Schemer (55 page)

Stephanie immediately felt physically sick. ‘Danni’s not here, love. Didn’t she stay at yours last night?’

‘Err, no. She was going to, but I think she then decided to stay at Carly’s house,’ Mimi stammered nervously. She had barely seen Dannielle this past week or so, and now guessed the reason why. Her friend had obviously deserted her and lied to her own mother because that awful Barry Franklin was still on the scene.

Mimi’s pause and lame excuse told Stephanie all she needed to know. ‘Don’t take me for a fool, Mimi. I know you’re lying and I also know that Danni’s got a boyfriend, so who is he?’

‘I don’t know about any boyfriend, honest I don’t,’ Mimi replied, near to tears. She was now desperately worried about her friend herself, but under no circumstances would she ever grass Dannielle up to her mother.

Stephanie sighed. She wanted to shout and scream at Mimi, but knew that was the wrong thing to do. When she and Tammy were Dannielle’s age, they had always covered one another’s arses to their respective parents, so she could hardly tear Mimi off a strip for doing the same. ‘Do me a favour, Mimi, if Danni rings you before she contacts me, can you tell her to come straight home, please?’

‘Yes, of course I will.’

Stephanie ended the call and immediately rang her daughter’s mobile. The phone was switched off. About to leave Dannielle a threatening message, she somehow stopped herself from doing so. When she had first met Barry all them years ago, her mum had been dead against their relationship, which had forced her to sneak around and meet up with Barry behind her mother’s back. Suddenly feeling tearful, Stephanie put her head in her hands. Dannielle had such a bright future ahead of her and all Steph could do was hope and pray that she didn’t ruin it all by getting up the spout at a young age, like she had with Wayne. Whoever this lad was, Dannielle obviously really liked him, so all Stephanie could really do was try to like him also and hope the relationship soon fizzled out. If it didn’t, or worse still, she hated her daughter’s choice of boyfriend, Steph knew without a doubt she would go absolutely mental.

Having breakfast in bed was Barry’s idea, but even though the food was delicious, Dannielle could only pick at hers. She and Barry had made love three times last night before they had finally fallen asleep in one another’s arms, and once again this morning, and Danni couldn’t get their lovemaking out of her mind. It had been absolutely thrilling, especially when Barry used his tongue on her down below. That was the part when Danni would groan with pleasure until her body came to one final shuddering halt.

‘You ain’t eaten much, babe. Aren’t you hungry?’ Barry asked.

Not wanting to admit that the real reason she couldn’t eat was because her stomach was in knots thinking about him, Danni picked at her scrambled egg. ‘I’ve never been a big breakfast eater, to be honest. I prefer lunch.’

‘Well, in that case, why don’t we go for lunch somewhere before I drop you home? You’re not in a mad rush to get back, are you? Where did you tell your mum you was staying?’

‘I told my mum I was staying at Mimi’s, but I’d better get home sooner rather than later in case my mum rings her house.’

‘Surely your mate will cover for you, won’t she?’ Barry asked.

‘Yeah, Mimi would never dob me in it, but I never asked her to cover for me, so if my mum rings her, chances are she’ll put her foot in it,’ Dannielle explained.

Putting his and Dannielle’s breakfast trays on the carpet, Barry took his young girlfriend in his arms. ‘You don’t think I’m too old for you, do you, sweetheart?’

‘Of course I don’t! I wouldn’t be here if I did.’

Barry kissed Danni passionately, then tilted her chin so that he could look her in the eyes. ‘I think the world of you, Dannielle, you know that, don’t you?’ he whispered.

Feeling as though she was about to burst with happiness, Dannielle grinned and clung to Barry like a leech.

Back in Loughton, Stephanie had just dished her son’s breakfast up and plonked it on the table in front of him.

‘What’s a matter with you today? You look well miserable. You got your period again?’ Tyler asked, cheekily.

Stephanie felt like picking the plate back up and smashing it over Tyler’s head, but instead chose to berate him. ‘I am not in the mood this morning for your obnoxious little comments, Ty, so shut your trap and eat your breakfast.’

‘I was only asking a question, Mum.’

Remembering that her son was the first one to inform her that Dannielle had a boyfriend, Stephanie sat down opposite him. ‘Did you speak to your sister at all and ask her if she had a boyfriend?’

‘I thought you wanted me to shut me trap,’ Tyler replied cockily.

‘Don’t mess me about, boy. I’ve just asked you a serious question, so answer it.’

