Wags To Riches, page 11
After I wave goodbye to Adam, I go inside, take all my bags upstairs and then stand Tim and Gina’s card on the mantelpiece in the living room. I make myself a cup of tea with a little bit of milk that I’ve got left in the fridge and drink it whilst I unpack, pausing to look at my gold dress before putting it in the wash basket. I’d not even thought to check how you wash it when Adam bought it for me. I bet you can’t do it on a normal 40C synthetics cycle - it will have to be washed in yak’s milk at dawn on the second Wednesday of the month or something equally ridiculous. Oh well, I’ll sort it out later. I’m going to get some food first.
I put my coat back on and walk to Supersavers to get some groceries. Thank goodness it’s open on a Sunday. I get some bread, milk, cornflakes, a pizza for tea and a bag of salad. Let’s hope there’s nothing crawling in this one - I had to take one back recently as there was a caterpillar crawling about in it – ugh! And I had to carry that bag back to the supermarket as well. I wrapped it in about 6 carrier bags, but I still put gloves on, I felt that repulsed. I’ve not got anything against caterpillars, but I don’t particularly want to eat one. I also get some broccoli, some tomatoes and I also add some chocolate cake and a bottle of chardonnay. I know I shouldn’t really, not after all the champagne I’d drunk yesterday, but I’ve got to have something to look forward to after doing housework. Well – that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.
When I get home, I put my shopping away and try to decide what to tackle first – ironing or hoovering? Oh - the agony of choice. I think I’ll do the ironing first – get that out of the way and go upstairs to fetch my overflowing ironing basket. I set up the ironing board in front of the television, switched the DVD player on and sigh. What a bloody comedown. One minute I’m attending a huge celebrity wedding and having one of the most fantastic nights of my life and the next I’m doing my ironing while watching the second series of Extras on DVD. Can’t wait to see Alex and tell her all about it tomorrow though – not the second series of Extras – I think she’s already seen it actually – I mean the wedding. I’m actually quite looking forward to going to work for once.
****
“So how was it?” Alex asks the minute I walk into work the next morning.
“Oh it was fantastic!” I say beaming at her. “It was just brilliant! And we had our picture taken for Gush! magazine!”
“Wow!” Alex says, wide eyed. “So tell me all about then – what was her dress like?” Alex asks and I spend most of the morning telling Alex about the wedding, but the initial euphoria I’d been feeling since Friday morning starts to evaporate as this job starts getting on my nerves again. It’s never ending - this constant list of problems to fix.
“Do you want to go into town Gail at lunchtime?” Alex asks as she puts a call on hold.
“Yes” I reply. “I could do with a walk”.
When lunchtime finally arrives, I go into the newsagents to get some chocolate and as I turn back from the till and head out of the shop, I glance at the magazine racks and gasp as the faces of Tim and Gina look back at me from the cover of Gush! magazine. Blimey - they got that issue out fast! Heart pounding, I read the byline on the right hand side of the picture:
‘The Marriage of Soccer Ace Tim Winters and stunning model Gina Armstrong-Jones - exclusive coverage and pictures inside!’
I reach up, take the magazine off the shelf and started flipping through it. I wonder if there any pictures of me in here - and there we are! A full-page photograph no less, showing me and Adam standing in the hotel, holding hands and laughing! It’s quite a nice photograph actually - Adam looks gorgeous and I don’t look too bad at all, less like an overweight troll than I’d feared. ‘Adam Finchley, star striker for Grandmere and his girlfriend Gail Auden were guests at the exclusive ceremony’, the caption reads underneath. Oh my God! And - look - there we are again in a group photograph, I see as I turn the pages, and there we are looking at each other at the ceremony! And - wait a minute - there are some pictures on this page - there’s Adam and me again. And yet again! God. All this time I’ve read Gush! and now I’m actually in it! I feel quite dazed.
Alex, who has been in the sandwich shop next door, comes into the shop to see what the delay is. “What’s up Gail?” she asks and then notices the magazine open in my hands.
