The problem of getting r.., p.47
The Problem of Getting Rich Quik ... Part One, page 47
part #1 of The problem of getting Rich Quik Series
‘And on the other side we have the award winning Dominic Sweet who has turned out to be a great success in the States playing that rock start thingy. I mean how bollocks is that?’ continued Stella. ‘Then there’s Lily.’
‘What about me?’ Lily said seeing the three of them look at her sympathetically. ‘Don’t feel sorry for me I’m fine.’
‘Sure you are.’ Julian gently slapped her cheek. ‘Locked away in your castle, counting all your money and still not getting a shag, what a sad honey! That rhymes. I’m so talented,’ chuffed Julian. ‘How long since you had sex?’
Lily wanted to say six hours but bit her lip. She sniffed her skin and swore she could still smell Richard before scowling at Julian.
‘Your cheeks look rather rosy,’ laughed Julian and shook his head. ‘You’re going to have to get some acid peel on that pretty little mug of yours if you keep looking like you’re going to bite someone.’
‘Didn’t you meet any blokes on Friday?’ said Stella. ‘Come on girl, I told you I could fix you up.’
‘No, I didn’t meet anyone,’ she snapped and looked at the river. ‘And don’t fix me up.’
‘You know hanging around with an elderly lady isn’t helping your credibility status,’ piped in Dominic who had his head back, catching rays on his face.
‘Dom it’s not that sunny,’ sniped Lily. ‘Are you hoping someone will recognise you?’
‘The show will start being screened from next week in the UK and things will change,’ he said confidently.
‘All this fame and glory, what does it get you?’ said Stella eyeing up two young men in rugby shirts walking passed.
‘It made your business when you got Lily her divorce,’ said Dominic.
‘That’s not true. I’m a bloody good solicitor!’ barked Stella. ‘Divorce is just one of my specialities.’
Lily flinched at the words and sank deeper into her seat.
‘What’s wrong with you?’ asked Dominic. ‘I’ve been away for nearly three weeks and you’re struck dumb.’
‘Maybe I’m in awe of your brilliance?’ Lily said sweetly.
‘Fat chance,’ said Julian smirking at Dominic while smiling as people recognised him as they walked passed.
‘Or I’m just fed up being on my own,’ Lily quietly said and all three of them looked at her.
‘Say that again,’ said Stella glancing around and up and down. ‘I didn’t quite catch it.’
‘I’m ready to have someone in my life,’ Lily said once again. ‘Is that better?’
‘Why the change of heart?’ Dominic asked leaning back on his chair. ‘I thought you wanted to become a nun?’
‘I never said that,’ she shrugged. ‘I said it was best I didn’t have a relationship with any man as it only ends in tears for me.’
‘That’s true,’ said Julian nodding furiously. ‘I have to give you credit for pulling two very gorgeous men and then getting dumped by the pair of them.’ Lily saw Dominic glare at Julian before looking at her. ‘That’s pretty good going.’
‘That is very true,’ agreed Lily. ‘But I’m looking for a screwing partner. Someone I can have sex with and no ties. Dinner occasionally, who knows?’ Lily then noticed her three friends were sat there, open mouthed. ‘What?’
‘Christ, what happened to you when I was away?’ Dominic screeched.
‘Nothing,’ she said realising she’d been too full on. ‘I need some fun. I’m a divorcee who’s barren. I should be enjoying my life before it’s too late. And it will be.’
‘Go sister,’ said Julian giving her a high five. ‘But you’re never going to meet someone if you hang out with your ex-husband’s mother.’
‘I’m always offering to take you to some of the law dos. They have lots of eligible men there,’ said Stella smirking to herself. ‘And you’d definitely get laid, they’re not that fussy. Look at me!’
‘And what sort of men turn up to those?’ scowled Lily.
‘Gorgeous, eligible men!’
‘Name one?’
‘John Bentley!’ laughed Stella.
Lily noticed Julian’s eyes lit up before looking visibly upset.
‘That’s a good enough reason never to turn up,’ snapped Lily knowing she’d thought about him more than once that weekend and it made her angry
‘Can I come?’ piped up an excited Julian.
