‘Hello, Brian,’ she said, warmly. ‘Is everything all right?’
Regan recognised the grey-haired man in dark blue overalls as the man who had spoken to her when Cleo was away. ‘Hello, Brian,’ she called with a wave, and he waved back.
‘Ah. You are back then,’ he said, to Cleo.
‘Last night. What can I do for you?’
‘It’s nothing really.’ He scratched his head. ‘There was a bloke here a couple of Fridays ago. I thought he was going to kick the door in.’ Cleo twisted to look at Regan and she shrugged in response. She couldn’t have been there when it had happened. Brian continued. ‘I told him I’d call the police if he didn’t sod off.’
‘Did he say who he was looking for?’ asked Regan, joining Cleo at the door.
‘He was after Cleo. I think he was drunk. He was ranting a lot, so it didn’t make a lot of sense. He had shiny shoes and a highfalutin voice.’
‘Oscar,’ said Cleo and Regan together.
‘Sorry you had to witness that, Brian. Oscar is …was… my agent. We’ve parted company.’
‘As long as you’re okay. He seemed like a nasty bastard.Drove out of here at high speed and bounced off the pavement.’ Brian was shaking his head.
‘I’m fine. He shouldn’t be bothering me again.’
Brian gave her a thumbs-up and went back to his own unit.
‘I’m glad I missed Oscar’s visit,’ said Regan, stacking up some jam jars.
Cleo shut the door. ‘Oscar’s all mouth and designer trousers. But I’m glad you weren’t here. You know you don’t have to move out. If you’ve been here nearly seven weeks without anyone raising the alarm, I don’t see why you can’t stay on a bit longer.’
‘Thanks, but I don’t need to. Something has turned up. Like I said it would.’ Cleo looked surprised. ‘Charlie needs a babysitter for three weeks so I’m moving in with him.’
‘You’re moving in together? Isn’t that a bit quick? You’ve just met him.’
Regan shook her head. ‘It’s so very not like that at all. It’s actually the opposite of that. He can’t cope with a relationship that already has an end date stamped on it.’ Regan wasn’t sure how else to explain it. ‘I’m there in case he’s taken ill. Iwouldbe flattered that he’s asked me, but it was me or his mum, so …’
‘I see. I guess spending some time together will give you some nice memories to look back on.’ Cleo gave a little wince. ‘Sorry, was that the wrong thing to say when he’s still here?’
Regan smiled – it wasn’t just her that felt like she was constantly putting her foot in things. ‘You’re right. I’ll make sure we do that. I’ll take some photos.’
The sound of someone pawing at the toilet seat drew her attention. ‘Elvis!’ He seemed to think it was a drinks dispenser. ‘We’d better make a move.’
‘Okay. Before you go …’ Cleo flicked the hairband on her wrist. ‘Penny … I’m guessing you know her quite well from working with her?’
‘Penny’s lovely. She’s loyal, hardworking and caring, but it’s all underneath a bit of a crust. Don’t let her fool you into thinking she’s tough, though, because she’s really a pussycat underneath.’ Elvis barked and scanned the room diligently.
Cleo gave the hairband another twang. ‘Does she have a boyfriend at all?’ She seemed tentative.
‘Ah. No, there was a husband once but … not any more.’ She pondered whether to say anything else, but decided against it. She grabbed hold of Elvis before he destroyed anything else and steered him out of the studio and towards the car.
‘Hi, honey, I’m home!’ called Regan through Charlie’s letterbox. The door soon opened and he looked a bit grumpy when Regan merrily thrust two boxes of cherries into his arms. ‘There’s more stuff and the dog in the car.’
‘I want to talk about house rules,’ Charlie called after her whilst she ferried stuff back and forth.
‘Sure thing. Whatever you say,’ she said, following him inside with Elvis at her heels. Elvis started snuffling around like a highly trained sniffer dog. She wasn’t sure about his ability to detect drugs, but he could track down a sausage roll from a mile away.
‘No getting on the furniture,’ he said. ‘No sleeping on beds—’
‘Hey, I am housetrained, you know,’ she said, with a grin.
‘I mean Elvis, as you well know. He’s not allowed in the kitchen at all and if you can stop him shedding hair everywhere that’d be great.’
