Two-Faced (11 page)

‘
Ew!
’ Grimacing, Mia shuddered exaggeratedly. ‘Do you have to tell everyone about it?’

‘You’re not everyone,’ Kim reminded her. ‘And it’ll happen to you one day, so I wouldn’t be screwing my nose up if I was you.’

‘
Pfft!
’ Mia snorted, determined that she would never let herself go through something as disgusting as that.

A little more in control of herself now, Kim wiped her nose one last time and slotted the tissue back into her pocket. ‘I’m doing my best for you,’ she muttered. ‘And you’d best get that slapped-arse look off your face before he comes back, ’cos you’re lucky he hasn’t already told us to sling it.’

‘
Lucky
?’ Mia repeated scathingly. ‘Are you kidding me? This place is a
dump
. I bet he’s not even a real agent.’

‘Yes, he is,’ Kim hissed, glancing nervously back at the door. ‘That photographer wouldn’t have given us his number otherwise. Anyway, just behave and let’s hear him out. You’ve hardly got much choice, have you?’

Exhaling loudly, Mia swivelled her chair from side to side. Her mum could say what she liked, but Mia had no intention of listening to a word that Sammy fat baldy bastard Martin had to say.

Coming back just then, carrying a small tray bearing three steaming cups and a plate of biscuits, Sammy laid it down on the desk between them.

‘Sorry, I’ve run out of coffee so it’s tea, I’m afraid. And there’s no milk. But I have got sugar and sweeteners, so take your pick. And help yourself to biccies.’

‘No, thanks, we don’t take sugar,’ Kim lied, reaching for one of the cups.

Resisting the biscuits, even though the sight of them made her stomach grumble because she’d forgotten about dinner before they’d come out, she sat back in her seat and forced herself not to grimace when she took a sip of the hot bland liquid. She couldn’t wait to get home for a fag and a lovely sweet cuppa. And then she’d be straight on the phone to order herself a kebab – but only when Mia had gone to bed, because she didn’t want to go putting temptation in her way.

Looking serious now, Sammy said, ‘Look, I’ve been having a good think about this, and I reckon there’s a chance we could work something out.’

‘Really?’ Kim gasped, immediately cursing herself for sounding so grateful.

‘
If
,’ Sammy said, emphasising the word as he looked straight at Mia, ‘
you
can convince me you’re willing to drop the attitude and really work at it.’

Arms still folded, Mia flicked him a
yeah, whatever
glance.

Giving her a chance to climb down off her high horse, Sammy sighed when she didn’t do so after a few moments. He gave Kim a defeated shrug. ‘Oh, well, I think we have our answer.’

Furious, Kim glared at Mia.

‘
What?
’ Mia said sullenly.

‘You know bloody well what. He’s offering us a chance here, you silly little cow. And if you blow it, that’s it – you can forget about being famous.’

Shrugging as if she didn’t give a toss, Mia scowled when Kim gave her a sharp prod in the arm.

‘This isn’t a game, lady, so sort yourself out, because this is important.’

‘I don’t see why,’ Mia argued. ‘He’s hardly Mr Super-Cool, is he?’

‘Let me guess,’ Sammy interjected perceptively. ‘You don’t know why your mum’s dragged you here, because you’re obviously too good for me, and
I
obviously don’t know anything about anything.’ Taking the twitch of her eyebrows as affirmation that he’d hit the nail on the head, he smiled slowly. ‘Did you see the silver car across the road when you got here?’

Wrinkling her nose, Mia said, ‘Yeah –
so
?’

‘It’s a Bentley,’ Sammy told her, not sounding in the least boastful. ‘Now, I don’t know if you’ve any idea how much they cost but they’re not cheap. So, ask yourself this, if
you
’re so good, and
I
’m so bad, how come I’ve got one and you haven’t?’

‘Er, ’cos I’m only fifteen,’ Mia reminded him sarcastically.

‘And do you think you’ll be any better off by the time you’re my age?’ Sammy persisted smoothly. ‘Because I guarantee that you won’t be if you carry on like this.’

‘Says you.’

‘Well, I won’t knock your self-belief, my love, but I doubt you’d be here if Nemesis or Boss or any of the other agencies you’ve already seen had said any different.’

Licking her lips, sensing that Mia was on the verge of blowing their chances, Kim said, ‘Look, Mr Martin, I admit we haven’t had much success so far, but I still think she’s got something special and we’ll do whatever it takes to get her there. You said you thought we could work something out, so just tell us what we need to do and we’ll do it – I promise.’

