‘Simon says Jess had stage fright.’
‘Not food poisoning?’
‘I guess that’s the excuse they gave to the club.’
My phone buzzed again. This time, Simon had sent the name of the restaurant where they were.
‘Do you like French food?’ I asked Nick.
‘Why?’
‘Simon’s suggesting we meet them at a place by Piccadilly. If you still want to meet Jess?’
‘A cosy meal, just the four of us? Won’t that be a bit date-ish?’
He was right, and then it suddenly occurred to me that if Nick wanted to keep his connection to Marcie under wraps, then we needed to work out our cover stories.
‘What do we say when they ask who you are? A friend from work?’
Nick seemed to think for moment. ‘Let’s tell them I work in your legal department.’
‘We don’t have one.’
He frowned. ‘What do you do when you’ve got a legal issue?’
‘We use an outside firm.’
‘Okay, I can work for them.’
‘Why are you dead set on being a lawyer?’
‘I trained as one. If anyone asks anything, I’ll be able to fob them off.’
‘What’s wrong with just saying you’re a journalist? You know plenty about that.’
‘I was hoping to keep the lies to a minimum.’
Really? He was suddenly developing a guilt complex?More likely he thought journalism was beneath him.Arrogant prick.
‘Okay, we’ll say you’re a lawyer. God forbid they think you’re a lowly hack.’
*
Nick’s guilt complex must have been contagious, because in the taxi on the way to Piccadilly I started worrying that I knew nothing about him and that it might be glaringly obvious we weren’t actually friends – or even colleagues.
‘So, what sort of stuff do you do in your free time?’
Nick was in the process of straightening his cuffs – was he actually wearing cufflinks again? – and suddenly stopped.
‘You’re asking me if I have any hobbies?’
‘It needs to look like we know each other.’
‘I wasn’t being facetious. I was just making sure I understood you.’
‘Here’s a question I always ask when I’m interviewing: what’s something you like to do that I’d never guess? So none of that going for long walks, watching movies and reading.’
‘Zoë, have you been checking out my Tinder profile?’
