothes looked cheap and she herself totally out of place. Surveying the women at the other tables, in their expensive designer clothes, she counted at least three Chanel handbags, two Birkins, a Chloé and a Miu Miu. She kicked her own battered brown Topshop satchel under the table and then panicked that everything would have fallen out of it and had to dive under there to check that it hadn’t. When she emerged from under the tablecloth, Angel was standing by the table. Typical. Talk about first impressions …
‘Tiffany, right?’
‘Oh, hi,’ she said, standing up and trying to smooth down her hair and straighten her dress at the same time. She wondered whether to shake hands or kiss. Luckily Angel made that decision for her and kissed her lightly twice. Tiffany sat back down feeling completely overawed by Angel, who was even more beautiful in real life than she was on screen. Angel’s long hair was honey-coloured, her skin was a light golden brown that accentuated her intensely green eyes. She looked every inch the A-list celebrity, glowing with health, success and wealth, and in true celebrity style was wearing white skinny jeans, a white cashmere jumper and a white fake-fur gilet.
Tiffany and Kara had a theory that only the very rich ever wore head to toe white as only they could afford the dry-cleaning bills. Tiffany also took in the blingtastic diamond wedding and engagement rings, the diamond bracelet, the diamond-studded Rolex. She was surprised Angel didn’t need an armed guard, walking around with all those rocks on display.
‘How funny. You’re all in black and I’m in white,’
Angel
commented. ‘So this is weird, isn’t it? Kind of like being on a blind date.’ She picked up the menu and fiddled with it, and Tiffany realised that Angel was just as nervous as she was.
‘I hope it goes better than my blind dates usually go,’ she attempted to joke, and then thought,
Why the hell did I say that! It makes me sound like a total saddo who goes on loads of blind dates!
Angel smiled. ‘I’d have thought a beautiful girl like you would have them queueing up?’
‘To be honest, ‘I’ve just come out of a two-year relationship and I’m happy being single.’
‘I remember how that felt. It’s good to be single for a while,’ Angel replied, then added, ‘Are you wearing Coco Mademoiselle?’
‘Yes, I always wear it, it’s my signature scent.’
‘That’s a coincidence, it’s my favourite perfume too. I’ve worn it since I was a teenager.’
There was a pause and as Tiffany looked at Angel she realised that their eyes and mouth were very similar. She wasn’t just imagining this, caught up in the excitement of meeting someone famous.
‘We’ve got the same eyes and mouth,’ Angel said wonderingly, as if echoing her thoughts. ‘Apart from Tanya, I’ve never met anyone I was actually related to before.’
The waiter came over to take Angel’s order. Tiffany had already seen the prices and felt anxious about ordering anything else. Fortunately Angel took control and ordered them both afternoon tea.
‘Oh, and shall we have a glass of champagne as well? You like champagne, don’t you, Tiffany?’
Who didn’t like champagne?
‘Sure, thanks.’ She waited until the waiter was out of earshot before saying quietly, ‘I don’t expect you to pay for me, Angel.’
‘Don’t be silly! Of course I’ll pay. I suggested coming
here.’
She looked around. ‘Sorry it’s so posh. I always feel as if I should be minding my Ps and Qs here, but I couldn’t think where else to meet.’ She twisted the diamond bracelet round on her wrist. ‘I have to admit, I was gob-smacked to get your letter. I had no idea that I might have a sister.’
‘Imagine how I felt when I got Tanya’s telling me that you were mine.’ Tiffany hesitated, then added, ‘That’s if she’s telling the truth. She ended the letter by saying that you hadn’t given her any money, but maybe you’d give some to me.’
Angel gave a wry smile. ‘Sounds like our lovely mother. My husband Cal thought we looked similar. But I guess, to be sure, we should have a DNA test.’
Tiffany nodded. She had expected Angel to bring up the matter of a DNA test.
Angel paused. ‘But, seeing you, I don’t know … I wonder if we need to. I can so clearly see a resemblance between us … the way you bite your lip, the way you pull your sleeves over your hands. I’m always doing that.’
