Page 130 of Who’s That Girl?

My heart suddenly plummets. I must have given Lottie the wrong piece of paper. It’s my stupid bag – it’s filled with so much rubbish. The dinner party’s tonight. As a thought strikes, I feel a clutch of panic. Oh my God, if she doesn’t get it, she’s not going to know where to go. She’s not going to turn up. She’s going to stand him up.

Grabbing my bag from the counter, I make a dash for it. ‘Miss, your coat, miss,’ cries the attendant, but I don’t stop. I just keep on running.

Fifteen minutes later I’m back in my car hurtling through London, zigzagging between other cars, jumping traffic lights, speeding past speed cameras. Come on, come on, come on … I get caught up in the diversion again, and as I pull up at the lights, I thump the steering wheel in frustration. I have to get there in time to give her the address. I can’t let her stand him up.

But what if you already did?

As the thought fires through my brain, I have a sudden flashback to yesterday in my flat, explaining to Oliver why I didn’t pop into the pub: ‘I thought you’d stood me up again. Just joking.’

But he wasn’t joking, was he? I did stand him up. I didn’t get the address in time, did I?

The shrill burbling of my phone cuts into my thoughts and I glance at the screen: Julian. Immediately my mind swings like a pendulum back to Vanessa and her phone call yesterday, the several messages I left with Julian’s secretary telling him to call me back. I put in my earpiece.

‘Hello?’

‘Hey, Charlotte, it’s Julian. I got a message to call you.’

I hesitate for a split second, wondering how I am going to put this, how I am going to broach the subject, then give up. ‘The game’s up. I know everything.’

‘About what?’ he replies innocently.

‘Julian, don’t try this with me!’ I cry impatiently. ‘This is me you’re talking to, remember, your friend. I’ve known you too long – I can tell when you’re hiding something.’

There’s a silence, then, ‘Oh God, have you told Vanessa?’ He sounds stricken.

‘No, of course I haven’t told Vanessa, but if you don’t, I will.’

The lights turn green and I start edging forwards.

‘I was just waiting for the right time,’ he bleats.

‘The right time?’ I exclaim in disbelief. ‘Of course there’s never going to be a right time!’ I think about Vanessa and feel a surge of loyalty. ‘Julian, I can’t believe you could do something like this!’

‘Well, I had to do something,’ he protests. ‘I don’t know if Vanessa told you, but we’ve been having a few problems—’

‘Of course Vanessa’s told me,’ I cut him off. Honestly, do men really have no idea that we tell our girlfriends everything?

‘And I admit I haven’t exactly been the best husband of late. Work’s been a nightmare. I’ve been a bit of a nightmare.’

‘You’re using work as an excuse?’

‘Well, no, it’s not an excuse, I was trying to explain … Look, a colleague of mine just announced his marriage is over, he’s getting a divorce, and when he told me, it gave me a wake-up call, which was long overdue—’

‘God, I can’t believe it!’ I gasp furiously, not letting him finish. ‘You’re all as bad as each other! And to think I always stuck up for you!’

‘Well, um, thanks, Charlotte,’ he replies, only now he’s sounding a little defensive. And no wonder, I think, hotly. ‘I’ll take that as a compliment.’

‘A compliment! You bastard!’

There’s silence.

‘Charlotte? Are you all right?’ he asks after a moment.

‘No, I’m not all right,’ I gasp. ‘Vanessa loves you. She’d do anything for you. And you go and repay her by having a sordid little affair.’

‘An affair?’

I’m expecting him to be angry, sad, defensive … so I’m more than a little shocked when he suddenly bursts out laughing. ‘You think it’s funny?’