Two-Faced (33 page)

‘I’ll do it,’ she said suddenly. ‘I’ll say it was me in that club last night.’

Frowning, Mia tipped her head to one side and gazed at her sister questioningly. ‘You’d do that for me?’

Exhaling wearily, Michelle shrugged. ‘You’re my sister, and you need my help.
Our
help,’ she corrected herself quickly, sensing that Mia would respond better if this wasn’t just about the two of them. ‘But if I do this and you go back to that man after he put those bruises on you, I swear I’ll never speak to you or do anything for you again.’

Mia bit her lip to stop it quivering. ‘I can’t believe you’re being so nice after I’ve been such an absolute bitch to you.’

Smiling sympathetically, Michelle said, ‘I don’t blame
you
, Mee. I know about addiction; it dictates your moods and masks your real emotions. And it makes you lash out at the ones who are closest to you, because they’re the ones who most want to stop you from doing it. We do that because we love you, but you think we’re just trying to deprive you of your pleasure.’

Eyes still glittering with tears, Mia had a contrite expression on her face as Michelle made her speech, but she was thinking,
What a crock of utter bollocks!

‘This is brilliant,’ Kim said, a beaming smile on her face. ‘So, what happens now?’

Looking at Michelle, Sammy asked if she was absolutely sure about this; had she really thought about the impact it was going to have on her status at college? When she said yes, he said, ‘Well, I guess we just need to draft a statement and get the ball rolling, then. But
you
, young lady,’ he turned and gave Mia a stern look, ‘are coming off the drugs – and no arguments. Your sister’s doing you an enormous favour by agreeing to present herself as you but, as we already know, we can’t risk her taking on your modelling work. There are a couple of minor jobs scheduled which I can cancel, but we need you fit before we lose anything major.’

‘I will be,’ Mia insisted, really meaning it.

Sighing, Sammy glanced at his watch. ‘Right, well, get together whatever you all need. You’re coming to stay with me.’

‘Oh no, we couldn’t,’ Kim objected. ‘Seriously, Sammy, you’ve done enough already. And you’ve got no idea what a pain it is living with these two.’

Smiling fondly at the girls, Sammy said, ‘My dear, I’ve lived alone for most of my adult life. Believe me, it will be a
pleasure
to have you around.’

Muttering, ‘I bet you won’t be saying that by the end of the week,’ Kim couldn’t help but grin as she gestured to the girls to go and get their stuff.

19

Sitting in a small tea shop just a five-minute walk from Sammy’s house in Alderley Edge later that evening, Michelle was nervous as she prepared to give the statement that Sammy had prepared to the journalist from the
Evening News
.

He’d chosen that paper deliberately, knowing that the majors would sensationalise it and Mia could come out looking as if she was trying to promote herself. But keeping it low-key like this would add pathos. And, having met Rebecca Dunne on a few occasions, he knew that she would handle the story sensitively.

He’d thought this through in minute detail, even getting Kim to take Michelle to Mia’s hairdresser for an emergency make-over. Now, with her hair cut in Mia’s style, and having had Mia apply her make-up exactly as she did her own, Michelle endured a torturous five-minute photograph session before Rebecca switched on the Dictaphone she’d brought along.

Smiling, Rebecca said, ‘Just relax, Mia, and say it in your own words.’

Taking a deep breath, Michelle nodded.

‘This isn’t a pleasant thing to have to discuss in public,’ she started. ‘And I’m not doing it to save myself, I’m doing it help someone very dear to me. You see, it wasn’t me in those photographs which appeared in the newspaper today, it was my twin sister, Michelle.

‘It saddens us as a family to have to admit that one of our own has succumbed to such a destructive addiction,’ she went on. ‘But I feel particularly guilty, because if it wasn’t for my job making
me
of interest to the press she would never have been humiliated like this.

‘My sister’s a beautiful, caring woman, and we all love her dearly. She and I share an immensely strong bond, and I feel her pain as if it were my own – just as I feel her shame over this. But now that her secret is out, we have to forget about ourselves and do whatever we can to help Michelle get better. And I hope that we will be allowed to do this without further intrusion –
please
.’

