Without saying anything, Suze bends down and picks up a Gifts and Goodies carrier bag. As she pulls it open, a receipt flutters to the floor. Silently she takes out the two boxes inside — and opens each to reveal a frame made of purple tweed.

I open my mouth to speak — but nothing comes out. For a moment we just stare at each other.

“Bex… how many of these have you got?” says Suze at last, in a slightly strangled voice.

“Um… not many!” I say, feeling my face grow hot. “Just… you know. A few.”

“There must be about… fifty here!”

“No!”

“Yes!” She looks around, cheeks growing pink with distress. “Bex, these are really expensive.”

“I haven’t bought that many!” I give a distracting laugh. “And I didn’t buy them all at once…”

“You shouldn’t have bought any! I told you, I’d make you one!”

“I know,” I say a little awkwardly. “I know you did. But I wanted to buy one. I just wanted to… to support you.”

There’s silence as Suze reaches for another Gifts and Goodies bag, and looks at the two boxes inside.

“It’s you, isn’t it?” she says suddenly. “You’re the reason I’ve sold so well.”

“It’s not! Honestly, Suze—”

“You’ve spent all your money on buying my frames.” Her voice starts to wobble. “All your money. And now you’re in debt.”

“I haven’t!”

“If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have my deal!”

“You would!” I say in dismay. “Of course you would! Suze, you make the best frames in the world! I mean… look at this one!” I grab for the nearest box and pull out a frame made out of distressed denim. “I would have bought this even if I hadn’t known you. I would have bought all of them!”

“You wouldn’t have bought this many,” she gulps. “You would have bought maybe… three.”

“I would have bought them all! They’re the best frames in the world! They’d make a perfect present, or a… an ornament for the house…”

“You’re just saying that,” she says tearfully.

“No, I’m not!” I say, feeling tears coming to my own eyes. “Suze, everybody loves your frames. I’ve seen people in shops saying how brilliant they are!”

“No, you haven’t.”

“I have! There was this woman admiring one in Gifts and Goodies, just the other day, and everyone in the shop was agreeing!”

“Really?” says Suze in a small voice.

“Yes. You’re so talented, and successful…” I look around my bomb-site room, and feel a sudden wave of despair. “And I’m such a mess. John Gavin’s right, I should have assets by now. I should be all sorted out. I’m just… worthless.” Tears start to trickle down my face.

“You’re not!” says Suze in horror. “You’re not worthless!”

“I am!” Miserably, I sink to the carpet of clothes on the floor. “Suze, just look at me. I’m unemployed, I haven’t got any prospects, I’m being taken to court, I owe thousands and thousands of pounds, and I don’t know how I’m even going to start paying it all off…”

There’s an awkward cough at the door. I look up, and Tarquin is standing at the door, holding three mugs of coffee.

“Refreshments?” he says, picking his way across the floor.

“Thanks, Tarquin,” I say, sniffing, and take a mug from him. “Sorry about all this. It’s just… not a great time.”

He sits down on the bed and exchanges looks with Suze.

“Bit short of cash?” he says.

“Yes,” I gulp, and wipe my eyes. “Yes, I am.” Tarquin gives Suze another glance.

“Becky, I’d be only too happy to—”

“No. No, thanks.” I smile at him. “Really.”

There’s silence as we all sip our coffee. A shaft of winter sunlight is coming through the window, and I close my eyes, feeling the soothing warmth on my face.

“Happens to the best of us,” says Tarquin sympathetically. “Mad Uncle Monty was always going bust, wasn’t he, Suze?”

“God, that’s right! All the time!” says Suze. “But he always bounced back, didn’t he?”

“Absolutely!” says Tarquin. “Over and over again.”

“What did he do?” I say, looking up with a spark of interest.

“Usually sold off a Rembrandt,” says Tarquin. “Or a Stubbs. Something like that.”

Great. What is it about these millionaires? I mean, even Suze, who I love. They just don’t get it. They don’t know what it’s like to have no money.

“Right,” I say, trying to smile. “Well… unfortunately, I don’t have any spare Rembrandts lying around. All I’ve got is… a zillion pairs of black trousers. And some Tshirts.”

“And a fencing outfit,” puts in Suze.

Next door, the phone starts ringing, but none of us move.

“And a wooden bowl which I hate.” I give a half-giggle, half-sob. “And forty photograph frames.”

“And fifty million pots of lavender honey.”

“And a Vera Wang cocktail dress.” I look around my room, suddenly alert. “And a brand-new Kate Spade bag… and… and a whole wardrobe full of stuff which I’ve never even worn… Suze…” I’m almost too agitated to speak. “Suze…”

“What?”

“Just… just think about it. I haven’t got nothing. I have got assets! I mean, they might have depreciated a little bit…”

“What do you mean?” says Suze puzzledly — then her face lights up. “Ooh, have you got an ISA that you forgot about?”

“No! Not an ISA!”

“I don’t understand!” wails Suze. “Bex, what are you talking about?”

And I’m just opening my mouth to answer, when the answer machine clicks on next door, and a gravelly American voice starts speaking, which makes me stiffen and turn my head.

“Hello, Becky? It’s Michael Ellis here. I’ve just arrived in London for a conference, and I was wondering — could we perhaps meet up for a chat?”


It’s so weird to see Michael here in London. In my mind he belongs firmly in New York, in the Four Seasons. Back in that other world. But here he is, large as life, in the River Room at the Savoy, his face creased in a beam. As I sit down at the table he lifts a hand to a waiter.

“A gin and tonic for the lady, please.” He raises his eyebrows at me. “Am I right?”

