Santa Baby (17 page)

Even though there was now no sign that the flat had been burgled, Tiffany still felt nervous being there. She
quickly
packed a suitcase with the clothes that were OK, her books and photo albums and shoved the torn clothes into a bin bag, along with the duvet and pillows. She wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.

It was only when she was in the taxi that she called Angel to thank her for arranging to have the flat cleared.

‘Don’t thank me! Thank Sean. He did it. Insisted on doing it himself actually. He’s such a sweetheart, isn’t he? D’you have his number?’

Damn, now she would have to be in contact with Sean again. Tiffany spent a few minutes dithering about whether to phone or text him. She opted for a brief text thanking him. It was probably the coward’s way out, but Tiffany felt that where she and Sean were concerned, from now on, less was more. He replied straight away to say that it had been no problem and that he hoped she was OK, and repeated his offer that she could call him if she was worried about anything. There was no kiss when he signed off.

She imagined he thought that would be unprofessional, and of course he didn’t want to give her the wrong impression. Just to prove that she most certainly didn’t have the wrong impression about their relationship, she didn’t reply and deleted his text.

Tiffany had other, more important things on her mind right now. Tomorrow she was starting her new job so that was what she would focus on.

TIFFANY STOOD OUTSIDE
Angel’s dressing room and tentatively knocked on the door.

‘Enter!’ A male voice called out. Tiffany opened the door and found herself in the middle of what seemed to be complete chaos. A very tanned blond man was rushing around brandishing a set of straighteners; Angel was standing in the middle of the room in her bra and knickers; and a very sulky-looking blonde, whom Tiffany recognised from the TV show as Claudia the stylist, was flicking through a rail of clothes, so violently that Tiffany was surprised they didn’t fly off the hangers.

‘Welcome to the madhouse!’ Angel exclaimed, and walked over and hugged Tiffany. She was totally unself-conscious about parading around in her underwear, but then, Tiffany reasoned, if she had a body like that, she would be too. Angel’s stomach was taut and toned. You would never know that she’d had a child. She had the body of a woman ten years younger.

‘Let me introduce you to everyone. Jez, my hairdresser …’ The tanned blond put down his straighteners and walked over to Tiffany. He gave her two kisses. She was getting used to this style of greeting. ‘But you are too, too cute! So
bellissimo
! I love the
fringe
… love the brunette hair! Maybe you should go brunette again,’ he said over his shoulder to Angel, who rolled her eyes and said, ‘But, darling, I’m a natural blonde.’

‘Your bush would tell a different story, if only it was there,’ he quipped.

‘Jez!’ Angel exclaimed, but she was smiling. ‘And this is Claudia.’

Claudia paused in her frenzied flicking, gave a nod and muttered, ‘Hi.’ Oops! Someone did not look pleased to see Tiffany. She wasn’t exactly sending out welcoming vibes …

‘And this is Darcy, my make-up artist.’

‘Hiya,’ Tiffany said, to a cheerful-looking redhead. She was feeling quite over-awed to find herself in a star’s dressing room, in the heart of a TV studio. ‘So what should I do?’

‘For now, I think you should just watch and see what goes on,’ Angel replied.

‘And you could get some coffees,’ Claudia put in, as she held up a dress to get Angel’s approval. ‘I’ll have a skinny latte, and please make sure they use skimmed milk and not semi-skimmed. They always get it wrong, and how hard can it be!’

Angel frowned and Tiffany had the feeling that Claudia was skating on thin ice. ‘Tiffany isn’t here to do that, Claudia. If you’re desperate for a coffee, go and get it yourself.’

Claudia slammed the dress back on the rail. ‘Fine, I’ll do that. Does anyone else want one?’ She stood there, hands on hips, pouting. Tiffany thought she looked like a model – all long limbs and attitude. Her clothes were certainly designer – an ivory chiffon shirt, beige silk shorts that showed off her slim brown legs, and high tan wedge sandals that Tiffany adored but guessed were way out of her price range.

No one did, and Claudia flounced out of the room.

‘Saucer of milk for the stylist?’ Jez commented.

Angel sighed. ‘She feels put out because I’ve asked Tiffany in to work with her. I’ve told her so many times that she needs to relax the style for the people on the show, but she doesn’t listen to me. I think she sees herself as an “artiste”, too good for day-time TV.’

Jez’s comment reflected Tiffany’s train of thought. ‘Then why the hell have you still got her, Angel?’