‘Nah, she ain’t said nothing to me, but I can find out for you if you want me to? I’ll follow her when she goes out.’

‘No, Ty! You can’t spy on your own sister. Not to worry, I’ll speak to her myself when she gets home. Once she knows she’s been caught out she’s going to have to tell me who the bloody boy is.’

‘How has she been caught out?’

Stephanie stood up. ‘None of your business. Now eat your bloody breakfast.’

Dannielle was mortified as she listened to her answerphone messages. She had five in total and they were all from Mimi telling her to ring her urgently. The fifth and last message confirmed Dannielle’s worst fears. ‘Danni, it’s me again. Your mum knows you didn’t stay at mine last night, so you must call me before you speak to her. I’m in Lakeside with my mum, so ring me on my mobile.’

‘What’s up, babe?’ Barry asked, as he noticed the colour drain out of Dannielle’s face.

‘My mum knows I never stayed at Mimi’s house. What am I gonna say to her, Bal? What am I gonna do?’

‘Was it your mum who left you the message?’ Barry asked.

‘No, it was Mimi. She’s left five asking me to call her back.’

Seeing that Danni looked near to tears, Barry bumped the Range Rover onto a nearby kerb. ‘Don’t get upset, darling. Ring your pal back, find out exactly what’s been said and then we’ll think of a plan, OK?’

Dannielle’s hand shook as she held the mobile phone to her ear.

‘Danni, I’ve been so worried about you. Where the bloody hell are you?’ Mimi asked.

Dannielle ignored her friend’s question. ‘Tell me what’s happened?’

Mimi repeated the conversation she’d had with Stephanie virtually word for word. ‘So, are you gonna tell me where you’ve been? I take it you’re with him?’

‘Yes, Barry’s with me. You didn’t mention him to my mum, did you?’

‘No, but you seriously need to get your eyes and brain tested, Danni. Your mum will kill you if she finds out.’

‘I can’t really talk now, but will you be in this afternoon? If so, I’ll pop round after dinner.’

‘You ain’t bringing him with you, are you?’ Mimi asked, defensively.

‘No. Listen, I’d best ring my mum now. She must be going out of her mind with worry.’

Mimi wasn’t usually a sarcastic person, but for once she couldn’t help herself. ‘Ain’t we all, Danni? Ain’t we all?’

When the phone rang, Stephanie took a deep breath as she realized it was her daughter’s number flashing up on the screen. ‘Be calm, be calm,’ she mumbled to herself.

‘All right Mum? I’ll be home in a little while. I didn’t stay around Mimi’s in the end last night. Me and Carly found a new pub that don’t ask for ID, so we had a couple of drinks in there and then I stayed round hers instead,’ Dannielle lied. She had just spoken to Carly, and Carly had agreed to back her story up if her mum didn’t believe her.

Stephanie wanted to scream abuse at her lying little minx of a daughter, but knew that would get her nowhere, so she took another deep breath instead. ‘Just come home now, love, and we’ll chat when you get here,’ she replied as calmly as she could.

‘Are you OK, Mum? You sound a bit out of breath.’

‘Yes, I’m fine. I’m trying to talk to you and mop the kitchen floor at the same time, which is why I’m breathless. How long will you be?’

‘About an hour.’

‘OK, I’ll see you then,’ Steph said chirpily. Seconds later, she burst into tears.

Because he wanted to chat to his pretty young girlfriend for a few minutes and give her a kiss goodbye, rather than drop her at Loughton Station, Barry parked up in a nearby side road. ‘Now, are you sure you’re gonna be OK? Because if you ever want me to speak to your mum on your behalf, I will. She is gonna have to find out about our relationship sooner or later, Danni. We can’t keep it a secret forever.’

Dannielle sighed worriedly. She knew her mother was going to go ballistic when she found out about her secret love and she wasn’t quite ready to deal with that yet. ‘I’ll tell her at some point, Barry, I promise. Not yet though, eh?’

‘It’s entirely up to you, babe. I won’t pressurize you to do anything you’re not ready to do, but your mum and mates are bound to get suspicious if we are spending lots of time together. When am I gonna see you next? You gonna pop round tonight for a couple of hours?’

‘No, I’d best not tonight, but I’ll come round tomorrow when my mum’s gone to work. As soon as she leaves, I’ll call you and you can pick me up from the station. It will probably be about midday.’

‘OK, and would madam like to be taken out for lunch tomorrow? Or shall we have a bottle of bubbly and christen that new bed of mine instead?’ Barry asked, cheekily.