Switching the machine off when she’d finished, Rebecca gave Michelle a reassuring smile and patted her hand in a gesture of support.

‘That was very moving, Mia. This is obviously distressing for you, but many of our readers will know at first hand what you’re going through right now, so I’m sure they’ll respect your wishes and leave you to deal with this in private. And I’ll do whatever
I
can to put the need for that across.’

‘Thank you,’ Michelle murmured, feeling sick for having lied to Rebecca, because she was being so nice.

Flopping back in her seat when Sammy walked Rebecca out to her car a short time later, Michelle held her hands over her face, cringing with disgust and embarrassment.

‘You did really well,’ Sammy told her when he came back. ‘She really warmed to you, and that was exactly what we needed.’

After paying the bill he helped Michelle up from her seat and, putting a fatherly arm around her, set off on the short walk home.

‘If this doesn’t give Mia a kick up the backside, nothing will,’ he said, chuckling as he added, ‘Still, if she buggers about and doesn’t get herself in shape for Prague, I’ve always got
you
to send in her place, eh?’

‘God, no!’ Michelle squawked, horrified by the prospect. ‘You saw how bad I was last time.’

‘Don’t worry, my dear, I was only joking,’ Sammy said, squeezing her shoulder. ‘I know it’s not your bag, and I wouldn’t dream of asking you to put yourself in that position. Let’s just keep our fingers crossed that your sister has an ounce of the sense that
you
were obviously born with.’

‘Oh, she has,’ Michelle said loyally. ‘She really wants this, and I think she’ll do her best to kick the drugs and make a go of it. She might be stubborn, but she’s not stupid.’

Winking at her as they reached his house, Sammy pushed open the gate and ushered her in ahead of him. She was right: Mia wasn’t stupid, and she wanted to be successful more than even
she
had probably realised until she’d almost lost it.

20

The first week at Sammy’s house had quickly run into two, and then three. And Kim would probably have stayed for ever if she could have, because she’d relished the unfamiliar peace and quiet. But by the end of the third week, even she had to admit that they were outstaying their welcome. Sammy had said nothing to indicate that they were getting in his way, but Mia had put on weight and was looking fit and healthy again, and Michelle was desperate to get back to college, so there was really no excuse not to go home.

Which was absolute music to Mia’s ears, because she’d been going out of her mind with boredom since day one.

She’d spent her entire life in the inner city, only ever passing through the countryside on various modelling shoots, but she’d paid no attention to the locations on those occasions because she’d been far too busy admiring herself – and bitchily scrutinising her rivals.

Compared with their own tiny terraced house, Sammy’s place was a mansion with its five beds, two baths, massive kitchen, and gardens front and back. But any illusions they’d had of grandeur when they’d got their first look at it had evaporated as soon as they’d stepped through the front door. Sammy had bought it for a song some years earlier, imagining that it would be a retreat from the pressures of his work life. But work
was
his life, and he’d found that he rarely got back there in time to do anything other than eat whatever crap food he’d picked up on the way home and go to bed. Consequently, it was shabby and unloved, with a thick layer of dust coating everything from the unstylish furniture to the cooker he’d never used to the fridge, which served only as a glorified milk cooler for the constant cups of coffee that he drank. In fact, the most used item was the kitchen bin, which was overflowing with stale take-out cartons and pizza boxes.

Saint Michelle of OCD had soon got to grips with cleaning it up, though. Unable to go to college now that everybody knew she was a secret junkie, she’d moped around like a ghost, scrubbing, polishing, dusting and redusting everything in sight, until it was so clean that they could have eaten out of the toilet, never mind off the floor.

Mia, in the meantime, had prowled like a caged animal. For years she’d fantasised about becoming rich enough to leave Moss Side, but now that she was no longer there she missed the everyday drama of life in the area: the random gunshots, the screaming and arguing of neighbours at war, the roar of engines and the blaring of sirens as the police chased stolen cars through the streets in the dead of night . . . Those sounds were such an inherent part of her life that she’d barely registered them when she was surrounded by them. But here the
lack
of them made the silence thunder in her ears. And the stench of cow dung disgusted her.