Another sigh. ‘I don’t know. I suppose I really hate confrontation, and the producer recommended her. And—’

Jez cut her off – he must know her really well, Tiffany thought, to be so outspoken. ‘And she’s not right. It’s your show, your shout. You’ve given her enough chances.’

‘Well, she’s on her last one.’

They stopped talking when the door opened and Claudia walked back in with her skinny latte. Tiffany wondered if she guessed they had been talking about her and would have felt sorry for Claudia if the woman hadn’t kept shooting her such evil-eye looks. She watched as Claudia selected a leopard-print wrap dress for Angel in a clingy silky material which Tiffany would have steered well clear of. Was Claudia deliberately trying to make Angel look bad? Well, as bad as you could ever make someone who looked as beautiful as she did. The dress made Angel’s bust look enormous, out of proportion against her slender frame. Overall it looked cheap.

Angel grimaced as she considered herself in the mirror. ‘I don’t know if I like it, Claudia, it doesn’t seem very summery or day-time.’

Claudia curled her lip. ‘Leopard-print is very now.’

‘It was very autumn/winter
last
season, I thought,’ Tiffany couldn’t help coming out with.

That earned her a glare from Claudia. ‘And you know a lot about fashion do you, Tiffany?’ She pronounced ‘Tiffany’ very deliberately, as if mocking the name. ‘Were you named after the
EastEnders
character?’ she added.

‘Actually, after the film. Surprised? Did you think it would be something more downmarket?’ Tiffany had forgotten all about being polite and simply observing. Claudia was a bitch and a bully, and Tiffany wasn’t going to sit back and be walked over by her. Tiffany always stood up to bullies. She saw Angel and Jez suppress smiles as Claudia continued to glare at her.

Tiffany continued, ‘Don’t you think Angel should be going for something more casual?’ She turned and considered the rail of clothes, picking out a pair of tight khaki combats, a white vest, and a sheer cream blouse with a butterfly pattern. She grabbed a pair of high gold sandals. ‘I think this would look summery and hip.’

‘Love it!’ Angel declared, while her stylist glowered in the background. ‘How’s Jayne getting on next-door?’ she asked Claudia. ‘Jayne is the woman we’re styling today,’ Angel explained to Tiffany.

‘Fine, so long as she can stay away from the pies long enough to fit into her dress. There’s only so much control underwear can do.’ Claudia wrinkled her perfect little nose. ‘I don’t know how some women let themselves get so fat.’

Wow! That was off-the-scale bitchy! Everyone looked stunned by the comment and Tiffany wondered how Angel would reply. But she didn’t get the chance as there was a knock at the door and when Angel called out, ‘Come in,’ a forty-something woman, dressed in a white fluffy robe, her auburn hair in Carmen rollers, marched in with a thunderous expression on her face.

‘Jayne, is everything all right?’ Angel asked.

‘No, it bloody well isn’t!’ came Jayne’s blunt reply, in
a
strong Liverpool accent. She pointed over at Claudia. ‘She keeps giving me the most God-awful clothes to wear. She’s got no idea what a middle-aged woman, size 16 with a bit of a flabby stomach, would want to wear!’ She pulled open the robe to reveal a black tunic dress that did absolutely nothing for her figure.

‘I’m supposed to be going on a romantic date with my husband, but I look like I’m going to a funeral! And I’m not going on TV dressed like this.’

Everyone looked at Claudia, who shrugged. ‘I did the best I could.’ She was so arrogant!

‘Well, I think we can all agree that your best isn’t good enough for Jayne,’ Angel said quietly, but she was clearly furious and there was a steely look of determination in her eyes. ‘And I will not have the guests on my show being treated like this.’ She turned to Tiffany. ‘What would you want to put Jayne in?’

Talk about being put on the spot! Tiffany took a deep breath. ‘First of all, I’d want to find out from Jayne herself the kind of look she is aiming for.’

‘Classy and sexy. Not mutton,’ Jayne replied.

Tiffany tried to block out Claudia who wore an expression of utter disdain on her face as she focused on Jayne.

‘Jayne, you’ve got a great figure. I love your curves. So which parts of your body are you most happy with?’ Tiffany asked her.

She grimaced. ‘I want to say I don’t like anything, but as I have to – I’d go for feet and boobs.’

‘And problem areas?’ Though Tiffany had already guessed the answer.

‘Stomach and thighs.’

In short, she was the classic middle-aged woman.

