Sugar Secrets…& Mistakes Page 7

  “—were both crazy about each other before we got it together!” Kerry interrupted again. “It’s not the same thing! You’re sounding so… calculating and cold-blooded about this. I mean, has Matt given you any indication about how he feels?”

  Before Sonja could answer, Anna appeared by their side and pointed out of the window.

  “Looks like Cat’s got into the swing of tonight’s theme,” she said.

  Sonja and Kerry put aside their strained conversation for a moment and stared out of the plate glass at an approaching Maya, dressed in a plain black T-shirt and jeans and looking tight-lipped and ever-so-slightly mortified. Alongside her was Cat, who was decked out in shiny patent, stack-heeled ankle boots, laced-topped black hold-ups, an expanse of white thigh, a microscopic Lycra skirt, a button-popping, tight white shirt and a school tie, slung down loosely enough to accentuate her cleavage.

  “Whoa!” yelped Ollie from behind the counter as Cat and Maya strode in. “What have you come as. Cat? A schoolgirl or a lap-dancer?”

  Cat stuck her tongue out at him and slithered into the booth beside Kerry.

  “Oh.” she said flatly, gazing at Kerry and Sonja. “You didn’t get dressed up either.”

  Maya rolled her eyes. “Cat. I told you. Only the staff were dressing up. Customers don’t have to.”

  “Hmphff,” huffed Cat, gazing around the slowly filling café. “Doesn’t look like Anna’s made much of an effort with those boring trousers. But at least she’s been doing her hair like I told her…”

  All four girls gazed over at Anna, who was taking an order from a crowd huddled round a table at the other side of the cafe, and all nodded their silent agreement. Anna had still pulled her hair back in a ponytail for efficiency’s sake, but it looked glossier, darker and more luscious now that she’d taken to slapping on the products Cat had recommended. And the soft, natural brown shadow that she’d started using on her eyelids every day made her eyes look more alert and animated than they ever had before.

  “Cat,” Maya began, “you really made a difference to Anna. I’m sure you’ll do really well with the course tomorrow.”

  “It’s not just make-up, remember!” twittered Cat. “I’m going to be learning a whole load of beauty therapies like massage, aromatherapy, electrolysis—”

  “Cat!” Maya tried to rein in her friend’s attention. “Cat – you still haven’t told your mother yet, have you? How can you expect her to take this well when you’re going to spring it on her at the last minute?”

  Cat flushed pink under her blusher. But just as her bright red, lipsticked mouth was about to form itself into the word ‘no’, she was saved from humiliation by the arrival of Matt.

  Sonja’s face burst into an ear-to-ear smile as he came through the door, which faded bit by bit as her gaze dropped to his arm, and on to his hand, and on to the hand that gripped his…

  …and on to the stunningly pretty girl it belonged to.

  CHAPTER 14

  TO BE BOTHERED, OR NOT TO BE BOTHERED…

  “S’cuse…” said Sonja, squeezing past Maya and heading off towards the toilet.

  Matt watched her walk away across the crowded café with some disappointment. More than any of his friends, he’d wanted Sonja to meet Gabrielle – the girl who’d occupied most of his thoughts since he’d spotted her at the fitness club on Saturday. The girl who’d scribbled her phone number on a tiny scrap of paper and handed it to him shyly and wordlessly over the DJ console later that same night, after much mutual eye contact.

  It had burnt a hole in his pocket and in his brain – where he’d stored the six digits after looking at them zillions of times – until he’d finally got in control of his emotions long enough to call her on Wednesday night.

  “Cat… Kerry… Maya…” he pointed out to Gabrielle as she waved hello to each of his girl mates in turn and smiled broadly. “That was Sonja on her way to the loo – but you’ll meet her later – and over there is Anna, serving, and there, that’s Ollie by the coffee machine. Joey – that’s my mate Joey fiddling with the tape deck.”

  Gabrielle Adjani turned her charming smile from his friends back to Matt and he felt his insides turn to mush.

  Once, way back sometime in the misery of his boarding school years, Matt remembered an unspectacular visit his class had made to an art gallery up in the city. In among drab portraits, bland landscapes and indecipherable modern art doodlings, only one thing had grabbed his attention – an abstract statuette of a girl, crouched down, her head hidden in her arms.

