"Not to worry," said d.i.c.k. "He'll be over it in, ooh...months. Tell me, were you the one who smelt of dog c.r.a.p or were you the other one?"

"I was the other one. Definitely the other one."

"Excellent. Excellent."

He looked over at Jo, said "Well, I'll leave you both to it," and did so.

"h.e.l.lo," said Jo, baffled.

"h.e.l.lo there," said Gerry, walking a couple of steps toward her. "I just wanted to see how you were. You seemed in rather a bad way the other night."

"Oh G.o.d I know. I'm so sorry about that. I'm fine now. Thanks ever so much." She started fiddling with her hair.

"I've got this for you." He produced a card. "It's Victim Support. Sometimes people get a delayed reaction to shock."

"Oh," said Jo. "Thank you."

She took the card and smiled at Gerry. He smiled back at her and stepped forward to lean against the counter near her. She read the card and nodded several times. When she finished reading it, she started reading it again. Then she filled the little pause that followed with a few more nods.

"So, no more b.u.mps in the night?" asked Gerry.

"No. Thanks."

"Good. Good. And you feel easy in your bed?"

"Yes-"

"At night?"

"Yes. Thanks."

"Anyway, the thing is, I was just wondering-"

The door from Jo's bedroom opened and Josh walked in. As soon as he saw Gerry, he seemed to freeze. Gerry seemed to freeze, too. They both froze. Jo had frozen a while ago.

"Look!" she told Josh. "It's...from the other night..."

"Ah yes!" exclaimed Josh. "The nice man who beat me up."

"Gerry," said Gerry, putting out his hand. "Call me Gerry."

"As in Tom and Jerry?" asked Josh, shaking his hand.

"No," said Gerry, "with a 'G.'"

The two men nodded at each other and continued to shake hands very firmly and with great determination. When they stopped, Gerry took a small step away from Jo. "I was just asking Jo here if she was alright," he said casually. "And if she felt safe," said Gerry.

"Oh I see!" exclaimed Josh suddenly. "Like customer relations! Wow! I never knew you guys did that."

"Well, we don't do it as a rule-"

"But you're a maverick are you?" asked Josh. "A bit of a rebel, eh? You don't give a d.a.m.n who you hurt, you're gonna do this customer relations s.h.i.t."

Jo stifled a laugh. She watched the two men stare each other out. She'd never seen two men confront each other after fighting.

"I just gave Jo a Victim Support card," said Gerry calmly. "Sometimes people get a delayed reaction to shock."

"Really? I didn't," said Josh. "Mine happened right while I was being attacked.

"Ah yes, sorry about that," said Gerry. "Genuine mistake."

"Thank you. That'll help my genuine pain."

Gerry turned to Jo, almost turning his back on Josh.

"My number's on the card too," he told her. "If you ever need to chat, just call.'

"Thanks ever so much," Jo said quickly.

"Not at all," said Gerry. "And if you ever fancy a night out sometime..." he coughed over Josh's snort. "Unless"-Gerry suddenly turned to face Josh and pointed to both of them-"you two..."

"G.o.d no!" said Jo and Josh together. Jo noticed Josh said it far more loudly than her.

Gerry smiled at Jo. She grimaced. Now was the time to tell him she had a boyfriend at home. A boyfriend she'd been with for six years. Who was coming to stay. There was even a pause for it.

And there was still a pause for it.

But how would it look to Josh to mention Shaun now? What a horrible way for him to find out. And would it make her look callous to let Gerry down so heavily, when he was probably just being friendly? Or would Josh think she was lying to Gerry and there was no boyfriend and she was therefore a detestable untrustworthy woman? Either way, she'd have to fill that pause somehow.

"I have some girlfriends," she heard herself say, "who'd love to meet some...friendly guys..."

She saw Gerry visibly droop.

"So if you have some friends..." she said, her heart going out to him.

"Oh great!" said Gerry. "The more the merrier! Well, I've got your number from the other night."

Jo nodded, looking at the floor, and flicked her hair back off her face.

"I'll see myself out," said Gerry, making to leave.

"Well you saw yourself in," muttered Josh, as Gerry pa.s.sed him.

"As I recall," Gerry muttered from the kitchen door, "so did you." He turned to Jo and gave her a big smile that made him look almost handsome. "Bye then," he said. "Speak soon."

Jo and Josh listened as Gerry walked down the corridor and shut the door behind him.

Jo decided suddenly that it was the perfect time to mention Shaun, the moment she'd been waiting for! She could say how awkward that was because of her boyfriend, who she'd been with for six years, who was coming to stay, who was called Shaun. Had she really not mentioned it? Gosh. Funny that. She could have sworn she had- "Well," said Josh. "Wasn't that decent?"

Before she had a chance to answer, he'd vanished back to his room.

Chapter 11.

Vanessa sat in the Monday morning status meeting hunched over her coffee, wondering why they didn't sell it in pints. Tallulah had woken her twice in the night, once at four and once at six, and it had taken her an hour to get back to sleep both times. Unlike all the other pa.s.sengers in the train that morning, she'd been grateful when it stopped for ten minutes between stations because it gave her a clear run to do her makeup, catch her breath, and remember her name.