‘No!’ snapped Stella.
‘I don’t want to go out with a lawyer thanks and especially someone like him,’ she said laughing at Stella. ‘They’d only send me a massive bill afterwards.’
‘I’ve got to tell you something as you’ve mentioned Bentley,’ winced Dominic to Lily. ‘I’ve heard a rumour about someone you know.’
‘I don’t know many people other than you guys,’ smiled Lily.
‘He’s moving back to London.’
‘Who?’ Lily knew from the expression on Dominic’s face who he was talking about. ‘Bentley? Though he never moved away.’
‘Richard,’ Dominic quietly said grimacing for her reaction.
‘Don’t go near him!’ Stella said loudly putting her hand on her arm. ‘He can still put a restraining order on you. Men like that hold a grudge.’
‘The order was for three years and that’s finished with so he’ll have to lump it if he sees me,’ Lily shrugged, in two minds whether to tell them she’d seen him on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
‘Not that you two will ever run into each other,’ smirked Dominic. ‘I know from a reliable source Richard makes sure he never visits his mother if he knows you’re around.’
‘Rosana?’ Julian grimaced. ‘When are you going to marry the bitch? You know she’s gagging for it.’
‘Not yet,’ said Dominic seriously while going bright red.
‘Don’t you want to get married Dom?’ Stella asked titling her head to the side. ‘Your mum would be made up.’
‘I don’t want to talk about marriage,’ Dominic said loudly. ‘We’ve been together since-.’
He flicked a look at Lily.
‘The day your little friend decided to shaft her husband,’ said Julian in a low voice while glancing at Lily in pretend disgust. ‘Give or take six months it took you to make a move on the ice queen.’
‘And it hasn’t been easy, since she still works for Richard and-.’ Dominic hesitated.
‘You publicly thumped him,’ laughed Stella. ‘Richard can’t be that bad if he forgave you.’
‘He knew I was protecting Lily,’ Dominic said, still chuffed about hitting Richard.
‘Rosana got a promotion for helping me and I got a divorce. And since then, she has been a complete bitch because she’d prefer I was wiped off the face of the earth so she could be with you… forever.’ Lily smiled knowing this riled Dominic. ‘But if you want to marry her fine by me but I demand visiting rights.’
‘I’m not getting married so change the subject!’ barked Dominic sitting uneasily in his chair. ‘I’m too busy at the moment. I’ve got promotion work to do for the show. I see myself unavailable to get married for the next twenty years.’
‘And have you told her this?’ Stella gently asked as Dominic’s face turned to stone.
Lily smiled and glanced at the river thinking about her secret liaison.
‘Snap out of it,’ said Stella clicking her fingers in front of Lily’s face.
‘I’ve got stuff on my mind,’ she sighed.
‘It must be because you mentioned Richard, Dominic. She’s gone all funny,’ teased Julian.
‘Lily’s over Richard,’ Dominic confidently said putting an arm around her. ‘Aren’t you?’
‘Sure,’ she said and shrugged knowing at the current time that was far from the truth.
Dominic and Lily walked slowly down the High Road towards her home.
‘What’s up with you?’ he said smiling at her. ‘Something’s going on. You sort of look happy.’
‘Maybe I’ve turned a corner?’ she said and smiled at Dominic. ‘Are you really not going to marry Rosana?’
‘Only if I have to,’ he scowled. ‘She’s mentioned it a few times but it’s not a path I want to take. I’ll never cheat on her but my life is so organised in front of me. I can’t go off the rails and do what I want.’
‘That’s why you don’t mind filming in the States?’
‘I get a break,’ he smirked glancing at her from the side. ‘I love her.’
‘I know.’
‘But she does my bloody head in sometimes.’
‘Mine too.’
‘Make an effort with her. Invite her out for a drink or something,’ he groaned. ‘I want you two to get on for the sake of me.’
‘She still works for Richard and why should I have to crawl to her? I know she’s threatened by our relationship but you tell her everything, don’t you?’
‘Depends what it is,’ smirked Dominic.
‘Surely she can’t still think I fancy you? I mean, she was a little bit drunk at Christmas but when she asked me. That was so funny and a completely mental thought.’
