Swan (28 page)

‘I’m just glad I’ve inspired you. I really believe
in you Madeline. I want you to know that.’

There was a loud cough.

We glanced up and saw the waiter standing beside the
table. ‘Have you decided what you’re having?’ he asked.

Chet shook his head. ‘Oh sorry, can you give us a
couple more minutes please?’

The man nodded and walked away.

Chet and I studied the menu and eventually ordered
BBQ steak with fries. The food was slightly undercooked – I always liked
my steak well done but had forgotten to mention it to the waiter. Oh well, at
least the music was good. The jazz band had now moved on from
Take Five
to old Cole Porter standards
like
Night and Day
and
Just One of Those Things
.

During a break between songs, Chet got up and went
to the toilet. I sat alone at the table, absorbing the chilled out vibes. It
was such a magical evening. I never wanted it to end.

I glanced at my watch. It was nine o’clock. Chet had
been gone for quite a while, so I hoped nothing had gone wrong with his
disguise.

Then, just as I was considering going to look for
him, I heard a round of applause from the other diners and saw Chet appear on
stage. I covered my mouth with shock. What on earth was he doing up there?

The piano player stood up and offered Chet his seat.
Moving his mouth near the microphone, Chet then addressed the room. ‘I want to
dedicate this song to a very special lady.’ His eyes fell on me. ‘Someone who
means the world to me. Madeline, this one’s for you.’

I caught my breath, overwhelmed.

The other diners clapped and whistled. Turned round
in their seats and looked at me. I went the colour of crimson. It was all so
lovely, so moving, so perfect.

After playing a beautiful piano intro, he burst into
a sultry rendition of Billy Joel’s
Just
The Way You Are
. His voice was deeply soulful, like a quirky mixture of
Bruce Springsteen and Cat Stevens. The words of the song were so poignant that
they brought tears to my eyes. That he was singing this to me, and declaring
his love in front of all these people was the best feeling ever.

Then, as the saxophonist went into an extended
solo, Chet stood up from the piano and began serenading me from the edge of the
stage.

‘I want you just the way you are,’ he sang.

The woman sitting behind me leaned across and
whispered conspiratorially, ‘You’re one very lucky lady. I wouldn’t kick him
out of bed. He’s like a sexy Boris Johnson.’

I smiled through my tears. I didn’t know whether to
laugh or cry.

Chapter
Twenty

‘Is that a love bite on your neck?’ Margery asked,
leaning over her desk to get a better look.

‘What?’ I put my customer on hold so that I could
hear her above the roar of the call centre.

‘That’s a love bite isn’t?’

‘Is it? I hadn’t noticed.’ I rummaged through my bag
and pulled out a make-up mirror. She was right. Peeking through the top of my
polo shirt was a dirty big love bite. I was so cross with Chet for not pointing
it out to me before I left for work.

‘Someone’s been a very naughty girl,’ Margery
teased. ‘No wonder you’ve been off all week. What was it again? Said you had a
cold, didn’t you? Hmm ... well something’s been eating you, and it ain’t a
cold, that’s for sure.’

Colouring up, I turned back to my computer screen
and tried hard to concentrate on the task at hand – locating this
customer’s missing traffic appeal.

‘Hello Mrs Wilson,’ I said, switching on my headset,
‘sorry about the wait. Yes, sadly I haven’t been able to trace the appeal you
sent in so your parking ticket has now increased to a £120. Yes, I know that’s
not fair ... I’m sorry to hear that, I know how expensive taking your dog to
the vet can be ...Yes, by all means you can make a complaint. I’ll give you the
Chief Executive’s email address. Okay fine. Great. Thank you for calling
Parking Services. Have a good day.’

It was Thursday morning – my first day back in
the real world. If I’d had my way, I wouldn’t have come back at all, but Chet
had insisted on it; he said it was important for me to maintain the façade of
normality, to stick to my ordinary routine and not arouse suspicion.

