Page 35 of A Clean Sweep
'Hi Tom. Nice to see you (Lie). Looking good (Truth, damn it). So, this must be? (Wait for name of shameless tart).'
Tom looked appalled, the woman next to him cooler than an iced cucumber. She ran her fingers along his thigh,Tabitha wanting to shout: 'Get your hands off! He's mine!' But he wasn't, not any more. She felt Adam's hands on her shoulders, gentle but supportive.
'Tabitha, this is Kate. Kate, Tabitha.' If he was expecting a sisterly embrace or a high five, he was destined to be disappointed. The two women gave each other cursory glances, Tabitha desperate to sit down and eat something, Kate clearly feeling she had the upper hand.
'Sweetheart, it's been a long day so let's go and have some dinner. Tom, Kate. Nice to meet you. Enjoy your meal.' With those well-chosen words, Adam steered Tabitha to their table, placed an order with the waiter and sat back. Tabitha tore off a piece of bread, dunked it in some olive oil, and gave him her most glacial of stares.
'Why did you do that? Call me sweetheart when you've known me for five minutes? I get that you figured out he's my ex butwhydid you do that?' Tabitha felt like she was unravelling like a ball of string, being attacked by a band of manic kitties.
Adam said nothing. Nodded politely when the food arrived, carved up the pizza and slid a couple of slices in Tabitha's direction. They ate in silence for several minutes, both acutely aware of Tom and Kate's presence just yards away.
‘Yes, Tabitha. This isnotquite the date I imagined.' Adam peeled off a slice of pepperoni and pushed the doughy part to the side of his plate. 'I never imagined bumping into your ex, but I don't think you expected that either. I called yousweetheartbecause I wanted to you to feel confident. I wanted you to show him that you'd moved on. I hope you have. And I'm here if you want me to be.'
Tabitha was speechless. Was this man for real? Should she have him stuffed and mounted as rare exhibit at the British Museum? Roll up, roll up. Genuinely nice guy. Thoughtful,caring and exceptionally easy on the eye. Yes, they do exist in this selfish, greedy and narcissistic century. On second thoughts, Tabitha had no desire to share him with anyone. If he really was as lovely as he seemed the rest of womankind could form an orderly queue. She had a priority pass and fully intended to use it.
'It's fine. Sorry I overreacted. It was just a shock, you know, running into them. But I'm OK with it. It's history now. Honestly.' Tabitha smiled in a way she hoped conveyed she was absolutely over Tom and more than a little bit into Adam. He smiled back in a way that suggested they were on the same page, with many chapters still to be revealed. Phew! She cast a sideways glance at love's young dream as Adam dissected another slice of pizza and felt nothing. No sadness, no envy, no bitterness. Just a sense of moving on and going with the flow.
Almost an hour later and they had shared some more wine, laughed a lot and confessed to a mutual liking forJoseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. Bill duly paid – Adam refused to split it – they headed off into the night singing in harmony. Admittedly neither knew all the words but passers-by smiled indulgently as they warbled away. Tabitha couldn't recall when she'd had so much fun, felt so at ease in someone's company. It was a night to remember, not one to go in for the casual fumble and flaming cheeks in the morning.
They'd reached her doorstep. She already had her keys to hand, prepared to part with – hopefully – the promise of another date to follow. She sent up a silent prayer as she opened the door and turned to face Adam. 'Thank you. For a lovely evening, despite the awkward bit. Can we do it again? If you'd like to?'
By way of reply Adam placed his hands on her face and kissed her. A soft, barely-there kiss but enough to give herserious goosepimples and cause her to question her vow of chastity. 'Take that as an affirmative,' he replied, Tabitha's lips still tingling from their all-too-brief contact with his. 'We've still got a truckload of show tunes to work our way through, haven't we?'
Tabitha grinned and stuck her key in the lock. 'Absolutely. I think we should move on toOklahomanext, then maybeLes Miserables? Although that always makes me cry.' As she opened the door she wondered if Adam would invite himself in. Her virtuous side – not the dominant one – hoped he wouldn't. Her wicked side was screaming "Go on! You know you want to!"
Whether he could read the agonising dilemma on her face, or was simply a perfect gentleman, Adam stepped back and gave a little bow. 'Personally, I'm a bigOliverfan but we can argue the toss next time. Would tomorrow be OK, or do you need more time to get into character? Belt out some numbers in the shower? I can be patient, but only up to a point. If I have to wait more than twenty-four hours until I see you again I may well spontaneously combust. And that would be messy and massively inconvenient for my boss.'
At the mention of Adam's boss, Tabitha's brain went into hyper drive. She'd meant to quiz Adam about Steve during the evening but had been somewhat distracted. Yes, it could wait until tomorrow but suddenly she needed to know where he stood on the availability scale. 'Erm, just curious and all that but is he single? Steve, I mean.'