‘Let’s go for plan B,’ Dannielle said, giggling.

Cupping Dannielle’s face with his hands, Barry kissed her passionately. ‘Go on then, you’d better get yourself home.’

‘Bye Barry, and thanks for a wonderful time yesterday. I loved
Mamma Mia
and staying in that hotel. It was brilliant.’

When Dannielle shut the passenger door, Barry opened the window. ‘Oh, I forgot to tell you something.’

‘What?’ Danni asked.

‘That I love you.’

When Barry winked at her then drove away, a gobsmacked Dannielle stood rooted to the spot. She knew exactly how important the L word was. She and her friends had discussed the subject many times and she hadn’t expected Barry to tell her he loved her so early in their relationship. Absolutely thrilled by her boyfriend’s surprise declaration, Danni headed happily towards home.

To calm herself down a bit, Stephanie had opened a bottle of wine and was currently on her second glass. She had been desperate to talk to her mother about the Danni situation, but her mum had gone to the Dagenham Sunday Market with Lin and David and wasn’t home yet. Stephanie silently cursed her mother. She had recently begged her to let her buy her a mobile phone, so she could always contact her in case of emergencies, but Pam had been dead against the idea. ‘What do I want one of them bleedin’ things for? Apart from popping into Romford or up the Heathway, I’m always in-bloody-doors anyway,’ she’d insisted. Downing the rest of her drink in one fell swoop, Stephanie went into the kitchen to put the chicken in the oven. She had never felt less like cooking a Sunday roast in her life, but she knew she had to try and carry on as normal. Hearing the front door open and shut, Stephanie felt her heart beating faster. She knew it wasn’t Tyler as he had gone out for lunch with Brad and his parents. ‘Is that you, Danni?’ she shouted, trying to keep her voice sounding cheery.

Dannielle felt sick with nerves when she walked into the kitchen. She loved her mum, hated lying to her, but what choice did she have? ‘Mmm, dinner smells nice. What have we got?’ she asked, not knowing what else to say.

Wanting to scream that she had only just that second put the chicken in the fucking oven, Steph somehow stopped herself. She turned to her daughter and falsely smiled. ‘Chicken. Would you like a glass of wine with me, darling? Then we can sit in the lounge and have a chat.’

Dannielle eyed her mother suspiciously. She was acting really strangely. Apart from on special occasions, she had never encouraged her to drink alcohol before. ‘I will if I’m allowed to have a glass.’

‘Well, you’re not a child any more, are you? Me and Tammy were having a tipple when we were your age, so now you’ve left school, why shouldn’t you?’

Dannielle took a large gulp of the wine just to calm her nerves. She then walked into the lounge and sat on the sofa. She knew she was about to be grilled, she could feel it in her bones.

Stephanie sat down on the sofa opposite her daughter. She felt she had done enough beating around the bush and she now wanted some bloody answers. ‘Look Danni, I know you never stayed around Carly’s house last night and I also know that you have a boyfriend.’ As her daughter went to interrupt her, Steph raised her hand to stop her from doing so. ‘Let me finish before you speak, Danni. I can understand why you’ve been wary of telling me that you’ve got a boyfriend. It’s my fault for coming across as a man-hater and pushing you to concentrate on your studies and career. But, please don’t ever feel as though you have to lie to me again, darling. I am not a fool and I have noticed a massive change in you these past few weeks. I am only thirty-five, remember? I’m not ninety. I do remember what it feels like to fall in love for the very first time. So, who is this lad?’

Dannielle knew she had no choice other than to stick to her original story. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mum. I swear I stayed at Carly’s last night. If you don’t believe me, you can ring her yourself.’

‘So, what pub did you and Carly supposedly go to, then?’ Steph asked, her hackles beginning to rise.

‘I can’t remember the name of the pub, but I know it was somewhere in Hainault,’ Dannielle stammered.

‘Well, if you can’t remember the name of the pub, perhaps you can show me where it is?’ Stephanie said, leaping off the sofa and snatching her car keys off the table.

Wishing she had never mentioned going to a bloody pub, Dannielle immediately went on the offensive. ‘Why don’t you ever believe anything I say? Even if I did have a boyfriend, which I haven’t, I could never let you meet him. You would question him like a police officer and he would think you was mental.’

The sheer annoyance that Dannielle thought she could pull the wool over her eyes – and at the same time call her mental – forced Steph to grab her daughter roughly by the arm. ‘Right, me and you are gonna drive to this pub and I shall ask the guv’nor and all the staff if they have ever seen you before.’