Two-Faced (31 page)

‘Of course you would, that was a stupid thing to say,’ Sammy said as he reached out and patted her hand. ‘Do you know where she is now?’

‘No, but I’ll bet she’s with that flaming Steve.’ Casting an accusing look at Sammy now, she added, ‘You know – the man
you
reckoned was going to be such a good influence on her. He’s got to be behind this, ’cos she never touched drugs till she got involved with him. I’ve a mind to ring the police and have him arrested for corrupting her!’

‘Let’s not jump to conclusions,’ Sammy urged. ‘We don’t know how long she’s been doing it, or who’s been supplying her. But we do know that she needs help before it gets any worse.’

‘How can it get any worse?’ Kim wailed. ‘She’s ruined.’

‘Not necessarily,’ Sammy said thoughtfully. ‘This is the first negative press she’s had, so I reckon if we put our heads together we should be able to come up with a genuine-sounding statement of contrition.’

‘You what?’ Screwing her face up, Kim looked at him as if he’d spoken in Latin.

Before he could explain, Michelle walked in. Blushing, because she’d avoided Sammy like the plague since the abortive TV shoot where she’d fooled him into thinking that she was Mia, she said, ‘Sorry, mum, I saw this when I was on my way to town, and thought I’d best show you before you found out off someone else.’

Seeing that she was holding the same newspaper that Sammy had already brought round, Kim told Michelle that she was a bit late. ‘You stopping in, or going straight back out?’ she asked then. ‘Only, you can put the kettle on if you’ve got a minute. I haven’t even offered Sammy a brew yet.’

Frowning when she scuttled into the kitchen, Sammy called her straight back in. ‘Don’t you think there are more important things on the agenda right now than coffee, young lady?’

‘Oh, no, that’s not Mia,’ Kim told him quickly. ‘That’s . . .’ Trailing off when she remembered what had been happening the last and only time that Michelle and Sammy had ever met, she blushed. Then, hoping that he didn’t put two and two together, she murmured, ‘This is Michelle.’

Staring at the girl, Sammy said, ‘Good grief. How remarkable. I’m sorry, I had no idea that you and Mia were twins or I’d never have snapped at you like that.’

Murmuring, ‘It’s okay,’ Michelle cast a hooded glance of relief at her mum. He obviously hadn’t clicked.

‘They’re identical,’ Kim told him. ‘Sorry, I thought I’d mentioned it.’

‘No, I don’t think so,’ Sammy said as Michelle went back into the kitchen. ‘You just said you had another daughter. And I’m sure you said she was younger than Mia.’

‘Well, she is, by a couple of minutes. Anyway, what was that you were saying about a statement?’

‘Basically, when you get caught out – as Mia just has – and there’s no denying that it’s you in the picture, it helps if you make a statement saying how sorry you are,’ Sammy explained. ‘You say it was the first time you ever tried it, and you know it was stupid, but you promise never to do it again – that sort of thing.’

‘Me?’ Kim looked horrified. ‘
I
haven’t done anything.’

‘No, not
you
,’ Sammy said patiently, remembering that Kim was the kind of woman who took things very literally. ‘The one who’s been discredited – in this case, Mia.’ Smiling up at Michelle when she brought his coffee in, he said, ‘Excuse my staring, but it’s such a shocking likeness.’

‘Mia’s prettier,’ Michelle murmured, trotting out the mantra that she’d spent her entire life hearing and saying.

‘Come now, there’s not the slightest difference,’ Sammy argued. ‘I see that you don’t wear make-up, and your hair’s different, but everything else is identical.’ Chuckling softly now, he added, ‘If only I’d known, I could have had you
both
on my books. That would have turned some industry heads, I can tell you.’

Almost choking on her tea, Kim said, ‘She’s not interested in modelling – are you, Shell? She’s the bookworm of the family.’

When she heard a car pull up outside just then, Kim was on her feet and at the window in an instant. Eyes narrowing, she slammed her cup down on the table and shoved her sleeves up as if she was preparing for a fight.

‘Right, let’s see what the bastard’s got to say for himself!’

‘Kim, wait,’ Sammy said firmly. ‘We don’t know if he’s involved in this, so you can’t go accusing him of anything. We need to speak to Mia and get her side of the story first.’

‘He’s right, mum,’ Michelle chipped in quietly. ‘Anyway, if it
has
got anything to do with her boyfriend and you go off on him, she’ll only defend him and fall out with you – you know what she’s like.’