  Carved out of a dark amber-brown marble, Matt had found himself inexplicably drawn to its smooth, lustrous surface, his fingers itching to run the length of the figure’s rounded back, to feel the cool stone on his skin. Only the rope that kept the public away, the sign saying ‘Do Not Touch’, and the watchful eye of the art teacher stopped him from doing it.

  It was a brief moment in an otherwise uneventful outing and he could safely say that it wasn’t something he’d dwelt on. Until he’d seen Gabrielle at the fitness club opening night. Wearing a short, strappy summer dress, her long arms and bare shoulders and the soft, dark brown of her skin made the long-buried memory of the marble statuette come flying smack bang into his mind. Only this girl was more beautiful, especially since – unlike the figure – he could see her long neck, her heart-shaped face, her huge, dark-fringed eyes.

  Like the sculpture, he found himself drawn to touch her. When they’d met earlier in the park, it had been all he could do to stop himself reaching over the picnic table and stroking her satin-smooth cheek, or letting his fingertip follow the line of her thick but perfectly arched eyebrow.

  He couldn’t, of course. It was only the first five minutes of their first ever date and he didn’t want her to think he was too full-on, or to see just how besotted he was after one brief meeting the previous weekend and one conversation on Wednesday over the phone.

  Luckily for Matt, Gabrielle had seemed as smitten he was. She laughed loudly and unselfconsciously at everything he said, the silver beads tied in the ends of her braids catching the light of the late evening sun every time she threw her head back. She had even gone so far as to reach down for his hand as they left the park gates and headed for the End.

  He was still holding her hand now – her tiny, delicate little hand with its nails like pale slithers of pearl against her brown skin.

  “Come on, I want you to meet the lads properly,” he smiled at her, with complete, unadulterated adoration.

  “Who was that?” asked Cat incredulously as the cosy couple walked off towards Ollie and Joe.

  “Gabrielle, he said her name was,” Maya reminded her.

  “I recognise her from the party the other Saturday,” added Kerry.

  “No, I mean who was he? That big slush-bucket wasn’t our loud and lairy Matt!” Cat said jokily, leaning out of the booth for a better snoop’s eye view of Matt and his gorgeous new girlfriend.

  “Back in a second,” Kerry excused herself, heading off to the loos in search of the missing Sonja.

  “Wish Matt had looked at me that way when we were together…” Catrina muttered to Maya.

  “Does it bother you?” her friend asked, aware that this was the first girl (apart from Ollie’s sister, Natasha) whom Matt had brought on a date since he broke up with Catrina earlier on in the year.

  Cat stuck her bottom lip out as she considered the point, her eyes glued to the lovey-dovey twosome.

  “You know something?” she said after a moment or two. “It doesn’t bother me. Not now.”

  “That’s good,” Maya smiled at her. She’d had her suspicions in the past that Catrina still had a great big, soggy, soft spot for her ex deep down in that hard old heart of hers.

  “Yes, it is, isn’t it?” beamed Cat.

  Sonja stared into the mirror above the sink and tried to will tears to come. But they didn’t.

  “Who is she?” she spat out.

  Kerry had taken long enough to follow her
into the Ladies. She must have been trying to find something out before she came to comfort her best friend.

  Kerry leaned against the sink and shrugged.

  “Don’t know exactly,” she replied, “but I remember seeing her at the party at the fitness centre. You couldn’t really miss anyone that stunning.”

  “Gee, thanks. Rub it in, why don’t you!” snapped Sonja, not at all pleased with her so-called friend’s unloyal response.

  Kerry folded her arms across her chest and said nothing. She could see that Sonja was suffering from a bad case of hurt pride rather than bruised heart.

  “Just when I thought I’d found the Right One…” Sonja sighed dramatically. “God, I can’t believe my luck!”

  “I think your luck’s just fine,” answered Kerry. “I think it saved you from doing something you’d really regret.”

  “Don’t go all preachy on me, Kerry Bellamy!”

  Sonja’s flushed cheeks told Kerry all she needed to know.

