Agent Provocateur (26 page)

Fiona has the story again and will let her know if she wants changes. Betty has four other stories on the go now. Her workload is ever increasing and she is not quite struggling but almost. Even so, she can’t help wasting time speculating about Grace marching into Johnny’s life and trying to steal him like the common thief she is, but then she is only human.

His office is on the seventh floor. It is one of London’s many characterless, huge glass spaces. Grace would hate to work in one like it. For some reason it reminds her of the soulless homes she grew up in, built by the council, obviously a council house, using the most depressing grey cement rendering to remind them that they weren’t quite worth anything else. She chastises herself for such thoughts. Those thoughts are banned in her new world; she must remember that.

She gets out of the large empty lift, checking her reflection one last time, and walks into the reception area. It is small but the furniture looks expensive. The sofas are red with chrome legs, the coffee table is glass and chrome, and the reception desk matches. It feels a bit like a furniture showroom, with choice paintings on the walls (canvas) and wooden floors sprinkled with rugs.

She announces herself to the receptionist (a woman who looks as designer as the furniture), feeling adrenalin kicking in. She is slightly nervous about messing up, or giving herself away, but that is normal in her job. That slight lack of confidence makes her good at what she does; arrogance makes mistakes.

She sits on the sofa and flicks through
The
Times
, not really concentrating as her eyes dart from the pages to the door leading from reception. Finally, she sees him walk towards her.

For a minute everything is in slow motion. She instinctively knows it is him, although he looks nothing like she expected. He is tall, with hair so blond it is almost white. He looks slightly serious; a frown decorates his forehead. His suit is immaculate but not in a sleazy way, not the way she associates with her usual bastards. His face is perfect, as if someone knew what they were doing when they lovingly put his features together. Her heart speeds up; she does not move. Everything is still for a minute. He has a word with the receptionist, and then moves towards her. She feels her hands become clammy. She is unsure why she is having these feelings; she tries to slow them down. It is just nerves, she insists to herself. There is, after all, so much at stake.

‘I’m Johnny Parkin,’ he says, his hand outstretched.

Grace looks at him, smiles and stands up, feeling shaky. ‘I’m Grace Regan,’ she replies. Although she still feels slightly light headed, her in-excitable nature is returning.

She follows him to a small meeting room where a cafetiere, a teapot and two cups greet them. He gestures for her to sit down, and she obliges. He sits opposite her. She studies him. He looks honest, his face is open, and his smile is delicious. For a split second something in her head tells her to run, but she doesn’t run. She stays and refuses to listen.

‘Are you OK?’ he asks.

She wonders what he must be seeing, what she must be showing him. She sternly tells herself to behave.

‘Sorry, I’m just a bit nervous,’ she replies truthfully.

He establishes what she wants to drink and pours her some coffee. She adds the milk, concentrating on not letting her hand tremble. She shakes her head as he proffers the sugar bowl.

‘How can I help?’ he asks, and she gets an urge to tell him the truth, but she doesn’t. Of course she doesn’t.

‘I’m in a bit of a mess.’ Her character clicks in, and starts working, much to her relief. He is looking at her intently and she feels naked. ‘You see, my husband – well, ex-husband now – left me almost a year ago and he dealt with things. I thought it was time I took control. I have no idea what to do.’

‘Where do you want to start?’ he asks, looking surprised:

He
is
surprised. He has noted how beautiful she is and wonders why her husband left; how any man could leave someone who looks like her. He is cross with himself for being so sexist. And unprofessional. She could, after all, have a really horrible personality.

‘I have some money, not a huge amount, but some. And I have a job, and I have the flat. I didn’t bring all the details because I didn’t know what you’d need. But I want to make sure that I’m going to be all right. I probably need a pension and, well, you see so much about mortgage deals and I’m hopeless with all that. He did it, you see – took care of it.’

‘I’ll probably need to see everything before I can advise you.’

‘Of course. I should have brought them, but I was feeling a bit nervous, out of my depth. I have got details of my earnings here, so a pension should be a start, I suppose.’

‘How old are you?’