Sammy believed that she meant it and he nodded thoughtfully. Under normal circumstances, he’d have shown them the door by now, because, as he’d already said, there was no point trying to force someone to do something they blatantly didn’t want to. But Mia must have wanted it to start with or she wouldn’t have bothered posing for the photos, and he could only assume that her present truculence was due to the rejections she’d received so far. She was only young, after all, and rejection wasn’t easy to swallow at any age.

Looking at Mia now, he said, ‘All right, let’s cut to the chase, young lady. We know how important this is for your mum, but I need to know if
you
want it as well – or are we just wasting our time? And before you answer,’ he added quickly, ‘let me just tell you about some of the models I represent. I take it you watch TV?’

‘Oh, she does,’ Kim blurted out. ‘All the time.’

‘So you’ll have seen all the adverts for Slimma-Soup, with the young girl floating down the high street in a bubble? Well, she’s one of mine. And the one about razor blades, with the young lad having his first shave before going on a date?’

Despite her determination to retain her scowl, a hint of interest flickered in Mia’s eyes. She’d seen both those ads, but whereas she’d paid no heed to the Slimma-Soup one because she had no need of it, she’d
definitely
noticed the lad on the other ad.

Catching the shift in her demeanour, Sammy smiled. ‘His name’s Jonathon, he’s just turned sixteen, and he’s been with me for ten years. Although I doubt he’ll be with me for too much longer, because this is his breakthrough job, and I imagine he’ll be whipped out of my hands by one of the big boys any day now. But, hey ho.’ He sighed resignedly and flapped his hands. ‘Anyway, I can tell you’ve already noticed him, but I bet you can’t tell me where you’ve seen him before, can you?’

Mia shrugged again, but Sammy noted that there was far less aggression in her expression now.

‘Well, you might be surprised to hear that he’s been in lots of TV ads. He was the Jelly-Tot tot, for example; and the Rainbow-Lite boy; and the kid who cut his knee falling over his dog and had to get plastered – pardon the pun – in those new padded Elastoplast strips.’

‘Oh, I remember that one,’ Kim exclaimed excitedly. ‘But are you sure that was the same boy, ’cos he was an odd-looking little thing, and the lad in the shaving one is lovely.’

‘My point exactly.’ Sammy grinned. ‘See, this is what I’m talking about, Mia. Jon’s mum thought he was a superstar from the start but nobody else could see it back then. It takes time and experience to blossom, but they were willing to work their way up. And now it’s beginning to pay off, because Jon could be in Hollywood this time next week. But where will
you
be?’ Pausing for effect, he gazed at her steadily before adding, ‘You can ignore my advice and stay exactly where you are, or admit that you’re not as ready as you think you are and let me guide you. Your choice, but I know what I’d go for if I were you.’

Tilting her head to one side, Mia gave him a coy smile. ‘Will I get to meet Jonathon?’

Laughing out loud, Sammy’s fat belly wobbled. ‘I’m sure it could be arranged. Although I’m not sure it’ll get you anywhere, because he’s just come out.’

‘Out of what?’

‘Never mind.’ Sammy chuckled, shaking his head at Kim. He took a swig of his now-cold tea and glanced at his watch. ‘Right, well, I think I’ve given you enough to ponder over for the time being, so why don’t you go home and discuss it? Then your mum can ring when you know what you want to do. Okay?’

‘We’ll do it,’ Kim blurted out without hesitation. ‘And thank you so much, you don’t know how much this means to me –
us
.’

Sammy extended his hand across the desk and said, ‘My pleasure.’ Then, turning to Mia, he gave her a questioning look. ‘And what about you, young lady? Are you going to be a star?’

Mia shrugged again, but she was still smiling.

‘The word you’re looking for is
yes
,’ Sammy told her, slapping his hand down on the desktop. Your mum believes you can do it;
I
believe you can do it. But do
you
believe you can do it?’

Caught up in his excitement at last, Mia grinned. ‘I
know
I can do it.’

‘Good girl!’ Beaming, Sammy reached into a drawer and pulled out a pack of baby-wipes. ‘Now go and wipe that muck off your face, because it looks ridiculous.’

Giving her mum a smug look, because the stupid make-up had been
her
idea, Mia got up and trotted obediently out to the toilet.

