Chapter Twenty-Seven

 

Ashleigh decided to take the long way out of the hospital, unable to face bumping into the journalists who’d be hanging around outside the building by now. If Tom had used her as a pawn she could deal with that, it might even make the decision she was considering easier to stand by, but she wasn’t about to make the job of the leeches who drew their life blood from this sort of situation any easier.

The hospital, like most big city hospitals, was a maze of corridors and wards. In an attempt to find an exit as far away from the maternity unit as possible, Ashleigh ended up passing the cardiac unit, just as the double doors to one of the wards swung open. She nearly bumped straight into a couple emerging from the unit, who were giggling and holding hands, oblivious to the world around them.

‘Ashleigh, my goodness, fancy meeting you here!’ Chloe Nicholas, with a glow about her like one of the new mums in the maternity unit, let go of the hand she’d been holding and threw her slender arms around Ashleigh’s waist.

‘I’ve just popped in to see a friend.’ It was a bit of a stretch to describe Susie-Anne in that way, but it wasn’t a lie to say she’d popped in. Driving this far for a two-minute visit would definitely hit that classification. ‘How’s your mum doing?’

‘Brilliantly!’ Chloe was beaming, almost unrecognisable as the fragile young woman that she and Stevie had met a few weeks before and who’d been found disorientated and wandering the streets in the early aftermath of her mother’s heart attack. ‘And it’s all thanks to Hugo.’ Shyly she reached out her hand to draw the man behind her slightly forward. ‘He’s the doctor who saved Mum.’

‘Well, I wouldn’t go that far!’ Hugo to his credit blushed slightly, two crimson dots colouring his cheeks in a way that Ashleigh herself would have been proud of. ‘There were lots of us who treated Mrs Nicholas, although it was never really life threatening as such, and we’re all delighted that she’s on the mend.’

‘He’s fantastic! Mum and I realise that, even if he doesn’t.’ Chloe rose to her tiptoes, planting a kiss on his cheek, making him redder than ever.

‘I think all doctors and nurses are amazing, so I’m with Chloe on this one.’ Ashleigh smiled, immediately warming to Hugo, her kindred spirit in the blushing stakes.

‘Well I’ll take that then, two beautiful ladies singing my praises.’ Hugo beamed. He was obviously modest enough to take their admiration as a real compliment. ‘But I’m afraid I will have to love you and leave you, as I’ve got to have a chat with the clinical lead before he goes on his rounds.’ Hugo and Chloe exchanged a brief but meaningful kiss on the lips, leaving no doubt that theirs was more than a doctor and grateful relative’s relationship.

‘Have you got time for a coffee? There’s loads to tell you!’ Chloe had publicly credited Glitz with saving her fledgling career – allowing people to see her as she really was and to fall in love with her all over again. She’d written to Stevie and Ashleigh telling them as much and sending them both a crate of Champagne. So perhaps it shouldn’t have been such a surprise that she seemed so thrilled to see Ashleigh again.

‘I’ve got plenty of time.’ The prospect of sharing a coffee with Chloe was infinitely preferable to driving home, or over to see Zac and Stevie and having to explain everything. She didn’t want to do that anymore than she wanted to go back to the flat straight away and begin turning over the rest of the day’s events in her mind and analysing things to death, as she was so prone to doing.

The hospital cafeteria was largely populated by exhausted looking relatives, who had probably spent their Christmas at the bedside of very poorly loved ones and for whom the tinsel festooned, neon-lit room’s festive atmosphere was quite likely to be the very definition of irony.

‘I’m so glad your mum is okay.’ Ashleigh wrapped her hands around the polystyrene cup of coffee, thankful for the warmth it proffered, despite the taste.

‘God, me too. They say once her pace-maker is sorted she should make a complete recovery and it should prevent any recurrence.’ Chloe couldn’t stop beaming. ‘And Hugo… it’s like he was sent to save us both. I spent a night in rehab, as Tom was so worried about how I was coping with Mum being ill and then I came back here. Hugo’s been my rock.’

‘I take it you two are an item?’ Chloe’s excitement was infectious, how could Tom not believe in love when it made this amount of difference to someone’s life?

‘It’s been mad, so intense and so quick, but I can honestly say I’ve never felt anything like it.’ Chloe dropped her gaze slightly, as if she was still coming to terms with her own feelings. ‘I know it sounds cheesy and crazy because we’ve only known each other a few days, but I feel like he’s my soul mate.’

‘Life is mad.’ Ashleigh grinned. ‘My cousin, Sally, got engaged to her fiancé when they were at Uni and they finally got married twelve years later, in June this year. Mum sent them a Christmas card at the beginning of December and got a letter back from Sally to say they’d split up, it turns out they weren’t suited after all. So who’s to say that just because something is quick and intense, that it’s any madder than a slow burn? If it’s meant to be it will be.’