“Yes, please.” I smile at him gratefully, and shake out my napkin to cover my awkwardness. Even though we talked so much in New York, I’m feeling a bit shy at seeing him again.

“So,” he says, as the waiter brings me my drink. “Quite a lot has been going on since we last spoke.” He lifts his glass. “Cheers.”

“Cheers.” I take a sip. “Like what?”

“Like Alicia Billington and four others have been fired from Brandon Communications.”

“Four others?” I gape at him. “Were they all planning together?”

“Apparently so. It turns out Alicia has been working on this little project for some time. This wasn’t just some tiny little pie-in-the-sky scheme. This was well organized and thought out. Well backed, too. You know Alicia’s future husband is very wealthy?”

“I didn’t,” I say, and remember her Chanel shoes. “But it makes sense.”

“He put together the finance. As you suspected, they were planning to poach Bank of London.”

I take a sip of gin and tonic, relishing the sharp flavor.

“So what happened?”

“Luke swooped in, took them all by surprise, herded them into a meeting room, and searched their desks. And he found plenty.”

“Luke did?” I feel a deep thud in my stomach. “You mean — Luke’s in London?”

“Uh-huh.”

“How long has he been back?”

“Three days now.” Michael gives me a quick glance. “I guess he hasn’t called you, then.”

“No,” I say, trying to hide my disappointment. “No, he hasn’t.” I reach for my glass and take a deep swig. Somehow while he was still in New York, I could tell myself that Luke and I weren’t speaking because of geography as much as anything else. But now he’s in London — and he hasn’t even called — it feels different. It feels kind of… final.

“So… what’s he doing now?”

“Damage limitation,” says Michael wryly. “Upping morale. It turns out as soon as he left for New York, Alicia got busy spreading rumors he was going to close the U.K. branch down completely. That’s why the atmosphere plummeted. Clients have been neglected, the staff has all been on the phone to headhunters… Meanwhile Alicia was spinning a completely different story to Luke.” He shakes his head. “That girl is trouble.”

“I know.”

“Now, that’s something I’ve been wondering. How do you know?” He leans forward interestedly. “You picked up on Alicia in a way neither Luke nor I did. Was that based on anything?”

“Not really,” I say honestly. “Just the fact that she’s a complete cow.”

Michael throws his head back and roars with laughter.

“Feminine intuition. Why should there be any other reason?”

He chuckles for a few moments more — then puts his glass down and gives me a twinkling smile. “Speaking of which — I heard the gist of what you said to Luke about his mom.”

“Really?” I look at him in horror. “He told you?”

“He spoke to me about it, asked if you’d said anything to me.”

“Oh!” I feel a flush creeping across my face. “Well, I was… angry. I didn’t mean to say she was a…” I clear my throat. “I just spoke without thinking.”

“He took it to heart, though.” Michael raises his eyebrows. “He called his mom up, said he was damned if he was going to go home without seeing her, and arranged a meeting.”

“Really?” I stare at him, feeling prickles of intrigue. “And what happened?”

“She never showed up. Sent some message about having to go out of town. Luke was pretty disappointed.” Michael shakes his head. “Between you and me — I think you were right about her.”

“Oh. Well.”

I give an awkward shrug and reach for the menu to hide my embarrassment. I can’t believe Luke told Michael what I said about his mother. What else did he tell him? My bra size?

For a while I stare at the list of dishes without taking any of them in — then look up, to see Michael gazing seriously at me.

“Becky, I haven’t told Luke it was you who tipped me off. The story I’ve given him is I got an anonymous message and decided to look into it.”

“That sounds fair enough,” I say, gazing at the tablecloth.

“You’re basically responsible for saving his company,” says Michael gently. “He should be very grateful to you. Don’t you think he should know?”

“No.” I hunch my shoulders. “He’d just think… he’d think I was…” I break off, feeling my eyes grow hot.

I can’t believe Luke’s been back for three days and hasn’t called. I mean — I knew it was over. Of course I did. But secretly, a tiny part of me thought…

Anyway. Obviously not.

“What would he think?” probes Michael.

“I dunno,” I mutter gruffly. “The point is, it’s all over between us. So I’d rather just… not be involved.”

“Well, I guess I can understand that.” Michael gives me a kind look. “Shall we order?”

While we eat, we talk about other things. Michael tells me about his advertising agency in Washington, and makes me laugh with stories of all the politicians he knows and all the trouble they get themselves into. I tell him in turn about my family, and Suze, and the way I got my job on Morning Coffee.

“It’s all going really well, actually,” I say boldly as I dig into a chocolate mousse. “I’ve got great prospects, and the producers really like me… they’re thinking of expanding my slot…”

“Becky,” interrupts Michael gently. “I heard. I know about your job.”

I stare at him dumbly, feeling my whole face prickle in shame.

“I felt really bad for you,” continues Michael. “That shouldn’t have happened.”

“Does… does Luke know?” I say huskily.

“Yes. I believe he does.”

I take a deep swig of my drink. I can’t bear the idea of Luke pitying me.

“Well, I’ve got lots of options open,” I say desperately. “I mean, maybe not on television… but I’m applying for a number of financial journalism posts…”

“On the FT?”

“On… well… on Personal Investment Periodical… and Annuities Today…”

“Annuities Today,” echoes Michael disbelievingly. At his expression I can’t help giving a snort of shaky laughter. “Becky, do any of these jobs really excite you?”

I’m about to trot out my stock answer—“Personal finance is more interesting than you’d think, actually!” But suddenly I realize I can’t be bothered to pretend anymore. Personal finance isn’t more interesting than you’d think. It’s just as boring as you’d think. Even on Morning Coffee, it was only really when callers started talking about their relationships and family lives that I used to enjoy it.