Warhol's Prophecy

was pleased when I gave up.’

‘Would you go back?’

‘I couldn’t – not now we’ve got Becky. Jim’s called a few times and asked me. He even offered to pay for a nanny, but I couldn’t leave Becky.’

‘And your husband wouldn’t like it?’

She shook her head.

‘What was it like working for a famous man?’ Walker persisted.

‘I wouldn’t call Jim Marsh famous,’ Hailey replied with a mock grimace.

‘He’s successful. People know him. They’ve heard his name. He’s made his mark on the world and I admire him for that. I admire anyone who does that. Life’s short. I certainly don’t want to die without anybody knowing I was here in the first place.’

‘Is fame important to you, then?’

He looked directly into her eyes.

‘Have you ever wanted something so badly you’d kill for it?’ he said flatly.

15

FOR A SECOND she looked at him blankly, studying those features set in a determined expression.

Then that familiar grin spread across his face once again, and Hailey too found herself smiling.

‘Yes, I admit it, I’d love to be famous,’ he said, chuckling. ‘The adoration, the money, people following me around telling me I was great. Others running up and asking for my autograph. I reckon I could cope with that.’

She laughed.

‘You conceited sod,’ she said.

‘What’s conceited about it?’ he wanted to know. ‘When they put me in a bloody box and bury me, I want someone to know I’ve been here. And it’ll happen. I know it will. After all, Andy Warhol once said that everyone would be famous for fifteen minutes, didn’t he? I just hope to Christ he was right.’

‘So, you’re looking forward to your fifteen minutes, are you, Adam?’

He nodded.

‘I’m not joking, Hailey,’ he insisted.

As she looked at him she didn’t doubt his sincerity. In some ways he reminded her of Rob: that same single-mindedness and drive.

Rob? Why think about him now? Guilt pricking you, is it?

She pushed the thought aside.

‘What does your girlfriend think about it?’ she wanted to know.

‘No girlfriend,’ he said.

‘I find that hard to believe.’

‘There’s a compliment in there somewhere, isn’t there?’

‘Isn’t there anyone, then?’

‘Not at the moment,’ he told her. ‘Work comes first. You should know that, Hailey. You’ve been around men like Jim Marsh. They don’t let relationships get in the way of their careers. He’s been married a couple of times, hasn’t he?’

‘Twice.’

‘Has he ever tried it on with you?’

She looked at him for a moment, taken aback slightly by the question.

‘He knew I was married,’ she said.

‘What difference does that make?’

‘Perhaps I wasn’t his type.’

‘Did it bother your husband that you went away abroad with Marsh?’

She shrugged.

Are you going to tell him the truth? Tell him how Rob practically accused you of having an affair after a trip to Madrid?

‘He understood it was part of the job,’ she lied.

Lying comes quite easy, doesn’t it?

‘I’d have been jealous,’ said Walker.

She smiled sheepishly, feeling her cheeks colour slightly.

‘Does your husband know you’re having lunch with me?’ Walker persisted.

Again they locked stares.

‘It’s only lunch, Adam,’ she told him.

‘A thank you.’

Was that a hint of sarcasm in his tone?

‘I meant what I said,’ she insisted. ‘I appreciate what you did that day, finding Becky. And what you’ve done for her since.’

‘So he doesn’t know?’

She shook her head. ‘He’s away for a couple of days on business.’

Walker nodded sagely. ‘Does it bother you when he goes away?’ he enquired.

‘Sometimes,’ she confessed.

‘Is he ambitious?’

‘I suppose he is.’

‘Is that why you married him?’

‘There was a little more to it than that.’ She smiled.

‘But did his ambition make him attractive to you?’

‘Yes, it did. He used to say that if he wanted something he’d get it, and most of the time he did.’

‘I admire him for that.’

‘It’s a haulage firm he runs, not British Rail.’

‘He still made something of himself,’ Walker insisted. ‘And so did you. Working for a man like Jim Marsh must have been quite prestigious.’

‘I suppose you’re right.’

‘Why did you give up that kind of life, Hailey?’

‘I told you, I gave it up when I had Becky.’

‘But why would you want to give it up just to have a child?’

‘We both wanted a child. My biological clock was ticking, I suppose.’ She smiled.

‘At twenty-four? You could have carried on working for another ten years, and then had a baby. But you gave it all up for your child. I respect that kind of devotion; I just don’t understand it.’

She looked at him blankly.

‘It might happen to you one day,’ she said finally. ‘If you fall in love, you might find that even your career isn’t so important, and—’

‘Never,’ he said, cutting her short. ‘If you could turn back the clock, would you have a child later in life?’

‘I don’t know, Adam. I wouldn’t give up Becky for anything now.’

‘No, but then. Were you happy when you found out you were pregnant, when you realized you were going to have to give up work?’

‘I didn’t mind,’ she said defensively.

What the hell was he driving at? Had he touched a nerve in her?

‘You were prepared to give up everything you had to play happy families?’

Tell him the truth.

The knot of muscles at the side of her jaw pulsed.

She was aware of his eyes boring into her. But, when she looked at him, she saw compassion in his gaze.

‘I didn’t want a child then,’ she said flatly.