At first, I couldn’t comprehend how I would be able
to go back to my old life, be the old me, but now that I was back at the
office, looking at my colleagues’ care-worn faces, I knew that Chet had been
right. It
was
possible to juggle both
worlds.

I leaned back in my chair. Turned and surveyed the
room. My body still felt very sore from all our lovemaking. My back ached and
certain parts of me were very tender indeed. Coming back to work after such a
magical couple of days had made me see everything through a new prism.
Everything mundane had taken on new meaning now that I had Chet in my life. The
fact that I had this big secret hidden from the world added an element of
excitement to proceedings. Life was now an adventure, a foray into the unknown.

Another call came through to my extension.

‘Good morning Parking Services, how can I help?’

‘Hello there. Can I start by taking your name
please?’

‘Maddy.’

‘Let me just write that down. Okay Maddy, this is
not aimed at you, but I’m absolutely livid about the way I’ve been treated and
I will not tolerate it, do you hear? I will not tolerate it! Do you know what
just happened to me?’

I rolled my eyes theatrically. ‘No, but I’m sure
you’re going to tell me.’

‘Don’t get smart with me, young lady. Now listen,
I’m a solicitor – I know my rights and what the council is doing is illegal.
One of your hairy baboons has just given me a ticket for parking outside my
house. Outside my house! What next - a fine for breathing?’

‘All right sir, if you’ll just give me the ticket
number, I’ll look into this for you ...’

As the man rattled off a string of digits, I watched
the comings and goings of the room. Watched Alice trying to get tough with a
latecomer and fail miserably. Watched Sabina complain that Occupational Health
hadn’t yet delivered her specially adapted chair. Watched Caroline sneaking a
KFC bargain bucket to her desk so that she could continue clocking up the
calories away from the watchful eye of the managers.

‘Okay sir, I’ve got your details up on my screen.
Now, I’m just going to put you on hold. Won’t be a minute ...’

I reached into my bag and pulled out my mobile
phone. There were two text messages from an unknown number that I suspected was
Chet’s (he only used pay-as-you-go sim cards and was constantly changing his
number so that he couldn’t be traced).

Excitedly, I opened the first message:
How is your day going? I am so horny 4 u. I
want 2 play with your body. xx

I smiled warmly. I had never been so happy in my
life. The idea that Chet Vincent was waiting at home for me to tear my clothes
off was almost too exciting for words. I felt like James Bond on a top secret
mission. Just as I was about to open the second text, a deep voice shattered my
daydream.

‘What are you doing, Maddy? I thought we said no
mobile phones at your desk?’

I looked up into Jaiman’s stony face. Hastily, I put
my Nokia away. ‘Er, sorry, I wasn’t thinking. It won’t happen again.’

‘How long have you had that customer on hold?’ he
continued in the same toneless voice. ‘You need to fix up your behaviour, Maddy.
I’ve had a number of complaints about you lately, and this isn’t like you. You
used to be one of the best, now your standards are slipping. Is there something
going on that you’re not telling me? Something in your personal life?’

I licked my lips. Did Jaiman know something about Chet?
No, how could he? It was impossible. ‘I’m fine, really. Everything’s fine. I
just haven’t been well, that all. Still got a bit of a cold.’

Jaiman looked at me shrewdly. ‘Are you sure there’s
nothing else?’

‘Look, I’d better get back to this customer, he’s
been on hold for a while.’

‘Okay, good. Think about what I’ve said, yeah? And
take some honey and lemon for that cold.’ He gave me a friendly wink, then
shuffled back to his desk.

I breathed an enormous sigh. I was off the hook
– for now. As the customer continued yapping, I started to put things in
perspective. Of course Jaiman didn’t know anything. How could he? I was just
being paranoid. With a remote smile, I took out my mobile again and looked at Chet’s
racy text. I racked my brain to think of something suitably sexy to write back.
As I fiddled with the handset, I pressed ‘send’ by mistake and forwarded Chet’s
message to all the contacts in my phone. I covered my mouth, felt my chest
tighten. ‘Oh shit!’

