23
I Can’t Make You Love Me
It was press week and I had a hundred things to deal with: proofs waiting for final corrections, facts needing last-minute checks, not to mention a missing album review that a freelancer had yet to file. It would come together in the end – it always did – but the next morning I kept thinking back to my conversation with Nick.Marcie had tried to kill herself? Is that why she’d been wearing long sleeves?It made my own stresses pale in comparison. I felt awful for her, and Pat, too, who’d wanted so much to reconcile with Marcie and now never could.
I’d never fully believed Nick’s story about Marcie seeking redemption with Jess, but now it felt terrifyingly real. Nick may have burned his bridges with Jess, but I could still reach out to her. And for once, rather than going through Simon, I texted her directly to ask if we could meet at some point. She replied almost immediately, inviting me to her flat on Sunday for an early supper. Her keenness made me feel a bit guilty; she probably assumed I wanted to interview her for the magazine, not bring up painful memories.
By five o’clock, Ayisha had subbed the remaining proofs and Rob had finalised the first batch of files to send to the printers. Still, for a press-week Tuesday, the office was abnormally subdued. Lucy and Gav had been quiet all day and I’d only just noticed. The two of them usually provided a commentary on what they were doing in spectacularly vulgar language. When Lucy left early, without wishing her twat-faced colleagues goodbye, I knew something was off.
Gavin watched her leave, a mournful look on his face.
‘Everything okay, Gav?’
A red flush had crept up his neck, clashing with his orange T-shirt.
‘I got a call from a mate who works at the picture desk of a national,’ he said. ‘She told me she’d come across some photos of Jonny Delaney that I’d want to know about.’
The hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention. ‘Why’s that?’
‘He’s with a girl who’s got pink hair.’
‘Is that so bad?’
He shifted in his seat. ‘This pink-haired girl and Delaney are kissing.’
I frowned. ‘Lucy and Delaneykissed?’
Surely that was ridiculous.
He shrugged. ‘Bit of a coincidence, don’t you think? She interviewed him last week.’
‘Yes, but she was at Pinnacle’s offices. There’s no way she’d have gone off somewhere with Jonny, snogged himandbeen snapped in the process.’Would she?
‘Maybe you don’t know her as well as you think you do, Zoë.’
He sounded really glum. ‘Have you tried asking her?’
Gav picked up the jacket on the back of his chair. ‘No, because it’s none of my business, is it? But what I am going to do is get very, very drunk tonight. If you need me, I’ll be in the Coach.’
Things were bad if Gav had chosen that particular pub to drown his sorrows in. It was depressing as hell and only ever frequented by old guys with suspicious stains on their trousers.
Adrenaline buzzed in my veins. The Lucy pictures were potentially a big problem. We’d been trolled on Twitter just for writing a couple of uncomplimentary things about Jonny’s music. How would his sizable fan base react to any woman who dared to kiss him? His fans were split into two groups: those that wanted him single so they would stand a chance with him, and those who shipped his relationship with actress Jeanette Jerome and made creepy digital pictures of what their babies would look like. Both gangs were equally rabid. Lucy would have petrol bombs through her letterbox. And then things would really escalate.
I thought about ringing her myself, but what exactly would I say? Better to get the facts straight first.
If these pics existed, Nick would know.
I dialled and he picked up just before it went into voicemail. ‘Zoë?’ He sounded out of breath. ‘If you’re calling with good news, I’m very impressed.’
‘I’m afraid not, Nick. This is about an altogether different matter.’
‘Go on.’
‘I’ve had reports of some rather alarming photos.’
‘Photos?’
With any luck he would laugh me off the phone, but that didn’t stop a knot forming in my stomach. I ambled to the kitchen. ‘Photos featuring a couple of people you and I know quite well – and they’re kissing.’