“Oh gosh! Or should that be oh Gush! Is this it?” she squeals, peering at the magazine and smiling. “These are really good Gail” she says, looking through the photographs, “You look fantastic!”
“Thanks Alex, I knew I was friends with you for a reason!” I say smiling. “It’s just a bit weird you know - seeing yourself in a magazine”.
“Well, it’s bound to be” Alex says breezily, “But you look really nice! It’s not as if you’re in the ‘Who’s gone out looking like a sack of shit this week’ section in Slur magazine is it?”
“No - that’s next week” I reply dryly. “Anyway - I think I’ll get a few copies of this and then I can give my Mum and Dad a copy can’t I? I’ll text Adam as well and let him know the magazine’s out,” I add as I reach up to get another three copies of the magazine. We walk back to work and I wonder if anyone at work has seen the magazine. My question is answered as soon as I walk through Marketing and I’m greeted by a chorus of ‘Gail and Adam up a tree - doing what they shouldn’t be’ from all the staff followed by peals of laughter. “Shut up” I say blushing. I’ve always thought they were a particularly infantile bunch anyway.
“Ignore them Gail – they’re just jealous” Alex says grinning as we go back to our desks.
“Easy for you to say” I say as I open my Inbox, “Oh and look” I say, gesturing towards the screen, “everybody’s emailing me now asking about it! I didn’t know that many people read Gush! here!”
Just then, Dave - Alex’s boyfriend who worked in I.T - walks into the office. “I must say I’m not very impressed with your choice of fella Gail” he says in a serious voice.
“Why?” I say, surprised.
“Well” Dave says, a smile playing round his lips, “I want to know why you can’t go out with someone who plays for a decent team”.
I laugh. “Less of your cheek you!” I say as my supervisor, who is a Grandmere fan came over.
“You know that Grandmere have won the League twice consecutively as opposed to the team that you support, who have only ever managed to be runners up and that was back in 1993” he says to Dave and Alex looks impressed. I’m too busy inwardly marvelling at the supervisor’s ability to recall this information – this is someone who frequently forgets where he has put the order sheets - to say anything, so I decide to go and make a cup of tea for me and Alex. As I stand in the kitchen waiting for the kettle to boil, ditsy Brenda walks in and gasps. Oh no – now I’m stuck in here with her.
“Gail! Is it true what they are all saying? About you going out with Adam Finchley?” she asks.
“Yes” I reply.
“How long have you been seeing each other?”
“About a month”.
“A month?” Brenda repeats, aghast. “Why didn’t you say? God I feel so stupid - going on about him!” She puts her hand to her forehead in a very theatrical manner and closes her eyes for a second. “I am so sorry Gail!” she says.
“Nothing to be sorry for” I reply as I quickly make the teas and leave the kitchen. I really don’t want to be interrogated by Brenda because whatever I say would be all round the office before going home time.
“How did you meet anyway?” Brenda asks as she follows me back to my desk. Oh God. Dave and the supervisor are stood near the printer still discussing the merits of their respective teams and I smile. Alex looks up, sees Brenda and rolls her eyes at me.
“Tell me all about it” Brenda persists.
I’m trying to keep this to myself! I think exasperatedly, but Brenda is looking at me expectantly and I can’t really tell her to go away – even though I’d very much like to. “In the supermarket,” I say finally and Brenda’s mouth falls open.
“The supermarket?” she echoes. “What - was it one of those singles nights?”
I grin widely and Alex bursts out laughing. “No - not quite” I reply as Brenda turns to Alex.
“What are you laughing at?” she asks, “Gail may have well met Adam there! My cousin met a bloke at one, near the fish counter on this singles night they did on a Tuesday”. At this, Alex laughs even harder and even Dave and the supervisor laugh. “And they’re married now!” Brenda continues, “Had their wedding there and everything!”
“That’s great!” I say, not knowing quite what to say.
“True love can happen in the strangest of places you know” Brenda says, pointedly looking at Alex as she leaves the office.
“Well, there’s an idea for your wedding anyway Gail,” Alex whispers grinning. “Stock up on buy one, get one frees while you’re there!”