5

Sammy Martin was taking Mia and Kim out to a posh restaurant. It was Mia’s first audition tomorrow and he wanted to have a good long talk with her in a more informal setting than his office; to make sure that she knew exactly what to do, and, more importantly, what
not
to do – like backchat the photographer, or start complaining.

More nervous about the audition than Mia was, Kim had been running around all day, bouncing from one task to another, and barking orders at Mia to hurry up and get in the bath, hurry up and get out again, hurry up and dry her hair, hurry up and set it . . .

Sick of listening to her mother, Mia was lounging on the chair by the window with her iPod earphones stuffed deep into her ears. She’d been ready for ages, and now she just wanted to go. Not that she was looking forward to seeing Sammy, because she knew she’d only get another brain-numbing lecture off him to top the ones she’d been getting off her mum all day. But it was the first time she’d ever been to a proper restaurant, and she wanted to see what it was like for when she was famous and eating out at posh places every night.

Feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket, she slipped it out. She saw Laura’s name on the screen and ran into the kitchen to take the call in private.

‘What you saying, girlfriend? Hope you’ve got good gossip for me.’

‘Yeah, but you’re not going to like it,’ Laura told her. ‘Lisa’s been slagging you off all over the place, telling everyone you’re not really sick, and that you’re only staying off school ’cos you’re scared of Sandra beating you up again.’

‘She didn’t even beat me up in the first place,’ Mia scoffed. ‘You saw me – there were hardly any marks on me, were there?’

‘No, and that’s what I told them when they started going on about it,’ Laura assured her. ‘Obviously I couldn’t tell them why you’re
really
staying off, ’cos you said I’ve got to keep it a secret. But I reckon they all know, anyhow, ’cos Lisa won’t shut up about it.’

‘She’s such a jealous bitch,’ Mia sneered.

‘You know it was her who gave your number to Sandra, don’t you?’ Laura informed her. ‘That night when Sandra rang and made Darren tell you to get lost.’

‘I
knew
he hadn’t given it to her!’ Mia exclaimed triumphantly. ‘He already had my mobile number, so if he’d meant it he would have just given her that instead of making her find out the landline number, wouldn’t he?’

‘Have you spoken to him since?’ Laura asked – cautiously, because she had a bit of news of her own and wasn’t sure how Mia would react when she heard.

‘No, he’s rung a few times but I was busy,’ Mia lied, too proud to admit that he hadn’t rung at all – and hadn’t answered his phone when she’d tried to call him. ‘I’m sure I’ll catch up with him sooner or later,’ she went on nonchalantly. ‘But I don’t know if I can be bothered with him any more, to be honest. You know I’ve got my first audition tomorrow?’

‘Oh, yeah, you told me. So, how’s it going? Are you ready?’

‘Yeah, it’s cool. My agent reckons I’ve got it in the bag.’

‘Ooh, I can’t wait to see you in a magazine,’ Laura gushed. ‘I’ll be so proud of you. I’ll be flashing it round all over the place, going,
look
, that’s my best mate!’

‘So long as you make sure Lisa and Sandra get a good long look at it,’ Mia said, laughing softly. ‘And just wait till I start getting in the papers for going to all the showbiz parties – that’ll
really
rub it in.’

‘I hope you won’t forget about me when you’re mixing with the stars.’

‘Course I won’t. Best mates are for life, not just Christmas, remember. Wherever I go, you’ll be right there in the limo with me, swigging champagne, and—’

‘You know the taxi will be here in a minute, don’t you?’ Kim interrupted, sticking her head around the door.

Flashing her an irritated look, Mia said, ‘Sorry, Laura, got to go. I’ll give you a ring tomorrow – let you know how it went.’

‘I’d wish you luck, but I know you don’t need it, ’cos you’ll be brill.’

‘I know! They won’t know what’s hit them when I walk in.’

Sighing, Laura told her friend that she wished she could be there. Then, just as she was about to say goodbye, she remembered what she’d meant to tell her.

‘Oh, by the way,’ she blurted out. ‘You’ll never guess who called
me
last night.
Stu!
’ She answered her own question. ‘I was going to call you after he got off the phone, but it was too late by then, ’cos he was on for ages. Anyhow, he asked me to go out with him this Saturday – can you
believe
that?’

Mia’s lips were tightly pursed. ‘And what did
you
say?’

Hesitant now because she sensed the dip in Mia’s mood, Laura said, ‘I told him I’d think about it – but I’m not going to. I mean, he hasn’t bothered calling since all that stuff kicked off with you and Darren. And anyway, I wouldn’t do that to you.’