Page 112 of Escape to the Country

He looked at her for a moment before he broke into an unexpected smile. ‘You know those pictures of Tommy King kissing some mystery girl at Glastonbury? Well, I thought she looked a lot like you.’

Eleanor felt as if she had been drenched with cold water. ‘It was the back of someone’s head,’ she told him, trying not to look panicked. ‘It could have been anyone.’

He nodded. ‘I agree. Only I came home to an answerphone message a week or so ago from your old editor. Theresa whatsername. Asking about a story on Tommy King. Seems a bit coincidental, don’t you think?’

She forced herself to shrug her shoulders in a nonchalant manner. ‘That was a different story that I was going to write before I lost my job. Not the same thing at all.’ She began to turn away. ‘Well, if there’s nothing else…’

‘So this really is it?’ he asked.

‘I’m afraid so. As you said back in London, it was only ever supposed to be a bit of fun.

Goodbye, Lucas. Take care of yourself.’

As she turned to head back up the garden path, she noticed the curtain in the front room twitching. Knowing that her friends were waiting for her gave her the strength to carry on and close the door behind her.

She was still standing, sagged against the front door, when Annie and Megan came out into the hallway.

‘That was Lucas,’ she told them, with a sigh.

‘Are you okay?’ asked Annie.

‘I’m fine,’ said Eleanor ‘Just annoyed with myself more than anything.’

She followed her friends back into the front room and slumped onto the sofa.

‘I just wish I could take back the last couple of years. What on earth was I thinking of?’

Megan shrugged her shoulders. ‘Maybe you were just getting by, like everyone else.’

‘I think he only wanted me for my press pass into all those parties. Something to impress his colleagues at the bank with.’

‘That’s awful,’ said Annie. ‘But you did care for him, didn’t you?’

‘I don’t know. I think I just settled for him because I was lonely in London,’ Eleanor told them, before giving a short laugh. ‘Of course, now I haven’t got a clue what I’m doing with my life.’

‘Well, I think you’re amazing,’ said Annie, gesturing at the pots of cream on the table. ‘Maybe you can make some money whilst you come up with an alternative career plan. I’d buy any of your creams.’

‘Yeah, you might just have a career after all,’ said Megan, reaching for the jug of Pimm’s that was on the coffee table. ‘Now, what does this do?’ She pointed at a box.

‘I think it’s coloured mascara,’ Eleanor told her, handing it over.

‘Excellent,’ said Megan. ‘About time I look my best.’

Annie smiled. ‘Whatever for?’

Megan sighed. ‘Because I want to be a yummy mummy from now on. Actually, scrap that. I want to be a MILF.’

Eleanor had laid out some of the freebie expensive creams that she had picked up from the many VIP events she had attended. Her own skin was too sensitive for her to use them. She handed a pot of some kind of oil to Annie.

‘Looks a bit posh for me,’ said Annie, putting it down as if it were made out of diamonds. ‘I think my skin is more simple than that.’

But Megan snorted a laugh. ‘Mine is crying out for posh, to be honest.’ She smeared on an anti-wrinkle mask and lay back on the sofa.

‘This doesn’t smell as nice as yours,’ said Annie, sniffing a tube of hand cream.

‘Oh, by the way,’ said Megan, still lying down. ‘One of the other mums saw how red I was and I told her about your cream helping my sunburn. She asked if she could have some carrot cream for her summer holiday. Actually, I think a couple of people want some.’

‘Oh. Okay.’ Eleanor beamed with the satisfaction that perhaps she did have something to contribute after all.