Page 47 of Just for December

‘Lots in common, I suppose is my point.’

‘Right.’

Magda stares her out, refusing to say anything else until Evie relents and gives her a bit more to work with, presumably.

‘Shall we get the cheque and do some shopping?’

Magda shakes her head like Evie has told an especially unfunny joke.

‘Unbelievable.’ She laughs. ‘I’ll tell you something: I don’t ever worry that under torture and duress you’d give away my secrets to the government. You never talk aboutanythingyou don’t want to.’

Evie laughs too. ‘And this is news to you?’ she says.

As they exit the café, they bump into an irate, shouty man on his cell phone, pacing in the cold without a coat, his breath raging in front of him like the fire coming from a dragon.

‘Jesus,’ Magda says, ‘American tourists are the worst, aren’t they? It’s a shame the Germans speak English so well. Dude needs tochill.’

Evie shakes her head at the stream of f-thises and f-thats that the guy is screaming. She can’t even tell who he might be talking to: a partner, a colleague, a poor customer sales rep. And then he turns around enough for her to see that it’s Brad, the director.

‘Whoa,’ Evie says, lowering her gaze and tugging on Magda’s sleeve. ‘Stop staring now. It’s the director.’

The pair hurry across the square and around the corner from their café and the hotel, and thus the hustle and bustle of anyone from the movie. Up a small side street strewn with fairy lights and with a big Christmas tree at the end, Evie explains: ‘He’s wild, man. Like, so super nice to your face, really Hollywood, really showbiz, and he was okay on set at first, but then something happened with him and Daphne …’

‘Well, they’re together, right?’ asks Magda. ‘She was with Duke, she cheated on Duke, you started to be photographed in a fake romance with Duke so everyone would lay off her a bit …’

‘Yes.’ Evie nods. ‘All of that is true. But in terms of Daphne and Brad still being together, I don’t know. Duke hasn’t ever told me what happened the night he got photographed hugging her, but something did. Set has been ice cold since …’

Magda stops to look in a shop window displaying two winter outfits on headless mannequins. ‘I like that jumper,’ she says, pointing, and Evie hums in mutual appreciation.

‘Hard colour to wear though – red,’ she says.

‘Needs a red lip for balance,’ Magda agrees. ‘Then you’re getting into lipstick on your teeth at a Christmas party …’

‘Or wearing that stuff to coat it so it doesn’t come off, and ending up with lips drier than the desert,’ agrees Evie.

‘Better to stick with a nude lip and neutral clothes palette.’ Magda laughs. ‘Never mind. I don’t like the jumper after all.’

They continue to walk, Magda slipping her arm into Evie’s.

‘You don’t think …’ Magda starts, and Evie can sense the tone shift immediately.

‘What?’ she says, with trepidation.

Magda scrunches up her nose, as if to say:Don’t get mad at me, I’m too cute.

‘It’s definitely finished with Daphne, isn’t it?’

‘For Duke?’

‘Yeah.’

‘I’m pretty sure, yeah. What do you mean?’

Magda shrugs. ‘Just that those photos of them hugging …’

Evie can’t figure out what Magda is getting at. Does she think that Daphne and Brad have just been a musical interlude in the ongoing love of Daphne and Duke? And is that Evie’s business?

‘Well,’ Evie says, ‘I appreciate you looking out for me, since you think, apparently, that me and Duke might … well, I don’t even know.’

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