CHAPTER 21

 

Jenny paid the driver, climbed out of the cab and put her hand in her bag for her keys. “Jenny? Where the hell have you been?”

She looked around. Grose was standing at the bottom of the stairs that led up to the front door of her building. “Dudley. What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to surprise you,” he said.

“How long have you been here?”

“Half an hour,” he said. “Where were you?”

“I was having drinks with some of the girls,” she said. “Over on the east side,” she added, knowing that he’d be wondering why she’d come back in a cab.

“You didn’t answer your cell.”

“Battery’s dead,” she said. “You know me, Dudley, I’m always forgetting to charge it.” That was a lie, she’d switched the phone off when she’d gone on board Slater’s yacht and forgotten to switch it back on.

“Well, you’re here now,” he said. He looked at his watch. “But I can’t stay long.

She took out her keys and let them into the building and they walked up the stairs together. “Did you have a good time?” he asked.

“It was okay,” she said. “I left early, I wasn’t feeling so good.”

They arrived at her floor and she opened the door to her flat. She put her laptop bag on her desk and then went to get a bottle of wine from the fridge. Grose flopped down onto the sofa and put his feet up on the coffee table. He sighed.

“What’s wrong?” asked Jenny, picking up two glasses and pouring wine into them.

“That bastard Slater got a lawyer to call the Head of Faculty.”

Jenny stopped in her tracks. “He did what?”

“He got a lawyer to call Kellaway. Threatened the university with a lawsuit if I didn’t allow him to attend classes. Kellaway called me into her office and said that Slater has to be allowed to continue. Bitch didn’t give me a choice. No argument, no discussion.” He sat forward and put his head in his hands. “Bitch, bitch, bitch.”

“Oh Dudley, I’m sorry,” she said, and sat down next to him.

“I hate this job,” said Grose. “I’m not cut out to be a teacher.”

She gave him one of the wine glasses. “What about that agent? Has he called?”

“Not yet,” said Grose, He sipped his wine.

“You really should think about doing an eBook,” she said.

“Oh my God, you and your Kindle,” sighed Grose.

“It’s not just the Kindle. There are loads of eReaders out there. Sony’s got one and so do Barnes & Noble and you can read books on laptops and phones.”

“Honey, holding a book and turning the pages is part of the reading experience. It’s tactile.”

“I’m not saying you should stop writing books, but why don’t you think of doing something just as an eBook. No agents, no publishers, you do it yourself. Please say you’ll think about it.”

He nodded. “Okay.”

“Now you’re humoring me.”

“No. I’ll think about it.”

“People are selling millions, Dudley. Literally millions.”

“Is that what you think writing is all about, Jenny? The money? Am I losing you to the dark side?”

She giggled and put a hand up to cover her mouth.

Grose looked at his watch. “I’m going to have to go.”

“Please stay,” she said. “I’ll cook.”

Grose drained his glass and put it on the coffee table. “I can’t honey. Maybe on Friday.” He stood up. “I’ll hopefully be in a better mood by then.” He sighed. “I did tell Kellaway that Slater has to start work on a new book and she said she’d talk to him. So hopefully we’ll have heard the last of The Bestseller.”