‘Thirty-two. I suppose I should have all this sorted already.’ She allows herself another look at his eyes. They really are spectacular.

‘Not everyone does.’ He is being kind. Grace hands him some papers that Nicole helped her prepare. Although Grace knows she doesn’t approve, she is being very helpful. They have details of her earnings from a fictional job, and also details of her savings. When she phoned up to make the appointment, she spoke to Johnny’s assistant, who told her to bring as much information as she could. However, she realised that if she brought everything he would require, then there wouldn’t be the excuse for the contact that she was planning.

‘I can get everything else to you. I just find finance baffling, to be honest.’

‘Grace, the number of times I’ve heard that, please don’t worry. What we’ll do is collect all the information I need, and then I will go through the options, leaving out all the technical terms and making it simple. It is simple, but we don’t like people to think that. We like them to think that we’re really clever.’

Grace likes him. She wasn’t expecting to like him – after all, she cannot stand his wife. This surprises her and scares her. Finding the men devilishly attractive is acceptable, but she isn’t supposed to like them. Even if this man isn’t one of her normal jobs.

They spend the rest of the meeting going through a few financial details, until Grace tells him, unprompted, that her ex-husband had been a serial philanderer and had left her devastated. He looks on with sympathy as she describes six months of despair before she pulls herself together. It is all part of the plan. When she gets ready to leave, not only have they made an appointment for Friday of that week, but she also has his much-needed direct line number, which he offered. It is early days but it all seems to be working like a dream. The only thing bothering her are the lies. Lies are second nature to her, but for some reason she is feeling ashamed.

‘Johnny, I’m sorry if I bored you with my story. I shouldn’t have burdened you with it.’

‘Don’t be silly, it’s fine. Look, don’t worry. I know that it feels like the financial wilderness, but I’ll sort you out, promise.’ He is so incredibly lovely, she can barely believe that he would marry someone like Betty.

She takes his outstretched hand and shakes it, holding it for slightly longer than she intended.

‘See you Friday,’ he says, smiling.

Grace returns the smile and walks away. She hopes she can feel him watching her as she leaves; she can.

Johnny returns to his office thinking that it isn’t often that he gets a client who looks like that.

Betty is conducting a phone interview with Nessa O’Neill, a relationship therapist, a woman who is paid to sort out people’s romantic lives. As she asks the questions and listens to the answers, she gets a strong feeling that she could do with one. Despite it being only the second week of the bet and despite her confidence that she will win, a tiny particle of worry has managed to lodge itself under her skin. When she feels unbalanced she often looks around her to check that everything is normal and it is. But then she knows that Grace is out there, somewhere, trying to seduce her husband, and that is not.

‘Nessa, do people come to you on their own if they feel their relationship is under threat or just as couples?’

‘They come for all sorts of reasons, but yes, that has happened.’

‘And what do you say?’

‘I say that if you love someone, and they love you, you have to believe in that. If you don’t, then there is very little else.’ Betty smiles as she relays that to herself throughout the afternoon. Nessa made her feel better. She vows to give her a great write-up. Fiona emails her to ask about the bet, as does Alison. She is fine about it, but she soon won’t be if everyone else keeps on. She doesn’t share those thoughts with her boss or her friend but sends them curt emails telling them that as far as she is aware it isn’t even happening. Not quite the truth, but almost. Most of the time she is managing to ignore it. Only sometimes she thinks of it and worries.

By the end of the day, she is desperate to go home to Johnny. To see him, to see if he shows any indication that he has been ‘Graced’. When it is finally time to leave, she calls him.

‘Hi, babes,’ he says. He sounds the same as normal.

‘Hi. I’m leaving work now. What time will you be home?’

‘Ah, well, Matt just called. He wondered if I wanted to go for a quick drink in the City, before we brave public transport.’ Although this is a normal occurrence, immediately Betty feels threatened. She cannot speak. ‘Is that all right?’ he asks.

‘Sorry. Yes, of course. I was just thinking that maybe I’d go for a drink with people from here. See you at home later?’ She curses everyone. Look what they’ve done. They’ve made her paranoid just over a week into the bet. And now that she is paranoid because of them, not because of her trust in Johnny, she is going to start driving herself mad.