Adam gave her a look that suggested her query was as unexpected as Hugh Jackman announcing he was gay and shacking up with Russell Crowe. Presumably to serenade each other in sexy French accents. 'Please, don't tell me you have a thing for older men. I couldn't bear it. Plus, I happen to know that Steve is a very good singer but not really a fanof musicals so that would probably put a nail in the romantic coffin. I know he's extremely good-looking but—'
Tabitha cut him off with a glare worthy of a schoolteacher facing a classroom of belligerent teenagers. 'I amnot, repeatnotinterested in your boss in that way.' She ignored Adam's overly dramatic sigh of relief and continued. 'I just wondered. You see, my boss, Meryl, has had a really shit time with men recently and I saw Steve and I was just thinking…'
'You were just thinking you could pair them up? Before I spill, you need to tell me a bit more about your boss. Is she cute, funny, not prone to stalking innocent men and boiling bunnies?'
Tabitha gave a quick rundown on Meryl, wondering why they were conducting this conversation on the doorstep when it would be much easier inside. But she knew if they both went indoors her wicked side would win the day and her clothes would fall off all of their own accord.
'Sounds perfectly nice. OK, Steve is widowed. His wife – Joe's mum – died around five years ago. Cancer, I believe. They both took it hard. I think Steve's dated on and off in the past couple of years but nothing serious. He doesn't really talk about it, why would he? All I know is he's a great guy and if he met someone who made him happy that would be fantastic.'
Tabitha was now a woman on a mission. Both to somehow introduce Meryl to Steve and to keep Adam in her life. As well as checking that all was well with her mum and Joe. Crikey, she almost needed a spreadsheet to manage all the potential love lives in the frame. 'So, if I somehow managed to introduce Meryl to Steve, do you think … ?’
Adam nudged her inside, a finger pressed against her lips. She fought back the urge to open her mouth and lick it. Her wicked side was definitely going for gold and a few victory laps.
'Off to bed with you, scheming wench. I'll pick you up tomorrow around seven and we'll eat, drink and plot devious ways to ensure global peace and harmony. Sweet dreams,sweetheart.'
With a giggle and a final kiss – slightly less chaste than the previous one – Tabitha closed the door. Her head was a complete jumble, thoughts of Adam at the fore, thoughts of the other cast members in her life shouting for attention. Sleep seemed a remote possibility, so she headed to the kitchen and made herself a cup of hot chocolate. On the way, she scooped up the morning's post and dumped it on the counter. Bills, bills and more bills. And another that caught her eye. "Party People Inc." Wasn't that the company who'd hired her for the wrap party for that mad Scottish reality show? She ripped open the envelope and scanned its contents. Oh. My. God. It seemed that Big Tam had bigged her up with the powers that be (despite her aversion to artery-clogging choccie delights) and now they were offering her a job! Well, at least an interview for a job. Aproper,event-planning job involving planning events from the ground up. Everything she'd studied for but had had little chance to put into practice. The interview was scheduled for a week's time in London. She'd have to tell Meryl, take time off work, polish up her resumé and dig deep for confidence she knew existed but was buried under layers of self-doubt and abject fear. Youcando this, she told herself. The hardest part would be leaving Meryl. If she evengotthe job, that is.
Sipping her hot chocolate and rereading the letter, Tabitha couldn't help but dwell on the vagaries of life and how things could change in little more than a heartbeat. One minute she was living with Tom and an increasing sense of dissatisfaction, the next she was singing and feeling totally connected with a man called Adam and possibly embarking on a new career. Maybe even managing to match her belovedMeryl up with a man who seemed to be everything the website weirdos were not.
Tucked up in bed, Tabitha could feel another ear worm coming on. ‘Love Changes Everything’.She wasn't sure of the show – something Andrew Lloyd Webber – but it seemed right. She drifted off to sleep, contentment written all over her face.
Chapter 23
It had been almost a week since Celeste had confronted Michael and discovered his rekindled relationship with Sophie. An agonising, terrifying week with the two of them passing like ships in the night. Michael had moved his things into the guest bedroom by the time she'd returned home, the door firmly closed behind him. They'd barely exchanged more than a handful of words and mealtimes were tense and punctuated only by the clatter of cutlery or scraping of plates.
Celeste desperately wanted to make things right but she hadn't a clue where to begin. Or if the gulf between them was too great and Michael was just biding his time before telling her he was leaving. Every time she imagined the words she felt sick to her stomach. Even more so, because she'd had the power all those years ago to change the course of their history. If she'd encouraged her husband to see Sophie, welcomed his daughter into their lives, everything would have been so different. Berating herself for the hundredth time she wished she had done things differently. She might never have come close to being a mother to Sophie butmaybe they would have become friends. And Michael would have revelled in his role as doting dad and grandfather. He was clearly doing that now, but the chances of Celeste and Sophie ever picking up the pieces were virtually nil. Judging by Sophie’s expression when Celeste saw her for the first time, she made Disney villainesses look like paragons of virtue and loveliness.
Michael was out. She'd heard the front door slamming a little earlier. He'd offered no explanation as to where he was going. Not that she needed one. She'd heard him murmuring on his phone about an hour ago and it was clear he was speaking to Sophie. No need to hide it anymore. The ugly truth was out there. Michael was with his family and there was no place for Celeste in their cosy unit.
