honestly. You should see what they’re doing to the garden section: in line with straitened times, there’s a movement against the purely decorative and it’s to be all guest vegetable experts from now on. The only flowers are going to be something called “companion planting”.’ She giggled. ‘It makes me think of organizing a shallow grave after a big row with your partner! But,’ and she turned serious as their food arrived, ‘there have been other changes too … at management level, Imean.’ She hesitated and then said, ‘You know Rick has gone as well, I assume? I mean, of course I knew you and he were … um … friends.’
Bella wished Charlotte hadn’t mentioned him; the remembered vision of his sneering wife Carole looking her up and down in that hotel doorway was in danger of putting her off her crab tagliatelle.
‘I didn’t know that, actually,’ Bella told her. ‘So has he quit? That was sudden.’ She wondered if it had involved a degree of foot-stamping from Carole’s dainty size 4s.
‘Ooh, well he’s gone over to the US side of things, apparently. For good,’ Charlotte went on. ‘No further contact with the UK sector as from this week. Didn’t he say anything to you?’
Charlotte was looking at her expectantly, a forkful of sea bass halfway to her mouth.
Bella smiled. ‘I’m not seeing him any more. Bastard turned out to be still married and … well, it just wasn’t going to work.’ Work? Ha! Understatement. Three months they’d been together and he hadn’t even, after the final debacle, had the manners to be in touch to apologize. Not so much as an email. Even ‘Sorry’ on Twitter would have been something (an insultingly small something, but still …) but he’d vanished from the site.
‘ Really ? I assumed he was divorced! Strange, he was kind of half based over here for two years and he’d nevermentioned a wife. I mean, as far as I know, not to anybody . But what if he hadn’t been married? Would you two have …’
‘Even if he hadn’t been, it wouldn’t have lasted. There were clues we were never going to be long-term – I should have listened to my own head. God knows it’s old enough by now to know a thing or two about men.’
Rick wasn’t the first mistake since James had left, she reflected. There’d been the literary agent who constantly (and sometimes wrongly) corrected her grammar; the accountant who still lived with his mum and who had brought his laundry round to Bella’s when his mother went away for a week. When she’d asked him why, exactly, he expected her to deal with it, he’d seemed not to understand the question. And then there was the rather sweet burly one who was evasive about the nature of his job but assured Bella he had friends who’d ‘look after’ her if she ever felt unsafe. But Rick had been a real wine-and-dine grown-up; the one she’d least expected to be a mistake. Just shows, she thought now.
‘Oh, I’m not sure we ever learn,’ Charlotte laughed. ‘Look at me, divorced and child-free, yet still I assume there’s a soulmate out there with my name on him. I’d blush to tell you how many frogs I’ve kissed in the past two years. And when I say “kissed”, I – well I don’t have to spell it out. Let’s have more wine.’ She smiled at the nearest waiter, who came over immediately. ‘We’lltoast all men to hell! And , do tell me what you’re doing, work-wise. You know we’re still going to be able to use bigger freelance pieces from you. This revamp might even be a good thing for you, in some ways. Of course there won’t be that comforting regular cheque, but …’
‘Well – I’ve still got the teen books. That’s a regular, two a year, though not madly profitable income. But … er, while I’m here, there’s one thing I’d like to pitch here and now.’ Bella sipped her wine, then took a deep breath, feeling this was the important moment of the meeting. ‘Don’t know if you’ll like the
Bella wished Charlotte hadn’t mentioned him; the remembered vision of his sneering wife Carole looking her up and down in that hotel doorway was in danger of putting her off her crab tagliatelle.
‘I didn’t know that, actually,’ Bella told her. ‘So has he quit? That was sudden.’ She wondered if it had involved a degree of foot-stamping from Carole’s dainty size 4s.
‘Ooh, well he’s gone over to the US side of things, apparently. For good,’ Charlotte went on. ‘No further contact with the UK sector as from this week. Didn’t he say anything to you?’
Charlotte was looking at her expectantly, a forkful of sea bass halfway to her mouth.
Bella smiled. ‘I’m not seeing him any more. Bastard turned out to be still married and … well, it just wasn’t going to work.’ Work? Ha! Understatement. Three months they’d been together and he hadn’t even, after the final debacle, had the manners to be in touch to apologize. Not so much as an email. Even ‘Sorry’ on Twitter would have been something (an insultingly small something, but still …) but he’d vanished from the site.
‘ Really ? I assumed he was divorced! Strange, he was kind of half based over here for two years and he’d nevermentioned a wife. I mean, as far as I know, not to anybody . But what if he hadn’t been married? Would you two have …’
‘Even if he hadn’t been, it wouldn’t have lasted. There were clues we were never going to be long-term – I should have listened to my own head. God knows it’s old enough by now to know a thing or two about men.’
Rick wasn’t the first mistake since James had left, she reflected. There’d been the literary agent who constantly (and sometimes wrongly) corrected her grammar; the accountant who still lived with his mum and who had brought his laundry round to Bella’s when his mother went away for a week. When she’d asked him why, exactly, he expected her to deal with it, he’d seemed not to understand the question. And then there was the rather sweet burly one who was evasive about the nature of his job but assured Bella he had friends who’d ‘look after’ her if she ever felt unsafe. But Rick had been a real wine-and-dine grown-up; the one she’d least expected to be a mistake. Just shows, she thought now.
‘Oh, I’m not sure we ever learn,’ Charlotte laughed. ‘Look at me, divorced and child-free, yet still I assume there’s a soulmate out there with my name on him. I’d blush to tell you how many frogs I’ve kissed in the past two years. And when I say “kissed”, I – well I don’t have to spell it out. Let’s have more wine.’ She smiled at the nearest waiter, who came over immediately. ‘We’lltoast all men to hell! And , do tell me what you’re doing, work-wise. You know we’re still going to be able to use bigger freelance pieces from you. This revamp might even be a good thing for you, in some ways. Of course there won’t be that comforting regular cheque, but …’
‘Well – I’ve still got the teen books. That’s a regular, two a year, though not madly profitable income. But … er, while I’m here, there’s one thing I’d like to pitch here and now.’ Bella sipped her wine, then took a deep breath, feeling this was the important moment of the meeting. ‘Don’t know if you’ll like the
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