Page 42 of Filter This
‘I am your dada,’ Almost Dan said cheerfully, to which Shelly and Amy hissed ‘Shhh’ in unison and Marni, having just ambled up behind Georgie, exclaimed, ‘What!’
‘Nothing, nothing,’ Amy said. She glared at Almost Dan, who made a big show of appearing to take a phone call, only serving to exacerbate the weirdness of the situation.
‘Georgie, please don’t run ahead like that – there could be cars,chérie,’ Marni admonished gently and Shelly tried not to think about the fact that the child immediately detached from her leg and relocated to the minder’s.
The entrance to the Daddy Bears’ Picnic was mobbed with Insta-mums, PRs and a few sullen-looking photographers who’d drawn the short straw in terms of photocalls. Elsewhere in the city, models in bikinis were posing with outsized objects and here they were in a pit of screaming kids and their trussed-up mums and bored dads.
Shelly steeled herself on the approach. Just past the imposing entrance to the main house was a photo area, an archway of cascading faux flowers under which arriving families were posing with a man in a bear costume before entering the manicured grounds of the house, where a marquee filled with picnic tables had been set up. Waiters circled bearing hot chocolates and Prosecco, while face-painting and games for the kids were in full swing.
‘Shelly!’ A pretty young woman with a severe bob was waving her over to the arch. ‘Holly from Green, Hilliard and Mason PR, welcome!’
‘Hi, Holly, so nice to see you again – you’re looking gorge. New hair?’ Shelly couldn’t remember ever having clapped eyes on Holly but this was generally a safe opener.
‘Aw, thanks. I was really unsure about it at first.’ Holly ran a hand self-consciously over her shiny mane.
‘No, it’s gorgeous on you!’
‘And this must be Georgie?’ Holly leaned down to admire the little girl’s cupcake-shaped tote bag. ‘Stylish just like her mammy.’
‘Her name’s Mar-ni,’ said Georgie, correcting her.
‘Ha, shhh,’ Amy interjected, stepping in front of the child. ‘You never know what they’re on about.’
Holly smiled, straightening up. ‘Would you mind popping over to our teddy bear to do pics for the social pages – you and, of course, Mr Devine …?’ Holly was craning around Shelly to see ‘Dan’, who was lurking just behind and already on the phone. He was twisting this way and that in an effort to keep his face partially hidden – from the look on Holly’s face the effect was coming across more odd man than busy man.
Amy quickly took control. ‘He’s on to Asia, huge deal going down, but he wouldn’t miss this for the world. We’ll get the pics snapped and obvi we’ll do lots of shouting about this gorgeous venue on the SHELLY profile and Dan’s and on @BabyGeorgieDevine, of course – the audience over there is solidly middle-income families, your target demographic.’
As the photographer encouraged Georgie to smile for the camera – a born pro, she didn’t need much coaching – Shelly felt a bit more chill. As soon as they wrapped this bit up, Almost Dan could get on with keeping his distance.
Behind the photographer, a small crowd was gathering. Anxiety tugged at Shelly but, she reminded herself, it wasn’t unusual – people flocked wherever she went. She’d be doing selfies for the next two hours if she didn’t have Amy here to do her bad-cop routine and usher people on. She waved to the women, to the visible delight of several.
‘Just a couple more, Shelly,’ called the snapper. ‘Can you get yer man there to turn around a bit more? I’m only getting profile.’
‘That’s his good side,’ Shelly joked to distract.
On her right, the guy in the bear costume seemed to be saying something. ‘Hey, Justin, mate! How are ya? What’re you doing here? How’s the acting going?’
Almost Dan, hearing his real name, put away the phone and gave the bear a friendly hug.
Shelly was still smiling, hoping they’d wrap it up before anyone noticed her husband was apparently friends with the man in the giant bear suit.
‘Darren – that you? Fuck’s sake! You’re down on your luck, bit of a far cry from Jack Reynor, no?’
‘Well, at least I’m getting paid to be here! This your family?’
‘Nah, I’m actually getting paid for this gig too.’
At this Shelly whipped around. ‘Dan,’ she said pointedly. ‘Stop the chit-chat, let’s get this shot and go.’
She gripped Almost Dan’s arm and turned back to the photographer, smiling. Through gritted teeth she muttered, ‘Just look down like you’re laughing at something I’m saying so they can’t see your whole face.’
Tensely she surveyed the crowd. They were smiling vacantly, and no one seemed aware of anything amiss.
‘Just look at me, Shelly, thanks.’ The photographer clicked away.
She fixed her smile but in her peripheral vision she spied a strangely familiar figure. She flicked her eyes over. It was hard to be sure without turning to see but it looked like that Kelly girl from the hotel. Was she holding up a phone?
‘Great, just one more …’ Snap. ‘And we’re done.’ The photographer lowered the camera and Shelly zeroed in on the spot over to the right where she thought she’d seen the girl, but there was no one. Had she imagined it?
