Page 46 of The Girlfriend
C HERRY KNEW THAT IF LAURA HAD BEEN JUST THAT LITTLE BIT more generous with her information, had told her all those months ago about Daniel’s ashes going to France, phoned again to check she was okay and allow her to ask which day he’d died, she’d never have called the hospital.
Not the new hospital, of course; she hadn’t even known about that one.
No, the Chelsea and Westminster, where he was supposed to have had the fatal heart attack.
Wary of calling Laura for the missing links, the information she needed to move on with her life, she’d called the ward.
However, as she suspected, they refused to tell her anything as she “wasn’t next of kin.
” Next came the wracking tears, then the claim that she didn’t know when he’d died, because she’d been so traumatized by all the visits, by seeing him in a coma for so long, that she’d become ill herself and so had only found out through gossip that it might be the case.
A cold realization had started to form. She remembered the sudden funeral, the fact it was family only.
It was all very convenient to tidy him away before she got back.
At first, the idea popping into her head was so incredibly callous, so unbelievable, that she thought she must have made a mistake.
No one hated her that much, she thought tentatively, but couldn’t quite bury the wounded feeling that maybe, just maybe, they did.
Amidst the hurt, she forced herself to face up to the possible fictitious scenario that had duped her.
The only way to find out for certain was to confront Laura, so she’d gone to her office.
The final confirmation came from watching Laura’s face that morning.
Just think, if she’d been a little kinder, a little more human, she’d have gotten away with it.
She’d taken away everything that Cherry had worked hard for, cherished, aspired to, her whole raison d’être.
In one cruel, megalomaniacal swipe. Had Laura been laughing at her all this time?
Talking about the poor little Croydon girl who’d got ideas above her station?
To think she’d tried so hard to be friends!
How dare she, Cherry thought. How dare she think that because she has money, she’s better, that she could control the lives of other people.
Cherry would not be humiliated again. It had taken all her strength when she’d seen Laura that morning not to fly at her, but that would’ve been a waste.
Cherry wanted her to feel exactly as she felt, that sense of injustice and helplessness when someone just comes up and snatches away what you care about and grinds you into the dust with their heel while they’re at it. No, Laura needed to be taught a lesson.
Cherry also wanted Daniel back. She’d been given another chance, and this time she wasn’t going to mess it up.
No stupid white-water-rafting trips. She had to tread carefully; after all, he’d probably been told she’d given up on him, dumped him when he was in a coma.
Her heart suddenly stopped. What if he’d met someone else?
Oh, please, don’t let that be true, she thought, and knew she had to get a move on.
So between her two goals and the pressing urgency, she had a lot of thinking to do, a lot of planning to sort out.
Her mind switched on and it was a joyous feeling.
Energy flooded through her for the first time in months.
Her mum, home midafternoon after an early shift, was the first to notice the change.
“Have you got a job, love?”
“Yes, Mum, I have. A very important one.”
She was pulled into a bear hug. “Congratulations! What is it?”
“Putting right a wrong.”
Wendy looked puzzled. “Are you working for a charity?”
Cherry considered; her mother might as well think this as anything. “That’s right.”
“Good for you, love. It’s about time more people out there did something for someone else. I’m thinking of doing the midnight walk, you know, for breast cancer. Do you fancy coming with me?”
“Think I might be a bit busy with the new job, Mum.”
* * *
Cherry felt alive. This was the project, the focus she’d been looking for.
She escaped to her bedroom and started by writing a list of everything Daniel had ever said about Laura, his parents, anything that might be of some value.
She had an excellent memory, something she was particularly pleased with herself about, and had used to full advantage throughout her life.
Once, she’d been off from school for a few days with the flu and the dreaded French verb test was the day of her return.
All she’d had to do was scan the workbook while they were lining up to go in, and she knew the conjugations of “souhaiter”—to wish— perfectly.
When she was done with her list, there was quite a lot on it, some of it really useful.
She was going to have a lot of fun. But the first thing she was going to do was see Daniel.
Laura wouldn’t tell him about her coming to the office, not immediately, because then she’d have to explain why.
And that she couldn’t do without admitting she’d lied about his death.
No, she’d likely build herself up to it.
But Cherry knew she wouldn’t leave it too long, wouldn’t dare to.
She’d be too afraid Cherry would get to him first. So Cherry decided to make sure she did just that.
She threw on her jacket and told her mum she was going out for some air.
She walked the ten minutes to Wandle Park and found a quiet bench.
The park was quite busy with dog walkers, mums pushing prams, and some of the kids out of school, but it was still big enough for people to have their own space; no one came near her.
Making sure she dialed a prefix that would hide her own number, Cherry phoned Laura’s office.
“Hello, can I speak to Willow, please?”
A click and she was put through.
“Hello, Cavendish Pictures.”
“Oh, hi, Willow, this is Rachel Thornton, PA to Alison Forest at ITV drama.” Such a good idea of hers to chat with Willow earlier when she’d gone to the office.
She’d found out she’d only been there a few days and it was her first TV job.
It was unlikely that she’d be familiar with people’s voices and she was usefully green.
“I’m calling about The New Life of Heather Brown. ”
“Oh, I so love this project.”
“Me too. It’s one of my favorites on our slate.”
“Really?” Willow was delighted.
“Absolutely. Such a good script.”
“I can’t wait to see it made,” gushed Willow.
“You should ask Laura if you could come and visit the set.”
“Oh, my God, I’d love that. ”
Cherry smiled. Willow was so trusting . “Listen, Alison’s asked if Laura can come in for a meeting tomorrow morning.
She’s got some issues on the casting and is keen to lock it down ASAP.
” ITV was so helpful in putting all their executives’ names on their website as they detailed their upcoming dramas.
It had all been incredibly simple and hadn’t stretched Cherry at all.
“She’s got an hour between ten and eleven?”
Willow sounded worried for the future of the drama. She was so unsuspecting, Cherry almost felt sorry for her. “That’s great. We’ll see her then. Alison’s out of the office and off-line this afternoon, but any questions she’ll answer fully tomorrow.”
And that was it. Cherry just had one more thing to prepare for. She started to make her way back home to her mum’s flat. It was time to open the boxes.