She'd sat opposite a teenager who was obviously on her way into town for a shopping day. She'd been unable to tear her eyes away from the young girl, trying to remember the teenager she'd been, able to do things purely for her own happiness in blissful ignorance of how selfish that would one day seem. It was as if the minute she'd become a mother, the definition of the word "selfish" had become gender-specific. A man could play golf all weekend and still be a family man. A woman could earn money all week, spend every spare moment with her children, and be selfish because she wanted both. One day she'd write a tome on the subject. When she had time.

"And that's it," finished Tricia, Vanessa's junior. Vanessa stared at Tricia and was only a little surprised to find Tricia staring back at her. The girl must have finished updating.

"Thank you, Tricia," said Vanessa, and proceeded to update everyone on the VC project so far. She was so tired she failed to notice an increasing intensity in Anthony Harrison's stare. And she was completely unable to surmise that he was matching up certain key facts about her to certain key facts about his dream last night.

"So," she concluded, "I'll be seeing Miranda Simmonds, the marketing director for VC, again tomorrow, and after we've chatted, I'll be able to brief the creative team. Shall we say nine a.m. Wednesday?"

"We can't do nine, I'm afraid," said Tom. "We've got a meeting with Happy Kids."

"Afternoon?"

"Elephant plasters."

Vanessa sighed. They had to get the ball rolling soon.

"How about 5:30?" asked Tom. "That way we don't lose another day, and I get to miss bathtime with the twins. So everybody's happy."

Vanessa managed a tight smile.

"And we can go for a quick celebratory drink afterward," added Anthony.

Vanessa didn't have the energy to argue. She made a note to tell Jo that she'd have to pick up Ca.s.sie from choir practice.

After the meeting Anthony caught up with her in the corridor. "I look forward to being briefed by you." He brushed past, his hips almost touching hers.

"Oh. I'll look forward to giving it to you. I mean-"

"Terrific."

Jo ironed happily, humming to herself while Josh read some notes, his foot resting on the kitchen table, a cat nudged up against his heel. When her mobile rang, Jo went into her bedroom to answer it.

"There you are!" shrieked Sheila. "I thought they'd eaten you!"

"Sheila!" screamed Jo, coming back into the kitchen. "Oh my G.o.d, how are you?"

"Neglected, you old b.i.t.c.h."

"G.o.d, sorry. I've just been so busy."

"Obviously. Far too busy to phone me." Jo could sense a steel rod beneath the fluffy tone.

"Sorry, Shee."

"So! I hear you've got a new friend."

"Eh?" Jo tucked the phone under her ear as she continued with the ironing.

"Shaun told me. Some bird called Pippa. Does that mean I'll be getting even fewer calls now?"

Jo stopped ironing. "Shee, please. Don't give me a hard time. It's not been easy. I-"

Jo was interrupted by the doorbell. She looked over at Josh. He glanced up and started moving his foot off the kitchen table. When he had to hide a wince, Jo motioned for him to stop trying.

"Shee," she said, "I have to go. There's someone at the door."

"Right," said Sheila. "Bye." And she'd gone.

"Sorry," said Josh. "This b.l.o.o.d.y leg."

The doorbell interrupted again and Jo rushed to the door. She opened it to Agnita, the smiling Polish au pair who worked nearby and who came to the Fitzgeralds' twice a week to do any ironing that wasn't the children's. Jo was convinced Agnita never wore knickers and today, as she followed her down the hall, it was more than usually obvious because she'd chosen to wear skintight white leggings. Jo found herself drawn to her amazingly pert, round bottom and scolded herself for being grateful that Agnita's face had the bone structure of an archaeological find.

She glanced at the clock and saw that she had ten minutes to spare before picking up Tallulah. She imagined what Pippa would do in the same situation. She went into her room and and dialed Sheila's number. d.a.m.n. Busy. She left a message explaining that she was terribly sorry she hadn't been able to talk and she had loads to tell her. Then she tried Shaun. d.a.m.n. Also busy. She left a message telling him that she couldn't wait until he came and visited. Then she paced round her room and went back into the kitchen. She wasn't surprised to see Josh's fingers hovering above his keyboard, his eyes fixed on Agnita's bottom.

"Busy?" she asked pointedly, making sure he saw her smile.

He grinned. "Oh yes."

Unaware, Agnita smiled pleasantly up at Jo, and Jo smiled extremely widely back.

"Right," she told them both. "I'll be off to get Tallulah." She turned to Josh. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Agnita smiled, and behind her Josh looked ostentatiously despondent. Jo slammed the front door behind her, wondering what the definition of "flirting" was.

As he heard the door slam, Josh sighed heavily. With some effort, he lifted his foot off the kitchen table and limped out into the back garden, where he settled himself on a bench. After a moment, he took out his mobile and dialed his father's number at the shop.

"h.e.l.lo?" said d.i.c.k.

"Dad, it's me."

"How are you feeling?"

Josh gave himself a moment.

"Impotent. You?"