‘You are busy today?’ Michel asked.
‘Yes, the McArthur Foundation fundraiser is tomorrow night and I have a tonne of things to do for that and I also… need to be somewhere at eleven-thirty.’
‘I will have Angel,’ Michel said.
‘Oh no, Michel, you don’t have to do that. I can take Angel with me and?—’
‘This is stupid. I want to take her to the gallery. I wish to show her some of my work. I can do this. I can take her for lunch. We can visit the Museum of Modern Art, maybe?’
Hayley nodded. She needed to let go. She knew that. And Michel had this. But it was harder than she had ever thought. Being solely in charge for so long, it was still so difficult to pass over some of the responsibility.
‘I love to spend time with her, Hayley,’ Michel said quietly, his attention turning to Angel. ‘I have missed out on all these years before.’
‘I know,’ she whispered, feeling a pang of guilt take hold.
‘And when you go home, I want to make arrangements to visit. I can come to England or you could come here.’ He let out a sigh. ‘I do not want to lose this connection now.’
‘Going darker brown now!’ Angel shouted.
‘I will come,’ Michel called back. He gave his attention back to Hayley. ‘You are her mother. You are the one calling the shots, of course. I just wish to have some more time with her in the future. If you are happy with that.’
‘Michel!’ Angel screamed. ‘There are black bits!’
Hayley looked at him. ‘We will work something out.’
He smiled. ‘Good. Now, you will take this eggy bread and you will go to your meetings. Angel and I will be fine.’
‘Dad!’ Angel yelled. ‘It’s burning!’
A lump shot up into Hayley’s throat at the way Angel hadaddressed him. She looked to Michel and saw an expression nothing short of pure elation. She reached out, taking hold of his hand and squeezing it in hers. ‘We will work something out.’
58
THE CRYSTALLINE HOTEL, MANHATTAN
‘Platinumand gold, not silver! Yes, there really is a difference and it’s one I explained to you when we met, Mr Viceroy.’ Hayley paced the ballroom floor as she spoke into the phone. ‘Can you get me 150platinumballoons and 150 gold-coloured balloons by tomorrow afternoon? No? Well, that’s great. Thank you so much for that excellent service.’ She ended the call and let out a scream that had everyone working in the room reaching for their ears.
She dragged her hands through her hair and bent over, her hands on her knees, her breathing jagged.
‘A problem?’ Cynthia asked, appearing at her side.
Hayley pulled herself up and fixed a smile on her face. ‘No, no of course not. No problem at all.’ She had to get this right, especially now. She didn’t want Cynthia to think she was incapable in a professional or personal capacity.
‘Hayley, I’m here to help.’
‘Yes, I know, but this is my project and you’re paying me very well to manage it, so manage it I will.’ She let out a breath that could have filled 300 balloons then looked at her watch.
‘Is everything all right?’ Cynthia said, still observing her.
Did Cynthia know about the test? Maybe Oliver had called her or, more likely, he hadn’t wanted to worry her. She swallowed, not wanting to bear the weight of a secret. ‘Oliver’s having the test today.’ She blurted it out before there was any going back.
Cynthia remained virtually impassive but Hayley could see her bottom lip was quivering and there were the beginnings of tears in her eyes as the words took effect.
‘He wanted to go on his own but I wouldn’t let him,’ Hayley continued. ‘It’s at eleven-thirty.’
Cynthia nodded. ‘And there’s no way either of us are going to stay away.’
Hayley smiled at the woman. ‘Good. Well, I’ll fix us up with some alternative balloons and then we’ll go.’