I looked across the room and saw William at his desk
engrossed in a pile of paperwork.
Dear
God, please don’t let him see it
... His mobile phone lay next to his
computer. Then I saw him glance at it, pick it up like he’d just seen a message
come through. My heart was thudding in my ears. With a puzzled expression, he
locked eyes with me.

I wanted the ground to swallow me up. How was I ever
going to live this down? William continued to stare, a lascivious smile on his
lips. I gave a goofy grin, shrugged my shoulders and turned red-faced back to
my computer screen. In these circumstances, I decided, silence was golden.   

* * *

As soon as I got back to my flat I knew immediately
that something wasn’t right. My front door had been left ajar and I knew Chet
didn’t have my house keys, so how could he have got back in without them?
Hurriedly, I put down my shopping bags and walked eagerly towards the living
room.

I froze.

Reclining on my sofa and coolly sipping a cup of
black coffee, was a small, olive-coloured man. He wore an immaculately tailored
suit and had on those smart black and white shoes they used to wear in old
gangster flicks. His hair was tastefully grey, his skin lined and leathery from
sun damage. There was an air of a little Napoleon about him.

I recognised the man instantly – Panikkos
Pantelli.

‘You were expecting someone else?’ he purred,
setting the cup down on the table. He laughed jovially, as if there was some
private joke I wasn’t in on. Then, he fixed his beady little eyes on me. ‘So,
Madeline Smith, we finally meet. I’ve heard so much about you.’ He hesitated.
‘You do know who I am, don’t you?’

I nodded dumbly. He gestured for me to be seated. I
obliged him. For a second or two, he stared at me, his eyes narrow and
unreadable. Then he broke into a viper-like smile. ‘I take it Chet has told you
everything?’

‘Everything? Um, I’m not sure what you mean.’

‘Don’t play dumb with me. I’m here to straighten
things out. I’m on your side Madeline, so let’s be completely frank with each
other, okay? There are no secrets between Chet and I. I know all about the two
of you, so let’s not play games. You don’t want to piss me off.’

‘Okay,’ I croaked. Something about him made me very
uneasy. I wished Chet were here.

Pantelli took another sip of his coffee and watched
me intently over the rim of the cup. ‘So how was work today? Is it very
stressful working in a call centre?’

‘How did you know I - ’

‘I told you, I know everything about you. I have
eyes and ears everywhere. I know every job you’ve ever had; I know where your
sister lives, what grades you got at school and even the status of your sex
life. Trust me, Madeline; money can buy you an awful lot of favours from
people. It’s a language everyone understands. Speaking of which ...’ He put
down the cup, reached inside his jacket and took out a chequebook. ‘I’m aware
of you and Chet’s “liaisons.” Now, how much will it cost me for your silence?
Let me see ...’

He proceeded to fill out a cheque with my name on
it. When he’d finished writing, he tore it off and handed it to me.

I gawped at the seven-figure sum. It was a
life-changing amount of money. If I took it, my world would never be the same
again. My fingers started trembling. Surely Pantelli couldn’t be serious?

‘So what do you say, Madeline? Do with have a deal?’

I didn’t answer.

He got up, started pacing around the room, sniffed
at my withered geraniums on the mantelpiece. ‘You seem like a smart girl. I
think you’ll make the right decision.’

I rubbed my temples. I just couldn’t get my head
around this. Pantelli was offering me three million pounds to keep my mouth
shut! Only a fool would say no and yet, and yet ... my heart just wasn’t in it.
I kept thinking about Chet.

‘Mr Pantelli ...’

‘Please, call me Pani.’

‘Pani, I want to thank you for this generous offer.
But you need to understand that you don’t need to buy my silence. I would never
ever think of betraying you or Chet to the press. I’m not that sort of person.’

‘You say that now, but believe me - poverty has a
way of forcing your hand. No one likes to be broke, Madeline, and it’s so easy
for you to think you’d never sell out, never consider betraying someone you
love, but believe me it can happen. Let me tell you a story ...’