‘And why not?’ Dominic said stopping and glanced at her quizzically. ‘I’m bloody gorgeous!’
‘Don’t be an arse!’ she said dismissing him.
‘She doesn’t understand. She thinks she’s missing out on something we have,’ he sighed catching her up. ‘I’d really appreciate it if you’d make the effort with her.’
‘I will in return for something.’
‘What?’
‘What did Will actually say about us breaking up?’
‘What?’
Again Dominic stopped and looked at her, his mouth slightly dropping open.
‘You never told me what he said when we broke up,’ she said turning towards him.
‘Why do you want to know now?’ Dominic’s eyes narrowed as he shrugged. ‘That was years ago.’
‘Did he ever say we broke up because he thought I was still in love with Richard?’ She saw the flicker on Dominic’s face and knew immediately the answer. ‘Is that what he said?’
‘I’m not going to discuss this,’ he said marching passed her. ‘He’s my friend.’
‘I was your friend first!’
She watched Dominic turn the corner and knew he was going into the flat as he pulled out his massive bunch of keys that gave him entrance into about half a dozen homes. Lily slowly walked down the road trying to digest this new piece of information she’d been given over the past few days.
‘Dominic!’ she said calling from the bottom of the stairs. ‘It’s just a question.’
When she reached the living room she saw him sprawled on the sofa. He was looking around.
‘Christ, it looks massive in here with all the walls knocked down,’ he said in admiration. ‘Good idea to buy next door.’
‘It’s very bright and big, unlike you,’ she said and sat next to him. ‘Tell me what Will said.’
‘Why do you want to dig this all up now?’
‘Because I’m interested to hear his side.’
‘After over eighteen months?’ sighed Dominic, shaking his head.
‘I’m feeling stronger now, so tell me,’ she gently said. Dominic sat there, thinking things over. She knew he was trying to find the words. ‘Typical actor, always in need of a script.’
‘He did say one of the reasons you broke up was that you were still hung up about Richard and he knew you couldn’t shake it off.’
‘I did shake him off,’ she said and suddenly went bright red, knowing what she had just done with Richard and how much shaking was involved.
‘You shouldn’t pine for the dickhead as he was a prick and didn’t even love you,’ Dominic said sternly. ‘I want you to be happy.’
‘I know he doesn’t love me. And I’m not pining!’
‘And what was that about you wanting to get a man to shag you?’
‘I need someone to facilitate my needs and some company,’ she sighed recalling being in bed with Richard and laughing. ‘I miss male company.’
‘I’m male.’
‘But I can’t snuggle up in bed with you, can I?’
‘Yes you can.’
‘Naked?’
‘Yuk, no way,’ he said and pulled a face. ‘Where are you going to meet this bloke you’re after for casual sex and a kebab?’
‘You know Stella told me she paid an escort to take her out and sometimes she’d slip him something extra to-.’
‘Slip one in!’ shouted Dominic. ‘Gross! She better not tell my mum about that.’
‘Bet your mum’s already tried it when she goes away for weekends with Stella,’ Lily said raising her eyebrows. ‘Costs about a few hundred pounds to do it.’
‘My mum’s happily married to my dad, sort of. You’re not seriously thinking about it?’
‘She gave me a card!’ Lily said taking the item out of her wallet and holding it in the air.
‘You won’t go through with it, you don’t have the guts,’ laughed Dominic getting up and walking towards the fridge. ‘Want a beer?’
‘Yes please,’ she said kicking off her shoes and wondering if she did have the gall to try it out.
‘If you can prove you got laid I will get off your case about being nice to Rosana,’ Dominic eventually said handing her a drink.
‘Seriously?’
Lily knew he had no faith in her.
‘You prove you got shagged and I’ll never harass you again about it,’ he said flopping onto the sofa making her drink spill down her chest.
‘Thanks,’ she said wiping her wet marks away. ‘And how will I prove it?’
‘I have to meet the man that has to do the vile deed,’ he smirked. ‘I have to look into their eyes and ask them ‘Did you give my best mate one?’’
‘That’s not exactly subtle is it?’
