Last Resort (30 page)

"Oh dear/ Esther replied, looking troubled. Then, glancing around to make sure no one was in earshot she said,

"Wally found out, I'm afraid ... I'm in awfully hot water. Everyone's angry with me and I really didn't mean any harm. But you see ..."

She stopped as David went past them into the house, Cassandra and the others in noisy pursuit. Esther's eyes followed him; then, turning back to Penny, she said,

"He's your boss, isn't he? Very good-looking young man ..."

Tes, yes, I know/ Penny said impatiently.

"But go on. You were saying that everyone's angry with you ..."

Esther frowned, obviously having lost her thread.

"Oh, yes, yes/ she said.

"Oh my, what a day it's been. He was going to come, right up until five o'clock he was going to come, but then he told Wally and Wally said not to trust you, which I think is frightfully unjust of him, but then the other one turned up and the next thing I knew Christian had booked himself on the next plane to Paris."

"Which other one?"

Penny asked, frowning.

"Our other employer/ Esther answered.

"Wally had told him that Christian was intending to come here and they had an awful fight about it. It's because you're a journalist, you see, dear. And Christian couldn't go against him'

"Who is he? This other employer of yours?"

Penny interrupted.

"You've never mentioned him before."

"He ... Oh dear ... I'm afraid I don't know his name. We don't see him very often. But listen, dear, I have a message for you from Christian. He said to tell you that this evening wouldn't have worked out, but that he will call you again soon and ..."

An explosion of laughter from the door drowned her voice and David came out holding up some sort of nobbly object, challenging Penny to tell him what it was.

Penny looked at it, looked at David, looked at all the stupid, sniggering faces around him, and suddenly she

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couldn't take any more.

"Why are you doing this?"

she yelled at him.

"Why can't you just leave me alone! I'm sick to death of you poking fun at me, making me look small, giving everyone else a laugh at my expense. I've got feelings, David! I know that might come as a surprise to you, but I have. And I just can't take any more."

David's face had paled. "Hey, hey/ he said.

"What is all this? It was just a joke, Pen..."

That's it, a joke. That's what I am to you, isn't it, one great, big, fat joke? Hah, hah, everyone, Penny the Joke. Let's all go have a laugh at Penny, why not? Well, I'm not putting up with it any more. Let's present a united front, you said, let's pretend we can stand the sight of each other. I did my bit, David ..."

"Penny, for God's sake,"

he cried,

"I don't even know what the damned thing is. Someone tell me, for Christ's sake! What the hell is this thing?"

"It's Penny's anti-cellulite glove/ Marielle gladly informed everyone. Not an anti-cellulite glove, but Penny's anti-cellulite glove.

"Oh Christ/ David groaned.

"Look, Pen, I'm sorry. I didn't realize. I swear I wouldn't have done it... I just picked it up in the bathroom ..."

"What the hell were you doing in my bathroom?"

she yelled.

"You had no right to be in there."

"There was someone in mine/ he shouted back.

"Oh God, I can't stand this/ Penny cried. T hate you, David Villers. I can't stand you. No, don't/ she said, shrugging Sammy and Pauline off as they attempted to put their arms around her.

"He's had it coming and now he's going to get it. You've made a fool out of me once too often, David, but this is the last time."

Dimly she was aware of him staring oddly at Esther Delaney, as if trying to locate the real reason for the outburst, but she was too blinded by rage now to register anything beyond the way he was still standing there holding that glove.

"If you don't move out tomorrow,"

she seethed,

"then I will.

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I don't want to be under the same roof as you, I don't want you anywhere near me. I've had you up to here David."

"Penny/ he said helplessly.

"I've never seen one of these things before. If I had ..."

"No, well, you wouldn't have, would you, because you don't go out with fat women, do you? Wrestling with sex-starved Sumos isn't your scene."

"Penny, just calm down,"

he said.

"You're getting this way out of proportion."

"But everything to do with me is out of proportion, David/ she screamed.

"Or hadn't you noticed?"

"No, as a matter of fact'

"Like hell you hadn't/ she raged, cutting him off.

"Well, I might be a great big fat waste of time to you, but'

"OK, time out!"

he barked, his eyes flashing with temper.

"I want to talk to you now, in private."

"Well, I don't want to talk to you/ she yelled.

"I just want you to get out of my life and go somewhere where I'll never have to see you again/ and unable to disguise the fact that she had started to cry, she pushed past him, ran through the house and up the stairs to her bedroom.

A few minutes later there was a tap on the door.

"Go away!"

she shouted.

"It's me/ Sammy said, putting her head in.

Penny looked at her in the mirror; then, swivelling round on the dressing-table stool, she dabbed at her eyes with a tissue and held out a hand.

"I'm sorry/ she said, as Sammy came to kneel in front of her.

"I made a right fool of myself, didn't I?"

"Not really/ Sammy comforted her.

"You're just trying to be nice,"

Penny smiled through her tears.

"Where's David?"

"Seeing everyone off."

"Is he mad?"

"Hard to tell. What made you go at him like that? It left 227

us all speechless."

For a moment Penny was tempted to tell her about Christian Mureau, but in truth she was so ashamed of the effect he was having on her she didn't want anyone, not even Sammy, to know.

"I don't know,"

she sighed, wiping the back of her hand over her cheeks.

"Maybe I've just had too much to drink."

Groaning, she put her head in her hands.

"Of all the things for him to have picked up

/

"But it wasn't so bad. Most women have got one."

"Obviously not the women he knows."

Sammy looked away for a moment, wanting to say a lot of things but understanding that perhaps the moment wasn't right.

"He wants to talk to you,"

she said, bringing her eyes back.

Penny shook her head.

"No. I know I owe him an apology, but I can't face doing it tonight. I'm still too mad at him and"

She broke off with a humourless laugh.