  “Don’t be embarrassed, Son,” she said calmly, not taking on board any of her friend’s barbed comments. “We all make mistakes and at least I’m the only person who knows about this particular one.”

  “Me and Matt could have worked!” Sonja protested.

  “Yeah? Well, with that logic me and Joe could work, or Maya and OIlie could work… except that’d never happen. We’re all friends, Sonja, and that’s it. You and Matt are brilliant together – but as friends. Don’t go spoiling that.”

  Sonja stood with her lips pursed, silently fuming. She was angry because Kerry was so right and she’d been so wrong. No matter how much she wanted to want Matt, Sonja couldn’t quite convince her heart or her head that she’d ever be able to make the leap to loving him as anything more than a mate.

  “Honestly, I do think it’s a rebound thing,” said Kerry, a little more kindly. “You fell for one boy and found out he was a rat; you fell for another and he moved away… I think you just fancy the idea of playing safe and trying for someone you already know and trust not to let you down.”

  “Who have you been taking lessons from – Maya?” Sonja asked, her voice now sounding sheepish rather than snarling. “Or is it Anna? She’s into all that analysis stuff!”

  “Well, some of it’s bound to rub off,” smiled Kerry, unconsciously lifting her hand to play with the tiny stones on the chakra round her neck. “But don’t you think there’s something in what I’m saying?”

  “Mmm, I s’pose,” Sonja replied, her voice tinged with regret.

  “I mean, really, truly – does it bother you? Seeing Matt with another girl?” her friend asked.

  Just as Cat had done, Sonja stuck out her bottom lip as she thought hard.

  “You know something?” she said after a moment or two. “I don’t think it does bother me. Not really.”

  “Good!” Kerry hadn’t wanted her best friend to make a fool of herself over something that was just a fleeting moment of madness.

  “You know…” said Sonja suddenly, changing the focus of the conversation from herself to Kerry, “you were very sharp with me out there when I tried to tell you about all this. That’s not like you. Is there something up?”

  “Me? No!” Kerry shook her head, playing more frantically with her chakra.

  If there was one thing Kerry couldn’t stand, it was having to lie.

  CHAPTER 15

  WHERE THERE’S A WILL…

  “Joey – get us a coffee, hon!”

  Joe gazed up at his friend. She’d developed an orange tan overnight and had blow-dried her hair into a shaggy style parted at the side. She was obviously meant to look like someone but he couldn’t put his finger on who it was.

  “Cat.” he began as she made herself comfortable across the table from him, “I’m not working here any more. I’m back at sixth form as of today, remember?”

  “Sixth form?” she answered vaguely as if such a juvenile concept was impossible for her to imagine. “Oh, yes, of course. I forgot. Hey. Ollie – get us a coffee, would you?”

  Ollie came back over to the booth with a bottle of tomato sauce swiped from behind the counter.

  “Cat – look. No apron,” he said, turning from side to side like a catwalk model. “Does that tell you something?”

  “Surprise me,” she drawled, reapplying her Very Berry lipstick in the pocket mirror she’d pulled from her bag.

  “I’m here as a customer, not a worker, today,” Ollie spelt out, lifting the top of the bun in front of him and squishing red sauce on top of his burger.

  “Who’s serving then?” she asked, staring impatiently around the café. “When’s a hardworking college girl like myself going to get anything to drink?”

  “Ah. I get it,” said Ollie, catching on. “OK then – how was your first day at college?”

  Cat gave him a simpering smile and Joe suddenly realised who she’d modelled herself on for her first day on the beauty course. It was ex-EastEnder Michelle Collins, who was no stranger to make-up herself.

  “Amazing – absolutely amazing!” she gloated. “It’s just going to be fantastic – lots of practical work instead of just books, books, books like at school. I’m so glad I decided to do it! Honestly!”

  Her gushingly over-the-top proclamation could only mean one thing as far as Joe was concerned: the course hadn’t been what Cat’d expected and she was worried that she’d made an awful mistake. But Joe wasn’t about to go bursting her bubble by pointing that out.

  Before Cat could enthuse any more, a babble of voices and the ping of the bell above the door heralded the arrival of Maya, Kerry and Sonja. Anna came bustling out of the kitchen, pad in hand.