‘I love you more every time we meet!’ Chloe clasped her tiny hands around Ashleigh’s. ‘I just knew you’d understand. I’m writing a song about him! It’s so great to be able to write a happy song for once, and we’ve already told each other we think it’s love.’

‘He seems like a lovely, genuine guy. I should probably tell you to be careful, but I’m a sucker for a romance and life is for living. You and I both lost our dads at a young age, so we know that more than anyone.’

‘True, and don’t worry, Tom will no doubt be the voice of reason!’ Chloe, who didn’t seem to have any idea that Ashleigh and Tom were together, pulled a face. ‘You know what a stickler he is for the business and I’m sure he’ll tell me not to get carried away.’

‘I think you can bank on that,’ Ashleigh struggled to keep her voice level, ‘and do you think you’ll listen to him?’

‘For now, but not because of the business. I just don’t want the press to taint things.’ Chloe sighed, for the first time more like the frightened and fragile girl that Ashleigh had met at the photo-shoot. ‘I know only too well how it works. They’ll find something to dig up about Hugo – some girlfriend from university who wants to pay off her student debt by sharing an exposé on him. It sucks and I don’t want that to touch what’s so perfect for us at the moment. So if we keep it quiet that will be the reason.’

‘That side of things does get to you after a while doesn’t it?’ Ashleigh for her part was exhausted by it all.

‘Definitely. If singing wasn’t my dream I’d quit tomorrow. But there’s nothing else I want to do right now, so I just have to try to find a way of balancing it.’ Everything Chloe had been through had made her wise beyond her years and her words resonated with Ashleigh, who wasn’t really living her dream. Now there was even more to think about on the journey home.

****

‘So what’s going on between you and the photographer, sugar? I hear you two have been getting quite cosy?’ There was an edge to Susie-Anne’s voice, as if she was jealous. Had she seriously expected him to pine for her and stay celibate in the hope that things might not work out with Michael? Surely even Susie-Anne wasn’t that deluded.

‘Does it matter?’ It wasn’t often that Tom hated his job, but today came pretty close; both Francine and his ex-fiancée had pushed him to the very limits of his patience. He could have been in Ashleigh’s warm flat and… He tried not to think about the rest, it only made him more irritated.

‘I guess not, but we’re friends aren’t we? We can still care about each other.’ Susie-Anne was using the little girl voice that she mistakenly assumed was endearing, but which frankly made Tom question how he’d ever managed to spend more than half an hour in her company.

‘What about you and Michael, isn’t that a more pressing issue right now?’ Tom changed the subject. He’d never been friends with Susie-Anne and never would be. He liked her less and less every time they came into contact. So the last thing he wanted was to have a cosy chat with her about his personal life.

‘Oh he’s just an arsehole who can’t keep it in his pants!’ Susie-Anne’s accent was stronger than it had been in months, her anger at the alleged father of her unborn child tangible.

‘You knew about that before, though.’ Tom raised an eyebrow and resisted the urge to ask Susie-Anne just how many men she’d helped out of their pants, to see if they could narrow down the growing list for the DNA testing.

‘Yes, but he’s been jumping anything that moved and he’s got the cheek to question my fidelity.’ She looked completely affronted at the thought and Tom wanted to laugh out loud. Susie-Anne taking the moral high ground was a paradox of epic proportions.

‘And is the baby his?’

‘What if I told you that the baby might be yours?’ There was the little girl voice again and she glanced up at him through ridiculously long eyelash extensions that wouldn’t have been out of place on a pantomime cow.

‘Then I’d know you were bullshitting.’ She’d fooled him once, but he wasn’t in the frame this time and he was more thankful for that than she’d ever know.

‘Pity, but you can’t blame a girl for trying.’ She really had no shame. ‘So is it love with you and the photographer then?’ Susie-Anne clearly couldn’t believe there’d be any other reason for Tom turning her down. Apparently she was that deluded after all.

‘You of all people should know there’s no such thing.’ His patience was now completely exhausted. ‘We’re friends, that’s all’

‘Friends with benefits? Does she know that’s all you are?’ Susie-Anne feigned a sympathetic look. ‘Poor girl, she’s obviously crazy about you.’

‘You’ve barely said ten words to her in your whole life, so just keep out of my personal life and I’ll pick up the pieces of yours, okay?’ Despite his strong rebuttal, Susie-Anne’s words had hit the Achilles heel they’d been aimed at, creating a sense of unease. He needed to speak to Ashleigh, iron things out, make sure they were both still on the same page. Tom could understand her not wanting to hang around in the same room as Susie-Anne, he wouldn’t do it himself unless he was getting paid for it, but she’d definitely been upset. He hoped she wasn’t developing feelings for him that could ruin what they had together, because, if Tom was honest with himself, he wasn’t ready for things to end just yet either. He’d sort the Susie-Anne situation, work with Francine on a press release and then call Ashleigh. Prioritise and keep everything in his life within the parameters he’d set for them, just as he always had.