Angel Uncovered (20 page)

As they walked on the sand barefoot, Angel shivered
despite the towelling robe Ethan had lent her. He moved
closer and put his arm round her. She automatically
moved away. 'Look, I'm only warming you up,' he said.
'I promise that's all. You've made it clear what your
feelings are and I respect that.'

Angel relaxed and they carried on walking. The wide
sandy beach was deserted, the sea calm, barely any waves
rippling the surface. The sun was rising now, a ball of
orange fire over the sea. It was a new day. They both
stopped and watched. Then Angel found herself drawn
to stare at Ethan. He looked breathtakingly handsome in
the morning light.

'So is this what you do with all the women who come
back?' she asked, trying to be light-hearted and break the
spell, to stop herself obsessing over him. 'I'm guessing
champagne, hot tub, sex and a walk on the beach?'

Ethan grimaced. 'Right activities, wrong order.'

'Okay, sex, champagne, hot tub and walk?'

'I'd have them in any order you want.' And now Ethan
was gazing at her and he was leaning down and his lips
were on hers, and they were kissing, a hard, deep kiss,
and she couldn't deny that she wanted him . . . But then
reality hit her.
What the hell was she doing?
She pulled away
and ran back along the beach, ignoring him calling out
her name, back to the house, back to safety.

Everyone was in the dining room eating the breakfast
Jose and his staff had just rustled up for them when
Angel came racing in, out of breath, feeling almost
hysterical.

'Are you okay?' Candy asked. 'Do you want something
to eat?'

Angel shook her head. 'I'm going to get changed and
then I must go.'

She turned and ran upstairs to the dressing room
where she quickly pulled off the costume and put on her
dress.
What had she been thinking? She had to get back to the
hotel, back to Honey, back to her life. She was married; this whole
night had been madness.
But all the time her mind was
racing along those lines she was remembering that kiss.

Downstairs Ethan hadn't joined the others at the
dining table. Angel sat next to Candy and poured herself
a cup of tea. She was freezing now. Then she felt warm
material sliding over her shoulders. She turned and
there was Ethan, gently wrapping a gold pashmina
round her. She opened her mouth to speak but he said,
'Jose will drive you back when you're ready. I have to go
now, I have a plane to catch.' Then he bent down and
whispered so that only she could hear, 'I hope I see you
again, Angel.'

Then everyone was thanking him and saying their
goodbyes. Angel watched him walk out of the room. In
the doorway he turned for a moment and their eyes
locked. Then he gave a last smile and was gone.

'That was a totally awesome night!' Candy said, giving a
huge yawn as she collapsed on to the back seat of the
limo.

'It was quite a night,' Angel agreed quietly, still feeling
totally shaken up by her outburst and by what had
followed. 'I've said that any time the guys are over in
England with their girlfriends they're welcome to come
and stay at mine and Liam's,' Candy continued.

Oh, God,
Angel thought, not knowing if she could
handle seeing Ethan
ever
again. For the rest of the
journey back to the hotel the girls were quiet. Everyone
was exhausted. All Angel wanted to do was crawl into
bed. She felt like she'd been on an emotional rollercoaster
– the high of Cal's winning goal, the breakdown
in front of Ethan, and then that kiss – she felt all over the
place. She was the last to get out of the limo and as she
did so Jose pressed a card into her hand. 'Mr Taylor
wanted you to have this, ma'am.'

For a moment Angel hesitated, knowing it was Ethan's
number. It would be better never to see or speak to him
again, but then she found herself saying, 'Thank you,'
and slipping the card into her bag.

It was seven a.m. by the time they arrived back at the
hotel. Angel hoped they would be able to sneak into the
hotel unobserved but as soon as they stepped out of the
car they were surrounded by paps clicking away.
Great,
this was all she needed, to be photographed looking like a
complete wreck.
Keeping their heads down, the girls ran
past the photographers and into the lobby but as they did
so one pap shouted out: 'Good night, was it, girls? Do
your husbands know you've just spent the night with the
LA Dodgers?'

Angel felt like she'd been punched in the stomach.
How
did they know?

'Shut up!' Madison shouted back furiously. 'We went to
a club, that's all.'

'And on to Ethan Taylor's pad, didn't you? What did
you do all night then, fill them in about the beautiful
game? He's got quite a reputation.'

Candy was about to retaliate this time but Angel
grabbed her arm and whispered, 'Just leave it, it's worse
if you answer back.'