‘So I would go for a dress with a fitted waist that shows off your great boobs and skims over your problem areas, and definitely in a vibrant colour.’

Jayne nodded. ‘Sounds good.’

Claudia rolled her eyes. ‘Look, OK I’ll go through some more outfits with Jayne. I’m sure we can find something we agree on.’ She sounded so dismissive, not in any way apologetic for her previus poor work.

‘That won’t be necessary, Tiffany is going to do it,’ Angel told her.

‘Oh, yeah?’ Now Claudia had more passion in her voice. ‘And what the fuck does
she
know about styling anyone?’

‘We’ll find out, but I trust her and I’ve stopped trusting you.’ Angel paused. ‘I’ve always wanted to do this, but it’s never been the right time … until now.’ She raised her hand and pointed her finger.

‘Claudia, you’re fired!’

It was Claudia’s turn to look stunned. She tossed back her expensively highlighted hair and spat back, ‘I’ve had plenty of other offers, you know.
Dazed and Confused, Wallpaper
… all sorts of cutting-edge publications that I expect you haven’t even heard of are very,
very
interested in me. I don’t need this.’

Angel shrugged. ‘Great, because we don’t want you.’

Claudia stood frozen to the spot with shock. Even though she had been incredibly rude, she clearly hadn’t expected Angel to stick to her guns.

Jez clapped his hands. ‘Off you trot then, Claudia. I’ll call the production assistant and let her know you’ll be dropping off your security pass.’

Claudia grabbed her tan Mulberrry Bayswater bag and beige leather biker jacket and whisked out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

‘What a drama!’ Jez declared. ‘I love it! She totally deserved to go. And I happen to know that money is no object to Claudia – her daddy bought her a bijou flat in Chelsea and he gives her an allowance. She probably just used the money she earned on the show to buy her
handbags.
Do you know how much those Mulberry bags cost? She has at least six of them. And that jacket was well over a grand …’

Angel pushed him playfully in the shoulder. ‘He is a terror, but I love him to bits.’ She frowned and looked over at Tiffany. ‘OK, babe, this is going to be you in at the deep end. You’ve got half an hour to style Jayne.’ She looked at their makeover guest, ‘Is that OK with you?’

‘Absolutely! I can’t wait.’

‘Great. Can I just have a quick word with Tiffany and then she’ll be right with you.’

‘Sure thing.’ Jayne headed out of the room, and paused at the door to say, ‘Angel Summer, you kick ass!’

Everyone laughed.

Tiffany was tempted to follow Jayne out of the door and keep on walking. She hadn’t expected this on her first day! She felt a sudden urge to run all the way back to her boring but safe job at the gym, where all she was expected to do was be nice and smile.

Angel smiled warmly at her. ‘You can do this, I know you can.’

‘So I’ll appear on the show today?’ Tiffany asked, nerves kicking in.

Angel nodded. ‘You’ll be brilliant. I’ll get Jez to do your hair and Darcy to do your make-up. Remember, we’re styling Jayne who’s a mum of three and works part-time in care home. The film inserts have been recorded, so all you need to do is to come up with her outfit for a special night out with her husband.’ She hesitated. ‘I was going to think about this some more, but I guess we’ll just have to wing it. How would you feel if we also talked about us being sisters? Everyone knows because of the press story, so we may as well put our side across. And Jessica and Matthew’ – she named
the
hosts of the day-time TV show – ‘will be very sympathetic.’

The morning had just got a whole lot weirder. Tiffany took a deep breath. ‘So long as I can tell my dad and step-mum first, and you do most of the talking on air.’

‘Absolutely, call them now. But I’m sure you’ll be OK when we’re live.’

Tiffany wished she had Angel’s confidence. But there was no time to obsess about anything. She quickly called her dad, who was very nearly speechless that his little girl was going to be on TV and told him to let Kara know. And then she knocked on the door to the next-door dressing room. It was time to start styling Jayne.

‘Hiya, again,’ Tiffany said breezily as she walked in, trying to sound like a confident stylist who knew what they were doing and not like a quivering jelly.

Jayne was sitting still while a young male make-up artist, with enviably groomed eyebrows, was smoothing foundation on to her skin.

‘Hiya, I’m so glad I’ve got you!’ Jayne beamed at her. ‘That Claudia was a poisonous witch! Every time she saw me in my underwear I knew that she was thinking, “What a fat old bag! I’m never going to look like that.” I felt like saying, “I’ve had three kids and I can’t afford a personal trainer. This is what real women look like!”