‘Billionaires don’t just turn up at people’s houses,’ Angel continued. ‘They make appointments in work time.’
‘How many billionaires do you actually know that you’re basing that judgement on?’ Hayley put her hands on her hips.
‘I know what’s going on,’ Angel stated loudly.
Hayley watched Oliver glance over his shoulder and away from Dean’s dissection of the tablet. Her heart was hammering now. She wasn’t that transparent, was she? She made certain the zipper on her onesie was up to her neckline.
‘You got him to come over here and you’re going to ask him for a job,’ Angel said, finishing the sentence off with a firm nod.
‘I have a job,’ she reminded, in a whisper.
‘You think? After the way we were almost ordered to leave that house today?’
Hayley let out a sigh. She hadn’t heard anything from Majestic Cleaning and she didn’t dare call. She shrugged. ‘It will blow over.’
‘Are you crazy? The woman looked like she wanted to kill us and the housekeeper screamed like she was in a horror movie.’
‘Which you are not old enough to watch.’
‘Biscuits never lie,’ Angel said, looking triumphant.
She held her hands up. ‘OK, you got me, I wanted to ask him for a job.’
Angel’s eyes grew big. ‘And?’
‘And you and Uncle Dean burst in and I didn’t get the chance.’
‘So there’s nothing wrong with the Globe?’
‘No… I mean yes… I don’t know. I mean, I didn’t say that.’
Angel’s eyes misted over and she slumped down onto the sofa,ice cream spoon still in her hand. ‘I really wanted that lady to like what we’d done to her room today.’
Hayley moved, plumping down next to Angel and taking the spoon from her. ‘Yeah, me too.’ She dug into the ice cream and ate a mouthful.
‘I thought it looked beautiful. It was warm and inviting, the fire was cosy and the lights made her photographs stand out,’ Angel continued, grabbing back the spoon.
‘We did a great job. It just wasn’t to her taste, that’s all.’
‘And you’re probably going to get fired because of me,’ Angel added, looking glum.
Hayley shook her head. ‘No, not because of you, because of me.’ She sighed. ‘I don’t know what I was thinking. I shouldn’t be working here. I don’t have the right paperwork and this is supposed to be a family holiday. I should be making the most of not working and spending every second with you.’ She put an arm around Angel and drew her close.
‘But what about money?’
Hayley shrugged. ‘We’ll work something out.’
Angel moved slightly, turning her head to look at her. ‘So no more mopping and silly outfits?’
‘No more mopping and no more Agatha. Now go and get another spoon for this ice cream. You can’t possibly eat it all yourself.’
‘I think Dean would have had me stay here all night taking it to pieces with him.’ Oliver smiled as Hayley showed him down the stairs to the front door of the apartment. He felt almost human again after water and coffee and the bathroom visit that lost him half his body weight.
‘I’m so sorry. I couldn’t think of anything else to say.’ She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and put her hand to the gold latch. ‘He’s not going to rip it all apart and start again, is he? I don’t want to be responsible for the crumbling of an empire.’
‘I’ve put his mind at rest, I think. Said I wasn’t sure of the model number. He’ll probably Google it.’
‘Or Globe it.’