  “How was the first day back?” she smiled as the girls all settled themselves around the table.

  “Oh, not bad. But then the first day’s always like a honeymoon, isn’t it?” said Sonja, squashing in beside her cousin, her natural honey-toned skin clashing with Cat’s out-of-a-bottle colouring. “The teachers are nothing but nice – then they get nastier as the week goes on and that’s when they start heaping on the work!”

  “How do you like sixth form? Is it better than school, Maya?” asked OIlie through a mouthful of burger.

  “I like not having to wear a uniform, that’s for sure,” she smiled.

  “I know what you mean,” said Anna. “Getting back into a school shirt and tie last night was enough for me!”

  “Just keep your fingers crossed that Nick doesn’t get it into his head to do it again, seeing how successful his little idea was,” OIlie grunted.

  “Yeah, it was mobbed, wasn’t it?” said Sonja. “Did he take a lot of money then?”

  “Did he!” laughed Ollie. “Just stick your head through the kitchen door and check out the grin that’s been glued to his face all day!”

  Through everyone’s giggles, a determined cough could be heard.

  “Are you all right, Cat?” asked Kerry worriedly.

  “Yes, she’s fine,” grinned Ollie. “I think she just wants to attract your attention, don’t you, Cat?”

  “What, me?” she replied wide-eyed.

  “Oh, Cat – sorry!” Maya jumped in. “Well, how did it go today?”

  “Absolutely brilliant! It’s going to be a hundred times better than staying on at St Mark’s. And there’s going to be so much practical experience, so I’m going to need lots of volunteers!” she said brightly, glancing round at her friends.

  “Victims, you mean,” Ollie teased, and got a kick under the table for his trouble.

  “So, you’re sure you’ve made the right decision then? Still think it’s going to be your ticket into showbiz?”

  Cat ignored the sarcasm in Sonja’s voice and carried right on with her glowing descriptions of everything from the college canteen to the potential hunk material on the electrical engineering course. All the while, she made a concerted effort to avoid Maya’s gaze.

  “So,” Maya butted in when Cat finally drew breath, “how did your mum take it in the end
?”

  “What’s that…?” Cat asked vaguely, furrowing her brow as if she had no idea at all what Maya was getting at.

  “Your mum,” said Maya firmly. “What did say she about you going to college?”

  “Oh, that!” Cat blustered, getting up from the table. “Fine, fine. Well, moaned a bit at first, y’know what’s she’s like… S’cuse, please – got to nip to the loo…”

  Maya stared dubiously at Cat as she shuffled past, but no one else seemed to pay any attention to her hurried explanation. Instead, her speedy exit just gave them an opportunity to change the subject and mull over the latest exploits of the absent member of their crowd.

  “He kept that one quiet, didn’t he?” said Ollie.

  “So you guys didn’t even know about Gabrielle?” Maya asked with surprise. “I can’t believe Matt didn’t let it slip to you or Joe.”

  “I know – he’s not exactly shy when it comes to boasting about which girl’s got the hots for him, is he?”

  “Well, it’s obvious that the poor, deluded girl is mad about him,” joked Ollie. “But it was pretty amazing to see how crazy he seemed to be about her!”

  “Yes, it was,” Maya agreed. “Still, she does seem really lovely. Very friendly and natural.”

  “Yeah – you said the same, didn’t you, Joey?”

  “Uh-huh,” nodded Joe. What he’d particularly liked about Gabrielle when they’d been introduced was that she’d specifically double-checked whether he preferred to be called ‘Joe’ or ‘Joey’. It was a long-term problem for Joe that nearly all his friends had a tendency to add a ‘y’ to the end of his name which he detested. He was also really irritated with himself for not pointing it out a long time ago – but it felt far too late in the day to make a big thing of it now.

  “Did you get a chance to talk to her, Son?” Ollie asked, aware that Sonja was probably Matt’s best mate out of all the girls and was keen to hear what she had to say. It hadn’t escaped Ollie’s notice that so far she’d been uncharacteristically slow to chuck her opinion into the conversation.

  “No, I didn’t actually. But then our Matt didn’t stay too long, did he? Too keen to be on his own with this Gabrielle,” Sonja answered, as non-committally as possible.