Page 97 of Bad Influence
Jimi looked awkward. ‘I’m heading back to Miami for DJ gigs, and I’ll need someone to take on more of the content over here whenever Mandy comes back. Rob could be perfect. How would you feel about that?’
I tried to act cool, not wishing Jimi to know how confused I was.
‘Rob knows what it’s like working with talent. If he’s up for it, that sounds good.’ I smiled weakly.
‘Rob had some cool ideas too – he suggested making a documentary about Mandy’s surrogacy journey, it will make a refreshing change from the same bullshit celebrity shows. Netflix is looking for exactly that kind of content at the moment. So, we can be work friends then?’ He smiled at me with those amazing lips, but this time I didn’t want to jump right into them and get acquainted. Instead, I felt affection towards him in a platonic way.
‘I always said we were friends,’ I replied dryly.
Right on cue, Rob shut the door of our Mini Countryman.
Philippa, Blair, Coco, and Jose had come to the front door, and now stood in the sunshine outside the house, to join Jimi in waving us off. As we drove past the privet orbs and reached the outer gates, I looked back at the manor house, now partially covered by a cascading wall of lush lilac wisteria, its heavy blossoms hanging like miniature chandeliers. Parts of the façade were highlighted by the sun’s rays, beaming down like spotlights through blossom-heavy trees. The house looked so much more alive than it had when I first arrived here on a freezing March morning, with no idea what to expect. A top window flung open just as the gates glided apart and I heard Mandy call out, ‘Bye, Amber, thank you!’
I looked up at her and waved.
As we turned onto the road, my parting image was of Jimi, his back turned as he walked into the house behind the others. If I wasn’t mistaken, he looked around at the last moment to where our car had been, just as the gates closed. And then he was gone.
You see, sometimes, you can be just friends, even with a really, really hot single guy from Miami.
When Rob and I left the house, we didn’t drive straight home, but stopped off at a country pub Rob had booked for my release; where I ordered a dinner of fish and chips and devoured it as though I hadn’t eaten anything so tasty in a long time – because I hadn’t. Over a pint of shandy,I found myself laughing with Rob and talking with ease about the whole crazy experience. It felt just like our Saturdays on Portobello Road. Only there was a nagging voice in my mind – there was something I needed to ask him.
‘Why didn’t you tell me about your job?’ I asked. ‘It was a bit of a shock to hear that earlier.’ My eyes searched his face for a reaction.
He looked resigned. ‘I didn’t want to bring you down.’ Rob sighed. ‘You had enough going on with Mandy and it was the day you had the party in the evening. I didn’t want to tell you over the phone.’
‘I knew it,’ I whispered. ‘I had a feeling something was up with you that day, it was weird.’
He hung his head. ‘I didn’t think you needed any extra worry.’
‘But it’syou,’ I stated. ‘I always want to know your news, and I’ll always support you. You know that, don’t you?’
He nodded.
‘So how do you feel about it?’ I asked.
‘Okay now, I guess.’ He sighed. ‘You know how much I was hating it recently. In some ways, being made redundant was for the best. I’ve got enough money to keep us going for the next few months while I find new work. I’ve got my head around it, and I’m okay.’
‘As long as you understand it’s no reflection on your skills, because it really isn’t,’ I assured him. ‘It’s just a shitty time with the market. It’s the same in retail and across loads of industries.’
‘I know. I just hope I get as lucky as you with a shiny new opportunity sooner rather than later.’
‘You will,’ I said encouragingly. ‘You’ll get snapped up.’
‘If you haven’t used up all of our good luck quota that is.’ He chuckled. ‘You’ve done so well getting the bonus. I’m proud of you, Am. Really.’
‘And I didn’t even have to do the full term,’ I said, beaming.
He took my hand in his and looked at me intently.
‘There is something else I wanted to talk to you about,’ he said.
My eyes widened.
‘It’s about that photo, the one from Christmas. I was—’
‘Shhh.’ I put my index finger to his lips. ‘You don’t need to say anything. Honestly, it was silly of me. I’m over it.’
‘But I do,’ he replied. ‘I want to. I was in touch with Emily. We exchanged a few messages just before Christmas.’ I gulped. ‘I wasn’t going to tell you why, but I thought you should know. I asked her for the engagement ring back. So I can pawn it.’ The little hairs on my arm stood on end. ‘I didn’t like the thought of her still having it. And,’ he looked at me shyly, ‘I might need a new one, one day.’
