Downsizing (3 page)

The whole experience proved to be even worse
than Noah predicted. All the young, beautiful, and
slim
people Cassie knew seemed to be there, with the exception of Graham
Spiller, the man everyone expected Cassie to marry. As a trainee
solicitor being groomed to take over his father’s practice in
Colebrook, he spent the holiday doing work experience for a lawyer
in London. Without Graham to rein her in, and with her parents
frequently away from the villa, the spiteful aspect of Cassie’s
nature came to the fore. It soon became apparent to Maxine that she
was its target, and that Cassie was determined to make her pay for
her friendship with Noah.

Cassie forced her to join in their games in
the swimming pool. Maxine found it easier to comply with faux
enthusiasm and get the torture over with as soon as possible than
to try and resist.

Maxine was the only female in the pool not
wearing a minuscule bikini that displayed a perfectly proportioned
body. Instead, she wore a costume that resembled something from an
Edwardian postcard in a futile attempt to cover the worst of her
bulk. She learned to block out the cutting remarks and scathing
glances by retreating into a fictional world where no one could
reach her except Noah, and counted the seconds until she was due to
return home.

That was still eight long days away, and in
the meantime she wasn’t even permitted to escape from playing
tennis. She’d been compelled to play at school, had a good eye for
a ball and a thumping forehand, but her immobility was her undoing,
and she’d never risen to Cassie’s lofty heights on the tennis
court. Tennis was Charles Turner’s passion. Cassie’s father was a
proficient player, and tennis was the one activity he had insisted
his daughter take up as soon as she was tall enough to hold a
racket. Whether or not Cassie enjoyed the game Maxine couldn’t have
said. She had a habit of taking up activities on a whim and
dropping them again just as casually when she got bored. Tennis was
the one thing she’d stuck at, enduring endless hours of private
coaching in an effort to please her father.

In a baggy pair of shorts and over-sized
T-shirt, Maxine tired ineffectually to blend into the background.
When partners were selected she fervently hoped that the numbers
would be uneven, letting her off the hook, because no one would
partner themselves with her by choice. There were several lads at
the villa, all proficient players, but Mr. Turner, twenty years
their senior, was better than them all. Cassie looked thunderous
when her father, instead of selecting her as he partner, turned
toward Maxine.

“
Shall we show them how it’s done,
Maxine?” he asked, smiling.

Unable to think of an excuse, Maxine miserably
dragged her feet onto the court.

“
Poor Daddy!” Cassie’s throwaway
remark reached everyone’s ears. “He’s only doing it to be
kind.”

“
Come on, Cassie,” said Rob
Simmonds, a good looking, over-confident guy and one of Maxine’s
main tormentors. “This is going to be a piece of cake.”

Tentatively at first, Maxine returned the
killer shots Rob aimed directly at her. Mr. Turner, or Charles as
she’d been encouraged to call him, made no comment upon her
appalling immobility. Instead, he darted all over the court
covering shots that ought to have been hers. He praised her when
she got her forehand going, and admired her quick thinking at the
net. By a combination of Charles’s tenacity and a healthy portion
of luck, they came out winners.

Maxine knew Cassie wouldn’t allow her to get
away with that and didn’t have to wait long for her to exact
revenge. They had lunch on the terrace the following afternoon with
a crowd of hangers-on. A plate of cakes circulated at the end of
the meal, but all the slinkies waved them away as though they were
poisoned. Maxine’s mouth watered at the mere sight of them, and her
gaze continuously returned to the plate. She clasped her hands
together to stop from reaching out to take one without her
permission. Cassie, watching her closely, smiled maliciously and
pushed the plate closer.

“
Go on, Max,” she said. “Someone’s
got to eat them or they’ll go off.”

Everyone tittered. Maxine blushed but by an
act of supreme self-discipline managed not to eat a single one. The
others looked disappointed, like she’d spoiled their fun, and
drifted away from the table. Whatever plans they had for the
afternoon clearly did not include her. That left her with a whole
afternoon and just a book for company. Bliss!