It was this that made Kim stay put. She knew Mia better than Mia thought she did, and Kim knew that if it came to her having to choose between her fat old mum and her big-bucks boyfriend, the greedy mare would follow the money every time.

‘All right, I won’t say owt,’ she conceded, folding her arms. ‘But if I find out that it
was
him who got her on it, I’ll have him.’

Mia practically fell through the door. Slamming it shut, she threw the bolts across and pressed her eye up against the spyhole to make sure that Steve wasn’t coming after her. She’d been acting as if everything was all right, but there was no telling if he believed her, because you never knew what crazy thoughts were going through his head until he acted on them.

Coming out to see what was keeping her, Kim grabbed her and yelled, ‘No point hiding out here, lady! Get yourself in there – we want a word with you.’

Shushing her, Mia said, ‘Just wait till he’s gone, can’t you? If he hears your big gob, he’ll come knocking to make sure I’m all right.’

‘What you talking about?’

‘
Him
,’ Mia snarled, taking another peek. Exhaling loudly when she saw the car pulling away, she muttered, ‘Yeah, go on – piss off, you fucking nutter!’

‘Will you tell me what the hell’s going on?’ Kim asked again.

‘I’ve finished with him – if it’s any of your business,’ Mia told her, turning to go upstairs. ‘So if he calls in future, I’m not here – okay?’

‘Oh, yeah, that’s fine by me,’ Kim agreed. ‘At least that’s one thing sorted. But there’s worse stuff to deal with yet, lady, so get in there and start expl—’

Stopping abruptly when she noticed the ring-like shadow around Mia’s neck, her eyes narrowed to slits. Taking her by the arm, she pulled her into the living room to get a closer look by the light from the window. ‘Oh, my good
Jeezus
!’ she cried when she saw the bruise in all its glory. ‘Don’t tell me you tried to hang yourself because of them pictures? Oh God,
no
!’

Frowning at her as if she’d gone stark staring mad, Mia flashed Sammy a questioning look.

Guessing that she hadn’t seen the paper yet, Sammy handed it to her and watched her face as she looked at the incriminating pictures.

‘Oh, Mia,’ Michelle gasped, throwing a hand over her mouth when she noticed the enormous bruise on her sister’s thigh, which was clearly visible beneath the short skirt she was wearing. ‘What the hell’s happened to you? Have you been attacked?’

Ignoring her, Mia slumped down on the couch, still staring at the pictures, trying to figure out who could possibly have taken them without her having seen them.

‘Mia,’ Sammy said quietly. ‘Do you need help?’

‘Of course she does,’ Kim blurted out. ‘It’s bloody obvious.’

‘I’m asking,’ Sammy said calmly, ‘because I’m trying to assess the depth of the problem. The nature of addiction is such that the ones who need the most help are the very ones who deny it. So, again, Mia . . . do you need help?’

‘Please, Mia,’ Michelle urged when her sister didn’t respond. ‘He cares about you. We
all
do.’

Lip curling into a sneer, Mia’s head shot up. ‘Shut your mouth, you stupid cow. You’re not in one of your counselling sessions now.’

Bushy eyebrows puckering together as he glanced from one to the other of the girls, Sammy noticed for the first time just how thin Mia was, and it shocked him. Gradual weight loss was easy to miss when you had nothing to compare the person to. But these girls were supposed to be identical and, compared with Michelle who looked fit, healthy and a perfectly normal weight for her height, Mia was sallow and unhealthy-looking; her collarbone, wrists and knees jutted out painfully, and her cheekbones were much more sharply defined than her sister’s.

Switching her defiant gaze onto him as she felt him staring at her, Mia said, ‘You don’t have to look at me like that. So I do coke now and then – it’s no big deal. And I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself, thank you. Always have been, always will be.’

‘Oh, yeah, ’cos it’s no big deal getting caught sniffing drugs, is it?’ Kim snapped.

‘It’s called snorting,
actually
,’ Mia corrected her smugly. ‘And don’t pretend you know anything about it when you can’t even say it right.’

‘I know enough to know that you’ve put your career on the flaming line over it,’ Kim countered angrily. ‘Or do you think nobody’s going to think anything of it, and you’ll just carry on as normal?’

‘Didn’t do Kate Moss any harm,’ Mia reminded her nonchalantly.

‘You’re winding me up now,’ Kim bellowed. ‘You really think you’re on a par with the likes of her? Get a grip! You’ve only just started out. Who’s going to want you after this?’