‘I’ll be back by eight.’

She hangs up, grabs Hannah, and drags her to the nearest wine bar. As she buys a bottle of wine, Hannah looks at her questioningly.

‘Betty is there something wrong?’

Betty takes a large gulp of wine. ‘Absolutely not.’ Everything is fine, nothing is wrong and if she doesn’t pull herself together, she knows that the next few months will destroy her.

She loves him and he loves her. He is not going to start an illicit affair, he isn’t underhand. She can trust him, she should trust him; he deserves nothing less. Grace can no more tear them apart than she can bend metal. Betty hopes that she can’t actually bend metal.

Grace returns home from her first meeting with Johnny to find a message from Nicole on her answer machine. She calls her back.

‘Grace, I wanted to talk about the job tonight. The wife has panicked about where he is going to be, so I’ve got Tony following him from home. Apparently, he is going to play squash, but she doesn’t think he is. Anyway, she’s a wreck and doesn’t know if she’s coming or going, so I think that having him followed is best.’

‘Fine. I’ll make sure I’m in the area, and Tony can call me.’

‘Oh, and can you wear a video wire? She wants to see everything.’

‘I feel sorry for this woman.’

‘You and me both. Honestly, she is in a bad way. I tried to persuade her to postpone us until she felt a bit better, but it’s the idea of him cheating that’s making her like this. So, did you meet him?’

‘I did.’

‘And?’

‘He’s very kind.’

‘Kind? What kind of description is that? I’m kind, for God’s sake. What does he look like?’

‘Oh, he’s very nice-looking. Well groomed, but not in a smarmy way. Lovely eyes, and I get the impression that out of his suit he’s probably quite trendy. But then his wife is, so that would figure.’

‘You didn’t hate him?’

‘No, actually I didn’t. Nicole, he was so nice to me and I know I was spinning a yarn, but there was something quite special about him.’ Grace stops and blushes. She has lost track of what she is saying; she’s said far too much.

‘Grace, are you telling me you fancied him?’

‘Oh, come on, I’m not a teenager. Anyway, this is business. I have his direct line number and I’ve made a second appointment, and then at some point I’m going to have to lure him from the office.’

‘You told him you were a lonely divorcee?’

‘Yup.’

‘Look, I know I said that I didn’t approve but as I’m already helping I might as well continue.’

‘Go on.’

‘Talk about something you used to do with your husband, an innocent activity, and I’m not talking sex. You need to ensure that that said activity is one of his passions.’

‘Um …’ Grace pulls out a folder that Betty had given her with details about Johnny in it. Along with his work details is a list of hobbies. ‘He likes golf,’ Grace says, ‘and
Carry
On
films.’ She frowns, she never got
Carry
On
films. Too many ugly men and blonde women with big breasts. Disturbing.

‘Bingo. Look, I can get you in to one of the most exclusive golf courses in London. What we need to do is for you to have more contact. Then we’ll get you a membership card. You say you’ve got no one to play with, and because it is such a hot course, he’ll be sure to offer to come with you, or he’ll tell you how much he likes golf, and you ask him. Brilliant. And if you need more time with him then you take him to see a film.’

‘I haven’t played for ages and I hate those films.’

‘No, but you got quite into it. I’m sure it’s like riding a bike, and, anyway, you being a bit rusty will fit nicely into the whole story of not playing for ages. As for the films, you just laugh at every other line and he’ll never know.’ Nicole can barely believe how helpful she is being.

‘You’re a genius, Nicole.’

‘Yeah, but it’s a bit soon to be asking him for golf. Leave it until maybe the end of the month. I’m not sure why I’m telling you what to do. Anyway, I’ll get you a membership card.’

‘Excellent. Anyway, already know my next move.’

‘And it is?’

‘I’m supposed to have a second meeting this Friday, and I’m going to cancel.’

‘You really are the best, honey.’

‘Nicole?’

‘Yes.’

‘Am I doing the right thing?’

‘How on earth is anyone meant to know that? Trust your instinct, Grace, that’s all you’ve got. That’s all anyone has.’