Furtively she stole a cake, sighing with
pleasure as she licked the thick cream from her fingers and reached
for a second. Only when it was too late did she realize that Cassie
and several of the others were peeping round the side of the house,
watching her and laughing themselves silly. Worse, money openly
changed hands between Cassie and Rob.

The malicious expression on Cassie’s face as
their eyes clashed finally convinced a mortified Maxine that Noah
had been right about her all along. Enough was enough and she’d let
the friendship go altogether once she got home.

But Cassie clearly had other ideas. She seemed
as anxious as ever to get to know Noah, and turned up in all the
same places as him and Maxine, imposing herself upon them
uninvited. Noah was so rude to her that even Cassie couldn’t ignore
his barbed comments and appeared, finally, to get the message. He
laughed at her behind her back, but Maxine, well aware that Cassie
didn’t give up easily when there was something she wanted, had a
bad feeling about the whole situation.

During a cool evening in March, Maxine and
Noah huddled in his dilapidated van. They kept the engine running
for added warmth, and shared a pizza. He was dressed in his
customary uniform of jeans and a white T-shirt, the collar of his
leather jacket turned up, his thick hair spilling over it and
almost reaching his shoulders. He demolished the last slice of
pizza and licked his fingers in a gesture that Maxine found
strangely compelling.

“
I’ve got something for us,” he
said. Rummaging amongst the tools in the back of the van, he
produced a bottle of champagne, popped the cork and poured the warm
wine into plastic cups.

“
You shouldn’t waste your money on
me, Noah.”

“
It ain’t a waste.” He lifted his
cup to hers. “Here’s to you, darling.”

“
Cheers.”

“
How are the studies
going?”

She pulled a face. “All right, I
suppose.”

“
Come on, sweetheart, it can’t be
that bad.” His lilting cadence caused a warm sensation to trickle
through her body. He was looking at her so intently, as though she
was more than just a friend to him. “Talk to me, Max,” he said
softly, reaching out to stroke her face. “Tell me what’s
wrong.”

“
Oh, nothing really,” she said,
telling herself not to get fancy ideas about Noah’s feelings for
her. “It’s just that I worry all the time about getting good enough
grades. You know how important it is to my mother. It’s become a
matter of pride with her for the female side of the family to
eclipse the male.”

“
You’ll get the grades, my little
legal-eagle,” he said, winking. “And then you’ll leave me all
alone, whilst you swan around amongst the elite at
Cambridge.”

“
Oh no, it won’t be like
that!”

“
Relax, darling. I was just
kidding. But I’ll miss you, Max, that’s for sure.”

“
I’ll miss you too, but I’ve got
the whole summer before I need to go.”

“
And when you do, you’ll live with
your brother rather than in halls?”

“
Yes. It makes sense, what with
Derek being a professor at Jesus College.”

“
Blimey,” said Noah, clearly
impressed. “I didn’t know he was a professor. Brains must run in
the family.”

“
Hum, I’m not so sure about
that.”

“
Where does your brother live,
then?”

“
He and Gwen live about three
miles outside of Cambridge in a cottage Gwen inherited from her
grandfather. She’s doing an MA by day and stacking supermarket
shelves at night to make ends meet.”

“
And has two kids as well, didn’t
you say?”

“
Yes. That’s where I come in.
They’ve got a tiny studio over their garage that I can have
rent-free in return for helping with the kids. That will save them
the expense of a nanny. We reckon that between the three of us we
can juggle our commitments so that one of us is always there for
them.” She grimaced. “That’s why I’m under pressure to get the
grades for Cambridge.”

“
Sounds like it ought to work
well.” Noah quirked a brow. “And it’ll save you getting into that
student debt you’re so worried about.” He stretched his arms behind
his back in the confined space of the van. “But won’t you miss the
bustle of student life, being off campus?”