And Tiffany, who up until this meeting hadn’t felt that she looked anything like Angel, could see herself as well.
‘Better do it, though,’ Angel added. ‘Just to be sure.’
The waiter arrived with a silver trolley on which stood a layered cake-stand showing off an array of tempting finger sandwiches and exquisite miniature pastries and cakes. It looked far too perfect to eat, and besides Tiffany was so fired up about meeting Angel that food was the very last thing on her mind.
‘My dad would love to see all this,’ she said. ‘He’s so into food and cooking.’
‘He brought you up, is that right?’
‘He did. His relationship with Tanya was pretty much over, and then they found out she was pregnant
with
me and so Dad stayed with her. And then, when it was obvious that she wasn’t fit to look after me, he applied for full custody. He was only twenty, I really admire him for that. I mean, a lot of men of that age would have seen a baby and run.’ Tiffany felt more relaxed as she talked about her dad. He was brilliant, and even if things didn’t work out between her and Angel, she was so fortunate to have the family she did.
‘He sounds great,’ Angel replied. ‘And it seems like we’ve both been lucky not to be brought up by our real mum. God, I used to fantasise about meeting her when I was a teenager … I was so sure we’d have this amazing connection.’
She broke off and Tiffany was shocked to see tears in Angel’s eyes. ‘Sorry,’ she said, waving her hands in front of her face in a vain effort to stop them. ‘It still gets to me. And it was so horrible when I did meet her. It must have been like that for you as well?’
‘Exactly like you described. I was sure that I would feel something for her and that she would feel something for me, but I didn’t feel anything except relief that my dad had brought me up.’ Tiffany paused. ‘I feel sorry for Tanya, though. Something must have happened to her, to make her like that.’
Angel looked surprised by the comment. ‘Do you? I guess it’s because I’m a mother, but I just think she is the most selfish woman in the world.’
‘She also said sorry in the letter. Sorry to both of us for not being a proper mum. She must realise what a mess she’s made of her life. It’s sad, she’s missed out on so much.’
Angel shook her head. ‘You’re obviously a much nicer person than me, because I never want to see or hear from her again.’
She reached for her champagne glass and held it up. ‘Now I think we should have a toast. To us, for
surviving!’
Tiffany clinked her glass against Angel’s and took a sip.
Sharing their experiences of Tanya broke the ice between the two women and they spent the next hour chatting about their families, what Tiffany wanted to do, and Angel’s TV work. Tiffany found her so easy to talk to, there was an instant rapport. It was exactly the same when she’d first met Kara and they’d become best friends. One glass of champagne had been followed by a bottle. Every now and then Tiffany would get the urge to pinch herself to check that this was real, that here she was at The Ritz, having tea and drinking champagne with Angel Summer!
At one point Tiffany got up to go to the bathroom and felt slightly light-headed as she walked along the thickly carpeted hallway. Get a grip, she told herself, once she reached the Ladies and re-did her make-up. As she returned to the tearoom, a man sitting alone caught her attention. He seemed familiar and she realised with a jolt that it was the brown-eyed man she had seen at the Indian restaurant. Oh my God! Did
she
now have a stalker! But surely he was too fit-looking to be a weirdo. He must have women stalking him!
Tiffany stifled a hiccup as she sat down; the champagne had gone straight to her head.
‘You OK?’ Angel asked, and put down her pink Swarovski crystal-studded BlackBerry. Kara would have killed to own a phone like that.
‘I know this sounds crazy but I think I’m being stalked,’ Tiffany said quietly.
‘What!’
‘There’s a man here that I saw two weeks ago in an Indian restaurant in Kentish Town. It’s a bit of a coincidence that he’s here now, isn’t it?’ He probably
knew
where she lived! Tiffany was feeling thoroughly creeped out by now. But Angel didn’t look at all shocked.
‘Do you mean the guy sitting in the far corner?’
‘Yes, but don’t make it obvious that we’re talking about him.’
But to Tiffany’s horror, Angel waved at the man and beckoned him over. What the hell was going on?
