Page 43 of A Wish For Jo
'But it wasn't a lie, was it?' Abby twisted a strand of hair around her finger, her slate-grey eyes cold as ice. 'You followed me around like a devoted puppy and sent me all those texts.'
'Because I thought we were friends!' Harvey banged his fist on the table, prompting more raised eyebrows.
Ken approached, a concerned frown creasing his face. ’Everything OK here?’ He looked from Harvey to Abby, who treated Ken to her finest butter-wouldn’t-melt expression.
'Everything's just fine. Except that your rude staff member wouldn’t fulfil a simple order. Perhaps you can have a word with him and rustle up a decent G&T for me.'
Ken shrugged and gave Harvey a sympathetic smile. 'If you tried saying please, you might get somewhere. Seeing as I know Harvey, I'll get your drink, but manners matter around here.'
Watching Ken's departing back, Harvey barked out a laugh. Abby, however, was unamused.
'I didn't come here to be insulted,' she hissed, eyes shooting invisible daggers in Ken's direction.
'I'm still waiting to discover why you came,' retorted Harvey. 'And for the record, I never followed you around like a puppy, devoted or otherwise. I thought you genuinely cared about what I'd been through with Lindsey. I never acted inappropriately towards you, and I still can't believe you made those terrible allegations.'
Abby exhaled with force. 'And your name's Harvey now? Change one letter, and assume a new identity? Haven't any of the yokels here twigged who you are, or don't they have TV in these parts?'
'For the love of God, enough with the cheap jibes. You tried to wreck my career, so are you actually here to apologise? Somehow, I don't think that's likely.'
Abby laughed, a fake tinkle that jarred Harvey's already fraught nerves. 'I didn't press charges, did I? It was only ever my word against yours, and the public sided with me. Sad old lech versus pretty young actress: no contest, really. Great publicity, but you know the old saying about today's news being tomorrow's fish and chip wrapper. And it was a while ago, so—'
'I've heard enough. Here comes your gin and tonic.’ Harvey tossed a tenner on the table. ‘Here's enough to pay for it, and I sincerely hope I never see you again.'
Harvey stood up to leave. Ken placed the gin and opened bottle of tonic in front of Abby and ignored the cash.
Abby grabbed Harvey's sleeve and tugged it hard. 'You're not going anywhere. Here's the deal. I've been offered a substantial sum to talk about my experience as a young woman dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace. I won’t nameyou, of course. Isn't that nice of me?'
Nice? Harvey could think of several words to describe his former colleague, but nice wasn't one of them. Opportunist, brazen, and without an ounce of empathy summed her up better.
'And you expect what from me? A congratulatory hug? A round of applause?' Harvey gawped in disbelief at Abby. 'You do realise that people will put two and two together, and yours truly will be back in the firing line?'
Abby took her time pouring tonic into the gin. Harvey wondered what he could do to dissuade her, and quickly decided that the answer was nothing, short of clubbing her over the head and burying her in a shallow grave. Sadly, that wasn't really an option.
'I didn'thaveto tell you,' she said, stirring her drink rapidly. 'It's part of a documentary series on women in the public eye and their experiences at the hands of predatory men. Trust me, I've been on the receiving end of several unwanted advances.'
Harvey nodded reluctantly. He'd witnessed enough instances of women being touched inappropriately or subjected to lewd remarks to know the score. Sadly, the majority of the culprits got away with it, their victims too scared to rock the boat. It wasn't fair, but life rarely was. 'Listen, Abby. You do what you want to do; I can't stop you. But Iwilldeny until the day I die that I did anything wrong. You know the truth, and your silence has done more damage than you'll ever know. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off home.'
A flutter of something, possibly guilt, glided across Abby's face. It vanished in an instant, replaced by a steely smile. 'Take care,Harvey. Hope you find some work soon. You were a good actor, if a bit intense at times.'
Without a backward glance, Harvey strode out of the pub, the cool night air hitting him with welcome force. Seeing Abby again and hearing her latest publicity-seeking scheme had filled him with fury, but he was powerless to act.
For a moment, he contemplated swinging by Jo’s, to apologise and try to explain… But what was the point? He'd only end up digging a deeper hole than the one he currently inhabited. Maybe if he'd been honest in the first place and told Jo the whole sorry tale, she'd have believed him.
Trudging towards Brae Cottage, Harvey wondered if he could possibly feel any lower. When you thought you'd hit rock bottom, finding another level of misery below did little for a person's sense of self-worth.
CHAPTER42
'You're back early!'Aaliyah regarded Jo with all the enthusiasm of a drug mule facing a cavity search.
'Things didn't quite go to plan,' said Jo. 'Sorry if I'm interrupting anything.’ Judging by Aaliyah's rumpled appearance and Dhassim's back-to-front jogging pants, she'd narrowly avoided embarrassment. Taking her time opening the door and bellowing out a hearty 'Hello, are you decent?' had been a smart move.
'Aww, my downcast dumpling.' Dhassim rushed over and threw his arms around Jo. 'Your little face is filled with sadness. Are you going to cry? Please feel free to cry. Aaliyah, fetch some tissues.'
Throwing Dhassim a look of disgust, Aaliyah flounced into the kitchen.
Jo allowed Dhassim to squeeze her harder, like a past-its-best lemon. No juice, just a steady trickle of tears. Dhassim patted her back and murmured words which Jo didn't recognise but helped ease her heartache.
'Here you go, pet.' Aaliyah thrust an entire kitchen roll in Jo's direction. 'Couldn't find tissues, but I thought this would do.'
