Part 5 (1/2)

'So I expect you live in a stately home in Surrey or somewhere.'

'No.' He shook his head. 'Part of the legacy was my uncle's apartment in Stanmore. It was nicely furnished and equipped so I just moved in there. It's quite handy for the Tube. I can get up to the West End in half an hour.' He took a sip of his drink.

I studied him over the rim of my gla.s.s. 'So now that you're in the money, why on earth are you still bothering to work?'

He gave me a whimsical smile. 'This business gets under your skin. You know; the sound of the greasepaint, the smell of the crowd! I know I'll never have my name up in lights. I'm not very good. I've always known that, but the whole thing atmosphere, excitement it's very seductive.' He smiled wryly. 'Being offered the part in this show has been a huge break-through for me.' He smiled. 'The West End, eh? I only hope I can hack it. I'm sure you remember my flair for fluffing lines.'

I laughed. 'I remember your genius for ad-libbing. More than once you were the cause of sheer chaos. By the way, what did you think of the rest of the cast?'

He grinned. 'Bit of a motley crew. Your Darcy's not bad-looking, though I'd swear he's wearing a wig. n.o.body's hair is that perfect; either that or he spends a fortune on hairdressing.' He glanced at me. 'Speaking of which, have you been asked to put cash into this show?' When I nodded he asked, 'So how did you come by the necessary readies?'

'My dad died and left me the family home.'

'Wow!' His eyebrows rose. 'That must have been a blow to the rest of the family.'

'Oh, they're all right,' I told him airily. 'My sister is married to a guy with a fabulous job and Dad left my stepmother enough to keep her comfortable. They were fine about it.'

'Good! So you and I are in the money at last? A far cry from those hard-up drama-school days.'

'You could say that.'

As our food arrived, I took in Mark's appearance again. He'd changed quite a bit. The old Mark with his sense of fun and his flamboyant manner was just the same, but the brown hair that had once straggled down to his shoulders was now cut in a crisp, short style and frosted at the temples in the very best romantic novel fas.h.i.+on. His wiry, stick-thin body had broadened into quite a presentable physique and the few lines on his face actually improved his looks. He turned and smiled at me as the waiter walked away.

'Well, this looks pretty good to me. I'm starving.' He picked up his napkin and tucked it under his chin.

Yes, he's certainly improved with age, I told myself. Not to mention the fact that he'd come into money too. Maybe it was fate, our meeting up again.

'Where do you live?' he asked.

'Earl's Court. A little flat I keep for when I'm up in town,' I told him glibly.

'Right, so will you be staying there for Christmas?'

I shook my head. 'Oh, no. I expect I'll be going home. I've had several invitations but you know how it is; Christmas is the time for families, isn't it? They'd be so disappointed if I cried off, especially Peter, my little nephew.'

He looked wistful. 'I see. You're so lucky. Unfortunately both my folks died a few years ago within weeks of one another. And my sister lives in Australia, so for me it'll just be a solitary frozen dinner-for-one and The Great Escape on the telly.'

'Why don't you book into a hotel?' I asked, wis.h.i.+ng I hadn't been quite so quick off the mark with the self-boosting lies.

He shook his head. 'I tried that once but the place was full of sad, lonely b.a.s.t.a.r.ds like me; very depressing.' His eyes brightened into the warm smile I remembered so well. 'The best Christmas present I could have had is meeting you again,' he said, squeezing my hand.

As we parted on the pavement outside, we exchanged mobile numbers.

'See you when we start rehearsals,' Mark said. 'Take care and have a lovely time with your folks.'

I watched wistfully as he walked off down the street towards the Underground station. Why did I have to come out with all those b.l.o.o.d.y lies? I asked myself. If we were going to be seeing a lot of each other, the truth was bound to come out sooner or later, and I was going to have to think up a lot more fibs to cover myself. They rolled off my tongue without my even thinking. It was a defence method I'd learned as a child getting mercilessly bullied at school, and somehow it had become a habit I couldn't shake off. I never even stopped to think about the consequences even fleetingly believing in my own fantasies at times. It had landed me in trouble more than once in the past. As I turned towards the bus stop, I mentally kicked myself.

'Why is it you never learn, you silly cow?' I muttered.

It really had been lovely meeting Mark again. No one except my dad had ever really loved me as he had and I'd chucked it back in his face. I'd been rotten to him back in our student days but he obviously held no grudges. As I boarded the bus, I resolved to make it up to him in the months that followed.

'I take it you're going home for Christmas?' Dianne asked as we prepared the evening meal together later. She hadn't even asked me about the read-through when she got in from work and I was feeling a bit miffed; too proud to bring it up myself. The only thing that seemed to concern her was that I'd remembered to do some shopping on my way home. I thought she'd have thanked me but she just seemed to take it for granted.

She glanced at me. 'Are you, then going home, I mean?'

'I haven't actually been invited,' I replied. 'I had a text from Karrie to say that they've got this Dutch au pair living with them so that's obviously a hint that there won't be room for me.'

'Can't you stay with your stepmother?'

I shrugged. 'Her sofa isn't exactly what you'd call comfy. It's only a two-seater and lumpy with it. Anyway, I expect she'll be going to Karrie and Simon's for the day.'

'You could go too. And the sofa can't be all that bad just for a few days.'

I looked at her. 'I thought you and I would be spending Christmas together,' I confessed. 'I was quite looking forward to it and I don't want to push in where I'm not really wanted.'

She looked uncomfortable, her head bent over the potatoes she was peeling. 'The thing is, Lou, my parents really want me to go home. My brother is getting engaged and they're planning a party on Boxing Day.'

'Oh, well you must go of course. I'll be OK here on my own.' Privately, I thought she might have suggested taking me along too.

Dianne frowned. 'I'm not allowed to sublet the flat, Lou,' she said.

I laughed. 'Sublet? I'll only be staying here for a few days on my own, surely that doesn't const.i.tute subletting?'

She dropped the potatoes into a saucepan of water and lit the gas under it, turning to me with a determined expression. 'To be brutally honest, Lou, I'd rather not leave you in the flat on your own.'

'Why not? I'll be OK.'

'Oh, I'm sure you would be, but to be frank, you're not the tidiest of house guests. Take today, for instance. I came home from a hard day at work to find your breakfast was.h.i.+ng-up still in the sink, including a burnt porridge saucepan, and I found several pairs of your tights stuffed down the back of the settee when I was vacuuming the other day. You never even think of taking your turn with the cleaning and you leave wet towels all over the bathroom floor. If you're here for a week on your own, I dread to think what state the flat will be in when I get home.'

'Speak your mind, why don't you?' I sniped. I stared at her. 'Anyway, since when have you been so house-proud?'

'I'm not ...'

'You sound positively paranoid to me!'

'I do like some kind of order.'

'OK, I'll get out of your hair,' I told her. 'As a matter of fact, I turned down an invitation just today because I didn't want to disappoint you.'

She looked slightly relieved. 'Well, maybe it isn't too late to change your mind.'

I turned to walk out of the kitchen. 'Well, we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed, won't we? Otherwise it looks as if I'll be spending Christmas in a cardboard box!'

I waited until Dianne had left for work the following morning, then I got my phone out and clicked on Mark's number. He sounded sleepy when he answered.