Page 22 of Bad Influence
Looking at the state of things now, I wondered if it was time to get more organised at home. I reassured myself that we weren’t complete slobs because the place would look a hell of a lot worse without me having bought a bunch oftulips from the supermarket to decorate the kitchen table, and the throw I had found on a Portobello market stall recently had made a big difference to the sofa. I was good at up-cycling vintage finds and styling our home. It’s just neither of us was very good at noticing when the washing-up liquid was running low. I shrugged. It was messy, but it wasourmess, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. In a funny kind of way, I thought I might miss Rob’s untidiness when I moved in with Mandy and didn’t have to see it every day.
I thought of Mandy waking up in the luxury of the Corinthia penthouse, no doubt encased in a cacophony of plump white duck-feather pillows and crisp, sweet-smelling sheets, a silver-service trolley on order with fruit, pastries, and coffee. A world away from my surroundings. We might live in one city but the disparity in living arrangements among its inhabitants was something I could never fully get my head around. I had witnessed so much of this polarisation between the haves and have-nots in my line of work. It never ceased to stagger me when I witnessed someone blow thousands of pounds in a couple of hours on the shop floor, and in the same breath enquire about getting on the waiting list for the latest Louis Vuitton bag.Where did all this money come from?Yet just metres away underground on the Tube, there I was being gifted a piece of heather by a woman who looked as though she hadn’t washed for a while. It wasn’t right.
I made myself a coffee in my reusable cup, put on my boyfriend jeans, a white T-shirt, an oversized grey wool blazer, and gold chain and rings – my go-to look when Ididn’t know what to wear – then scooped up the bag containing the gown, popped over to give Rob a kiss on the cheek, and left the house at 7.30 a.m. on the dot.
I can’t believe I’m actually doing this.
‘I hope she thanks you for this!’ Rob called out as I closed the door.
When I arrived at Corinthia London, I was ushered straight up to the penthouse floor. Jose met me at the door again.
‘Amber!’ he greeted me warmly, like an old friend. ‘Glad you could make it.’ I thought about saying that I didn’t really have much choice but decided against it. My straight talk had been tolerated the first time, but I wasn’t sure how far I could push it.
After the obligatory kiss on each cheek, he took me through. This time the suite was busy, I felt several pairs of eyes immediately turn my way.
Ushering me ahead of him, Jose announced me to the room. ‘The team is complete! Everyone, this is Amber Green, Mandy’s new stylist. She’s part of the live-in squad.’
‘Hi. Jimi. We met before,’ said the dashing man with cheekbones you could slice ham on. He had the kind of looks that actively made me feel uncomfortable. This time he seemed more friendly, holding out a hand to shake mine. ‘I do all of Mandy’s social media. I’m also a DJ.’
‘And our personal trainer,’ Jose added, slapping his brother on the shoulder.
‘Do you work out, Amber?’ Jimi asked, deep brown eyes sparkling.
‘Um, yoga, sometimes,’ I lied.
‘Great, you might enjoy the Pilates too then,’ he said.
Jose indicated to a petite woman with corkscrew curls standing on his right.
‘Hi, I’m Lola, hair and make-up,’ she said. ‘Nice to meet you, Amber. I’m not live-in, but I’ll be in and out of the house a lot. This is going to be so much fun!’
We didn’t have time to get to the other two people in the room, as the clip-clop sound of heels on a marble floor grew louder. Mandy came into view down the central stairs, wrapped in a low-slung dressing gown. Her breasts peeked out like perfectly round scoops of ice cream nestled inside a waffle cone.
‘Morning all!’ she exclaimed. ‘How is everyone?’
There was a murmur of ‘good’ and ‘great’ around the room.
‘You all think you’ve arrived, don’t you?’ she said, eyes narrowed. We looked at each other nervously. ‘Well, you have!’ she declared, smiling broadly. ‘You’ve reached the final stage of the selection process. Well, except for you, Jimi. You’ve always been here. Within twenty-four hours we’re going to have contracts signed and you can start the day after that. We will move into the house tomorrow. Welcome to the world ofMandy Sykes!’
‘Yeah!’ cheered Lola, enthusiastically, the only one to make an audible response to Mandy’s address. The rest of us Brits needed longer to warm up.
The fact that Mandy seemed to think I could start in two days’ time was worrying – I was hoping I might haveat least a week to get my life straight and make the most of being with Rob. I made a mental note to add that to the growing list of items to be discussed with Julie-Ann, who hadn’t yet emailed my contract.
‘Action stations, gang! Just because the cameras aren’t rolling today, doesn’t mean we can slack,’ Mandy trilled, glancing over her shoulder at the youngest-looking member of the party who was descending the stairs behind her.
‘This is Blair, my personal assistant. They will show everyone where to put their stuff and I’ll meet you all upstairs.’
I looked around me to see who else she had been referring to, before realising that Blair was the ‘they’. They had appealing, symmetrical features, shoulder-length brown hair and wore a pair of flared trousers covered in purple diamonds, black nail polish, one gold crucifix earring and a vintage Rolling Stones T-shirt, like a modern-day Harlequin-meets-emo, with a dash of Harry Styles.
‘Please make us aware of your pronouns so we’re all clear from the off,’ Mandy added, before clattering up the marble steps once more, the heels and dressing gown combo grating on me. Blair shot me a smile before mouthingHi, and scurried upstairs behind her.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted someone who looked as though they felt as out of place around here as me.
‘Hi,’ I said.
‘Hi, I’m Coco,’ the slender woman replied. ‘Nutritionist.’She had white-blonde hair in a short pixie crop and elfin features.
‘Amber. I go by she and her. I’m brand new here – when did you start?’ I asked.
