Falling for you

Which, in the absence of a mirror, was probably impossible.

Startled, the girl said, ‘What?’

‘Your eyelashes. They’re so long! You lucky thing, how on earth did you get them to grow like that?’

‘They’ve, um, always been long.’ Annalise was attempting to back away now. ‘Actually, I don’t think we’ll have that drink. Maybe I’ll ring my boyfriend and ask him to come and pick us up.’

Maddy tensed; why had she deliberately emphasised the word boyfriend? Did she know? Why were she and her friend exchanging significant glances? For heaven’s sake, it wasn’t as if she was a mad axe-woman – why couldn’t she just ask Annalise a few simple questions and find out what she wanted to know?

Then again, nothing ventured .. .

‘What’s your boyfriend’s name?’

Annalise said, ‘Right, we really should be making a move. Come on, Bren. Let’s go.’

Avoiding her eyes, the two girls slipped away. As they left, Maddy saw Annalise take a mobile phone out of her bag. Honestly, why did life have to be so complicated?

And where was Paul McKenna when you needed him? He could have quickly hypnotised Annalise, asked the relevant questions, discovered all he needed to know then de-hypnotised her, leaving her none the wiser.

In fact, why wasn’t Paul McKenna a member of the SAS? Or was he?

‘You’re not dancing!’ shouted Kate, materialising hot and breathless at her side. ‘Come on, you’re missing out on all the fun!’

Maddy was touched by her concern. Kate’s eyes were shining. After all her exertions her foundation was starting to melt, but she clearly wasn’t bothered. Still out on the dance floor, Nuala and Dave and a group of Dave’s friends were having a whale of a time lowering the tone of Bath’s trendiest club and competing with each other to see who could dance in the least cool manner. Tonight was Kate’s first foray into nightclubland since her accident, yet you wouldn’t know it. Belatedly, she was discovering that if you smiled instead of scowled, laughed instead of glared, people were far more likely to smile back.

At this rate Dexter was going to have his work cut out keeping her under control.

‘Bit hot.’ Maddy fanned herself by way of apology. ‘What?’

‘ BIT HOT.’ Above the noise of the music, Maddy bel lowed, ‘I’m just going outside for a few minutes, to cool down.’

‘Then you have to come and dance,’ shouted Kate. Maddy nodded. ‘Definitely. Just give me five minutes. I’ll be back.’

Outside, she made a point of proving she was hot, in case any CCTV cameras were pointed in her direction. Well, it had been tropical inside the club; what could be more natural than wanting to gulp down a few lungfuls of fresh air, unstick your top from your torso and fan yourself with your hands, Al Jolson- style?

She only had to wait a couple of minutes before Annalise and her friend emerged from the club.

‘Oh, hi!’ sang Maddy, her Al Jolson hands going into overdrive. ‘Hot in there! Just came out for a breather.’

‘It’s all right,’ Annalise murmured out of the corner of her mouth. ‘He’ll be here any second.’

Turning to Maddy, she added, ‘My boyfriend’s coming to pick us up.’

Well, good, because that’s why I’m out here, thought Maddy. Duh.

Oh dear, was she getting a bit carried away here? If Annalise’s boyfriend did turn out to be Kerr, was she going to be tempted to jump into his car and run away with him? Would she be able to curb the impulse to—

‘Look, you’ve made a mistake,’ Annalise began to say as a white Volvo drew up, illuminating them in its headlights. Muttering, ‘Thank God for that,’ and visibly relaxing, she returned her attention to Maddy. ‘I’m very flattered, but the thing is, I’m not ... that way.’

Puzzled, Maddy said, ‘What way?’

‘Oh, come on, don’t be offended, you know what I’m trying to say. I’m sure you’re a very nice, um, person,’ Annalise said hurriedly, ‘but I’m straight.’

‘Hmm?’ Not really concentrating, Maddy was far more interested in confirming that the driver of the white Volvo wasn’t Kerr.

‘You’ve got the wrong night,’ Annalise’s friend explained kindly as Annalise wrenched open the Volvo’s passenger door. ‘Wednesday is gay night at Trash.’

‘Oh, right.’ Maddy nodded, relief washing over her as the car’s interior light came on. Raising her voice, she called across to Annalise, ‘Is that your boyfriend?’

In the passenger seat, Annalise gave the driver a significant, that’s-the-barking-one look. Slowly, all three occupants of the car nodded.

Completely unable to help herself, Maddy blurted out, ‘How do you know Kerr McKinnon?’

Annalise’s plucked eyebrows shot up. ‘Kerr McKinnon? The guy from Callaghan and Fox? His company does business with our company.’ She paused, bewildered. ‘Why?’

‘Oh, no special reason.’ Feeling as if a ton weight had beenwinched from her chest, Maddy smiled and waved at them. ‘Just wondered. Bye!’

The Volvo pulled away. Feeling fifty times happier, Maddy headed back towards Trash.

From the shadows she heard a male voice say, ‘You should have told me before.’

Spinning round, Maddy said, ‘Dave?’

He emerged from his darkened doorway, looking mildly apologetic. ‘Sorry, didn’t mean to