Page 73 of The Only Way Is Up

Ruby appeared at Daisy’s side, gently taking her elbow. ‘Come on, Mum, let’s go home,’ she said softly, holding up Daisy’s coat so she could slide her arms in. Stella and Miriam both loomed out of the darkness, their arms outstretched like zombies.

‘No.’ Ruby put her hand up to keep them away. ‘We’ll be fine. Dad, can you walk us home? Archie, can you settle up? The rest of you, deal with Christian and all these people.’

Daisy was only vaguely aware of her daughter’s voice, sounding decades older than her sixteen years. Her head still felt woozy, but the fog of shock was lifting. Christian had done it again, she thought bitterly. Where had he gone? And what was the whole thing with Marcus?

Daisy hung up on Katie and flopped back onto the sofa, taking the mug of peppermint tea that Ruby was holding out for her. ‘Thanks, Rubes. Katie’s on the case. She’ll call me in the morning.’

Ruby sat down on the sofa next to her, pulling a blanket over both their legs. Hank jumped up to settle in the space between them – Simon and Archie were staying in the pub tonight and were due to pick him up in the morning. Daisy was glad of his solid, warm little body, his obliviousness to the chaos going on around him.

‘So, what happened?’ Ruby whispered. ‘All I saw was you and Christian talking, then Marcus throwing punches.’

Daisy ran her hand through her hair, feeling like maybe a shower would be nice before bed. ‘I’m not really sure. Christian had a massive Tiffany diamond that looked like something off Real Housewives.’ Ruby’s eyes widened in horror, so Daisy gave her arm a reassuring pat. ‘It’s fine, I said no. Then Marcus came out and things started getting even weirder, it was like they knew each other or something. Then Christian said something snarky, like he thought me and Marcus were an item. So Marcus decked him. And the rest, as they say, is history.’

‘Wow! I’m living for all this drama.’ Ruby sipped her tea, then giggled. ‘Just so I’m clear, were you actually having a thing with Marcus?’

Daisy started to laugh, all the nervous energy from earlier bubbling to the surface. ‘God, no.’

‘Poor Christian,’ said Ruby, joining in with the laughter. ‘He came all that way to propose and ended up getting smacked in the face.’

‘But he spoiled my birthday party, the bastard,’ wailed Daisy. ‘Why did he have to turn up unannounced? Why couldn’t he just phone or email or something?’

Ruby was quiet for a moment, then reached out to take Daisy’s hand. ‘Are you OK?’ she asked quietly.

Daisy smiled reassuringly and squeezed Ruby’s hand. ‘I’m fine,’ she lied. ‘Katie’s going to put out a statement tomorrow confirming our split. She’s emailing Christian’s manager tonight. Oh God, this is going to be all over the press! Loads of people were taking videos.’

Ruby shrugged and sipped her tea. ‘At least you had some pants on.’

Daisy snorted and started laughing again, and Ruby joined in; soon they were both clutching their sides with tears streaming down their faces. But at the back of Daisy’s mind was one big question – where was Tom?

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

‘Hold still.’ Tom pressed a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a tea towel to the side of Christian’s face, resisting the urge to batter the stupid twat around the head with it.

‘That fucking hurts.’ Christian’s eyes were watering from the pain.

‘If we can get the swelling down you might have less of a black eye tomorrow.’

‘I’ll fucking kill him,’ mumbled Christian. ‘I swear to God.’

Tom laughed. ‘With the greatest respect, I’m not sure either of you are the fighting type. Unless you’re planning to battle it out on the tennis court. Here, hold this.’ He twisted the corners of the tea towel so Christian could keep the ice pack in place, then stood up and walked into the kitchen. ‘Do you want a cup of tea, or a beer?’

‘Tea,’ said Christian. ‘Thanks. I’d beat that fucker on court too. Not for the first time.’

Tom stood in the doorway while the kettle boiled. ‘So, an old rivalry, then?’ Suddenly the memory came back to him. He’d entirely forgotten Marcus telling him about their tennis history.

Christian nodded, then winced again. ‘I thrashed him in the Wimbledon Boys’ tournament when we were fourteen. Twenty years later he fucks my fiancée and punches me in the face. Doesn’t seem quite fair, does it?’

Tom swallowed, putting his hands in his pockets so Christian didn’t see them shaking. ‘What makes you think he and Daisy were a thing?’

Christian was quiet for a moment, staring at his shoes. ‘I just assumed because he came trotting out after her like a fucking puppy. But I suppose he could have been looking for me.’

Tom breathed out slowly and walked back into the kitchen, trying to calm himself. He poured hot water onto a tea bag and added milk, then squished the bag with a spoon before dumping it in the sink and carrying the mug back through to the lounge. Christian had his head in his hands, still clutching the ice pack to this left eye.

‘Here,’ said Tom, putting the mug down on the table. He sat in the other chair, trying to feel like he was comforting a sixth former who’d just ballsed up his A levels and not the arrogant prick who’d spoiled Daisy’s birthday party.

‘Thanks.’ Christian picked up the mug and took a sip. ‘I didn’t catch your name.’

‘Tom. I’m the school headmaster.’ He figured he might as well get that out in the open sooner rather than later.