Safely inside the lobby the girls said their goodbyes and
Angel made her way wearily to her suite. Honey had just
woken up and even though Angel was absolutely wiped
out she made herself stay up and have breakfast with her
daughter. Just being with her, watching Honey's delight
as she crammed strawberries into her mouth and
squashed them on the table of her highchair, made some
of Angel's anxiety about last night subside. It was just a
kiss, that had been all. And after the tournament she
would confide in Cal about how bad she'd been feeling.

After breakfast she played with Honey until total
exhaustion won and she was forced to admit defeat and
go to bed. 'I'll just have a couple of hours' sleep, then I'll
take over. It's not fair to leave you in charge all this time,'
she told the nanny.

'No worries,' Lucy said breezily. 'You deserved to let
your hair down last night. Stay in bed as long as you want.
Honey and I are fine, aren't we?' And she swept Honey
up in her arms and made her giggle.

'Thanks, Lucy, I really appreciate that.'

Just before she went to sleep Angel checked her
messages. There was still nothing from Cal. She sighed
and then texted him:
Hope you had a good celebration last
night, you deserve it. Love you x
. And then something made
her open her bag and reach for the card Jose had given
her. It had Ethan's phone numbers on it. She turned it
over and there was a handwritten note from Ethan: '
If you
ever need me, I'll always be here for you . . . I'll never forget
you x
.'

Angel tried to ignore the tingle of excitement that the
thought of Ethan provoked and slipped the card into the
back pocket of her bag. She wasn't quite strong enough
to throw it away. She curled up under the duvet. She'd
see Cal soon and then she'd try and put things right
between them. That was all that mattered.

Angel was woken by her mobile ringing. Feeling completely
disorientated she fumbled for it on the bedside
cabinet. 'Hello,' she said groggily, still half asleep.

'You'd better have a fucking good explanation for last
night.' It was Cal and his voice was like ice.

'What are you talking about?' Angel sat up in bed.

'You spending the night with Ethan Taylor! What the
fuck's going on?' he shouted.

'Please, Cal, calm down. It's not what you think. I went
out with the girls last night and we did meet some
baseball players but it was completely innocent, we just
had a laugh with them.'

'I can't do this over the phone, I'm coming to see you.
Jesus Christ, I can't
believe
you would do this to me!
There are apparently pictures of you getting into a car
with Taylor and you look totally pissed!'

'Please, Cal, you're making this out to be something it's
not – talk to Reece and to Liam – I bet they're not
reacting like this.'

'That's because their wives haven't been photographed
leaving Taylor's house first thing in the morning!'

'But they were with me as well!' Angel protested.

'Yeah, right, I'll see you later.' Cal ended the call.

Angel sat there for a few minutes, too stunned to think
straight. It was obvious that the press had been following
them last night and had come up with their own
explanation for what had happened. Apart from the kiss,
she hadn't done anything wrong. But, oh God, what
about the kiss? Could anyone have seen them? Why had
she done it? To risk her whole marriage for a kiss with a
stranger . . . what had possessed her? She looked at her
watch. It was eleven, she'd been asleep for three hours.
She was desperate to talk to the other girls, find out what
their husbands had said to them. She quickly showered
and got dressed, then raced round to Madison's suite.

She had to knock loudly for a good few minutes before
Madison opened the door in her PJs, looking bleary-eyed
with sleep.

'Can I come in? I really need to talk to you,' Angel said
urgently.

''Course, babe, what's happened?'

After Angel had filled her in, trying as hard as she
could not to cry, Madison exclaimed, 'Bollocks!' and
rifled through her bag for her mobile. 'I've got a message
from Reece.' She quickly read it then said, 'Well, he
knows we went out last night and met up with some lads
but he's not bothered. I'll call him now and tell him to
have a word with Cal. He just needs to calm down. The
press took that picture to make it look like you were on
your own just to get a better story. Cal will understand,
I'm sure.'

'Shall I go while you speak to him?' Angel asked
anxiously.

'No, stay here. I'm going to make you a cup of tea after
I've spoken to Reece, you look terrible.'

'I'll make the tea,' Angel insisted but her hands were
shaking so much she couldn't even work out how to
switch the kettle on. Madison put her arm round her and
gently steered her back to the sofa then made the call.

Angel hugged her knees to her; she wanted to make
herself as small as possible, as if somehow that would
make everything all right again. Madison talked to her
husband. Clearly he thought her drinking with a group
of lads was no big deal. On the contrary, he seemed
impressed that his wife had met such famous sportsmen.

'So will you tell Cal to chill out? Angel didn't go to
Ethan Taylor's house on her own, we were all with her,
all the time.' She listened to her husband's reply and said,
'Okay, babes, love you loads too.'

