Page 51 of Bad Influence
‘I know she’s wanting to get pregnant,’ I admitted.
‘It’s more than that – she’sobsessedwith it. She even asked me if I would consider being a sperm donor for a baby. That’s where we were this morning, she had me meet a doctor friend she’s been talking to.’
He exhaled quietly through his mouth. ‘She doesn’t want Jose to know, it’s kind of … personal for him.’
‘Oh.’ I sighed.
‘There’s no way he can father a child naturally,’ he whispered sadly. ‘They’ve tried everything. And with her endometriosis, it’s been a difficult time.’
‘That’s really sad news,’ I said. ‘It must be hard for them to figure out what to do. She opened up to me a bit about this in the cryotherapy chamber yesterday.’
‘You too?’ He smirked. ‘That’s her favourite place to corner people. Mands first asked me about being a sperm donor in there. She knows it’s hard to say no when you’re trying to stop your blood from turning into a slushy.’
‘So, are you going to do it?’ I asked.
‘No,’ he replied firmly. ‘I couldn’t do that without wanting to be the legal father. She was requesting I would hand over all my rights. My name wouldn’t be on the birth certificates, no say in how the baby is brought up. Seeing a baby every day and knowing you’re the dad but not being able to act it?’ Tears glistened in his eyes. ‘I couldn’t do it. Even for my brother.’
I pondered this thought. ‘It’s a massive thing to ask of someone. I’m sure she understood.’
‘I think she has a few, how should I put it, irons in the fire when it comes to that. Anyway,’ he continued, ‘she took it well enough, and I gave her the mushroom powder soon after, to help take the edge off. Only it was the wrong one.’
I shook my head, realising that my mouth had droppedopen in a very obvious way somewhere in the middle of this conversation.
‘It’s no wonder she was so open yesterday,’ Jimi continued. ‘The drugs helped. Are you okay, Amber?’ He turned to me.
I nodded, taking in what he had told me. As someone who had never touched drugs, it was a lot.
‘Don’t be freaked out, everyone’s doing them,’ Jimi reassured me. ‘From bored housewives, to high-flying founders of multimillion-dollar companies, to Silicon Valley executives – it’s the new alcohol or cocaine. But needless to say, this is alltopsecret.’
‘Does Blair know?’
‘I don’t think so.’
‘Just call me Fort Knox,’ I said, drawing an imaginary zipper across my lips.
‘Hopefully she’ll be sleeping it all off in there anyway,’ he added.
‘I kind of liked the relaxed version of Mandy – more than the one who lost it at dinner,’ I responded.
Jimi smiled. ‘Thank God it only made her more relaxed.’
‘Isn’t Mandy fiercely anti-drugs?’ I asked.
He nodded slowly. ‘And if Jose had been here, or if Julie-Ann had noticed anything, it could have been horrible. But it’s done, she doesn’t need to know about it. No one does. Okay?’
‘Okay,’ I said solemnly.
‘I only told you because you were about to jump to an even worse assumption.’
‘In return for keeping this secret, can you help me get theearrings back?’ I asked, remembering that it was now about twenty minutes until the security guard would be here. ‘If I don’t have them packaged up and ready to go, then I will be in big,bigtrouble.’
‘Fine,’ he said, ‘you go in, and I’ll put some clothes on and keep guard by the door. If she wakes, I’ll think of something. But after the day she’s had, I’m pretty sure we’re safe.’
We walked back towards Mandy’s bedroom door, and like trained marksmen, I opened it slightly and Jimi covered my back. There was still a Mandy-shaped lump in the middle of the bed, so I skirted around the edge of the room, keeping within the shadows, with more certainty about where I was headed this time. I used the torch on my iPhone to briefly light up the surface of her dressing table, and to my relief the earrings were right there, along with several other pieces of jewellery we had used on the shoot. I scooped it all up carefully and placed the expensive, twinkling bundle of jewels into the roomy central pocket of my onesie, as Mandy continued to sleep like a baby.
Before leaving the room, I stole a look at her fast asleep. Her big, glossy hair, still perfectly curled from the shoot, was splayed out on the pillow. She looked so peaceful and beautiful, like a sleeping Grecian goddess. I felt a sort-of fondness for her and everything she was going through. I could forgive her mood swings earlier, now I knew the full backstory.
I hope your wish comes true, Mandy, I whispered internally.
