‘Oh, wow, how did I miss that?’
‘It was before you came out. Zayn – I mean Gee – stopped the girl from attacking Julie, so she punched him instead. He pushed her away and she fell over, and then her friends turned up and she started crying and begging him to take her back. But he wasn’t having any of it.’
‘Good for him,’ Suzie said approvingly. ‘So what happened then?’
‘Her friends took her away and he walked off. Then Bex said she wanted to go, so I started walking with them. But Julie said they had plans and I wasn’t invited. She said they wouldn’t have come if I hadn’t lied about being mates with Gee. And then she said Bex is ashamed of me and only hangs round with me ’cos she feels sorry for me.’
‘Nasty little cow.’ Suzie tutted. ‘No wonder you got so upset. I’d have given her what for if I’d heard any of that.’
‘She’d only have slagged you off as well,’ Holly said. ‘She called you a slapper when you came out and waved to me earlier.’
‘Did she now?’ Suzie raised an eyebrow. ‘Well, she’d best not come round here again, or your neighbour’s crazy girlfriend will be the least of her worries. It really pissed me off when I heard them taking the mick out of you after you ran inside, and I’ll be giving that little madam a piece of my mind if I ever see her again.’
‘Why, what were they saying?’
‘That Julie one was imitating you in a baby voice, and Bex was laughing like it was a big joke. I could have slapped the pair of them. Wish I had now.’
Upset to hear that Bex had laughed at her after reducing her to tears, Holly took a slug of wine to wash the bitter taste out of her mouth.
‘Girls like them are why I’ve always preferred hanging out with boys,’ Suzie went on as she reached for the bottle to refill her glass. ‘Subject of, have you got a boyfriend?’
‘No.’
‘I’m surprised. Pretty girl like you.’
‘I’m not pretty.’ Holly blushed.
‘Yes, you are,’ Suzie insisted. ‘You’ve got beautiful eyes and a lovely smile.’
Flattered, but sure that Suzie was only saying it to make her feel better, Holly gazed at the photo on the wall again, and asked, ‘Have you been modelling for long?’
‘Years,’ Suzie said. ‘Would you like to see some of my other photos?’ Smiling when Holly nodded, she said, ‘I keep them in my wardrobe; just give me a minute while I dig them out.’
‘Would you mind if I use the loo?’ Holly asked as Suzie got up.
‘’Course not,’ Suzie said, already heading for the stairs. ‘Come on, I’ll show you where it is.’
13
Still in her bedroom when Holly came out of the bathroom, her arms full of photograph albums, Suzie called, ‘Give me a hand with these, hon. I’d forgotten how heavy they are.’
Seizing the opportunity to see the bedroom, because she would never have dreamed of asking to be shown around, Holly walked into the room and gazed around. A fitted wardrobe with mirrored doors ranged across one entire wall, and the bed that was facing it had a fancy satin duvet cover and matching pillowcases. A vanity unit with a large oval mirror sat below the window, and numerous bottles of expensive-looking perfumes were standing on it.
‘Wow, this is lovely,’ she said.
‘It’s the landlord’s furniture, not mine,’ Suzie said, dropping the albums onto the bed. ‘We might as well look through these now you’re here,’ she said, perching on the bed and patting for Holly to sit beside her. ‘Save me having to lug them all back up later.’
When Holly was seated, Suzie opened one of the albums and showed Holly a set of shots in which she was dressed in sportswear.
‘This was a campaign I did for the Littlewoods catalogue last year,’ she said.
‘Really?’ Holly was impressed. ‘They’re amazing.’
‘It wasn’t that big a deal, to be honest. But it paid well, so I can’t complain,’ Suzie said. ‘This is the type of work I prefer.’ She flipped to another page. ‘It was a Fendi campaign, and they flew me to Paris for the weekend.’
‘Wow,’ Holly murmured, gazing at the photos in awe. In these, Suzie was wearing a variety of glamorous dresses, and she looked absolutely stunning with her glossy hair coiled up and her make-up immaculate. ‘Are you a supermodel?’ she asked.
‘I wish,’ Suzie laughed, reaching for her glass.
‘You should be,’ Holly said, looking through the rest of the photos. ‘You’re way prettier than any of the models I’ve seen in magazines.’
‘That’s very sweet,’ Suzie said. ‘But if you think I look good, you should see some of the other girls I’ve worked with. And by girls I mean kids, ’cos you’ve got to be fourteen and skinny as a rake to get anywhere these days.’
‘You’re not giving up, are you?’ Holly asked, thinking she would be crazy to do that.
‘I don’t have a lot of choice at my age,’ Suzie said resignedly. ‘But even if I can’t get work, I’ve got a good eye for talent, so I’ve decided to set up my own agency. It’s a vicious world for young girls to be getting into, but with my experience I’ll be able to keep them away from the sharks. Obviously I won’t be able to compete with the established agencies, because they use professional photographers and stylists, and I can’t afford to do that. But I’m pretty good with hair and make-up, and I’ve got a decent camera, so now I just need to find a model who’s willing to let me practise on her to get me started. Hey, maybe you could help me with that?’
‘Me?’ Holly was confused.
‘Yeah, you could be my practice model.’
‘No, I couldn’t.’
‘Yes, you could,’ Suzie insisted. ‘You’d be perfect. Come over here . . .’ She jumped up off the bed and waved for