“No thanks Alex” I say firmly. I don’t know quite where I’d like to get married really, but tying the knot in Supersavers doesn’t appeal. Sometimes I quite fancy getting married abroad. Romantic images flash through my mind of me and Adam walking along a beach and then sitting and watching the sunset. I’m quite enjoying this particular daydream when the phone rings. Dammit.
“Is this Gail Auden?” a sharp female voice asks.
“Yes it is - how can I help?”
“Louise Timmings - Daily Mercury. So Gail - how does it feel to be dating Adam Finchley - Grandmere’s star striker and one of the ten sexiest men as voted for by our readers?”
My heart starts pounding. “What?” I say.
“So what’s Adam really like Gail? What are your future plans? Has the wedding given you any ideas?”
What???? Has this woman somehow hacked into my brain and seen what I was thinking about? “I have no comment to make, sorry - goodbye” I say primly and put the phone down, feeling quite freaked out. Oh my God. Why is a newspaper ringing me up at work?
“Who was that?” Alex asks, “You all right?”
“I’m fine – I’ll tell you in a minute” I say, taking my mobile out of my bag and hurrying out of the office. I need to talk to Adam. I walk down the corridor, almost jumping out of my skin when the door from the accounts department opens – I don’t know why – it’s not like the woman I had just spoken to was going to be in there. It’s only Simon going to a meeting. I go into the Ladies, close the cubicle door and ring Adam. I can’t believe that someone has rung me at work. What do they want to talk to me for? Good God - I’m nobody important am I?
“Hello gorgeous! I was just thinking about you, I’ve just finished training,” Adam says as he answers the phone, but before he can carry on, I jump in.
“Adam – something’s happened,” I say.
“What?” Adam asks immediately, his voice tense and serious.
“This woman from the Daily Mercury has just phoned up – phoned me at bloody work Adam no less - and asked loads of really nosy questions about me and you!” I say, rubbing my hand on my forehead.
“What did she say?” he asks.
“She asked me what it was like to go out with one of the sexiest guys as voted for by readers or something!”
“Hey!” Adam says sounding pleased, “Check me out!” and laughs.
“It’s not funny Adam,” I say smiling in spite of myself, “I’m feeling a bit panicky to be honest - I mean how do they know where I work? Will they try and get photos of me? Will they be outside my house?”
“I seriously doubt it” Adam replies smoothly, “She’s just looking for a quote to fill a newspaper isn’t she?”
“How did she find out where I worked though?” I ask.
“She’s a journalist Gail - that’s her job,” Adam says simply.
“Well, she also wanted to know if Tim and Gina’s wedding had given me any ideas for goodness sake!” I continue indignantly.
“Well, we can’t this weekend – I’ve got a match on,” Adam replies laughing and I have to laugh too. “That’s better” he says, “Now - you say you’ve bought a copy of Gush!?”
“Yes – I’ve actually bought four” I say sheepishly.
“Great - I’ll have a look at one tonight. I was thinking I might order a print of one of the photos of us for my new house. Where are you anyway? There’s a weird echo on the line”.
“In the Ladies loo at work,” I reply. “I know I shouldn’t get upset about that stupid woman phoning” I continue, “It just freaked me out a bit”.
“It’s bound to” Adam says soothingly, “I forget that I’m used to it and you aren’t. I’ve just learnt to live with it.”
“I know. It goes with the territory doesn’t it - like Alex said? It’s a bit scary though – people being that interested in you and your life”.
“Just ignore it Gail. I do. They aren’t that bothered really. They’ll all be talking about someone else tomorrow” Adam says. “Now - what time do you finish today?”
“Five o’clock”.
“Right - I’ll come and pick you up then then. And please don’t worry about the papers”.
“I won’t. I’ll see you at five near the main gates” I reply and we say goodbye. I quickly make my way back to my desk and as I sit down, Alex looks up at me.
“Are you okay?” she asks. “What was all that about?”
