eyes alighting on the diminishing stack of crisps. ‘Well, just as long as he stays over there please. And can you tell him not to do the whole creeping up on me thing? That’s seriously freaky.’
‘OK,’ I said, gravely, shooting Jimmy a warning look. If we wanted Lexie to help then we needed to keep her on side. At least I had the benefit of seeing Jimmy and being able to talk to him. Even after just a short while I’d stopped thinking of him as some weird being from another place, he was simply the man who shared my life, with all that that entailed, plus a few added complications to make things even more interesting.
For Lexie, he was just a light wisp of air and the subject of my inane mutterings. No wonder she was freaked out.
‘So how long is he planning on staying for?’ She looked at me warily from over the top of her mug of coffee.
‘Well, that’s the thing, we don’t know. Obviously there’s a reason why he hasn’t been able to make his journey over to the other side, some reason why he’s stuck here with me. But we didn’t know what that was until now.’
I sighed. Talking about it with someone other than Jimmy for the first time brought home to me what an insurmountable problem I had on my hands.
‘We investigated a couple of options for getting him moved on, but none of them worked.’
‘Oh, give me a guitar and I’ll play you a few tunes on my way.’
‘We thought at first it might be a case of just waiting for the right moment,’ I said, completely ignoring Jimmy’s quip.
‘I see. And you want me to help you get rid of him? Exorcise him, kind of thing.’
‘Whoa!’ Jimmy jumped up, making the sign of a cross with his fingers towards Lexie. ‘I’m not sure I like your sister’s approach.’
I giggled.
‘I don’t think we need to do anything quite so drastic. When all this stuff with Donna appeared in the paper, that’s when we realised why he’s got stuck here. She can’t be allowed to get away with such blatant lies. It’s really hurtful to Jimmy. They didn’t even sleep together.’
‘Bitch,’ Lexie said, with feeling.
‘Right on!’ agreed Jimmy.
‘Exactly!’ I added. ‘Jimmy’s managed to get hold of her contact details so I thought we could ring her and arrange to meet her.’
‘And you really think she’s going to agree to meet up with us when she has no idea who we are or what we want? Why should she when there’s nothing in it for her? I should imagine she won’t do anything without demanding a fee upfront.’
‘She has a point,’ offered Jimmy.
‘No, what we need to do is run into her at one of her regular hang-outs. Make it seem like a chance meeting. That way we can take her unawares, she won’t have a chance to come up with any excuses when we confront her with the truth.’
I beamed. Everything seemed so much more manageable with Lexie on the case.
‘So does that mean you’ll help me?’ I asked, already knowing the answer.
Lexie sighed, shaking her head wryly.
‘It doesn’t look as though I’ve got much choice in the matter, does it?’
Chapter Eleven
‘Would you hang on a moment, I can barely walk in these things let alone run!’
Lexie and I were running, or rather tottering in my case, down Kensington High Street. The light rain that had started less than ten minutes ago had taken on the ferocity of a force ten gale and my floaty skirt and skimpy top clung woefully inadequately to my body. Shivering with cold, my goose bumps had goose bumps on them, I cursed after Lexie’s departing figure.
‘I knew this was a bad idea. Why didn’t we just wait outside in the car? At least we could have kept warm and jumped out when we saw her.’
‘Yes, but what if there’s some sort of back entrance? You know, for the celebs. And even if she does come out the front, she’s bound to have some heavy looking out for her. No, at least if we get into the club we have the opportunity of speaking to her alone.’
What had seemed
‘OK,’ I said, gravely, shooting Jimmy a warning look. If we wanted Lexie to help then we needed to keep her on side. At least I had the benefit of seeing Jimmy and being able to talk to him. Even after just a short while I’d stopped thinking of him as some weird being from another place, he was simply the man who shared my life, with all that that entailed, plus a few added complications to make things even more interesting.
For Lexie, he was just a light wisp of air and the subject of my inane mutterings. No wonder she was freaked out.
‘So how long is he planning on staying for?’ She looked at me warily from over the top of her mug of coffee.
‘Well, that’s the thing, we don’t know. Obviously there’s a reason why he hasn’t been able to make his journey over to the other side, some reason why he’s stuck here with me. But we didn’t know what that was until now.’
I sighed. Talking about it with someone other than Jimmy for the first time brought home to me what an insurmountable problem I had on my hands.
‘We investigated a couple of options for getting him moved on, but none of them worked.’
‘Oh, give me a guitar and I’ll play you a few tunes on my way.’
‘We thought at first it might be a case of just waiting for the right moment,’ I said, completely ignoring Jimmy’s quip.
‘I see. And you want me to help you get rid of him? Exorcise him, kind of thing.’
‘Whoa!’ Jimmy jumped up, making the sign of a cross with his fingers towards Lexie. ‘I’m not sure I like your sister’s approach.’
I giggled.
‘I don’t think we need to do anything quite so drastic. When all this stuff with Donna appeared in the paper, that’s when we realised why he’s got stuck here. She can’t be allowed to get away with such blatant lies. It’s really hurtful to Jimmy. They didn’t even sleep together.’
‘Bitch,’ Lexie said, with feeling.
‘Right on!’ agreed Jimmy.
‘Exactly!’ I added. ‘Jimmy’s managed to get hold of her contact details so I thought we could ring her and arrange to meet her.’
‘And you really think she’s going to agree to meet up with us when she has no idea who we are or what we want? Why should she when there’s nothing in it for her? I should imagine she won’t do anything without demanding a fee upfront.’
‘She has a point,’ offered Jimmy.
‘No, what we need to do is run into her at one of her regular hang-outs. Make it seem like a chance meeting. That way we can take her unawares, she won’t have a chance to come up with any excuses when we confront her with the truth.’
I beamed. Everything seemed so much more manageable with Lexie on the case.
‘So does that mean you’ll help me?’ I asked, already knowing the answer.
Lexie sighed, shaking her head wryly.
‘It doesn’t look as though I’ve got much choice in the matter, does it?’
Chapter Eleven
‘Would you hang on a moment, I can barely walk in these things let alone run!’
Lexie and I were running, or rather tottering in my case, down Kensington High Street. The light rain that had started less than ten minutes ago had taken on the ferocity of a force ten gale and my floaty skirt and skimpy top clung woefully inadequately to my body. Shivering with cold, my goose bumps had goose bumps on them, I cursed after Lexie’s departing figure.
‘I knew this was a bad idea. Why didn’t we just wait outside in the car? At least we could have kept warm and jumped out when we saw her.’
‘Yes, but what if there’s some sort of back entrance? You know, for the celebs. And even if she does come out the front, she’s bound to have some heavy looking out for her. No, at least if we get into the club we have the opportunity of speaking to her alone.’
What had seemed
Similar Books
