Angel Uncovered (30 page)

'I'm really sorry that you've been dragged into all this,'
she continued, bending down and giving Honey a hug to
hide the fact that her eyes were full of tears at this new
humiliation.

'Don't worry,' Lucy reassured her. 'The press will be
around for a week or so and then it will all blow over,
you'll see.'

Miserably Angel nodded then wandered into Cal's
study. He'd finished speaking to his agent and was sitting
at his desk, head in his hands. He looked up when she
walked in. 'Hey,' he said. 'Did you manage to get some
sleep?'

She shook her head and quickly told him what Lucy
had said. He clenched his jaw. 'Bastards,' he muttered.
'We've got to be strong, babe, and expect things like this.
They're probably going to be phoning all our friends and
acquaintances to try and dig up some fresh dirt.'

'There's nothing else I should know, is there, Cal?'
Angel asked, sick with apprehension.
What if he had been
seeing someone else?

'Of course not!' he exclaimed. 'You've got to believe
me.' He got up and hugged her.

'I want to,' she whispered, 'I really do.'

Angel spent the rest of the day phoning her family and
friends to warn them about the press, but she still
couldn't get hold of Gemma which puzzled her as usually
her friend was quick to return her calls. Everyone was
sympathetic, said all the right things and promised that
they wouldn't talk to any journalists – everyone except
Carrie who asked Angel if she wanted to tell her story.
Apparently Carrie had already received some very
lucrative offers.

'There's nothing to say!' Angel had snapped at her
agent. 'I'm not making any comment on this. So drop it!'
And wanted to add,
or I'll drop you
. Really, this might be
the time to get a different agent; she didn't think she
could cope with Carrie's greed and insensitivity much
longer. She treated Angel as if she were a commodity for
sale to the highest bidder.

By the early-evening she was so exhausted that all she
could do was curl up on the sofa with Honey and watch
Postman Pat
, promising her daughter that she would do
some proper playing with her tomorrow. Outside it was
a warm evening, the garden had never looked more
beautiful, but there was no way Angel wanted to go out
there and risk being photographed or shouted at by the
press. Cal made supper for the three of them but she
wasn't hungry, even though she'd eaten nothing. Ray
and his lads had been patrolling the grounds throughout
the day but outside the gates the press were still waiting,
still hoping they were going to get something else . . .

That night Cal tried to hold her in his arms but Angel
pulled free of his embrace even though usually she loved
sleeping like that. 'I'm too hot,' she lied, needing her
space, still angry with him for the hurt he had caused her.

'It will be all right, Angel,' he told her again. 'I
promise.'

She didn't reply; she couldn't share Cal's certainty.
After yet another sleepless night she really needed to talk
to Gemma and was feeling extremely upset that she
hadn't heard from her.
Where was her best friend when sheneeded her?
She texted Gemma and tried her number
again but there was no reply. She ended up leaving a
rather hurt message. Half an hour later Tony called her
and then Angel discovered the shocking reason why
Gemma hadn't returned her calls. She'd been in hospital,
after suffering a miscarriage.

'Tony, I'm so sorry!' Angel exclaimed, devastated for
her friend and her brother. Apparently Gemma had had
some bleeding a few days earlier and when she had her
scan they'd discovered that the baby had died. 'Can I
come and see her?' Angel asked, desperate to console her
friend.

'I'm sure she'd like that but she's very upset,' Tony
replied.

'I'm going to come straight over,' Angel promised.
Though as soon as she put the phone down, she remembered
her own situation. 'Shit!' she exclaimed.
How thehell was she going to get to Gemma's flat without the pressknowing?
In the end Ray drove her there with several
press cars and motorbikes in hot pursuit.

'You really would have thought they'd have something
better to do,' Angel said bitterly as the pack followed
them. Fortunately Gemma and Tony lived in a block of
flats on the sea front with a private underground garage.
There was no way the press could follow them in or even
park outside. Telling Ray she would call him in a few
hours, Angel made her way upstairs, wondering what on
earth she could say to comfort her friend.