Then she turned to Angel. 'It's done, he's going to
speak to Cal. Reece'll get him to calm down, don't worry.'

'Thanks so much, Madison,' Angel said gratefully. Half
of her longed to confide in her friend about what she'd
told Ethan about her marriage and about the kiss, but the
other half thought she'd already given far too much
away. She wanted to go and find Honey but Madison
insisted she have a cup of tea first and she put three
sugars in it.

'Cal is just wound up because of the tournament. I bet
he'll call you in a bit to apologise.'

Angel nodded and sipped her tea, but she doubted it.
Cal could be very stubborn.

'Shall we go in the water again, Honey?' Angel asked her
daughter as they hung out by the pool. She'd left several
messages for Cal but his phone had been switched off.
Madison assured her that Reece had spoken to him and
told him what had happened and that he'd seemed cool
with it. But because she hadn't spoken to him herself,
Angel had a niggling feeling of unease that things still
weren't right.

She and Honey were just playing in the shallow end of
the pool when Simone sauntered by, looking overdressed
for the poolside in a white trouser suit.

'Good night was it, Angel? I hear you got on very well
with Ethan Taylor. Apparently he goes for blonde slutty
types so you must have been right up his street.'

Angel was tempted to tell her to fuck off but as her
daughter was by her side she restrained herself,
muttering, 'You don't know what you're talking about, as
usual.'

'Well, Cal can't have been too pleased to discover that
his wife had been flirting . . . and who knows what else?'

'Cal was fine about it because he knows there's nothing
to be upset about,' Angel said through gritted teeth.
God,
she loathed Simone.

'Well, why don't we ask him?' Simone continued.

'What are you talking about?' Angel said angrily,
seriously losing her cool with the woman. But when she
turned round, to her astonishment she saw Cal. He was
marching towards her, wearing a dark suit, dark glasses
and a furious expression.

'Oh, hi, Cal.' Simone simpered. 'We were just talking
about you.'

He grimaced and said, 'If you'll excuse me, Simone, I
need to see my wife.'

'Of course, Cal, I understand you must have things to
discuss,' she said slyly, sauntering off.

'What are you doing here?' Angel asked.

'Get out of the pool and come upstairs,' Cal said in a
low voice, without even bothering to say hello to her.
'Lucy will be here in a minute to take Honey.'

'Hang on a minute, Cal,' Angel replied angrily, 'you
can't order me around like this! What's the matter with
you?' All the WAGs round the pool were riveted by this
scene and practically licking their lips in anticipation of
more.

'I am not going to discuss this in public, so will you get
out of the pool and come upstairs?' he insisted.

Very reluctantly Angel picked up Honey and climbed
out of the water. By now Lucy had turned up and, after
Cal had hugged and kissed his daughter, he handed
Honey to the nanny. Angel slowly picked up her robe
and put it on, hating that Cal was telling her what to do
and aware that every single WAG's eye was trained
beadily on the two of them.

She waited until they were in the hotel foyer and then
tried to speak to him again. 'What's going on?'

But Cal shook his head and muttered, 'I'm not saying
anything until we get to our suite.'

As they travelled up in the lift together Angel looked at
him but he still had his dark glasses on and she couldn't
see his eyes. She lightly touched his arm and said, 'Your
goal was amazing, I'm so proud of you.'

Cal flinched at her touch and said, 'I wish I could say
the same about you.'

The lift doors opened and he stepped out and walked
swiftly to their suite while Angel trailed along behind
him, reeling inside at the cruelty of his words. Ahead Cal
flung open the door and by the time Angel caught up
with him had taken off his dark glasses and was standing
in the centre of the room with his arms folded. She shut
the door and stared back at him.

'I want to know exactly what happened last night
between you and Ethan Taylor,' he said coldly.

'What do you think happened?' Angel challenged him.
'I can't believe how quick you are to assume that I've
done something wrong. Do you seriously think I shagged
him? Because if you do this marriage is pretty much over,
wouldn't you say?' The words were pouring out of Angel.
She wasn't able to think straight, she felt so hurt by Cal's
treatment of her.

'I want to know what happened,' he repeated.

Angel sighed. 'I know Reece has already told you.'

'I want to hear it from you,' Cal repeated. 'Do you
know how humiliated I feel? Everyone thinks you spent
the night with some baseball player.'

'I was out with Madison, Suki and Candy and we met
up with these four players from the LA Dodgers. We
were having a laugh, celebrating the England win,' Angel
said wearily.

