Angel Uncovered (18 page)

'She hates everyone except Simone and Lauren.'

'Well, they're three of a kind, aren't they?' Candy put in.

At just that moment the WWWs appeared at the
poolside.

'God, it's freaky the way they can do that!' Suki
exclaimed. 'I swear they really are witches.'

Clearly Gabrielle had not taken
Grazia's
advice to dress
down because she was currently sporting a zebra-print
tunic with matching zebra-print sling backs. She walked
over to where Angel was sitting and when she saw them
all looking at
Grazia
, said scornfully, 'Enjoy your
moment, Angel. I don't suppose it will be long before
you're back to wearing tacky outfits and showing off your
tits.'

'Leave her alone, Gabrielle. She's got more style in her
little finger than you could ever have,' Candy exclaimed
loyally.

'And that means so much coming from you, who never
stops acting like a caned Essex girl on a night out.'

'I'm from Manchester, you div, but there's nothing
wrong with Essex girls,' Candy shot back. 'Better than
being a stuck up bitch like—'

Suki quickly interrupted her. 'Come on, girls, there's
no need for this.'

'Gabrielle, let's go,' Simone put in. 'We've got our
manicure appointments now.' But as they walked off she
couldn't resist turning round and shooting Angel yet
another poisonous look.

'God,' Angel groaned, 'how many more weeks of this
have we got to put up with?'

'Just think of the great holiday you can have with Cal
and Honey when it's all over,' Madison said sympathetically.
'And then will you be going back to Italy?'

'Oh, don't ask,' she exclaimed. 'I really don't want to
live there, but I think my marriage won't survive unless I
move.'

'What do you mean?' Candy was looking at her, openmouthed
with surprise, 'You and Cal have got a perfect
marriage. I'm always saying to Liam that if we can be like
you two then we'll be all right.'

'How ironic. I was just thinking if only Cal and I could
be more like you two,' Angel replied wistfully.

It was clear that Candy wanted to continue her interrogation
but Madison managed to steer the conversation
away, to Angel's huge relief.

As they all walked back into the hotel later Madison
hung back with Angel and said quietly, 'All marriages go
through their tough times. God knows me and Reece
have come close to splitting up more than once. If you
ever need anyone to talk to, you can tell me and it will go
no further, I promise.'

'Thanks,' Angel answered gratefully. She didn't want
to confide in anyone because things between her and Cal
seemed so complicated, but it was still good to know that
she could.

But other people too were becoming aware that there
might be problems between Angel and Cal. When Angel
was back in her suite she got a call from her agent, Carrie.
Angel had something of a love-hate relationship with her.
Carrie had got her some amazing work, though Gemma
was always pointing out that it was due to Angel's talent
and not especially to Carrie's, but she could be
breathtakingly insensitive when it came to the emotional
stuff.

'Angel darling, why didn't you tell me about you and
Cal?' she exclaimed without even bothering to say hello
when Angel answered the phone.

'Tell you about what?' she asked, a sick feeling in the
pit of her stomach.

'You know – that it's make or break time,' Carrie continued,
seemingly oblivious to the impact of her words.

'Says who?' Angel demanded, feeling thoroughly
shaken by what she was hearing.

'Darling, I had a call from a journalist friend and it's
going to be all over the tabloids tomorrow. There are
pictures of you leaving a restaurant together, both
looking miserable, and one of your friends is quoted as
saying that you fear Cal may be unfaithful.'

It had to be Simone behind this story, and probably Gabrielle
too,
Angel thought bitterly.

'I just thought I'd warn you so you know to expect calls
from journalists. Do you want to do a shoot off the back
of the story, so you can put across your side?'

'Carrie . . .' Angel fought to control her anger but was
very close to telling her agent to fuck off '. . . there
is
no
story. Cal and I are getting on fine, and I'm not saying
anything! England are playing again tomorrow night
and the last thing I want is for him to be upset by this
crap!'

'Well,' Carrie replied huffily, 'there would no doubt be
a good fee and I'm sure I don't need to remind you that
you haven't worked much lately. There are a lot of other
glamour girls out there, Angel.'

'I am here to support my husband, Carrie. I'm not
working until after the World Cup is over, and I want you
to tell your journalist friend that rumours of any
problems between Cal and me are absolute lies. We've
never been happier.'

Angel might have sounded confident but that was very
far from how she felt and for the rest of the day she was
thoroughly miserable. She couldn't get hold of Cal and
had to leave a message about the story, but when they
finally spoke in the evening he didn't even seem
concerned about it.

