Baby Be Mine

don’t care. Now he’s just Johnny. Bring it on.
    Bess and I are still chattering away animatedly when Davey pulls up at the gates. He’s hardly been able to get a word in, which is odd for him, but he’s smiled the entire time. He’s never seen me so completely and utterly beside myself.
    ‘Oh, wow,’ Bess exclaims as the house appears in front of us.
    I watch her with delight, remembering how I felt when I first came here. It’s so nice to witness someone else’s thrill. I can’t wait until she sees the outside view.
    ‘Wow!’ she says five minutes later, from the terrace. She’s jiggling Barney in her arms and her eyes are wide with amazement as we look down at the LA skyline. ‘No wonder you found it hard to leave last time.’
    ‘The view wasn’t what was keeping me here.’
    ‘No, I know.’ She puts her hand on my arm and meets my eyes. ‘How’s it all going with him?’
    ‘Alright,’ I reply, looking away.
    ‘Meg . . .’
    ‘No, it’s okay.’ I look back at her. ‘I don’t like Dana,’ I admit.
    ‘Hardly surprising,’ she scoffs, smiling down at Barney. ‘Silly moo.’
    ‘You can’t be rude to her,’ I warn.
    ‘As if! Don’t worry about me. I’ll be nice as pie.’
    ‘Don’t be too nice,’ I say with a laugh.
    ‘Where is Johnny?’ she asks as Barney wriggles in her arms and points to the ground. She puts him down and he wanders over to the sandpit that Lena organised last week.
    ‘He’s asleep,’ I tell Bess, and her eyes light up, almost as if she weren’t expecting him to be here. ‘This is far too early for him,’ I add. ‘Are you excited about meeting him?’ I grin, knowingly.
    ‘Nah,’ she replies indifferently, before jumping up and down on the spot, her face stretched into the biggest, craziest, most ridiculous smile I’ve ever seen. I burst into laughter and her expression reverts back to deadpan. ‘Not in the least bit bothered,’ she adds casually as I laugh harder.
    Bess and I have been friends since secondary school. Even though she went to university in Bristol and I went to Nottingham, we never lost touch or drifted apart. The only dodgy time in our history of friendship was when I first came to work for Johnny. I found myself unable to confide in her – partly because of my confidentiality clause and partly because I felt like her new flatmate, Serena, had replaced me, but mostly because I was going through the strangest, most exhilarating, out-of-this-world time of my life and it was impossible to convey these emotions to someone who wasn’t already along for the ride. But we got through it. I decided I’d rather get sued for breach of contract than lose my best friend, so I opened up my heart and told her everything.
    She doesn’t even see Serena anymore. One of those flash-in-the-pan friendships in the end. Can’t say I mind much.
    Bess grins at me. ‘So what are we doing for the next two weeks?’
    ‘Whatever you like. Sunbathing—’
    ‘Is it hot enough?’ she interrupts.
    ‘It was twenty-two degrees yesterday.’
    ‘No shit? Wow.’
    ‘Shopping—’
    ‘Can’t afford it.’
    ‘I don’t know, then . . . seeing the sights, we could go for a drive to check out the Hollywood sign, maybe go to a showcase or a premiere or something.’ I really do need to get onto a babysitting agency. ‘Today our new cook starts,’ I add.
    ‘Ooh, I’ve definitely arrived at the right time, then.’
    ‘Absolutely. He’s pretty cute, too.’
    ‘He? Cute? Fab.’
    ‘I’d also love you to meet Kitty.’
    ‘Yeah, that would be great,’ she says.
    ‘And I guess we’ll just hang out a bit and soak up the atmosphere. God, it’s so great to have a friend here to share all this with.’
    ‘Thank Christ I got fired, eh?’ She nudges me.
    ‘You didn’t get fired; you got made redundant,’ I point out.
    ‘Who gives a shit right now? I mean, really . . .’
    We both giggle. ‘Want to see inside?’
    ‘Hell, yeah.’
    ‘Come on, Barney . . .’ I lift him out of the sandpit and dust him off.
    Eddie arrives just as we’re finishing the tour and I have to remind myself not to step on Lena’s toes. Because I played a part in hiring him, it feels strange to not be the one to show him around and settle him in, but it’s Lena’s job to do that, not mine. So Bess and I introduce ourselves and go back outside to the terrace.
    ‘What time does Johnny wake up?’ Bess asks.
    ‘Unusual for him to emerge before eleven,’ I reveal.
    She