CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
phantom lady
MARK
The billboards went up this morning all across London, even in New York and Tokyo. My Hail Mary.
So far, it’s had 525,341 votes. Most of them are ‘yes’ and about half of my private parts are visible on the website, which has gone viral. I don’t care about that as much as I thought I would, but I need to know if one of those votes came from the person it was directed at.
I lean back on the couch, looking out at my parents’ lounge. Despite having planned it so well, I messed up the timing. It’s my brother’s birthday today, and I promised him I’d be here.
It’s been a pity party like no other to this point, and I keep checking my phone, hoping to see something from Rey or maybe Kaia, who came up with the idea of her guiding Rey to see the Camden Market billboard and would know what her reaction was.
Rallying the creative team and two of the development pods around this project has been successful in so many ways. But all that matters is whether Rey forgives me.
The doorbell rings, and I startle.
Mum shouts ‘I’ll get it’ across the house and opens the door. My ears prickle. There’s something different.
Mum pokes her head around the doorframe. “Mark, there’s someone here for you.”
“Here?”
I put my whiskey down on the table and walk into the hallway, and my entire body floods with relief when I see Rey on the doorstep. She smiles, a sheepish, nervous smile, and her eyes are glossy.
Fuck, I’ve missed her. Her hair is wild and wavy as always, but she’s wearing a coat on this warm summer evening, which is new for her.
“Can you come outside, please?” she says, and I rush to do as she asks, closing the door behind me.
“How did you know to come here?” I ask.
She laughs and hugs herself, and I want to reach out to hold her, but I need to wait. I don’t know why she’s here. Please tell me she’s here to give me another chance.
“I went to your flat, or should I say your building. I didn’t realise you own the whole place, but one of your neighbours—tenants?—told me they saw you with your family.”
Her eyes scan up the Victorian townhouse. “After a lot of Googling, and I still couldn’t find the address, I called Aiden in the end. And here I am.” She shrugs.
“You did all that to see me?”
She wouldn’t do that to tell me to fuck off, would she?
Her eyes move across my face, those big brown eyes that have a tiredness to them I’m sure I put there.
“Mark,” she looks down now, kicking at the ground with a pair of green ankle boots I’ve not seen her wear before. “I saw your billboard.”
Adrenaline surges through me, making it hard to stay calm, but I take a deep breath.
“It’s hard to miss,” I say. And I made damn sure she wouldn’t.
She finds my eyes again.
“Did you like it?” I ask.
A smile spreads slowly across her face, almost big enough to make those dimples pop, but not entirely. “I did. Has the whole world seen your penis now?”
I shrug. “At the rate it was going, I’m guessing by tomorrow morning, yes.”
I’m glad that part of it is working out. We’ll have a record number of downloads, new subscribers, and two million pounds going to Graham’s wife’s charity. The board can stick their threats up their arses; there’s no way they will fire me now. They don’t get to push me around anymore.
