To the Moon and Back

Chapter 36




‘Well, well, what a surprise,’ Louisa jeered at Ellie. ‘You were lying. Fancy that.’

‘I told you, I didn’t know when he’d be back.’ Ellie bristled; Zack was welcome to take over now.

‘Hello? Do I look stupid? You were just trying to get rid of me because you’re after him yourself.’

It had evidently slipped Louisa’s mind that she did look stupid. Well, hooray for that. Zack finished paying the cab driver and strode across the road towards them.

He took in the situation at a glance. ‘What’s happening here? What’s been going on?’ He moved towards Ellie. ‘Are you all right?’

Which was nice in one way, but succeeded in sending Louisa into paroxysms of jealousy.

‘Zacky, I’ve missed you so much! I need to see you.’

Zacky? Oh good grief, did she actually call him that?

‘Seriously.’ Zack carried on addressing Ellie. ‘Are you OK?’

‘I’m fine.’ His hand was on her arm. It felt amazing…

‘Zacky? We have to talk!’

He turned to look at Louisa. ‘Really, there’s no point.’

‘Oh my God, I don’t believe this. Look at the two of you together. And you’re protecting her!’ She swung round, her swollen piggy eyes homing in on Ellie like lasers. ‘I asked if there was anything going on between you two and you denied it. You sneaky, lying, little—’

‘I’ll leave you to it.’ Ellie headed past her to get to the house. Zack kept a firm grip on her arm and went with her. Enraged, Louisa let out a howl and lashed out wildly in an attempt to separate them. The tissue-thin handles of the nappy bag were torn from Ellie’s grasp. The bag hit Louisa’s ankle with a wet thud and this time her reaction was ear-splitting, her screams reverberating down the street as she jerked back and kicked it like a football into the air.

‘Ugh… eurgh! ’ The bag hadn’t burst but the fact that it had made contact was enough. Louisa hopped around, looking as if she’d quite like to amputate the offending leg. Elmo, entranced by another opportunity to play fetch, scooted along the pavement and joyfully retrieved it. Carrying the bag back by its handles, he deposited it at Louisa’s feet and waited for her to do it again.

‘You filthy disgusting animal, get away from me!’

‘OK, enough.’ Zack unlocked the front door, ushered Ellie past him, and whistled at Elmo to follow her. ‘I’m sorting this out now. Get inside.’

Ellie pulled the door closed behind her and headed on through to the kitchen. She watched Elmo slurp noisily from his water bowl. Moments later the phone rang.

‘Well, this has brightened my day no end,’ said Geraldine. ‘It’s like Sex and the City on my very own doorstep.’

At the sound of her voice, Elmo pricked up his ears and disappeared through the dog flap.

‘Elmo’s on his way over,’ said Ellie.

‘Are you in the kitchen? Why aren’t you watching the fun? Come on, get the binoculars out! Louisa’s on her knees now, she’s going to ruin those smart shoes of hers. Or you could come over here and we’ll watch it together… oh hello, sweetie, did the nasty lady not want to play catch with you?’

‘I can’t come over,’ said Ellie. ‘I’ve got loads of work to catch up on.’ Not true, but she’d already witnessed enough misery for one day.

‘Shame. So what’s it all about?’ From the tone of her voice it was plain that Geraldine already knew.

‘Don’t you have the window open?’

‘Of course I have! What d’you expect me to do? Lip-read? She’s convinced there’s something going on between you and Zack.’

Ellie’s mouth was dry. ‘I know. But there isn’t.’

The front door slammed twenty minutes later and her fingers on the keyboard went into overdrive… Dead Mr Mackenzie, Many thinks for your letted… aargh, Ellie hurriedly deleted the errors before he could see them.

But Zack didn’t glance at the computer screen. He put his head round the door and said with a sigh, ‘Come on, I think we could both do with a drink.’

