Another memory flew to the front of her mind. She had loved riding as a child. But her brother’s accident had put paid to that, with her mother forbidding her to do anything that might be dangerous thereafter. The anxiety that had been instilled in her then had travelled with her through her life– with regards to horse riding at least. Feeling sad at this sombre discovery and a sudden nostalgia for her childhood, the unclouded vision of both her brother and mother pre-accident caused tears to sting her periwinkle blue eyes: Simon with his beautiful clever mind and her forthright, opinionated but fiercely loving mother without the crippling depression she had suffered ever since.
Checking first to see if the ground was dry, Sabrina sat down with her legs out in front of her, sighed deeply and set about the task of seeing who had messaged her. A text from her dad simply stated,You know where I am, lovewith a red heart. She put the handset on speaker to allow a voicemail to kick in. On hearing the deep, sexy voice of silver-fox Dominic Best, she omitted a little sound between a laugh and a cry.Darling, it’s me. Out of anyone I know, you must know that whatever you’re reading about us in the papers and online… about… her…and me… well, it’s not true. Where are you? I’m missing you. I told you I’m sorry. I know I’ve been a fool. I love you. Come home.
‘Don’t even go there, you twat!’ Sabrina shouted out, the pain of just hearing his voice searing through her heart and right out of her back, like a rusty cupid’s arrow. And what exactly was in the papers? Why were people so happy to read of other people’s misfortune, especially if those people happened to be successful? She didn’t dare Google anything, would rather not know. The less she knew, the less there was to torture herself with. Dominic had told her himself that there was rarely smoke without fire and if the pictures desk had a photo, the newspaper usually had it on the front page.
Sabrina said ‘Fuck’ as the next message clicked in.Rini, please ring me. I know the signal is shite there so I’m not worrying, but I am your best friend and have a right to know if something has happened to you. Hmm, but I guess if you have been murdered, you won’t be able to. If the worst has happened, I’d like your Stella McCartney swimsuit, please; it will fit over one breast, at least. CALL ME, you tart!Sabrina laughed.
She was just about to dial her mate’s number when the words ‘Caroline Smart’ flashed up on the screen. Blowing out a huge breath and screwing up her face in readiness for the tornado that was to follow, she answered.
‘Sabrina Swift, where thehellare you?’ the Mancunian accent bellowed.
‘Hi, how nice to hear your voice. How are you? Isn’t that how most agents address their clients?’
The woman carried on without taking one single breath. ‘Not the ones who’ve gone AWOL with big career decisions to make, no. And don’t be smart with me, Sabrina. I’ve had the producer fromPrancing on Icehounding to see if you are still considering the gig, because if you are, I must give them an answer by Friday latest. Training starts in November and the money they’re offering you is massive.’
‘As is the risk of breaking every bone in my body.’
‘You’ll be insured.’
‘Oh great. I’m more interested in fixing my broken heart, to be honest. If you hadn’t noticed, I was due to get married last week.’
Caroline softened momentarily. ‘Look, I’m sorry for what happened. But you just don’t know what it’s like from my end.’ Sabrina could hear Caroline nearly sucking the end out of her vape. ‘The pressure is immense. Can’t you just forgive him? It was just a shag, after all.’
‘Bloody hell, Caroline. Just because you don’t set one single boundary where women are concerned, doesn’t mean I’m the same with men. I’m going.’
‘No, no, I’m sorry, Sabrina, I’m just frustrated at you andforyou.’
‘OK, so give me a little respect. I’m going through one of the most difficult personal weeks of my life. I’ve not only been publicly jilted, but my huge storyline has also just ended. I’m theoretically in prison until February and have no idea if the biggest soap in the UK wants me back.’
‘Just calm down. It’ll be OK. I’m working on that. And to be fair, you wanted this break.’
But Sabrina was now in full rant. ‘Yes, I did. I needed this time off for my honeymoon and a little sabbatical, so you shouldn’t be ringing me anyway as I would have been on holiday and not answering my phone!’ She blew out a noisy breath. ‘And as forPrancing on Ice, I really don’t think I can do it.’ Tears started to stream down the actress’s face.
‘What do you mean, you don’t think you can do it?’
‘I can barely stand on my own two feet at the moment, let alone throw myself around on fricking ice in front of a pitying audience.’
‘But you just said yourself we haven’t even got the guarantee of a new contract yet. And with you being all over the socials, I can probably get you another twenty grand, at least. You’re a hot topic, lady.’
Sabrina attempted to level herself by taking in the calming motion of the twinkling sea yonder. ‘I don’t give a shit about the money. My own sanity is what I’m trying to keep hold of that moment. And what is every small-minded twat saying, Caroline? Just tell me because I don’t want to look.’
‘You mean you haven’t seen anything?’
‘It seems one can only get signal here at one o’clock on a February 29th, so clearly not.’
‘Where are you, anyway? Is that seagulls I can hear?’ Another long drag on the vape.
‘It doesn’t matter where I am. And I know you’re going to tell me what’s being said, so just hit me.’
‘It’s nothing that bad. There are a few photos of him in Paris withher, though.’
‘Well, I guess that was inevitable. The French stick clearly was out for his money and five minutes of fame when she pitched up atSoho Farmhouse.’
‘I’m sorry Sab, but they are saying he was with her just two days ago, too.’
‘Oh.’ Sabrina felt her whole face crumpling. Her voice began to crack. ‘Look, let me think about prancing about on bloody ice. I can’t deal with anything now. It’s too much. Everything is too much. I’ll call you next week.’
Caroline’s voice softened. ‘I’m sorry I was so hard on you. I’m worried about you. You know what I’m like. When the empathy gene was being handed out, it skipped me and went straight to Mother Theresa.’
