Page 179 of The Love Letter
‘Zoe, how are you?’
‘Rubbish,’ he heard her sob. ‘I’ve run away.’
‘Run away from where?’
‘The palace.’
‘Why? How . . . ? Where are you?’
‘Hiding in a toilet in a café in Soho.’
‘You’re doing what?!’ Simon could hardly hear her.
‘I was on my way to a premiere and told the driver I needed the toilet urgently before I arrived. I can’t do this. I just . . .can’t. Simon, what do I do?’
He ignored the anxious signals of the staff at the boarding gate as he heard her sobs down the line.
‘I really don’t know, Zoe. What do you want to do?’
‘I want to . . .’
There was a pause on the line, and the woman on the gate mimed slitting her throat as she indicated the door that led to the plane.
‘Yes?’ he said.
‘Oh Simon, I want to be with you!’
‘I . . .’ He gulped. ‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes! Why else would I be standing here in a smelly toilet in a dress worth thousands? I . . . love you!’
The woman on the gate shook her head, shrugged and closed the door. Simon smiled at her.
‘So,’ he continued, ‘where do you need rescuing from this time?’
She told him.
‘Okay,’ he said, as he retraced his footsteps through the corridors that led to landside. ‘Try to find a back entrance – it’s normally through the kitchens – and let me know.’
‘I know, and I will. Thank you, Simon.’ Zoe grinned into the receiver.
‘I should be with you in under an hour. Oh, and by the way . . .’
‘Yes?’
‘I love you too.’
Pawn to Queen
Promotion of a pawn that reaches its eighth rank to become the most powerful piece on the board: the queen
43
La Paz, Mexico, June 1996
Simon walked into the Cabana Café, its exotic name be lying its scruffiness. The streets he had driven through in the taxi had bypassed the scenic boardwalk and the tourist areas and had stopped in a seedier part of the otherwise beautiful town, graffiti sprayed on the wall opposite, a group of young men lolling against it looking for action. But the beach in front of him was stunning, the Pacific an aquamarine glimmer behind a stretch of white sand, dotted with a few tourists tanning in the bright sunshine.
He ordered a double espresso from the Mexican sweating behind the bar, then took himself off to a table by the open window.