‘You’d just lie to get out of being nice to Rosana.’
‘No I wouldn’t,’ she said vehemently before nodding in agreement. ‘How long have I got?’
‘Four weeks,’ he smirked. ‘No way will you do it, no way!’
Chapter Two
Seconds before she got to the knocker Eleanor threw open the door and greeted Lily with a big hug.
‘What’s that for?’ Lily asked suddenly feeling guilty.
‘For talking to Richard and sorting everything out,’ she said genuinely happy. ‘This means I’m going to have the best birthday party ever!’
‘Steady on,’ Lily said, being dragged to the living room. ‘We were civil to each other.’
‘I didn’t expect you to jump into bed together, silly,’ laughed Eleanor and a deep blush appeared on Lily’s face as she turned to admire the fireplace so Eleanor couldn’t see. ‘Tea?’
‘Yeah,’ said a nervous Lily. ‘What did he say?’
‘He said you’d resolved to get on for the sake of me and I could safely trust the pair of you behaving properly in the same room.’
‘Not quite,’ mumbled Lily remembering what had happened the previous week.
‘Did you say something, darling?’
‘That’s right,’ smiled Lily sweetly. ‘You know we still have a few personal issues so I wouldn’t get over excited about us meeting together for a family meal. It wouldn’t work.’
‘Why not?’ questioned Eleanor. ‘It’s all water under the bridge.’
‘Look Eleanor, you tricked the pair of us into speaking to each other, which neither of us liked,’ said Lily sitting down. ‘It was really uncomfortable at first but we both knew you wanted to make sure we’re all happy for your seventieth and we will certainly try.’
‘We’ll all have to meet to discuss the party,’ Eleanor announced sitting down next to her.
‘What?’
‘Richard, you and I, of course,’ said Eleanor. ‘I’d like you to sort out the decorations and-.’
‘I thought it would be just you and me?’ said Lily anxiously. ‘I wasn’t expecting to see Richard again until your party! He certainly wouldn’t want to see me.’
‘Really?’ smiled Eleanor.
‘Yes,’ said Lily confidently.
‘I know you’re so good at organising everything but Richard has some wonderful ideas too.’
‘I bet he has.’
‘We can all work together as a team.’
‘You know my solicitor has advised me to keep away from Richard,’ Lily said seriously. ‘I can’t afford to let him take me to court. I’ve spent the past years trying to make sure I’ve kept out of his way and not to get caught mentioning what happened when we were married.’
‘I know. You did a good job of it! No one knew the pair of you were once together when you both met up the other night. In fact Jacob commented you didn’t seem to get on.’
‘How would he know?’
‘He said he saw the pair of you having a heated discussion and thought Richard had upset you by mentioning your ex?’ laughed Eleanor. ‘Did he?’
‘Did he what?’
‘Upset you?’
‘No,’ she replied standing up. ‘But I don’t want to see Richard again. It’s too much to ask for from the both of us. Why don’t you organise the finer details with him and then get back to me?’
‘You have to get involved and-.’
‘In the end of the day he’s your son and he’d make it all wonderful for you,’ smiled Lily reassuringly. ‘Anyway he’d get one of his hundreds of employees to arrange the whole bloody thing to keep me out of it.’
‘What happened then?’ Eleanor asked staring hard into her face. ‘He said you lost your bag then found it later on. Did he help you look for it?’
‘No bloody way! He refused to give me the money for a cab let alone the bus fair,’ Lily snapped then covered her annoyance with a smile.
‘But you found the bag?’
‘Yes. He found the bag,’ sighed Lily. ‘After everyone had looked all over the place he managed to get it back. Someone discovered it later on.’
‘He found the bag?’ Eleanor said, her eyebrows raised. ‘And you’re sure he wasn’t the one who took the bag?’
‘Don’t be silly,’ guffed Lily. ‘Why would he do that?’
‘To annoy you? Get your attention? Who knows?’ shrugged Eleanor pouring out tea
‘Someone probably took it accidentally,’ Lily said then glanced at a picture of Richard and Eleanor. ‘He’s got a girlfriend who he’s in love with, that’s what he said.’