“Oh it was just this silly cow from this newspaper who’d rung up to ask nosy questions and it freaked me out a bit,” I reply as Alex’s eyes widen in concern. “It’s okay – I’m fine. Well – I am now I’ve spoke to Adam about it.”
“What did he say?” Alex asks.
“He just said to ignore them and not worry about it” I reply.
“That’s probably the best thing to do” Alex says. “Now – do you want another drink?”
*****
At five o’clock Adam is waiting for me outside work in the Bentley which is attracting some attention from people as they walk past. I hurry up to the car and climb in. “Hello” Adam says and gives me a kiss, just as two women who work in the Accounts department walk past. Oh great – that will be all round work tomorrow now as well.
“Lets go” I say, “I’m sick of people looking at me today”.
“It’s not that bad is it?” Adam says as we move off.
“It’s okay” I reply with a sigh. When we get to my house, Adam follows me down to the kitchen and I make us both a cup of tea.
“This is a nice kitchen,” Adam says, looking round. “It looks really welcoming and lived in – do you know what I mean?”
“Untidy you mean?” I ask smiling.
“No - you know that’s not what I mean! It’s nice!” Adam says, sitting down on the stool next to me. “So” he says, taking a sip of his tea, “what happened at work today?”
“Oh - everybody has been asking me about us all afternoon so I haven’t been able to get much work done” I reply.
“Oh dear! That is tough!” Adam says smirking.
“It’s not funny Adam!” I say crossly. “I’ll have twice as much to do tomorrow! And then that horrible woman rang up!”
“I know. Never mind. Look - let me cook you something nice for your tea and forget all about it. Now – what have we got?” he asks as he goes to open one of the cupboards and pulls out a bag of pasta. “Great! That’s a start – now what can we put with that? Let’s see…” he says, opening the fridge, “Tomatoes – we’ll have them – bit of cheese – good and some broccoli - excellent! You can have a glass of wine and talk to me while I cook. Now -where do you keep your glasses, chopping board and knives?”
“Glasses are in the cupboard above the sink and there’s a chopping board in that drawer,” I say, gesturing towards it “and the knives are in the cutlery drawer next to that one.”
“Right – great – and where are the pans?” Adam says, turning round quickly and nearly banging his head on the overhead saucepan rack. “Geez - that was close!” he says, hastily stepping back.
“Are you all right? You didn’t bang your head did you?” Gail asks concerned. “It’s the perfect height for me, but you are a lot taller than me aren’t you?”
“No Gail – you are just a midget!” Adam says laughing and jumps out of the way as I make to swat him with the tea towel. He switches a couple of saucepans onto boil and pours me a glass of wine which I sip, watching him deftly chop up the broccoli and tomatoes.
“I’ll give you the guided tour of my house while dinners cooking if you like” I say.
“That would be great” Adam says. “And – I’m going to fix your shelf after dinner as well.”
“That would be great thanks” I reply. “It’s still where you left it – I haven’t had chance to do anything with it really”.
“I’ll sort it out” Adam says as he puts the pasta into one of the pans and gives it a stir. “Right – That should be okay while you show me round” he says. “I’ll put the broccoli in after”.
I take Adam round my house and he seems quite impressed. I’m glad I cleaned up everywhere yesterday. I know it’s probably nothing compared to his house, but I like it. “I’ll just get changed while you see to dinner” I say as we come out of the bathroom.
“OK – don’t be too long” Adam says and goes downstairs. I decide to put on my skinny jeans and my plain black jumper dress. It’s nice this – its got three quarter length sleeves and a scoop neck that shows just a hint of cleavage. I go back downstairs and a lovely smell of cooking is wafting down the hallway from the kitchen.
“Something smells good” I say as I walk in.
“Hope you like it” Adam says, putting a ladleful of pasta into a bowl.
“I’m sure I will,” I say as he places two delicious looking bowls of pasta on the counter and we sit down.
I pick up my fork and get stuck into dinner. “This tastes great,” I say. “Mmm – it’s really nice!”
Adam chews some pasta for a moment. “Mm - not bad if I say so myself,” he says thoughtfully.
