Gemma Townley - When in Rome...

Your bumper would have fallen off on its own.”), we quickly slip out the back door.

I need to get to David quickly. I kiss my mother and jump in a cab. I have never been to David’s offices before and as the taxi draws up in front of a huge building that seems to take up an entire road, I check the address again. “Are you sure this is the right place?”

I know that David works for one of the “Big” accounting firms, but I hadn’t really expected the offices to be this big. The firm has offices all over the country, and all over the world, so I thought each one would be pretty small really.

The taxi driver grunts at me, and drives off, leaving me at the main door. The reception itself is as big as a nightclub, with paintings everywhere and clusters of leather chairs and sofas where people are sitting and having intense conversations. I walk hesitantly up to the reception desk.

“Is David Bradley here?”

One of the receptionists looks up. “Do you have an appointment with Mr. Bradley?”

“Um, no, not really,” I reply. “But if you tell him Georgie is here, I’m sure he won’t mind.”

The girl looks uncertain, but she dials a number anyway.

“Hello, this is reception. We have a Georgie downstairs for David Bradley.” There is a long pause. “I see. Okay, thank you.”

She smiles at me. “Mr. Bradley can’t see you, I’m afraid.”

“No, you don’t understand. I’m his girlfriend, Georgie Beauchamp, I really have to see him very urgently. Please call him again.”

The receptionist calls again. “Oh hello, it’s reception here again. We have a Georgie Beauchamp down here very keen to see Mr. Bradley. Ah. Okay, well, thank you.”

She looks up at me sympathetically. “I’m afraid he doesn’t want to see you,” she says softly.

My eyes start to well up. I can’t believe this. I’m being dumped by a receptionist. David hates me so much he can’t even bear to set eyes on me.

I go over to one of the leather chairs and sit down, unsure what to do next. I can’t just go, not until David has the disk. But if he won’t see me, I’m scuppered. I decide to wait. At some point David will have to leave the building, and when he does I will grab him and make him listen to me. I look at my watch. It’s two-thirty. I pick up a copy of theFT from a table in front of me and begin to read.

I’m in the middle of the TV review section when I sense someone coming toward me. I look up to see David’s glamorous partner from Rome approaching.

“Hi!” she says with a big smile. “I work with David, and I understand you wanted to see him?

I’m afraid he’s a bit tied up at the moment but I could give him a message for you if you want?”

At last, someone who can actually help me!

“The thing is,” I say, “I’ve got some information here that I need to get to him. I’d really appreciate it if you’d make sure he gets it.”

“Of course,” she says smoothly. “Why don’t you give it to me now?”

I start rummaging around in my bag. All the bits of paper are crumpled up and in a mess. But before I can organize the statements one of the receptionists interrupts us.

“Vanessa, I’ve got a call for you. Shall I put them through to your voicemail or would you like to take it here?”

The woman looks up. “Who is it?”

“Didn’t say, but he says it’s important. I wouldn’t ask, but he sounded quite determined to talk to you.”

“Fine, I’ll take it down here.” She turns back to me. “I’m sorry, the papers you were talking about—shall I take them now?”

Vanessa . . . It couldn’t be her, could it? Mike did say he had a friend at David’s firm, some woman who used to work for the police, but surely this can’t be the same Vanessa who sent the postcard, the one who’s going to Malaga with him? Vanessa is standing over me and when I look up she must notice the recognition in my eye because she flinches slightly.

It is her! At least it could easily be, and I can’t risk it. I have to think quickly—thank God I haven’t given her the disk yet.

“Actually,” trying to sound as normal as possible even though I can feel myself shaking, “why don’t you take the call? I’ve got to sort through all these papers anyway.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble. I’ll just wait while you go through them. I’m sure the call can wait.”

There is no warmth in her smile and I’m running out of excuses.

I delve back into my bag and have a brain wave. I quickly find “ring tone” on my mobile phone display and within a couple of seconds it springs into action with a piercing rendition of a Bach fugue.

“Sorry, I’m going to have to take this,” I say apologetically and seize the opportunity to move away from Vanessa.

She walks over to the reception desk reluctantly to take her call. I quickly dial David’s number on my mobile.

“Good afternoon, David Bradley’s office.”

It’s Jane. Thank God.

“Jane,” I whisper. “It’s Georgie. Look, I need to talk to David.”

“Don’t we all,” says Jane mournfully. “He’s in with the senior partner. I can’t get in to see him.

No one can. Except his new partner Vanessa. And I don’t like her much either. Only passed her exams last year apparently and already she’s a partner. Georgie, what’s all this trouble he’s in? I knew I shouldn’t have gone on holiday—”

“I’m downstairs with Vanessa now,” I interrupt. “Or rather, I’m trying to get out of her clutches.

I’ve got some stuff for David and I don’t trust her with it. Is there a cafe or somewhere you can meet me in five minutes?”

Vanessa is putting the phone down and turning back toward me.

“Well, there’s a Starbucks round the corner,” says Jane.

“Perfect. I’ll be there.”

“Vanessa,” I say loudly. “I’m really sorry but it looks like I’ve brought the wrong stuff. I thought I had some work-related papers that David had left at my flat, but it turns out they’re . . .

um . . . other stuff, so I’ll just . . . give them to him later, okay?”

Before she can answer, I slide my phone into my pocket and make a dash for the door.

I order a hot chocolate with extra cream. I feel like I need something comforting and warm. As I pick up the cup I realize my hands are trembling.

I can’t believe that Mike is about to run off to Spain with Vanessa, the bitch brunette from Rome. She must have been keeping Mike posted on exactly what information David had all along.

There are people all around me drinking coffee, talking idly with friends. In the corner is a group of three boys who look like they’re bunking off school. They are sharing one coffee between them and smoking furtively. I long for the days when bunking off school was about the worst thing I could do. Unlike, say, being naive enough to believe my stupid ex-boyfriend and nearly getting David arrested.

My resentment of Mike grows as I stir my chocolate. What bloody right does he have to care so little about the feelings of everyone else? But really my resentment is directed at myself. I was so easily flattered by Mike I didn’t think to question his motives.

“Are you all right, Georgie?”

Jane wakes me from my reverie. Jane has been David’s PA for, well, forever really. As long as I’ve known him, anyway. She’s a formidable woman somewhere in her early fifties, with a very no-nonsense approach to life—David and the other partners are actually quite scared of her. If she thinks David is working too hard, she won’t put calls through to him and she knows more about his firm than any of the partners combined. And if she disagrees with you, well, you don’t often win an argument with Jane. But she is absolutely loyal. And right now I could do with a familiar face.