Staring back at her mother, Mia tightened her lips. She knew that Kim and Sammy were right, that this wasn’t just going to go away. But right now, with them pecking at her head the way they were, they were just making her want a snort more than ever. At least coke made her feel good about herself, but these idiots were just trying to make her feel bad. Steve had been right; she couldn’t trust anybody – him included. They all claimed to have her best interests at heart, but really they were just using her for their own selfish purposes. Steve liked having her on his arm because it gave him kudos with his stupid friends and business colleagues. And her mum and Sammy just wanted her to do as they said and stay in line, because she was their meal ticket. As for Michelle,
she
was only acting concerned to prove what a saint she was. But none of them really cared how Mia felt. None of them gave a damn that it was because of the pressure they’d put her under that she
needed
the coke.

‘I’m going out.’ She stood up abruptly. ‘And don’t bother trying to stop me,’ she added, seeing her mum getting ready to stand in her way. ‘Because I’m old enough to do what I want.’

‘So you’d rather just throw in the towel and lose everything because you’ve been caught out?’ Sammy asked calmly.

‘If it means I don’t have to listen to you lecturing me, yeah,’ Mia replied coldly. ‘Anyway, she’s already made it clear that I’ve blown it, so what’s the point of stressing about it? There’s no going back, so I might as well accept it and start living my life the way I want to.’

‘Which means giving up your independence and being a kept woman?’ Sammy persisted. ‘Forget your dreams; forget the fame, the money?’

‘At least I’ll be having fun.’

‘Yeah, it really looks like fun, an’ all,’ Kim chipped in darkly. ‘Covered in fucking bruises – excuse my language, Sammy – and skinny as a rake. You’re going to kill yourself if you carry on like this – if somebody doesn’t do it for you.’

‘She’s right,’ Sammy said, trying not to wince when he noticed the angry bruise that Michelle had pointed out on her sister’s thigh. ‘Somebody’s already hurt you, and if you let them think it’s all right they’re bound to do it again. You’re not stupid; you know how these things work.’

‘I told you I should have called the police,’ Kim muttered. Then, pointing her cigarette at Mia, she said, ‘And I swear to God, if you leave this house and go running back to that bastard after this that’s exactly what I’m going to do.’

‘Don’t be stupid,’ Mia spat, her eyes flashing with anger. ‘I just told you, I’m finished with him.’

‘I should think so too!’ Kim snarled, the fury at the thought of that man laying his dirty hands on her child making her want to tear him apart. ‘Just wait and see what happens if he dares show his face round here again; I’ll bloody
kill
him! In fact . . .’ Glancing around as a thought popped into her head, she located Mia’s handbag and pounced on it. ‘I’m gonna ring him;
tell
him to come round.’

‘Don’t you dare!’ Mia screeched, leaping forward and trying to wrestle the bag off her. ‘Mum, I mean it!
Don’t!
You don’t know what you’re messing with!’

Hearing the panic in Mia’s voice, Kim peered into her eyes. ‘Right, lady, I want the truth. Did he do that to you?’

Instinctively covering her bruised throat, Mia said, ‘Yes, but he was pissed off with me for talking to another lad.’

‘You
what
? You talk to another lad and he thinks he’s got the right to strangle you over it?’

‘You don’t understand,’ Mia said defensively, making another grab for the bag. ‘He’s just a bit possessive, that’s all. He’s fine if I stick to the rules.’

‘
Rules?
’ Kim glanced at Sammy. ‘Have you ever heard anything like it in your life?’ Back to Mia now, she said, ‘So were you coming on to this other lad, or what?’

‘
No.
’

‘But Steve
thought
you were, so he punished you?’ Kim shook her head angrily. ‘
No
man’s got the right to knock you about – I thought I’d taught you that much, at least. But if you won’t let me deal with him, the police can, ’cos there’s no way he’s getting away with this.’

‘She’s right, Mia,’ Sammy agreed. ‘You can’t expect the people who care about you to sit back and do nothing when they can see you’re being hurt.’

‘Why don’t you just keep your fucking nose out?’ Mia screamed, furious with him for interfering. ‘This has got nothing to do with you.
Or
you,’ she added, turning on her mum again with clenched teeth. ‘So give me my bag back, or it’ll be
me
calling the police.’

Guessing from her desperation to get the bag that Mia was carrying something in it that she didn’t want them to see, Kim tipped it out onto the couch. Picking up the small plastic bag of coke, she looked at Mia accusingly.