‘Excellent.’
And together they went back to the hotel, this time in the same Rolls Royce.
*
Grace and Frank walked back to the car and she stood at the door before she opened it.
‘I think we need to talk.’
‘I think we do too,’ said Frank as they got into the car.
As they drove away from Calypso and TG’s house, Grace cleared her throat.
‘I should have told you who I was but to be honest I didn’t want to. I just wanted to be Grace who works at a shop, but it’s not like that. My family is now in the papers and it’s horrible and scary. My mom’s in a coma and my sisters, who I haven’t had a decent relationship with in years, are in my face every day. When I am not at work I am sitting with my mother who may never wake up. My father has fled the country with most of the company’s money and if we don’t make this work then we are screwed, and I mean really screwed.’
Frank concentrated on the road. ‘Did you think that I would be after your money?’ he asked as he looked ahead.
‘I don’t know, no, I don’t think so. Anyway, you are welcome to it. All it’s done is bring heartache to my family,’ she said, looking out the window at the fabulous houses passing them by. ‘I just didn’t want to scare you away. I liked having you to myself – with no strings, no attachments or expectations.’
‘So it doesn’t bother you that I am a nobody? Just a courier?’
‘A well-connected courier,’ she corrected him. ‘Not many couriers know Calypso Gable or get suites at the Four Seasons.’
Frank laughed. ‘That’s true.’
Grace touched his arm. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you everything.’
‘That’s OK.
‘No more secrets,’ she stated.
But Frank was strangely silent as they drove back to the hotel.
*
Violetta checked her inbox and saw one from Lesley.Check the Daily Socialite, she had written and had inserted the link into the email. Violetta had stopped checking her ranking after the disastrous newspaper photos of her and the scathing comments that followed which could have bought a lesser person to their knees.
She waited as the site loaded and saw a photo of herself leaving the hospital and another of her leaving work. She looked so incredibly normal in the photos, she thought. Hair out, minimal makeup. Clothes that she could work in or sit in the hospital in, she laughed. She didn’t recognise the person on the screen as being the same one from just a week before.
Violetta de Santoval – Reality TV star keeps it real
The banner said about her photos. Number 12 was her ranking. Violetta laughed as she scrolled down the comments.
Finally someone who gets it.
I think she is taking the piss and if so well done.
I love her!
She is good for New York, there is more to do in the city than just go to parties.
I hope her mother gets better soon. We are thinking of you, Violetta.
Violetta's eyes welled up at the last comment. She closed the computer. A month and still Birdie was unconscious. Walking over to her work bag, she pulled out the files she had brought home with her, the designs for approval, fabric samples. Work would keep her mind off it, she thought and settled on the sofa with her work surrounding her.
*
Grace and Frank arrived back in New York and took a cab to her apartment.