Sammy had initially wanted to send her to some stupid rehab place that he’d read about, but Mia had flat-out refused. They’d been convinced that her so-called ‘addiction’ was something terrible and life-threatening which required the intervention of professionals, but she knew better. Coke wasn’t like smack or crack; they were a need, but coke was a desire. And since she’d realised that she desired the fame she’d almost lost more than she craved the buzz of coke, it was relatively easy to stop. But that didn’t stop her mum, Sammy and Michelle from watching her like a hawk – which pissed her off so much that it made her want to do it just to spite them.

And she’d been sorely tempted when, the day after the
Evening News
article had appeared, Steve, obviously thinking it was safe to contact her now that he knew the police weren’t watching her, rang to ask when he would be seeing her again.

She’d only answered the call out of curiosity, to gauge his mood, to see if she was safe or if he intended to come after her. But he’d sounded so much like his usual loving self that she’d actually found herself contemplating giving him another chance, and had almost asked him to come and pick her up. But the bruises had quickly brought her to her senses. They were still so vivid, and Mia had known that if she went back it would undoubtedly happen again – and probably be worse next time. So, taking advantage of the fact that he was calm, she’d taken the bull by the horns and told him that, much as she’d enjoyed their time together, she thought it best if they called it quits.

To Mia’s relief and amazement, Steve had accepted this without a fight – almost, she thought, as if he’d been expecting it. And after he’d wished her well and said goodbye, she hadn’t heard from him again.

The police hadn’t been able to press charges, because for all they knew the white substance in the photographs could have been sugar. Safe now, all Mia had to do was wait until Michelle’s supposed rehab was complete, and then she could get back to work.

And there was plenty of work
to
get back to, because, just as Sammy had hoped would happen, the interview casting her as the concerned sister of the real culprit had caused a resurgence of interest. Mia Delaney was no longer just that model who’d shocked the fashion world when she’d gone out on the catwalk wearing her dress the wrong way round; she was the model with the enormous heart, who had put her blossoming career on hold in order to support her beloved sister. And she couldn’t wait to get back out there and start soaking up the new-found adulation.

Driving them home on his way to the office that morning, Sammy said he would call in later to see how they were settling back in.

Left to readjust to the confines of their own tiny house when he’d gone, Kim immediately switched on the TV and flopped down on the couch, while Michelle set about cleaning the dust which had accumulated in their absence. Mia, however, had other, more pressing things on her mind.

‘Where are you going?’ Kim wanted to know when she declared that she was nipping out, immediately worried that she was going in search of drugs.

‘To see Laura,’ Mia told her in a dark tone. ‘See what the bitch has got to say for herself for trying to drop me in the shit like that.’

Sneering at the mention of
that
girl, Kim said, ‘Right, well, make sure there’s no witnesses before you do anything. And tell her from me, I’d best not catch her walking down this end of the road or she’s in for a slap.’

Saying, ‘Don’t worry, she won’t be in any hurry to come near here again after I’ve finished with her,’ Mia marched out.

Hurrying down the road with her head down, she didn’t notice Robbo sitting in a car in the side-street opposite her house. But he noticed her. Sucking deeply on his roll-up, he flipped his phone open.

‘Yo, she’s on the move . . . Yeah, I’m sure it’s her.’ Craning forward, he watched as Mia turned into a gate further along the road and hammered on the door of the house.

Just then, a movement across the road caught his eye. Glancing over, he narrowed his eyes when he saw Mia’s double come out of the house he’d been watching for days.

‘Second thoughts, I could be wrong,’ he murmured. ‘No, hang about . . . yep, the first one’s definitely her.’

‘What the fuck are you talking about?’ Steve blasted him.

‘One came out and took off down the road,’ Robbo explained. ‘Now the other one’s come out to put some rubbish in the bin, and I wasn’t sure which was which. But I figure bins ain’t the kind of thing your bitch would dirty her hands on. Oh, and now she’s stroking a cat,’ he added with a chuckle. ‘Can’t see Mia doing that, somehow; she’s more likely to kick it up its arse.’