Lucy in the Sky

into the main bar. Trendy party-goers make a concerted effort to act normal. Gianluca seems oblivious to all the attention, but he’s no doubt lapping it up. The bar is dark out here too. It would be nice to see some colour.
    Back in the VIP room, Gian, as he insists on being called, keeps topping up our glasses with champagne. I’m slowing down now but Chloe is a couple of glasses ahead. I hope she knows what she’s doing.
    ‘So,’ Gian says as he turns to me, ‘do you have a boyfriend?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘ Peccato !’ he exclaims in disappointment, before turning to Chloe. ‘And you? Do you have a boyfriend?’
    ‘No,’ she replies uncertainly.
    ‘ Eccellente …’ He tops up her glass a little more.
    ‘Er, where’s your wife?’ I ask him.
    ‘Oh, she cannot come out tonight.’ He dismissively waves his hand.
    What the hell are we doing here? I find myself thinking. I’m not really complaining, because this has been a fun trip so far and this randy bugger is paying for it, but don’t we have to do any work?
    ‘So, what do you want from us? Mandy Nim PR,’ I clarify quickly.
    ‘I want a big party. Lots of celebrities.’
    ‘Have you decided on a name for the bar yet?’ I’ve heard ‘Luigi’s’ and ‘Milano’ flagged up. I really hope they don’t choose either–they sound like dodgy Italian restaurants to me and I’ve said as much to Mandy.
    ‘No, no. But let’s not talk about work. Let’s drink!’ Gian turns his attention back to Chloe and I wonder how we can get out of this. I wonder if she even wants to get out of this.
    My phone beeps to announce a text message. It’s from James:
    IS HE BEHAVING?
    I smile, then type back:
    WITH ME BUT NOT CHLOE
    WANT ME 2 COME SORT HIM OUT?
    I snigger and Gian glances over at me. Chloe catches my eye, looking a tad panicked. That’s all the incentive I need. I determinedly flip my phone shut and stand up.
    ‘I’m ever so sorry, Mr Luigi, but we have to leave now.’
    ‘Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no!’ he says, taking Chloe’s hand. She gently but firmly extricates herself. He stands up, looking heartbroken. ‘Well, if you must,’ he says, leaning in and kissing me slowly on both cheeks before turning and doing the same to Chloe.
    ‘He slipped me his card, the dirty bastard,’ she exclaims as soon as we’re outside.
    ‘Bloody hell,’ I say. ‘His poor wife.’
    ‘I don’t like her very much anyway,’ Chloe answers. ‘She poutsat the paps like a pro one minute and disses them the next. But he was a tosser. They’re well suited!’
    We giggle all the way back to the hotel.
     
    ‘I can’t believe he came on to you!’ Gemma gasps in the office the following Monday.
    ‘He was a wanker, Gemma, you didn’t miss much,’ Chloe says.
    ‘But I can’t believe I didn’t go,’ she moans.
    It is a shame. I’ve definitely bonded with Chloe now and it would have been fun to get to know Gemma better too. I wonder how she would have reacted to Gian’s sleazy affections.
    Mandy rolls her eyes when we tell her about the trip but she isn’t too bothered, because at least we haven’t wasted company time. Now it’s full steam ahead with the party. After several PR lunches and dozens more bottles of champagne, I’ve lined up the Beckhams, Elton and David and a few other biggies who should guarantee us the gossip columns the following day. Provided they turn up, of course. They all purport to be friends with Gian and Eliza but you never can tell. It’s a fickle business.
    That week at work one of my friends from university texts me. I made two good friends while I was there, but I haven’t seen either of them since last November. Karen lives in Charlton, south London, and Reena lives west, in Fulham. We used to catch up much more regularly but as we’re so busy with work and boyfriends, we’ve all just let it slip. It’s quite hard to get the three of us together nowadays.
    Anyway, Reena and Karen have booked tickets to see the West End production of The Sound of Music on a Saturday at the end of May. They have a ticket for me on the off chance I can go. I tell James.
    ‘Oh, we’ve been invited down to Henley that weekend,’ is his response.
    ‘What do you mean? Since when? Who with?’
    ‘Edward and Susannah. Edward’s parents have a house on the river and they’re abroad. He asked me at work this afternoon. I said we’d go.’
    Edward is James’s colleague and he’s pretty full of himself. I don’t particularly like him