Chapter Fourteen
Matt woke up the next day with a banging head and a fuzzy memory. He tiptoed into Angelina’s swish and never-used kitchen and shoved his head under the tap, gulping like a man trapped in the desert. Last night had been crazy. It had been bad enough being launched upon and fighting off Siobhan in the alleyway – for a laid-back yah-yah gal she had remarkably octopus-like tendencies once she stopped talking – but then when he’d headed back into the club he had been shocked to see his sister, who only moments before he’d left had been doing a great impression of a single independent woman, draped over the Russian gangster she had just broken up with and begging, actually begging, to be taken back. When he had intervened, he was taken outside and dropped on his arse by two henchmen, each the size of Colossus, who made no attempt to disguise the fact that they were armed. It was as his bottom hit the littered frosty pavement, in the exact same place he had escaped from Siobhan, that he had decided his sister needed kidnapping. Just not by some criminal oligarch. As he had shivered outside the club, it appeared that the Russian mobster was not interested in having Angelina back and thus it wasn’t much longer before she fell out of the front door of the club, dress ripped and make-up smudged. Siobhan was nowhere in sight.
Sticking his head under the tap one last time, he knew he had to hatch a plan to bring Ange home to Cornwall with him, wean her off gangsters and friends with drug problems and try, yet again, to talk about the importance of boundaries and self-respect. The mere thought was making his head thud harder.
‘No! No! No! You evil creature! Arrrrgggghhh! How could you?’ Angelina was awake.
He heard her bedroom door open and watched as Scramble screeched out, almost skidding across the floor and heading straight for his daddy with the naughtiest grin on his face.
Matt curled down so the dog could jump straight into his arms and protection. Then prepared himself to deal with Angelina’s fury, quickly trying to wipe the smile off his face. Maybe he shouldn’t have let Scramble have full access to her shoes but perhaps she shouldn’t have… well, that list was far too long to contemplate.
Ange came full pelt out of her room, shoe aloft, reminiscent of the mother inTom and Jerry, and for the first time in years Matt saw her hair as less than perfect. He had always wondered if it stayed exactly in place whilst she slept. Apparently not.
‘Do you know what that vile, vile beast—’
‘I’m sorry, Ange, that may be my fault.’
‘Why? Have you been rolling around in my shoe cupboard chewing my Jimmy Choos? Chewing and spitting on not one, not two, but five different shoes! Have you? No, it’s that bloody dog’s fault! Why did you even bring him? Couldn’t you have left him somewhere, you know, like with that dull woman whats-her-face next door? If he had chewed her sensible bloody shoes he’d have been doing the world a favour!’
‘Oh, funny you should mention Rosy, because guess who I was with when you summoned me to London? Where I rushed to with said dog, straight away, may I remind you.’
‘Dear God! I don’t actually want to talk about her right now! Urgghhh.’ Angelina made gagging noises, about as attractively as she was wearing her hair.
‘What is wrong with you? Why are you so mean about her?’
‘Woof!’ Brave now he was in his dad’s arms, Scramble also objected.
‘Really? I’m heartbroken and your dog’ – she shot Scramble a warning look – ‘has just trashed over two thousand pounds’ worth of shoes and you want to talk about her! You could do so much better than mousey-bloody-moo. I know for a fact Siobhan has a massive crush, and family money…’
Matt’s eyes grew huge – where to start?
His sister hadn’t finished. ‘Now, are you going to put that dog down so I can beat him as he deserves? Five pairs of shoes, Matt!’
‘Woof!’
‘What do you think? You’re not touching my dog! I’m about to take him out to lift his leg and then we can go for breakfast. Can you be ready in ten minutes?’
‘Oh God! You know nothing about women, do you. Go on, take your dog and get out. Go eat heart disease on a plate – you can bring me back a soy latte and a mango. Go. Go on, and make sure that mutt’s teeth are removed before you bring him back in!’
Matt swallowed the last morsel of black pudding, fed a smidgen of sausage to Scramble and picked up his phone to call Susie. Angelina had very sensibly insisted upon Susie when he was initially offered the presenting job at Penmenna, and he had been touched at the time that his baby sister was so fierce about protecting his interests. That feeling had dimmed fairly rapidly. However, Susie had proved invaluable and was about to help him with his primary job for today. Plus, he knew this call would make his agent very happy.
He had two problems to solve this morning. The first was getting Angelina to Cornwall, but he figured that could easily be sorted by using her number one skill against her: manipulation. Rational debate was pointless. If he dropped some hints about Tom Hardy filming down the road in Roscombe, she’d be packed and at Paddington before he could put Scramble on a lead. The other job at the top of his to-do list, the one he was tackling now, was trickier but manageable. He had the perfect leverage, and what was a little personal embarrassment to help a whole community? He took a deep breath to prepare himself, and just in time.
‘Darling! I didn’t expect to hear from you today, not after Friday’s call. Is everything OK? How are the wilds of Cornwall?’
‘Wild. However, Susie, that’s not why I’m ringing. I want to discuss some changes to the format ofGreen-fingered and Gorgeous.’
‘Eh? You put the kibosh on that name that you’re throwing about so freely.’
‘Yes, that’s because it’s ridiculous. But I’m prepared to negotiate. You can let the production company know I’ll roll over on the name if they include this new segment idea I have, and allow me complete control over it.’
Ten minutes later, Matt sat back in his chair, read the confirmation email from Susie and beamed from ear to ear. Take that, Edward Grant! #SaveOurSchool.
Chapter Fifteen
Rosy drove to work on Monday scared that the whole Matt thing was going to distract her from her main focus. He kept popping into her head at the oddest moments.
All that curly-haired boy-next-door charm was a lethal mix, and one she had no intention of being seduced by. They both clearly fancied the pants off each other, and if she didn’t stand firm there was only one way that was going. Judging by her diminished strength (both legs and backbone) around him, he was her kryptonite, so she would have to reduce his potency by ceasing all contact. She was not a home-wrecker; neither would she make a fool of herself in a village she was so happy in. Although if they lost the school maybe she could risk a kiss.
