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Thanking God that I had gotten off so lightly, I scampered up the stairs. Beautifully! That’s how it had worked, simply beautifully! I would have to come up with a new story soon, of course, as soon as she realized there were no flowers or presents arriving for me. But I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.
Up in our shared room, Ella was waiting for me. She sat on her bed and looked up at me with a timidly hopeful smile.
‘Have you been out with your young man again?’
I didn’t really see the point of saying no. I had been lying so frequently lately, it had almost become second nature to me. And anyway, this wasn’t technically a lie. I had been with a young man. An incredibly rich, intimidating man whose head I wanted to rip off and feed to piranhas at the moment, but he was still a young man.
‘Yes.’
Ella’s cautious smile bloomed into full radiance.
‘Really? Did it go well?’
Well, he worked me over pretty hard, I bled a little, and he gave me permission to use his toilet. Nice, isn’t he?
All true, but I didn’t say that. Instead I plastered a smile on my face and told her: ‘Yes, very well indeed. I think we’re getting to know each other better.’
‘Come and sit down.’ Ella reached out to me pleadingly. ‘Tell me about him.’
Oh Dear God…
Was this a good idea?
Of course not, you idiot! Of course not! Lie your way out
of this right away!
I opened my mouth - but Ella was sitting there, all sweet and innocent and eager. ‘Oh, Lilly, I know you can’t mention his name or anything,’ she assured me. ‘I just want to know what kind of man he is, how you two get along, how you feel about him. Please.’
She looked up at me with big, pleading doey eyes. Damn! Sisters like that should be illegal! Without really meaning to, I took two steps forward and sat down on the bed beside her, putting my arms around her.
‘All right,’ I said, smiling encouragingly. ‘What do you want to know?’
‘Well… how long have you two known each other?’
Well, that was easy. I could just tell the truth.
‘A couple of weeks, now.’
‘And how many assignations have you had yet?’ she whispered, leaning closer, an eager look in her eyes.
Darn! This wasn’t so easy any more. What should I say? I go to him every day because he pays me for it?
If I said that, she would be jumping to conclusions about my relationship with Mr Ambrose that were even worse than the truth, and her screams of horror would alert the entire household.
‘Um… assignations…’ Desperately I grabbed for a number. My mind seized on Mr Ambrose’s date book. ‘Thirty-six,’ I blurted out. ‘Thirty-six assignations.’
‘Oh. That is quite a lot.’
It was. And all in one day, too. The fact that I had only noted them down, not actually been there, I chose not to mention.
‘And…’ Ella leaned closer, lowering her voice as if now the really important part began. ‘And how do you feel about him?’
Oh bloody heck! More lying. Well, I supposed it was unavoidable.
I bit my lip.
‘I… care about him. But he’s difficult, you know? Taciturn and cool, and not very free with his money. He keeps me at arm’s length, which isn’t easy to deal with sometimes. But underneath it all, he’s really important to me.’