He seized a bottle from the fridge, Ellie collected two glasses, and they headed upstairs to the living room. The icy white wine sent little wavelets of relaxation through her stomach but did nothing to dissipate the Zack-related emotions. She took another swallow. At least he didn’t know they were there.

Zack raked his fingers through his hair and said, ‘Well. Sorry about that.’

‘Not your fault.’

‘Isn’t it? I hate ending relationships. God, it’s the pits. Maybe I did it wrong.’ He paused and rubbed his forehead. ‘But I never expected that kind of reaction. Not Louisa. You wouldn’t think she was the type.’

‘I know. Too cool, too much of a grown-up.’ Poor thing, Ellie did actually feel sorry for her; in years to come, Louisa would look back on this day and be appalled by her own loss of dignity.

‘And I’m sorry she said all that stuff to you. She’s really got it into her head that there’s some kind of thing going on between you and me.’ Zack’s gaze was fixed on her, his tone quizzical. ‘I don’t know where she got that from.’

OK, was this an unspoken accusation? Was he implying that he hadn’t given Louisa the idea but someone certainly had, and could she by any chance have hinted at it herself? Mortified, Ellie said, ‘Well, it wasn’t me! Why would I do something like that? The only reason you hired me for this job in the first place was because you knew for a fact I wasn’t interested in you and that’s the truth, I swear on my life.’

And she wasn’t lying; it was true. When she’d first come here, she hadn’t been interested. No need to mention the recent change of heart.

‘I know, I know that. I didn’t mean for one minute that you’d said anything to her.’ Zack was equally horrified. ‘It’s just Louisa, she’s upset and looking for someone to blame. Anyway, it’s over. She’s gone and she won’t be back. But I feel bad that you had to put up with all the hassle.’ He knocked back the last of his wine. ‘Are you seeing Todd tonight? I hope he’ll be OK with it.’

‘I’m not seeing him tonight.’ Ellie had already started shaking her head before the final sentence. ‘But he’ll be fine.’

‘Good. But I’d still like to make it up to you.’ Zack thought for a moment. ‘Look, if you’re free this evening, why don’t we go out for something to eat?’ He spread his hands. ‘Just my way of saying sorry and thanks. How about that? Sound like a plan?’

If everything wasn’t as it was, if the situation could have been completely different, Ellie would have loved nothing more. If she didn’t work for Zack and they’d just met for the first time, she’d have said yes like a shot.

But she did and they hadn’t, and she wasn’t going to, even though it was an innocent offer and she was tempted.

She couldn’t anyway.

‘Thanks, but I can’t. I’m cooking for Tony tonight.’

***

Somehow, against all the odds, a tiny miracle had occurred. The Thai green curry had turned out well. The chicken was tender, the jasmine rice fluffy, and the spices took the roof off your mouth, but in a good way. Having finally overcome her terrible phobia of fish sauce, Ellie had plucked up the courage to buy a bottle and it had made the world of difference. The curry had been magical as a result.

Which was just as well, seeing as Tony was desperately in need of cheering up. To begin with he’d asked her about Todd and she’d told him how relieved she was to be free of the fear that she was trapped in a relationship that was all wrong. Tony was sad but sympathetic; he understood. Then she talked about today’s kerfuffle with Louisa and he nodded and said, ‘Poor girl,’ a couple of times, and helped himself to another beer.

OK, enough. Ellie said, ‘Tony? Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?’ She waited, watching him pour the beer slowly into his glass. ‘Because otherwise I’m going to start worrying that you’re ill.’

Tony put the bottle down. The laughter lines around his eyes weren’t getting much exercise today. His misery was tangible. ‘I’m not ill, sweetheart.’

He was an actor. She watched him closely. ‘Sure?’

‘I’m sure. I promise. It’s not that.’ He rested his elbows on the table. ‘OK, I’ll tell you. Remember those paintings I bought, months ago? The ones by the artist I met on Primrose Hill…?’