'Come on, Angel, you know the papers are always
printing crap. How many times have you read about a
celebrity couple whose marriage is supposed to be
breaking up just because they're seen looking moody on
a night out? It's bollocks, just forget about it, I have.'

'But what about that friend who's quoted as saying that
I'm worried about you being unfaithful?'

'What about it? There is no such friend, we both know
that. And you're not worried, are you?'

Angel hesitated. The fact was that Simone had sown a
nasty seed of doubt in her mind all those months ago,
and that combined with Cal's touchiness about her
looking at his text message had left her feeling insecure.
But the night before his big match was no time for her to
express these feelings.

She sighed. 'No, I know it's lies.'

'Good.' Cal sounded relieved. 'Why don't you go and
see Suki and the others?'

But Angel didn't take his advice and spent the rest of
the night alone; she just couldn't bear to have everyone
feel sorry for her, and didn't think she could hold it
together if they started to ask too many questions.

'Go on, Cal!' Angel screamed out, not caring how she
looked if the cameras were trained on her. It was the last
two minutes of the nail-biting match between England
and Germany, and so far the score stood at 1-1. Cal had
the ball but as he wove his way past a defender, was
viciously tackled and fell to the ground clutching his knee.

'Oh, God, no!' Angel exclaimed, and Candy put her
arm round her sympathetically. The next few minutes
were agony for Angel as Cal remained lying down and
the physio rushed over to him. This could be the end of
her husband's World Cup dreams. But then he was
getting up, and though he moved a little gingerly at first
he seemed fine.

Because of the foul England were awarded a free kick.
Reece, Madison's husband, looked as if he was going to
take it but at the last second swapped with Cal. Angel
thought she couldn't take anymore tension, but to her
delight and that of every other English fan the line of
defenders failed to head the ball away, the goalkeeper
dived for it but missed . . . it was a goal! The stadium
erupted into cheers, shouts and singing from the fans.
Angel whooped with delight and hugged Candy and Suki
and Madison, tears in her eyes because she was so proud
of Cal. He had won the match for England!

*

More than anything Angel wanted to see him, but the
players had to have a debrief and instead the women
headed back to the hotel. 'We have
so
got to celebrate
tonight!' Candy exclaimed as they got on to the coach.

'Too right we have!' Madison replied. 'I was totally
convinced it was going to go to penalties again and we'd
lose. Oh, not because of Cal,' she put in hastily, seeing
Angel's expression, 'but because we usually do when it
comes to penalties! Oops! I suppose as a WAG I really
shouldn't say such disloyal things.'

Angel laughed. 'I'm just so relieved that Cal scored. I
thought when he went down that was it.'

'So come on, now to the important thing – where are
we going to go?' Suki put in.

But suddenly Gabrielle was standing up and
addressing everyone on the coach, 'As the Captain's wife
I'd like to invite all of you for cocktails to celebrate our
boys' success.'

There were cheers from most of the women on the
coach except Angel's group.

'I guess it would look really bad if we didn't go,
wouldn't it?' she muttered, and reluctantly the others
agreed, though Candy added, 'We'll have cocktails first
and
then
go out.'

Back at the hotel Angel spent some time with her
daughter, then took a long shower, wrapped herself in
the white hotel robe and went round to Candy's room.
She had insisted the two of them should get ready
together.

She'd already opened the champagne when Angel
knocked at the door. 'Get your arse over here, girl, and
have a drink,' she exclaimed, handing Angel a glass.
'Now what are you going to wear?'

'Well, I was going to go for my white skinny jeans and
a white sequined vest,' Angel said, holding up the clothes
for Candy's inspection.

'Angel! They're very nice but we're celebrating. You've
got to wear something fabulous.'

'Okay, will this do?' She picked up her second choice,
a short black dress with a plunging neckline and
bejewelled hem and straps.

'So much better!' Candy exclaimed. 'You could wear it
with your hair up and your Christian Louboutins.'
God,
her resemblance to Gemma really was uncanny.
Angel took a
long sip of champagne for confidence, slipped off her
robe and put on the dress. It looked amazing but Angel
worried it was too revealing – lots of leg and cleavage
were on show and she felt as if she was hardly wearing
anything.

'You don't think I'm showing off too much, do you?'
she asked anxiously.

'Angel – have you ever thought that in six years' time
you'll be thirty? You've got it, girl, flaunt it!'

