A WAG Abroad. Alison Kervin

Чтение книги онлайн.

       Wednesday 28 May 8 a.m.

      Neither Dean nor Paskia-Rose believes me.

      ‘Why would I make something like that up?’ I say.

      ‘It’s not that we think you’re making it up,’ says Dean. ‘It just seems so unlikely.’

      ‘Thanks. You think it’s unlikely that anyone would consider me for their film, do you?’

      ‘No, love. All I mean is that you’ve just arrived, it’s your first time on Rodeo Drive and you get asked to be in a movie. Come on, that only happens in films.’

      ‘Well, it happened to me.’

      I show Dean the card the guy in the street gave me, with the time of my screen test on the back.

      ‘I’m coming with you,’ he says. ‘It sounds dodgy. We’ll go when we get back from St Benedict’s.’

      ‘Fine.’

       9 a.m.

      The driveway to Paskia-Rose’s new school is long and winding; it takes us past playing fields, a small lake and smartly dressed young ladies enjoying a morning stroll.

      ‘Fuck me, it’s like Eton,’ I say.

      ‘Please don’t talk like that when we’re in the school, Mum,’ says Pask, rubbing her little button nose with the back of her hand. She’s got a pretty nose – it’s a pity it’s covered in loads of freckles. It’s a pity, too, that she’s got such piggy eyes. I’ve frequently offered her the use of a pair of false eyelashes, or even just mascara, but she won’t have any of it.

      Despite my real fears about Paskia-Rose’s dowdy and unbecoming appearance, I do love her enormously, and I feel rocked to the core by the thought of her starting a strange new school. It’s nice having her around the place. I’ve even got used to waking up in the morning to the incessant thump of a football against the wall.

      ‘There,’ she screeches all of a sudden, pointing madly to the far side of the imposing building ahead of us.

      ‘What is it?’ I ask, veering slightly off the driveway onto the grass and nearly taking out a group of four girls sitting on a rug, reading Shakespeare.

      ‘Muuum … you just concentrate on driving. Dad, have you seen what’s over there?’

      ‘Yeeeeeaaahhhhh!!!!’ says Dean. ‘Goal posts.’

      Is that what all the fuss is about? The two of them have seen some goal posts … big wow! It’s not that I really object to her love of football, it’s more that I hate the fact that it’s a difference between us. I hate the fact that she has a passion that I can’t share and craves a world that I can’t inhabit. She wants to be a successful footballer and I’d love her to marry a rich and successful footballer. I’d like her to enjoy a wonderful, happy marriage like mine, and be able to enjoy her life knowing that she has someone special who loves her.

      I want her to be happy, but because happiness for me is dressing up, piling on the makeup and funnelling champagne down my throat I guess that’s what I want for her, too. I want us to love the same things, and go clothes shopping together, gossiping over the latest copy of Heat. I want her to rush in and squeal with excitement at a boy she’s met or a sparkly blue eye shadow she’s discovered. I want us to dress the same way and act the same way. I thought we’d be like sisters and have pamper parties and snuggly girls’ nights in.

      I wanted to be as similar to her as my mum was different to me. I want her to know how much I love her. It’s hard to show her that when she’s more interested in Steven Gerrard’s foot work than Alex Curran’s footwear.

      ‘Who are we seeing today?’ I ask.

      ‘Muuuummmm, you’re not seeing anyone,’ she says. ‘You’re just dropping me off and collecting me later. I’m spending the day here.’

      ‘Can’t I spend the day here too?’ I ask.

      ‘I’d rather die,’ says Pask.

      ‘Just СКАЧАТЬ