“
No!” She looked away from him. “I
owe it to Mum to fulfill her dream, even if I do resent the fact
that she’s partly responsible for my size. She firmly believes that
no one can study properly on an empty stomach.” Maxine waved her
hands in the direction of her bulky middle. “Not that there’s much
chance of that in my case.” She shrugged. “Anyway, what are we
celebrating?”

“
Still good at putting yourself
down, I see.”

“
Noah, don’t go there!”

“
All right, all right!” He threw
his hands up and laughed. The way his eyes crinkled at the corners
when he teased her affected her profoundly, and she quickly looked
away, afraid that the mask she’d perfected to hide her true
feelings might have slipped for a moment. He felt safe in her
company because he had no romantic interest in her. If he knew the
truth he’d run a mile.

“
I’ve got big plans,
Max.”

“
Care to share them?”

“
Working for Mr. Watts has taught
me a thing or two about the building game. Property is where the
money is.” He turned toward her, his eyes alight with
determination. “I’ve seen him do it time and again, and I want some
of it. He buys up cheap properties at auction, usually ones which
the mortgage companies have repossessed. They don’t care about
market value, they just want to sell quickly and recoup their
losses. I’ve got my eyes on one in Broad Street that Joey and I
could convert into apartments, just like Watsie does, and sell
them. That’ll get me started, and then there’ll be no stopping
me.”

“
That’s why you and Joey have set
up your maintenance company?”

“
Yeah, we do anything that pays.
Building repairs, odd jobs.” He grinned. “Even
gardening.”

“
Yes, I gather you’re doing
Cassie’s mum’s place now.”

“
I let Joey do that one.” Noah’s
theatrical shudder made her giggle. “I still live with Dad and save
every penny to get the business started.”

“
But do you have enough to buy a
house?” she asked dubiously.

“
No, but I’m gonna approach Mr.
Watts and ask him for a loan.”

“
Will he give it to you?” Maxine
frowned as she reasoned it through. “I mean, won’t he think that
you’ll leave him if he does?”

“
No, it won’t be like that. He
knows he can rely on Joey and me. I’ll assure him that we’ll do the
work in our own time and still stick with him.”

Maxine wasn’t convinced, but his fiery resolve
stopped her from voicing her doubts. She simply couldn’t burst his
bubble.

“
So, when I graduate, you’ll be on
the way to becoming a real estate mogul?”

“
Yeah, and then it’ll be our
time.”

Maxine felt the full force of his gaze focused
on her face. “What do you mean?”

“
Have you forgotten what I said to
you at that party? About us always being friends?”

Maxine hadn’t forgotten a single word he’d
ever said to her. “No, but I thought—”

“
You thought it was all just
talk?”

“
Well, yes.”

“
You ought to know me better than
that, Max.” He took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “When you’re a
high-flying lawyer, will you still want to be seen with the likes
of me, though?”

“
Well, now that you mention
it…”

He chuckled. “You’ll be able to do all the
legal work for my property empire. Nothing like keeping it in the
family.” He raised his cup to hers. “You’ve earned the right to mix
with the toffs at Cambridge and then we’ll see, but I’ll tell you
this much: I can’t imagine a future without you in it.” He paused
and gently brushed his lips against hers. “Having someone like you
for a friend has made me look at life differently, and I want you
to know how important you are to me.”

Maxine stared at him with incredulity. “Noah,
you could have anyone you wanted.”

He lifted his shoulders. “I don’t care about
people whose interest only goes skin deep. I’ve watched the way my
dad operates. He uses his looks to pull the ladies, and drifts
through life without ambition or direction. I’m not that shallow,
and friendship and loyalty come top of the list for me.” He traced
the outline of her flushed cheek with one finger. “Just don’t get
carried away at that posh university and go wild, Max. Promise
you’ll think about me occasionally.”