'You really are as bossy as my friend Gemma!' Angel
grumbled. 'And thirty isn't the end of the
world.'

'All I'm saying is, make the most of what you've got
now because you don't want to be mutton, do you?'
Candy said darkly.

The two girls spent the next half an hour doing their
hair and make up and finishing the bottle of champagne
so that by the time they arrived at Gabrielle's cocktail
party in the hotel they were already feeling merry – no
bad thing, Angel thought, as it took the edge off seeing
the witches.

Gabrielle was coolly polite as she greeted them. 'I've
had the barman invent a cocktail especially to celebrate
and everyone's got to have one.'

Angel would have preferred to stick to champagne but
didn't want to have another run in with Gabrielle so she
took one of the red cocktails from the tray the waiter
offered her. The two girls were just sipping their drinks
and looking out for Suki and Madison when Simone
sidled up to them.

'I saw that story in the press, Angel. I did warn you
about Cal, didn't I? How are you holding up?' she asked
in a falsely sympathetic voice.

'The story was bollocks,' Angel shot back. 'So don't
worry yourself about Cal and me, we've got a rock solid
marriage.'

Simone smirked. 'If you say so.' She wandered over to
Gabrielle.

'What story?' Candy asked, and Angel quickly filled
her in.

'God, are you okay about it, Angel?'

She shrugged. 'I have to be until after the tournament
at least. Anyway, I'm not giving that bitch the satisfaction
of knowing how upset I am. But come on, let's not talk
about it – Suki and Madison are over there.'

In spite of Gabrielle and Simone, Angel enjoyed the
cocktail party. With the exception of those two, all the
other WAGs she met were nice to her and everyone
wanted to congratulate her on Cal's winning goal. Angel
drank more than she had in ages but she felt happily
merry and was looking forward to a night out with her
friends. It seemed that most of the other WAGs had the
same idea and after an hour of cocktails everyone
deserted the hotel. None of Angel's group felt like
dinner yet so they decided to go to a bar first. But not
just any old bar – they headed for Bar Marmont at the
legendary hotel the Château Marmont on Sunset
Boulevard.

'Wow! It looks just like a castle!' Candy exclaimed as
the limo drove them up the hill to the impressive
building.

Madison laughed. 'That's because it is one! It was
modelled on a French château and it is
the
place to stay
and to be seen – it always has been. It opened in 1929 and
stars like Errol Flynn and Greta Garbo were regular
guests.'

The three girls looked at Madison in surprise. 'How do
you know all this?' Angel asked.

She gave them a mock-serious look. 'Because, like, I
actually read my guidebook – and
Heat
, of course. All the
stars stay here. I'm just really hoping we might see
Leonardo DiCaprio as he comes here as well. I love him
. . . even though I know I'm too old.'

'It's not that you're too old,' Suki replied. 'It's . . . how
can I put this delicately? It's more, lovely as you are,
Babe, you're no supermodel.'

Madison sighed theatrically. 'I am in my head, and I
could be for him!'

Angel was still smiling as they walked into the bar. She
tried to be discreet but couldn't help scanning the elegant
room with its red velvet sofas and ornate mirrors on the
elaborately plastered walls to see if she could spot anyone
famous. There were lots of 'beautiful' people sipping
cocktails and looking über-cool but she didn't notice any
stars. She did, however, notice the gorgeous blond guy
she'd seen outside Hyde and he smiled at her in recognition.
Angel quickly looked away – she didn't want him
to think that she'd been eyeing him up.

'Champagne or cocktails?' Suki asked as they were
shown to a table.

'It's got to be Cristal,' Madison exclaimed. 'We're
WAGs, what else are we going to drink!' Even Angel
laughed. Tonight she was celebrating her husband's
success, she could let the WAG comment go. As soon as
the champagne arrived they all toasted the boys again on
their success.

'You must be so made up for Cal,' Candy said.

'God, yes!' Angel replied. 'I'm so proud of him!'

'Wow! Check out that table of good-looking lads,'
Madison whispered. 'Six o'clock . . . but don't make it
obvious you're looking!' She giggled as everyone turned
round to ogle with zero subtlety. The four men,
including the good-looking blond guy, saw them and
raised their glasses. Angel found herself once more
staring at the tall blond man who really was gorgeous.

Candy nudged her. 'Look, it's that sexy man from the
other night!'

'Shh!' Angel told her, feeling slightly guilty for
checking him out.

'They're just a bit of eye candy, Angel!' Madison told
her.