'Couldn't you just have celebrated with the girls?'

Angel rolled her eyes. 'They asked us to join them for
a drink, that's all! Then we went to a club, then on to
Ethan's beach house for a few more drinks, had breakfast,
came home, the end.' She walked over to Cal and
reached out to touch him. 'Please don't be like this.'

'And I suppose you'd love it if I went off with four
gorgeous women and spent the night getting pissed with
them? You're a mother now, did you think about that?
And you're my wife! I don't expect you to behave like
some slapper on a hen night.'

'Fuck off, Cal!' Angel shouted. 'I did
not
behave like a
slapper! Ask anyone who was there. And how dare you
bring up Honey? I knew she was safe with Lucy.'

She couldn't believe he was being like this. He was
never usually so jealous.
God, did he know about the kiss?
Should she tell him? Confess that she had made one stupid
mistake?

'I don't know
what
to think,' Cal shouted back. 'You've
been so different lately – never wanting to make love,
leaving me in Italy when I really could have done with
you there. Sometimes I think you don't love me
anymore.'

'Cal, how can you say that!' Angel exclaimed, rushing
over to him. '
You're
the one who's turned away from
me
. I
know things haven't been easy between us . . .' And she
knew that this was the time she had to tell him the truth
about her feelings. 'I haven't been well. I didn't want to
tell you because of the tournament.'

She stood there looking at him, waiting for him to
react, to show sympathy, but he kept his arms folded and
still looked angry.

'What do you mean? You seem fine,' Cal shot back at
her. 'You're well enough to go out partying, aren't you?
Well enough to flirt and Christ knows what else with
another man.'

Angel sighed despairingly. He was not making this
easy for her. 'Actually, I've been depressed since Honey
was born.'

'What do you mean – depressed? You've got everything
you could possibly want.' Cal was shaking his head
in denial. Angel couldn't believe how hard he was being.
She tried again.

'I've been ill. I went to see the doctor and he says I've
got post-natal depression. Please understand, I'm not
making this up, I'm on medication.'

He shook his head again. 'I don't believe you're
loading this on me now! I've got the quarter final
tomorrow.' And he went and slumped down on the sofa,
head in his hands.

Angel stood rooted to the spot for a few seconds,
completely stunned by this reaction, by his total lack of
sympathy. Then she went and sat on the opposite end of
the sofa. Somehow she had to get through to him.

'Please don't be like this, Cal. I didn't want to tell you
now but I had to, surely you can see that?' She was
pleading with him and couldn't help comparing Ethan's
sympathetic reaction to Cal's. Her own husband didn't
seem to give a shit about her.

'Angel, I can't deal with this right now,' he replied, his
head still in his hands. 'You really pick your moments,
don't you?'

She was about to reply that she'd had no choice when
Cal's mobile rang. He groaned. 'I'd better get this in case
it's Phil. He's bound to be furious that I've come here.'

Within seconds of taking the call his face hardened.
'What do you mean?' he shouted down the phone. 'Are
you absolutely certain?' He threw down his phone and
turned to Angel. 'So when were you going to tell me
about kissing Ethan . . . and the rest?' He was furious,
spitting out the words, leaning over her as she cowered
back into the sofa – she had never seen Cal this angry
before.

'And before you try and talk your way out of it, a pap
got a picture of you both! Jesus, this just gets worse!'

'I'm not going to deny it, I'm really sorry,' Angel said
quietly. 'But it was only a kiss, it didn't mean anything. I
was upset and—'

'What else did you do?' Cal snapped

She shook her head and whispered, 'Nothing.'

'I don't believe you. You screwed him, didn't you? All
this talk about post-natal depression is just to throw me
off the scent. You haven't got it. You're just lying . . .'

'Cal, please, I made a mistake and I'm really sorry. But
you have to believe me that nothing else happened,
nothing at all. I swear.' She went to touch his arm but he
leaped off the sofa, shouting, 'Don't fucking touch me! I
trusted you and you've betrayed me.'

'I know how you must feel but please don't say that,'
Angel begged him. She couldn't believe that this was
happening. She had thought that by being honest with
him about her feelings everything would be put right
between them. Instead, she had ruined their lives.

Cal was pacing the room again, struggling to contain
his anger. 'I want you to go home tonight. I want you
away from the tournament. I don't want to see you until
it's finished. I'm going to call my agent and get him to
book a flight back for you, Honey and Lucy. I can't be
near you at the moment.'

'Oh, Cal, can't we work this out?
Please.
I don't want to
fly home without you,' Angel cried out.