Page 42 of Under Your Spell

Orgasms make everyone feel better. Hope this stops you being a moody cow. No reason wish number 1 can’t still come true. Xx Serena

I look up at Theo and see him notice what’s in my hand. For a second there’s a look in his eyes that feels like it’s about to burn the clothes off my body. Then he clears his throat.

‘From Serena, I’m guessing?’ he says, and his voice is steady, amused.

‘Of course,’ I reply, shaking my head as if I can physically dislodge the decidedly not-suitable-for-work images that are flashing across my brain.

‘Nice,’ he nods, and he sounds so mildly interested that I think maybe I imagined the look altogether, maybe it was just me. I really don’t think he’s been affected after all, not until he turns and walks straight into the wall beside him.

‘Ow!’ he groans as I collapse helplessly into laughter.

Theo sneezes again. And again, and again.

Finally he crashes out face down on the sofa. ‘My head hurts,’ he mumbles.

‘I need to call David.’ I am already pulling out my phone.

‘No, you don’t,’ Theo says firmly. Then he sneezes again.

‘Are you kidding? What if you get worse? I’m already on the thinnest of thin ice with him. I need to tell him right now.’

Theo’s response is to close his eyes and moan into the sofa cushions.

David answers on the first ring.

‘Clementine.’ He sounds as annoyed by my existence as ever. ‘I trust you are feeling better.’

‘Yes, thank you,’ I reply nervously. ‘Um, but Theo seems to have developed a bit of a cold.’

There’s a dangerous pause. ‘Is it affecting his voice?’

Oh God, I hadn’t even thought about that. ‘Is your throat hurting?’ I ask Theo. He shakes his head. ‘He says no,’ I tell David.

‘Put him on the phone, please.’

I hand the phone to Theo, who sits up reluctantly. ‘Hey,’ he says, resigned. Then he is quiet for a while as David talks. A frown pinches between his eyes. ‘Fly the doctor in from LA?’ he repeats incredulously. ‘It’s just a cold, David. Calm down.’

What follows makes Theo’s cheeks flush. ‘That was a totally different situation and you know it!’ He casts a glance in my direction and huddles lower, speaking softer, but I still catch the sulky teenage tone. ‘I’m not totally out of touch with reality, you know.’

Even I hear the bark of laughter David makes and I press my lips together to keep from smiling. The way David acts about my job, I thought he would be incredibly obsequious with Theo, but it sounds like he’s happy to give him as hard a time as he does me.

‘Give it a rest,’ Theo says. ‘You know I’d let you fuss if it was something serious, but it’s not. I don’t have to perform for twenty thousand people tomorrow so I think we can give the doc the night off.’

This must be enough for David because after another couple of minutes of conversation Theo hands the phone back to me.

‘Clementine, listen to me very carefully.’ David’s voice is serious. ‘Mr Eliott’s vocal cords are worth a fortune – an actual fortune – and they are in your care. Think of him as a Stradivarius. Your only job is to protect this precious instrument. I am going to send you a list of throat treatments that he needs to strictly adhere to, and if he shows any sign of getting worse, any sign at all, you contact me immediately.’

I can feel my eyes growing wider and wider as he talks. ‘Yes, David,’ I say meekly.

When he hangs up a few minutes later, I look over at Theo. ‘What did he say?’ he asks suspiciously.

‘He said…’ I swallow. ‘That your vocal cords are in my care. He called you a precious instrument. He called you… a Stradivarius.’

Theo lifts his hands to his face. ‘Oh my God,’ he whispers, like a kid whose parents have just mortified them.

I start giggling then.

Theo drops his hands. ‘And you can shut up as well,’ he grumbles, but even though his mouth stays in a flat line, his eyes crinkle.