Page 66 of Love Me Till Wednesday

Thirty years of family life. Thirty years where Nick had been on the other side of the world, wasting his time on drink or drugs or women, when everything he craved had beenhere all the long. The reality of everything he’d learned in the last 14 hours finally hit home. He carefully put the album down on the coffee table, put his head in his hands and sobbed.

When his tears finally subsided, he made a decision. He dried his eyes with his sleeve, walked over to the phone and dialled zero.

A cheerful woman answered. ‘Reception. How can I help you today?’

‘I’d like to extend my room booking until Tuesday, please.’

Lisa put on her coat and strode purposefully down the corridor with Pete and Ed in hot pursuit.

‘Wait! Wait!’ Allegra called after them. ‘There’s something you should know.’

‘And what might that be?’ Lisa said, turning round and folding her arms.

‘There are several people from the press outside.’

‘Did you call them?’ Lisa had already worked out that Allegra was behind Jed’s intrusive line of questioning.

‘No. People do listen to our breakfast show. They must be aware you’re here. Everyone wants to know the truth about Jim and Nick.

‘Do they indeed? And how do you know that?’

‘It’s all over social media. Look.’ Allegra showed Lisa her phone. She saw a shot of Jim and Nick sitting next to one another on Andy’s interview couch. It had been posted on a showbiz gossip blog’s Instagram feed. The image was slightly blurry and, judging by the angle, taken by someone in the front row of the audience. From Nick’s expression, it was seconds after he’d realised who Jim might be. The two of them looked even more alike in 2D.

Lisa sighed. Speculation about who was Jim’s father was going to be everywhere now.

‘Can I enquire about your rear exit?’ Ed asked Allegra, giving her his best cheeky grin.

She looked less than impressed. ‘We haven’t got one. There’s a side door, but they’ll easily see you if you leave that way.’

‘I guess we wait till they get bored,’ Pete suggested, eyeing up the mound of cakes and pastries that were sitting next to the coffee machine. ‘It’s not like we’re going to starve.’

That was absolutely plan B as far as Lisa was concerned. ‘I’m not being imprisoned here. We’ll walk out the main exit with our heads held high and ignore them.’

She marched down the stairs and into the foyer.

‘We’re going to need sharp elbows to get through that crowd,’ Ed said.

Lisa guessed there must be at least twenty people gathered in front of the glass doors, some with professional cameras and some making do with smartphones.Come on, Lisa! You’ve had to deal with this before.‘They’re not going to bar our way,‘ she announced, more to convince herself than Pete and Ed. ‘They won’t get a decent shot if they’re that close. Ready?’

Pete shrugged and turned to Ed. ‘Have you got the hearse keys handy?’

‘Yep. Ready when you are, Lise.’

Lisa squeezed into the small seat behind Pete in the hearse and closed her eyes while Ed started the engine. Several of the journalists had followed them across the road and were now knocking on the window, shouting ‘Lisa, tell us aboutNick’. The knot in her stomach grew tighter.Try to relax. They’ll lose interest in a day or two.

Ed accelerated away from the kerb, slammed his foot to the floor and careered around the corner into a side street before anyone could follow them. Lisa opened her eyes again.

‘They already know where I live,’ she pointed out.

‘Don’t spoil my fun,’ Ed said as the hearse screeched to a halt at a set of traffic lights. ‘I’m having my Sweeney moment.’

‘That reference is older than your chat-up lines,’ Lisa laughed.

‘Women love my banter.’

‘I don’t think Allegra was impressed with you.’

‘Don’t you? We’ll see.’ He turned another corner into a traffic jam.

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