Her brother answered the door; he looked done in,
with dark shadows under his eyes. 'I'm so sorry, Tony,'
she said, in a voice full of emotion, giving him a hug.

'Yeah,' he replied wearily. 'Go through, Gemma's in
the lounge. I'm going to leave you two to talk. I think she
could do with it.'

Gemma was curled up on the sofa in her PJs, clutching
a hot water bottle to her tummy. Her usually pretty face
looked white with grief and exhaustion and her eyes were
puffy and red-rimmed from crying. Immediately Angel
rushed over and hugged her friend. Gemma didn't hug
her back.

'I'm so sorry, Gem,' Angel said, her own eyes filling
with tears at the sight of her friend looking so low.

'The doctors don't know why it happened,' Gemma
said flatly. 'They say miscarriages are very common – one
in four pregnancies ends in one. Did you know that?' She
sounded numb with shock and Angel's heart ached for
her.

She shook her head. 'No, I didn't know that. Did they
suggest that you talk to someone, maybe have some
counselling?'

'I think they gave Tony a number but I don't see what
good it would do. I've just got to accept it, haven't I?'

'Oh Gem, I don't know what to say. Can I get you anything?
A cup of tea or something? You look really pale.'

'That's because my baby's just been scraped . . . sorry,
"removed" . . . from me,' Gemma said bitterly. Then her
face crumpled and she started to sob, harsh, loud sobs
that convulsed her.

Angel hugged her again. 'It'll be all right, Gemma, I'm
sure you'll be able to have another baby.'

'I wanted
this
baby,' she wept.

For a few minutes Angel just held her friend. She
wished more than anything that Gemma hadn't had to
go through this. She remembered so clearly the look of
excitement on her friend's face when she had first told
Angel that she was pregnant. Then Gemma pulled away.

'Anyway,' she said, sniffing and trying to brush away
her tears, 'what's been going on with you? Is everything
okay? Tony said you'd been trying to get hold of me.'

Angel sighed. 'Compared to what you've been
through, it's nothing. It's just that the press have got hold
of the story about Cal last summer . . .' Her voice trailed
off. She really didn't want to talk about it now.

'That's awful,' Gemma said. 'How are you both
doing?'

'We're okay,' Angel lied, then got up and said briskly,
to disguise the emotion she felt. 'Now look, I'm going to
make you some tea and Tony said you hadn't eaten so
I'm going to make some toast as well – even I can't mess
up making toast.'

Tony was in the kitchen when she walked in. 'How did
Gem seem?' he asked anxiously.

'She's very upset, isn't she?'

'I know. She's thinking of her mum and all those
miscarriages she had.' Tony looked shattered. He was
like her dad in that he rarely showed his feelings but
Angel knew him well enough to know how upset he must
be as well.

'And how are you?' she asked.

'I'm okay, just sad and worried about Gem. I hated her
having to go through the operation. She was so brave
about it.'

Angel reached out and squeezed her brother's hand.
'I'm sure you'll be able to have another baby.'

'I hope so,' he said quietly. Then added, 'I was talking
to Cal when you were with Gemma. It's shit that it's all
come out in the press.'

'It seems stupid to be upset about something like that
with what you two have got to go through,' Angel said
passionately, 'but I wish they hadn't found out, Tony.'

And then it was his turn to comfort his sister, giving her
a hug and telling her that everything would be okay.
Angel thought she might scream if anyone else said that
to her.

As Ray drove her back home, after she'd spent the
morning with Gemma, Angel made a decision. She
wasn't going to live like a prisoner just because the press
had got hold of the story. She was determined to carry
on as normal and somehow, as Cal had said, ride out the
storm.

But in the week that followed it wasn't easy. Whoever
had tipped off the press in the first place kept up their
hate campaign. For two days they sent Angel texts – the
first asked nastily if she had enjoyed reading all about her
husband, then there were others suggesting it was her
fault that Cal had played away, culminating in the
ominous message:
Are you sure your husband has told you the
whole truth? Get ready to find out what he's really like
.

