Page 54 of Just Like You
Tracksuit. No make-up. Hair in a ponytail and dark glasses, a strange black car parked on my drive.
“Julian,” she said matter-of-factly. “Your neighbour is standing in his window with a phone at the ready, filming me. Usual thing. If you don’t want to be on the tabloid sites tomorrow, I suggest we take this inside.”
“Inside,” I said flatly. What was going on here?
“Gina,” she said, holding her hand out and at the same time pushing past me into the house. Handbag dangling from the hook of her elbow, phone in her hand.
“Julian,” I replied, wondering what the hell was going on. Again.
It had been what, a few weeks? Normality was apparently now out the window since I had Gina DeSanto standing in my kitchen. Sunglasses now on the top of her head as she flicked my kettle on.
“Nice place. Mind if I sit?”
“Not at all.” Did I have a choice here?
“Tea?” I offered.
“Please. I’m four years sober now and have given up smoking. Totally twitchy still, but yeah. You know.”
“I don’t, but I can empathise.”
“No vices?” she asked with a glint in her eye.
“Too much vodka on the weekend and I will have bad life choices coming out of my ears.”
“I figured. You hooked up with Kieron and completely destroyed him.”
I just huffed.What the hell?
“Hence, I am here because he just rang me and demanded my assistance in rescuing you from despair. You look okay to me. A bit scruffy round the edges, but I can see your appeal. He’s got a type. You’re kind of…”
She cocked her head and stared at me. Head to toe. Back up again.
“You’re nothing like what I thought you’d be. Way smarter. He likes airhead twinks with cute arses.”
“I’ve got a cute arse,” I protested.Fuck me.Oh God.
“You do. But you’re older. Good. He needs someone to keep him on track. You’re probably exactly what he needs. Well, that’s what he told me. He says he’s completely and utterly besotted with you and needs you to go along with all of this. He probably used slightly different words, but the meaning was the same. He fancies you rotten, and you’ve completely ruined him.”
“Okay.”
“Also, you have his watch, which is a stupid game to play.”
“So, you’re here to pick up the watch?” The disappointment must have been right there on my face. Alongside the shock and another surge of anger.
“Oh God, no. I’ll take you down to the official Patek repair shop if you fancy it so we can get it adjusted to fit you; I wouldn’t give it back to him if I were you.”
“Okay?” Was that all I could say?
“I’m here.” She stopped and motioned to the kettle. “Shall I make it? I don’t mind. How do you take your tea?”
“With a shot of vodka?” I offered up, because this whole thing was absurd.
“Not on my watch. You’re working tonight, he told me, and he’s currently trying to get himself to some place in Brazil. You’ve really got to him because that is not something he’d usually do. Kieron is not impulsive, but he’s desperate to see you and knock some sense into you. Not literally, but he wants to. When Kieron wants something?”
“I’ve started to realise that he usually gets what he wants,” I said, finally standing myself up and getting the oat milk from the fridge, handing it to Gina so she could top up the two mugs she was preparing. Like she lived here. Perfectly manicured red nails. Those big boobs right there in my face.
“Thank you,” I said, looking away. “For making the tea.”
