Jill Mansell - Chapter 1

He paused, turned to face her and raised a hand in acknowledgement. ‘I hope so.’

Chapter 19

At four o’clock the following afternoon the taxi pulled into Radley Road. Gabe said, ‘It’s the blue and white house up there on the left.’

OK, he was back.

When the cab had disappeared he hauled his luggage up the steps and let himself in through the front door. Leaving the cases in the hall, he made his way upstairs.Then, bracing himself, he knocked on Lola’s door.

So much for bracing. No reply.

Well, it wasn’t as if she was expecting him. As far as Lola was concerned he was still on the other side of the world.

Gabe went downstairs and fetched his cases, piling them up outside Lola’s. Then he crossed the landing and knocked on the door of his own flat.

The girl was out too. He knocked again to make extra sure. OK, it was his property and he had a right to enter it. Plus, drinking far too much water earlier meant he could do with using the loo.

Exhausted after the flight and irrationally annoyed by the lack of welcome, Gabe twiddled the keyring around until he located the right key.

He fitted it into the lock, twisted it to the left and pushed open the door.

Jesus Christ, the place had been burgled. Stepping back in horror, Gabe surveyed the scene of devastation. Except if burglars had been here, wouldn’t they have made off with that flat-screen TV? Or the expensive DVD recorder? Or that pile of money over there on the floor next to the plate of spaghetti bolognese?

What the bloody hell was this? Gabe ventured further into the living room, treading a careful path between abandoned clothes, CDs, magazines, opened packets of biscuits and half-full coffee mugs. Did the girl have some kind of stalker ex-boyfriend who’d been round to the house and trashed it?

But he knew that wasn’t right either. The mess and devastation wasn’t ... vindictive, somehow. It was too casual to have been done in anger. Squeezing his eyes tight shut then opening them again, Gabe realised with a sinking heart what kind of a tenant had moved into his home. He investigated the rest of the flat and had his worst fears confirmed. The kitchen was beyond belief. The bedroom looked as if it had been ransacked. The bathroom resembled a small branch of Boots that had been caught in a hurricane.There was a packet of smoky bacon crisps in the sink. The bath brimmed with water that was emerald green and stone cold. There were at least six damp towels on the floor.

He’d been away for four days.

His beautiful flat, his pride and joy. The muscles in Gabe’s temples went into spasm and his head began to ache. As if he didn’t have enough to deal with right now Oh well, the sooner the girl was out of here, the better. Maybe it was just as well he’d come back.

That was when he heard the bang of the front door downstairs, followed by the sound of footsteps on the staircase. Was it Lola or the new girl, the Queen of Trash?

Gabe left the flat, closed the door behind him and waited on the landing to see which one of them it-

‘Aaaarrrggh!’ Lola let out a shriek of fright and almost lost her footing on the stairs. One hand grabbed the banister while the other covered her mouth.

‘No, I’m not a ghost,’ said Gabe. ‘It’s really me.’

Lola was clasping her chest now. ‘But you’re ... you’re .. what’s going on?’

‘Didn’t work out.’ He loved Lola to death but still hated having to tell her, to admit he’d failed.

Her mouth dropped open. ‘You changed your mind?’

‘No.’ Gabe briefly shook his head. ‘She changed hers.’

Lola threw herself at him, knocking the air from his lungs. Whoosh, she was in his arms babbling, ‘You mean you’re back? Oh my God, that’s fantastic! Is Jaydena completely mad? I can’t believe it, I thought I was hallucinating! What a cow!’

This was why he loved Lola. ‘I think so too. She got back together with an ex.’

‘Oh well, her loss.’ Lola gave him another rib-crushing squeeze. ‘Come in and tell me all about it. Shall we leave your stuff out here? My God, you went all that way for nothing! Will you be able to get your job back? Where on earth are you going to live?’

‘What are you talking about?’ Following Lola, Gabe said, ‘I’m back. I’ll be living here, of course.’

‘You mean in Sally’s flat?’

‘For crying out loud, it’s not her flat! It’s mine! I’ll explain to her that I need it now, give her a week’s notice. And I’vejust been in there,’ he said incredulously. ‘Have you seen the state of the place?’

‘She’s not terribly tidy.’ Hastily, since she was the one responsible for Sally moving in, Lola added, ‘ Very nice though.’

‘Not terribly tidy? That’s like saying the Beckhams aren’t terribly thrifty. She only moved in four days ago – imagine what it’d look like after four months! No,’ Gabe shook his head, ‘she has to go. As for a job, I’ve no idea. I haven’t even thought about that yet. The last week hasn’t exactly gone according to plan.’ He took the can of lager Lola was offering him and pinged off the ring pull.

‘No wonder you’re a bit grumpy,’ Lola said sympathetically.

‘I’m not a bit grumpy. I went to Australia, I came back again and I didn’t even have time to get a suntan.’ Exasperated, Gabe glugged down ice-cold lager before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Dammit, I’m pissed of

‘OK, you choose. Now, do you want to carry on talking about Australia or shall we change the subject?’

He surveyed Lola, who was evidently dying to unleash some gossip. Nodding in realisation he said, ‘Right, of course, you’ve seen that guy again. Doug, isn’t it? Has he forgiven you yet?’

Lola’s face fell at the mention of her first love. ‘Not even slightly.’Then she brightened. ‘But something else has happened. I’ve met another man.’

‘And to think they call you fickle.’ Gabe regarded her with affection, because it wasn’t her fault his own life was crap. ‘Go on then. Who is he?’

‘Actually,’ Lola grimaced, ‘this is the weird bit. He’s my father.’

At seven o’clock they heard the front door open and close, then the sound of someone climbing the stairs.

‘Here’s Sally.’ Lola stayed sitting, clearly not looking forward to the next bit.

‘Right, I’ll speak to her. The sooner this is sorted out, the better.’ Gabe rose to his feet, ready to do battle with the bag lady who’d wrecked his flat.

‘The thing is, she—’

‘Don’t worry, I know she’s Doug’s deranged sister, I won’t yell at her.’ Ha, much.

‘But—’

‘I shall be charm personified: said Gabe, opening the door.

Except the girl he came face to face with on the landing was no bag lady. This girl was tall and curvaceous in a red wraparound dress and an elegant cream coat. Her hair was baby-blonde and swingy, her eyes were the colour of chestnuts, accentuated by expertly applied eyeliner. Her mouth was curvy and painted red to match her dress. She was even wearing Jo Malone’s Lime, Basil and Mandarin, which was Gabe’s all-time favourite perfume.

This couldn’t be the girl he’d spoken to on the phone last week, surely.

‘Hello!’ She smiled cheerily at Gabe and, key poised, headed for the door of his flat.

It just couldn’t.

Gabe cleared his throat. ‘Are you Sally?’

She stopped, turned. ‘Yes! And you must be a friend of Lola’s.’ Her eyes sparkling, she indicated the mountain of luggage and said jokily, ‘Are you moving in?’

‘I’m Gabe Adams.’ God, it was her.

‘Gabe?’ Sally looked puzzled. ‘But that’s the name of the one who moved to Australia.’

‘I didn’t move to Australia, I went to Australia. But things didn’t work out,’ Gabe said evenly,