‘And you!’ said Netta. ‘Looks like you were lucky to manage a table.’
‘Fletcher and Ialwaysget a table.’ She reached down and Netta saw Fletcher happily working his way through a gingerbread man– shaped dog biscuit on the floor. ‘Don’t worry,’ said Audrey. ‘This place is dog-friendly. No smuggling needed here.’
Audrey called over a waiter, who took Netta’s order for an explosively strong coffee, and as he left their table, she drew a circle in the air around Netta’s face with her index finger. ‘I’m sensing some stress. Something happened with your rock star?’
Netta smiled. ‘He’s definitely notmyrock star, but I did see him again last night.’
Audrey’s eyebrows shot up. ‘And?’
‘I’m in a bit of a pickle,’ admitted Netta. ‘He’s asked me to do … I don’t know, I guess it’s a job? And I really need the money he’s offering, but doing it would be majorly compromising. I don’t know what to do.’
Audrey’s expression was unreadable. ‘I’m going to go ahead and assume you’re not talking about being some kind of drug mule or the like.’
Netta snorted. ‘Oh my God, no! Ha! He’s just asked me to do something to help him out. He wants me to go to an event with him—like a date, but fake, obviously. And he’s offered me a fair bit of money to do it.’
‘And do you need the money?’
‘I do.’ Netta had an overwhelming urge to tell Audrey everything, to offload the weight to an objective third party. ‘I want to have a baby, but I’m on my own,’ she confided. ‘And I don’t have the money to pay for—’
‘IVF et cetera?’ Audrey finished.
‘Exactly.’
Audrey looked wistful. ‘I wish I’d tried it,’ she said. ‘It was so new back then and by the time I felt like I could trust it, my eggs were already hard boiled. We tried for a long time, but I went through menopause early, sadly. My husband and I, God rest his gorgeous soul, we desperately wanted a family.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ said Netta.
‘It’s okay. We still had a wonderful life, full of travel and dogs.’ She smiled and scooped Fletcher up onto her lap. ‘But if you truly want a baby, and you have an opportunity that might make it possible, then I’d tell you to go for it, Netta. It’s a hard desire to let go of.’
Audrey’s story settled on Netta like snow, its chill curling around her heart. She didn’t want to have to let go like Audrey had. ‘It’s just that I had a very bad experience with a celebrity once,’ she said. ‘So getting involved with another one feels dangerous. And being seen in public with Mo would be … madness, frankly.’
‘Oh, yes, Mitch Carlton, right?’ Audrey stirred her tea with one hand and scratched Fletcher’s little head with the other.
Netta was agog. ‘You know about that?’
‘Oh, yes. I’ve got a bit of a brain for faces, so I recognised you right off the bat. I didn’t mention it because I thought you’d rather the past in the past and all that. That’s where it belongs, after all.’
Netta’s stomach burned. ‘I … I …’
‘I had the dubious pleasure of meeting Mr Carlton through work a few times back in the day, around the same time the affair hit the news,’ Audrey explained. ‘Highly unpleasant individual, that one, so I didn’t believe a word of his ridiculous story. But I’ve known enough celebrities to know that most are quite decent—if a little spoiled—so I very much doubt your rock star slithers as low to the ground as Mitch. Perhaps you might think about getting to know Morrison a little before you decide what sort of a person he is.’
‘Okay, consider my curiosity officially piqued,’ said Netta, stunned by this glimpse into Audrey’s past. She dropped her voice to a whisper and leaned forward. ‘Are you famous?’
‘Me? Lord, no!’ said Audrey. ‘I was a make-up artist for the BBC for years though, so I’ve met my fair share of big names.’
‘That must’ve been an amazing job,’ said Netta. ‘When you weren’t dealing with the likes of Mitch, anyway.’
‘It was,’ said Audrey, smiling. ‘Fast and glamourous. Tough and exhausting. It was my life for a long time. And if it taught me anything, it’s that celebrities are just people—some lovely, some awful, like all of us—so if you feel like you can trust this fellow and you need the money he’s offering for a chance at having a baby, then maybe you should at least consider his proposal.’
‘I’m worried it’ll open a door to the past and I’ll be the slutty nanny again.’
‘I doubt that’s ever really what you were, my girl.’ Audrey patted Netta’s hand. ‘Seems far more likely you just made an error in judgement with a man in possession of exactly no scruples.’
‘That’s an understatement.’
‘And now you’re in a situation where you have to choose whether that error gets to dictate the rest of your life.’ Audrey gave her a pointed look, her perfectly made-up features quickly softening into an expression of compassion. ‘Or not.’
‘I hear you. But it’s not that easy, Audrey. I don’t know what to do. I feel like a clock’s counting down and I have to disarm a bomb, but I don’t know whether to sever the blue wire or the red one.’ Netta slumped. ‘If I make the wrong choice, I could destroy everything.’