‘I know who he is, don’t look so worried. He’s Sean Murphy, our head of security. Sorry to freak you out, but my husband insisted we look into your background before I got in touch. He’s very protective since we had an incident with a real-life stalker a few years ago. And,’ Angel hesitated, ‘I know this is going to sound strange, but he’s here as my bodyguard.’
‘Oh, right.’ WTF! Just as she was thinking that she and Angel were getting on so well, Tiffany was made aware of how completely different their worlds were. And why exactly did Angel think she needed a bodyguard when she was meeting her sister?
By now Sean had reached the table.
‘Sean, you’ve been spotted, I thought you were the lean mean security machine?’ Angel teased.
‘With respect, it wasn’t part of my plan to hide from Miss Taylor.’
He held out his hand. ‘I’m Sean Murphy.’
Tiffany shook his hand. He had a very firm handshake and there was no denying it, he was a hottie. He looked a little like the American actor Ryan Reynolds, only more rugged, with his handsome face, chocolate-brown eyes and extremely buff body. All muscle by the look of him.
Angel called the waiter over and asked for another chair. ‘Join us for a drink, Sean. I feel bad that we upset Tiffany. Order whatever you want, I’m just nipping to the loo.’
‘So, how’s it going?’ he asked as he sat down.
‘Don’t you know? I’d have thought you’d have planted bugs under the table and been monitoring all our conversations,’ Tiffany joked.
‘I didn’t think I needed to do that.’
‘Did you really think Angel needed a bodyguard to meet me? What exactly did you think I would do?’
‘I know it probably seems like an over-reaction to you, but she has been the victim of a stalker before. Don’t take it personally.’
He was a bit serious, but maybe it was because he was being professional.
‘Well, you haven’t noticed my bodyguard, have you?’
He raised an eyebrow, registering that he knew she was teasing him. ‘It’s the sixty-something, pretending to be thirty-something, woman with the blonde bob and brown Gucci messenger bag. She might look as if a puff of wind would blow her down, but she’s a black belt. She could take you. All I have to do is nod my head and she’ll be right over, like a ninja.’
‘Really? I’d like to see that.’
A pause. They both looked at each other. Tiffany was the first to look away. ‘So, this is all a bit different from the other week in the curry house.’ She gestured round at the lavishly decorated room.
‘It was a good curry house, best chicken biryani I’ve had in ages,’ Sean replied. ‘You broke up with Billy then?’
Whoah! Talk about direct!
‘He seemed like a sound bloke. Especially compared to that tosser in the nightclub.’
While Tiffany liked the good looks and the Geordie accent, there was something about Sean’s judgemental tone that instantly put her back up. As if she needed a running commentary on her love life! And from what he’d said, she’d realised that Sean must have been
watching
her and Billy when they left the restaurant. Oh, God! Did that mean he had also overheard their conversation? Billy’s declaration that he was still in love with Tiffany? Her own blunt reply that she thought it was only about the sex? Could it get any more embarrassing!
‘That tosser in the nightclub was nothing to do with me!’ she bit back. ‘My friend set me up on a blind date. And for the record, it was the worst blind date I have ever been on. Not that I’ve been on many others. I never saw him again, except to chuck pizza and wine over him!’ Now she was sounding a little
too
wound up.
‘Ah, so he was the reason you got sacked? He deserved it.’
‘Is there anything you don’t know about me?’ She was feeling at a real disadvantage, given that she knew absolutely nothing about Sean except that she remembered him saying that he had been in the army.
‘I’m sure there’s plenty,’ he replied. And he actually smiled at her, which immediately won her over. The man was gorgeous!
Angel returned. ‘I hope you’ve reassured Tiffany that you’re not a stalker?’
Tiffany nodded.
‘And now I must dash. I’m supposed to be meeting Cal at Selfridges and he’s driving us back to Sussex. It’s been wonderful meeting you, Tiffany and I’m sure we’ll meet again soon. Let’s say as soon as we’ve had the DNA tests done. I’ll get my PA to set them up for us.’ She held out her hand and signalled for the bill.