"What am I talking about, he probably wants to tell me it's all over for me down here. Well, I can't face that either right now. Tomorrow will be soon enough."

"It's all right, old thing,"

Wally was saying,

"you can come out now. I'm not angry any more."

"I didn't volunteer anything, honestly I didn't,"

Esther wailed, her face pressed up against the bathroom door.

"Only her phone number. But he made me tell him, Wally."

"I know he did,"

Wally replied.

"But listen to me old thing. The girl who works with Penny, she was asking me about Christian tonight. So do you understand now, dear, that Penny is just after a story? They all are. And we can't let that happen now, can we?"

"No. Oh no,"

Esther agreed.

"So what we're going to do in the morning, old thing, is start looking for a new house, the way we've been told to. And you must stop seeing Penny Moon now, do you

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I

understand? I know you're fond of her, but we have to think about ourselves, Esther. We need this job, remember? And we only have the job as long as Christian is around."

"But if he's prepared to take the risk to meet her ..."

Esther pointed out.

Then it is up to us to save him from himself."

Esther was about to say more, but she stopped herself, knowing that it would only make Wally angry again. But Christian would meet Penny Moon, she knew that, and when he did they were going to fall very deeply in love. Esther knew because Billy had told her.

It had been a long, stiflingly hot day, throughout which Penny had suffered in silence as Marielle strutted triumphantly around the office, clearly as certain as Penny was that last night Penny had gone too far.

David had already left the house when Penny had got up that morning. She'd known he was going to see Sylvia and that was what had turned the morning, the entire day, in fact, into such agony. Was he telling Sylvia that he didn't want her here any more? Was he saying that he couldn't, wouldn't, put up with her hysteria any longer? Sylvia must have heard the outburst, so had she reached the same conclusions: Penny Moon was good at her job, but she couldn't control her emotions? It was true, she couldn't, for throughout the unendurable wait to find out what her fate was to be, still all Penny could think about was Christian. She was at the point now where she'd do anything, anything at all, just to stay in France. It was irrational, it was insane, but as each obstacle presented itself all Penny could feel was an even deeper desperation and determination to meet him before it was too late.

By the time she got home from the office she was convinced the only thing to do was to start packing. She hadn't heard from David all day, but his silence was

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enough to confirm her worst fears. She'd been surprised to find him there when she'd pulled up in her car. Surprised and embarrassed. Sammy had disappeared, so too had Cassandra, and the caterers who had come back to clear up had long since gone. There was only Penny and David and the two chairs beside the pool on which they now sat, half facing each other, half facing the black expanse of night beyond the circle of light surrounding them.

They'd been sitting there for a long time now, watching the sun go down and the moon rise, listening to the distant sound of yachts signalling to each other, the sibilance of night insects and the telephone ringing inside the house that went unanswered.

They'd talked about so many things that Penny could hardly remember them all.

But some she could. He'd told her about his childhood, about his time in America and the death of his father, six years ago, that had been so devastating it had changed his life completely. He'd talked a little about his marriage, but mainly about his sons and how much he missed them. And somehow he'd made her laugh, had laughed himself, when she didn't think either of them were capable. Not a word had been mentioned about what had happened the night before.

"Are you cold?"

he asked, looking over at her as she shivered.

"No,"

she answered.

It was the first time either of them had spoken for a while and knowing that they couldn't put it off for ever Penny decided that now was as good a time as any to try bringing things to a head. T suppose,"

she said,

"that I'm afraid."

"Afraid? What of?"

"You and what you're going to say about the way I spoke to you in front of all those people last night."

He bowed his head, looking down at his near-empty glass.

"Last night was my fault/ he said.

"I'd had too

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much to drink. I wasn't thinking about what I was doing."

He turned to look at her.

"I didn't mean to hurt you like that. Pen/ he said softly.

"In fact, it was the last thing I wanted."

"I overreacted,"

she said, feeling herself respond to the tone of his voice. Things have been getting on top of me a bit lately and I suspect I'd probably drunk too much too."

"Sure,"

he said.

It was a long time before he spoke again, so long that Penny turned to look at him. In the moonlight he looked ... But, no, she didn't want to think about the way he looked, and knowing that he was aware she was watching him she turned away.

"So where do we go from here?"

he said, gazing out at the stars.

"I don't know,"

she answered.

"All I know is that I want to stay, that I want to see things through, but..."

"But what?"

he said.

She shrugged.

"I don't know."

Their whole conversation had been fractured by pauses, gentle silences in which they had absorbed the lazy intimacy of the night, easy in each other's company yet somehow moved by it too.

At last he stood up, walked to the edge of the pool, then turned back to look at her. Tast night was a mistake on my part in a lot of ways,"

he said.

"More ways than you know."

Then why don't you tell me?"

"Well/ he said, dropping his head,

"to begin with I thought ..."

He rolled his eyes and looked off across the garden.

"Well, I guess I thought something was happening between us."

As his eyes came back to hers Penny felt as though her insides were being crushed. Everything about him seemed suddenly so powerful. Tou could have fooled me/ she said in a half-hearted attempt to lighten things.

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TP

d ''

35S C 'Sng his head,

",,'s tcK, late fo, that/ he said.

"Besides, they're not in LA.

Then where are they?

"Florida. Staying with my mother.

?ep mytler/ he said flatly.

"It's a story you don't

rA 1 T reodf

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found him watching her.

He smiled. "You've got the wrong idea about yourself, do you know that?"

he said.

She could only just see him in the darkness, yet somehow it was as though she could feel him.

"What do you mean?"

she whispered.

"You've got no confidence in yourself which is crazy when there's more to you than most women I've met."

Penny laughed self-consciously.

"You didn't say that the first time we met/ she told him.