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“Good. Well let’s get in there and let me talk to the caterers and the entertainment, I’ll make sure everyone’s being kept happy.” She checked her watch. “It’s almost going home time anyway.”

Mrs. Cohen smiled gratefully.

“Stay out here,” Ellie said to a still pale Jem. “I’ll be with you in a few minutes.”

She went into the hall and did just as she’d said, ensuring that everyone was happy and things were going as well as could beexpected, before coming back out to Jem.

“What is that?” she said, as she came out and flopped next to Jem on a bench.

Jem looked down at her dress. “Vomit.”

“Vomit?”

Jem shrugged. “It’s what happens when you feed thirteen year olds too much sugar and then teach them TikTok dances.”

“TikTok dances?” Ellie asked. Then she shook her head. “Never mind. Are you alright?”

Jem gave a shaky smile. “It’s not the first time I’ve been thrown up on, believe it or not.”

“That’s not what I meant,” said Ellie. Without thinking too much about it, she took Jem’s cold hand. “Mrs. Cohen says you took charge in there, that without you that kid would be in much worse shape than they ended up in.”

“Did first aid at finishing school,” Jem said softly.

Ellie could have been wrong but she thought that maybe Jem squeezed her fingers. Just softly, just for an instant. Then she pulled her hand away.

“Let’s get you home, shall we?” Ellie said, standing up.

“I’m fine, I’ll just get a car,” said Jem, reaching for her phone.

“I’d rather make sure you got home okay.” Ellie took her hand again, this time to pull her up. Jem was looking rather pale. And she had saved the day. It seemed only fair to make sure she was alright. “Come on, we’ll get a cab.”

“You’re coming home with me?”

It was the arched eyebrow that made it seem like a proposition. An eyebrow that Ellie firmly ignored.

“I am,” was all she said.

Chapter Seventeen

Jem stepped out of the lift and unlocked her front door. “After you.” She ushered Ellie inside.

To be fair, it had been her intention from the first time she’d seen Ellie to take her home. Maybe not like this though. The smell of vomit was slightly overpowering, and Jem’s legs still felt a bit shaky.

If she closed her eyes she could see the small child choking, could feel the struggle leaving him as he slowly stopped getting oxygen. And the thought of what could have happened made her feel sick enough that she could throw up on her own dress.

“Let me just change out of these clothes,” she said, closing the front door.

“Nice place,” said Ellie.

Jem gave her a glance, saw the wide eyes and the familiar look on her face. Yes, her flat was bigger than most houses. Yes, it was filled with expensive things. She didn’t think much about it until the odd visitor inevitably commented on it.

She didn’t make any excuses for it now. “There’s a bar over there if you need a drink,” she said.

God knew, she needed a drink. But the dress had to come off first.

She disappeared into the bedroom, stepping out of her dressjust as soon as she decently could.

She wasn’t sure why she’d stepped in. She wasn’t sure why she’d offered to go to the party in the first place other than a sudden, overwhelming need to please her new boss. And then when the cry had gone up, when she’d seen the child on the floor, she’d been overtaken by something.