When she told Cal, he swore again that there had been
no one else. Angel ended up changing her phone
number. The press pursued her wherever she went and
on several occasions when she was out with Honey, her
daughter became terrified as photographers swarmed
round the car, shouting out and thrusting their cameras
at Angel and Honey, jostling to get their shot.

'Get away from my daughter!' Angel shouted at the
pack, while Ray and the other guards muscled their way
through.

Cal was given the week off by his manager and
accompanied Angel to London when she had shoots to
do, both of them wanting to present a united front, but
the constant press attention wore them down, left them
both feeling on edge, especially Angel.

Everywhere the couple went she felt that people were
staring at them, in particular at her, wondering about
their marriage, wondering no doubt if Cal's infidelity
was a one off. It made her feel paranoid. And still the
press couldn't seem to get enough of the story – one
tabloid even had a poll on whether Angel should stick
with Cal or dump him; there were items about it on
breakfast TV, phone-ins on whether marriages could
survive adultery; even columnists in the broadsheets –
who Angel thought really should have known better –
waded in with their own views about the marriage. And
throughout all this neither Angel nor Cal said anything
to the press.

Angel tried to put on a brave face as she worked, but it
wasn't easy and she missed having Gemma with her.
Although Cal couldn't have been more loving and more
attentive to her during this time, she still felt incredibly
angry and hurt by what he had done. He had been her
hero for so long, she had put him on a pedestal, and now
she was starting to realise that he was as fallible as anyone
else.

By Friday Angel was sick of putting on an act. Cal was
due to play in an England friendly against France the
following day and wanted her to go to the game.

'Cal, I really don't want to, surely you understand
that?' she said, shocked that he would expect her to
attend after what had happened.

'I know it's a big ask,' he replied, 'but I could really do
with you being there and it would help put an end to all
the speculation in the press.'

The two of them were in the kitchen and he was
cooking dinner but Angel had suddenly lost her appetite.

'Cal, I just don't know if I can do it. This week has been
a total nightmare,' she said, willing her husband to see
her point of view. She couldn't help thinking that he was
being selfish.

As if to contradict her, Cal gently took her in his arms.
'I would really appreciate you being there, babe, and it's
not like you'll be on your own – Madison will be there,
along with Suki and Candy. They'll look out for you.'

Angel gave a heavy sigh. 'Okay, if it really means that
much to you, but don't expect me to spend long in the
players' lounge afterwards. And I'm
not
talking to that
witch Gabrielle!'

'I'll make it up to you, I promise,' he replied, kissing
her.

You're going to have a lot of making up to do
, she thought
bitterly.

Usually when she watched Cal playing football Angel was
an enthusiastic supporter, her attention entirely held by
the game, but the following day her mind was on everything
but the pitch. Her close friends couldn't have been
sweeter, all rallying round her and trying to protect her
from the curious and superior glances she was getting
from some of the other WAGs. Angel felt awful because
she had missed Candy's wedding, as it had been
impossible to go with the press pack on her heels, but
Candy had been so wrapped up in her big day that she
hadn't time to question Angel's reason for not being
there. Now that she knew all about what Angel had been
through she totally understood. Thank God Simone
wasn't there, after Jamie had dumped her, but Gabrielle
was and Angel was aware several times of the icy stares
being directed at her by the Captain's wife and Lauren,
her sidekick. And after every stare the two of them would
whisper and giggle together, obviously bitching about
Angel.

'Just ignore them,' Madison told her. 'They're not
worth it. And it's not like Gabrielle has a perfect
marriage, is it?'

'No,' Angel replied sadly, 'but I thought I did once.'

'Oh, I didn't mean you to take it that way!' Madison
explained. 'No one has a perfect marriage, but yours is a
strong one. You will get through this.'

Angel could only mutter, 'I hope so.'

England were thrashed by France. Usually Angel would
have been gutted for Cal, but this time she barely
registered the defeat. She had done her duty and now all
she wanted to do was go home, but she had promised Cal
she would stay for one drink so made her way to the
players' lounge along with the other wives. Her friends
stayed close to her but that didn't deter Gabrielle from
coming over to their table.