In spite of the emotions crashing down on her, Zola giggled at the sight of her friend. ‘No,’ she whispered.
‘Are you OK?’ Katy asked, clearly sensing something was off.
Zola paused, then shook her head. ‘No,’ she whispered again, then started sniffling, feeling herself break down.
Katy sat up properly now. ‘What’s up? Come here!’ She shimmied along the bed, giving Zola some room.
Zola sat down and recounted the whole conversation she’d had with Curtis. Katy hugged her tightly, cursing Curtis and promising Zola she was better off without his sorry cheating ass in her life.
‘I just don’t know what to say to Ella,’ Zola explained. ‘She’s not brought up Philip in a few days, and she’s gone out jogging this morning. She seems good.’
Katy shrugged. ‘I’m not sure. I mean, she could easily Google him and find out. I suppose the question is – are we better off telling her before she finds out elsewhere?’
Zola covered her face, already exhausted by the day’s onslaught of traumas. ‘OK, but after the interview. Let’s focus on that, then we can sit Ella down.’
The door of Katy’s room squeaked open and Ella stood there, her face flushed and bright. ‘Good, you’re both up,’ she panted, pulling out her earphones. ‘Are you OK?’
Zola screwed up her face. ‘Curtis cheated on me last night. He called to tell me.’
‘Are you fucking serious? Oh my God, Zola!’ Ella rushed over to the bed and wrapped her arms around her friend. ‘What are you going to do? I’m sure I can speak to Fee and rearrange this interview.’ She looked panicked.
‘No!’ Zola grabbed her hands. ‘I can do this. I think I’m probably better off getting out of this apartment and doing something.’
Ella seemed reluctant.
‘Ella, I’m fine,’ Zola assured her. ‘Things haven’t been great for a long time. It was just a shock.’
Katy flopped back down onto her bed and let out a growl. ‘I fucking hate men!’ she shouted.
‘Ditto!’ Zola high-fived her. ‘When do we have to start getting ready?’
Ella glanced at her watch, then back to the girls. ‘Now. But if you .?.?.’
‘Ella, I’m fine. I will be fine. It takes me a while to process, but when I get over this initial shock, I will have both of you with me. I know I’ll be fine.’
‘You will be,’ Ella repeated, rubbing Zola’s back. ‘You’re a superstar.’ She grinned. ‘Now who’s for one of my special matcha smoothies?’
Chapter Twenty-One
Ella
By eleven, the three of us were sat in front of journalist Tia Smalls, dressed to the nines in similar sexy office-style outfits. Despite our outward poise, my mind kept drifting back to the morning’s chaos. Curtis’s early morning confession of infidelity seemed unbelievable. I kept glancing at Zola, who, surprisingly, remained composed, focused and radiant. Usually, she wore hardly any makeup – her skin glowed naturally – but today, with a full face, she looked every bit the supermodel.
Was it possible she felt relieved by Curtis’s betrayal? I wondered. They had been together for years. I’d never known Zola in her single days. Zola without Curtis was sort of like an Ant without Dec, Richard without Judy. Joe Exotic without Carole Baskin, even. But quietly, I’d always wondered if he held her back. Without him, I could only imagine the things she might accomplish.
‘OK, ladies, I’ll record this for my notes,’ Tia said, putting her phone on the table. ‘So, Ella, Zola, Katy?’ she began, looking at each of us in turn.
‘Yes,’ I confirmed, smiling at my friends.
‘Perfect. Let’s start with finding out why you three are here in New York,’ Tia said, eyeing Katy, who was eager to reply.
‘Well, we were invited, Tia, by the lovely Mr Jimmy Link of Flirtify to fly across the Atlantic and help rid the American dating scene of toxic men!’
Tia laughed. ‘That’s quite the statement! So, you’re creating an app for women. Can you tell us about it?’ She turned to Zola.
‘Sure,’ Zola said, immediately switching to an assertive tone. ‘We are creating something totally new and exciting here at Flirtify, a handy app to help women research men before they date them. There is so much easy access to dating so many different people nowadays, and while finding love is important – and fun, – there are also many safety issues to consider. We want to advise women on who – and what – to look out for.’
Tia leaned in. ‘How are you doing that?’ She glanced at me while jotting down notes.
