Page 29 of Cover Story

Amber clutched her arm.

‘Bella, you know what, you should come to my thirty-fifth, two weeks tomorrow! It’s only here, private party. Boring, I know, but I can keep it open as late as I like and I can’t bear paying the mark-ups at other people’s. It’s why I’m queen of the lock-in– I know how hard I’m being ripped off everywhere else, lol. Why don’t you come? Bring Connor? It’d be so nice to see different faces.’

‘That would be amazing, if you’re sure?’ Bel said, gesturing at the empties on the table. ‘I feel like I’ve totally taken the piss out of your hospitality as it is?’

‘Don’t be a dick, it’s my job. Give me your number … Do you have NameDrop? Put your phone next to mine, look, it’s magic …’

In the second moment of blind panic during their encounter, Bel realised she had no idea if this would show her WhatsApp contact details as Bel Macauley.

‘Oh, I had a security wig out and toggled that off,’ she blathered, ‘What’s your number?’

She tapped it at speed into her contacts, and text-pinged back BELLA <3

‘Texts! Old school!’ Amber said. ‘Got ya. So good to meet you …’

Mercifully, at that moment, Leo the waiter was at their side asking Amber to come referee someone querying their bill.

As soon as she was in the taxi home, Bel hurriedly scrolled to her WhatsApp. It was only showing as ‘Bel’ but she changed her name to Bella anyway.

She saw her ghostly reflection in the taxi window and asked herself why she was scowling.

Befriending Amber Kendrick was, on the face of it, a raving success. It was just such a shame she’d pulled a Joker at the last minute. Actually no, not a Joker– the odds of that were far greater than what had happened to her. Two of them in a fifty-four card deck.

A day in lieu.Had he followed her? No. That was paranoia, and when he saw her, it was like he’d caught her naked.

She was scowling because, firstly, Connor Adams was now going to have to be persuaded to become part of her undercover identity, passionately against both of their wishes.

And, secondly, because she had a resentful feeling that Connor’s unwanted appearance had clinched the deal.

She Googled ‘Harley Quinn.’ The Joker’s lover in Arkham Asylum. FFS.

As the Uber engine idled in mid-evening traffic, Bel looked at the phone in her hand again and noticed she had an unread WhatsApp.

Connor

Hi, are you OK? That felt like possibly some variant of an Ask For Amy? I wasn’t sure if leaving you was the right thing to do but you have my number :/

Of course, and he had her number, a first day formality. His profile picture showed him smiling, hair tousled, he looked totally different.

Bel conceded this was a more considerate first round of feedback than she’d anticipated. She’d vaguely wondered if he’d be utterly indignant, trapped into a flurry of lies, masculine pride affronted at being publicly claimed by a woman of lesser physical beauty than his own.

Bel

SORRY, and thank you so much for not blowing my cover. The explanation for it will need to be in person. Please not a word to anyone about this, especially Aaron.

Connor

Deal. I mean, we are end-to-end encrypted here …

Bel

Not as encrypted as our ends would be in the great outdoors.

I don’t suppose you’re free at the weekend?

19

For all the cloak-and-dagger and ‘having to find Bel in Platt Fields Park of a Saturday afternoon, so the Russians couldn’t hack their telecoms,’ or whatever reason she was claiming meant they couldn’t use their mobile phones, Connor had a premonition that this was going to turn out to be very little.

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