Page 79 of Bad Influence
Blair messaged:She’s gone to get a pedicure, back in an hour. I’m going to try to get some sleep now.
After all that.
I knew I had to speak to Rob. It was my sole mission for the rest of the day, and I would make sure it happened, even if I had to contact the Divorcee in the flat above and ask him to bash the door down. It would be morning in the UK and there was absolutely no excuse for Rob not to pick up his phone on a Sunday.
‘Hey you, how’s LA?’ Rob’s voice was husky, as though he’d not long been awake. He gave me a fright because I was ninety-nine per cent sure he wasn’t going to pick up.
‘Oh. Hi!’ I hooted in surprise. ‘How areyou, most importantly? I’ve been worried about you.’
‘Worried about me?’
‘Not answering your phone, going AWOL … I think I had reason to be a little concerned,’ I replied.
‘I’m sorry.’ He paused. ‘I knew you were busy with work, and I didn’t want to burden you with my woes.’
‘Woes?’ I asked concerned.
‘Oh, just work stuff, but it can wait until we’re together. Anyway, your soon-to-be brother-in-law made sure I was still alive last night. He took me to the pub.’
‘Rory?’
I had forgotten about that.
‘He gets out even less than I do. Let’s just say neither of us is feeling too sprightly right now. He’s on the sofa.’
‘The sofa? What did Lucy say?’
‘She’s the one who told him to stay! Something about “checking up on me”?’
I stayed silent.
‘I think she made a wise decision. Lucy’s got enough nausea to cope with,’ he said.
I giggled. ‘You have a point.’
‘Anyway, how are you doing? How’s LA?’
I filled him in on work so far, seeing Vicky, Mandy’s news, the shoot, and the clothes prep, intentionally ignoring any mention of Jimi. Then we discussed plans for the weekendI would finish this job, and how he would book somewhere nice for us to go for dinner as soon as I was released. Unbelievably, I was already a third of the way through the three months, though in some ways it felt as though I’d been living this weird existence for much longer.
It was lovely to hear Rob tell me he missed me. We were just about to end the conversation in my mind, when he said, ‘What are you wearing, baby?’
‘What?’ I asked.
There was a glint in his eye as Rob repeated the words. ‘I said, what are you wearing?’
‘Just a dress,’ I replied. ‘It’s warm – sorry about that! – I’m in sandals and this dress.’
‘Show me.’ He smiled.
‘Really?’
‘Now, please,’ he commanded. It was exciting to hear him order me to do something.
As instructed, I reversed the camera and used my arm as a selfie stick to show him head to toe. I was wearing a basic black shirt dress from Zara – nothing particularly special, which I slightly regretted.
‘Open a button for me,’ Rob said, with a sexy smile.
‘Okay,’ I muttered, embarrassed.