She shrugged. 'Oh, I know. It's just I know how I'd feel
if it was Cal looking at some girl in a bar.'

'Well, there's nomarriage vow that says you can't look,'
Madison continued.
And she was right, wasn't she?
But
Angel still felt guilty and a pang of longing for Cal.

Just then a waiter appeared at their table and said
discreetly, 'The gentlemen over there would like you to
have this bottle of champagne, and they asked if you
would like to join them.'

'Should we know who they are?' Madison asked.

The waiter allowed himself a small smile. 'They're very
well known over here, ma'am – they're baseball players
for the Los Angeles Dodgers.'

'And that's good, is it?' Madison continued.

'Oh, yes, they're like your Premiership footballers.'

'What do you reckon, girls?' Candy asked. 'I'm up for
it.'

Angel's first reaction was to say no, but not wanting to
look like a total killjoy she reluctantly agreed.

Madison led the way over to the table, with Angel
trailing behind, and the next few minutes were taken up
by introductions. She found herself sitting next to the
good-looking blond who she discovered was called Ethan.

'I hoped I would see you again,' he told her and Angel
just smiled, not wanting to admit that she had felt the
same. He was a complete charmer and made it his
mission to draw her into conversation.

He loved the fact that she was called Angel and that she
was now in the City of Angels. 'You belong here,' he told
her. 'It must be your destiny.' It didn't take her long to
realise that Ethan liked her – a lot. He simply couldn't
keep his eyes off her. 'I see you're married,' he said
playfully, gesturing at the blingtastic diamond band on
Angel's left hand. 'But you hate your husband, right? I
can just tell you're looking for someone else.'

He stared at her with his intensely blue eyes in a way
that probably would have melted the heart and knickers
of any other woman, but Angel just laughed and said,
'You're wide of the mark. I love my husband.'

Ethan groaned theatrically and put his head in his
hands. 'Just shoot me now! I can't believe I finally see the
girl of my dreams and you're married . . . this just can't
be!'

Everyone round the table laughed at him, and one of
his friends, Logan, a tall, handsome African-American
drawled, 'At last Ethan meets a girl he can't have. It'll be
good for you, bro. You'll learn how it feels to be like the
rest of us.'

As they bantered and teased each other, Angel found
herself relaxing and enjoying herself. And even though
she wouldn't have admitted it to
anyone
, she couldn't
deny that she was attracted to Ethan. If she hadn't been
married then she surely would have been tempted . . .
But as it was she could bask in his admiration. It felt good
to be told by a handsome man how beautiful she was,
when for the last few months Cal hadn't seemed to notice
her. Once Ethan realised he had no chance, he started
talking generally to her about her life and in turn she
asked him about himself. Conversation flowed easily
between them and she found herself warming to him
even more.

'So how come you're not with someone special?' she
asked boldly.

'Seriously?' Ethan shrugged. 'I haven't met the right
girl.'

'He's a sex addict!' one of his team mates shouted over
the table and Ethan immediately challenged him to an
arm wrestle. Watching the two men lock forearms, Angel
couldn't help staring at Ethan's muscular tanned arms.
And found herself imagining what the rest of his body
would be like . . . She quickly looked away, trying to
compose herself.
Get a grip! I'm married to the man I love!

The group then decided to go on to Tropicana at the
Roosevelt Hotel, another über-A-list haunt that had
Candy practically jumping up and down with excitement.
Angel tried to protest that she needed to get back
to the hotel but no one would let her. And after she'd
checked that Lucy was okay to keep baby-sitting Honey,
she agreed. Ethan managed to ensure that he was sitting
next to her again in the limo. 'Don't feel you have to stay
with me there,' she teased him. 'I don't want to cramp
your style. There are probably loads of pretty girls there
who'll want to be with you.'

'Loads,' he agreed. 'But not
the one
.' Then gave her that
look – half longing, half pure lust – which had Angel
pretending to look at her watch so she could hide just
how attractive she found him.
God, he was hot!

As Angel's group was ushered through the hotel and
outside to the bar with its sultry lounge feel, wrapped
around the iconic swimming pool with its David Hockney
mural and surrounded by palm trees, they attracted a lot
of attention. These men were big stars and Angel was
aware of many girls' heads turning to check out Ethan.
Once they were installed at a table there was more
vintage champagne but Angel switched to mineral water.
She was already pleasantly drunk and wanted to keep a
clear head. To feel slightly out of control around someone
as devastatingly handsome and flirtatious as Ethan
was definitely not a good idea.