Page 19 of Three's a Crowd
Guilt came back to wallop her in the gut as she remembered the look of abject hurt on Adam’s face when she told him she didn’t want to pursue a relationship with him after all. She felt utterly wretched about that. She reallydidlike him and maybe in other circumstances, they could have made a go of it. She guessed she’d never know now. He probably wouldn’t be interested any more now that she’d rejected him.
She spent the whole journey back trying not to burst into tears.
5
PRESENT DAY
‘Okay, Lula, your next – very exciting! – guest is waiting to speak to you on line three,’ Daisy said, after pressing the intercom button which allowed her to talk to theDrive Timepresenter in the studio through her headphones, without it being heard by the microphone.
‘This isDrive Timewith Tallulah Lazenby on Flash FM. Stay with us for our exclusive interview with goddess-of-the-silver-screen, Katrina Cross, who’s currently starring in the blockbusterTen White Dovesnow showing in cinemas.’
Tallulah’s amazing, rich, smoky voice came over the speaker in the producer’s cubicle, which allowed Daisy to hear what was being broadcast at all times.
‘She’s up next, right after Laura Lucas’ latest release.’
Tallulah hit the button on the desk which triggered the song that was lined up to play. Through the glass, Daisy saw her give her a double thumbs up before picking up the line to have a chat with the actor waiting to speak to her on air.
She leaned back in her chair and stretched out her tired back. It had taken her ages to set up the interview with this famously elusive film star. Despite being one of the most popularperformers of the time, she gave very few interviews outside the press junkets which she was contracted to do for the film studios. Daisy had been determined to get her for Lula’s show and it was somewhat of a coup that she had. Katrina wasn’t giving interviews to any other radio stations in the country.
One of the other broadcast assistants, Claire, who had mentored Daisy when she’d first started working at Flash, came into the booth and plonked herself down into the other chair by the desk.
‘Good work, Malone. I can’t believe you got Katrina bloody Cross on the show. I bet old Boss Man Jezzer nearly wet his knickers when you told him we’d got her,’ she said with a grin.
Daisy grinned back. ‘I know, right? I can hardly believe it myself. I must have e-mailed her agent a million times before she said yes. Apparently, she heard one of Tallulah’s shows recently and loved it so decided to come on.’
Claire leaned over and picked up a magazine lying on the desk that the previous BA on shift had been reading. She turned it over and studied the front cover.
‘Oh, I so would,’ she said, fanning herself with her hand and flipping the magazine round to show Daisy the front cover.
Daisy’s stomach plummeted as she took in the sight of Zach’s face staring broodily back at her. He looked good. Really good.
‘I so did,’ she murmured, without thinking.
‘Youwhat?’ Claire sat up straighter in her chair and gawped at her.
Daisy’s face flamed.Dammit. She’d told herself she’d never tell anyone about the ‘incident’ with Zach. But it seemed her overwrought brain had other ideas.
‘Uh, I mean, I would too,’ she said, aware how unconvincing her lie sounded.
‘No, no, no. You definitely said that you “did”. Come on, Daisy, you can’t drop a bombshell like that and not give me everysingle detail.’ She folded her arms and stared at her, clearly not intending to budge until Daisy had spilled every last bean.
‘Okay. Yes, I did say that.’ She held her hands up in surrender. ‘We, er, had a – very short-lived – thing years ago. It wasn’t anything really. We used to go on holiday together when we were kids. He went to school with Adam and his family always invited him to come along with us.’ Her face flamed hotter at the slightly bent-out-of-shape truth.
Claire leaned in closer, intrigued. ‘You’re a dark horse. Why haven’t I heard about this before? If I’d shagged Zach Dryden, you wouldn’t be able to shut me up about it.’
Daisy tried to shrug it off, but she could tell Claire wouldn’t be fobbed off and would keep pushing till she gave her more juicy gossip. ‘To be honest, it’s all a bit awkward because he’s good friends with Adam. I thought he was into me at the time, but he was just using me to dispose of his virginity. I was a “mistake” apparently. Anyway, I never see him any more. Adam’s been to the States to visit him but I wasn’t invited. Thank God.’
‘Does Adam know about thisliaison?’ Claire asked, rapt.
‘No! And you can’t tell him. Honestly, if he found out… well, he wouldn’t be happy. Things with me and Adam had just started to develop at that point.’
Claire studied her through narrowed eyes. ‘Hmmm, I suppose it’s healthy to have some secrets from your boyfriend. Don’t worry, my lips are sealed, but you have to promise me, if you’re ever in the position to “bump into” Zach again, you have to introduce me? Deal?’
Daisy snorted. ‘Yeah, sure. But don’t hold your breath. There’s no way he’d want to see me again after the way things ended.’ She threw her friend a cheeky grin. ‘Anyway, I don’t think mouthy pissheads are his type.’
Claire punched her playfully on the arm for that. ‘Speaking of which, come and find me when you’re finished here, okay? I seriously need a drink tonight.’
Daisy nodded, relieved her friend wasn’t going to pump her for any more information about Zach. At least not right then. She suspected there would be a further interrogation after a few drinks that evening though. ‘Yeah, okay. Be with you once Lula’s wrapped up.’
