Original Sin. Tasmina Perry

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СКАЧАТЬ I’ll leave you two lovebirds to it,’ said Alicia. ‘I simply must go and compliment Graydon and Estella on their new Lucian Freud.’

      As they spent the next half-hour drifting from group to group, Brooke floated at the fringes, keeping a close eye on both David and Alicia. David’s ex had now returned to the man she had come with, a sombre-looking man in a dark suit and heavy-framed glasses – an architect, according to David. To a disinterested observer, Brooke was simply standing by the window, enjoying the view, soaking up the rarefied atmosphere, whereas in actual fact she was looking for any telltale signs that David was still interested in Alicia – a sly glance or an ever-so-casual touch, perhaps. There was nothing; they barely even spoke. Slowly Brooke’s irritation at having been ambushed by David’s ex turned to fascination as she watched them both expertly working the room. David was magnetic, and not just because of the good looks she had fallen in love with; he had a natural composure and a good-natured confidence. He spoke with conviction and authority and he had an indefinable presence that seemed to fill the space he was in. Alicia had another tactic entirely. When Brooke was close to her, she eavesdropped on Alicia’s conversation, and it was soon clear that she had nothing particularly clever or interesting to say, but she had something more powerful than intelligence or wit. Alicia was a world-class flirt. She flirted not with sexual invitation, but in a way that the person she was talking to felt like the most important person in the room. Consequently, they responded to her as if she were spouting Descartes.

      Brooke glanced at her watch. It was almost eleven.

      ‘I know that look,’ whispered David into her ear. ‘You want to go, don’t you?’

      She smiled at him gratefully. ‘Is it that obvious?’

      They had only been at the party two hours, but to Brooke it had felt like an eternity. She didn’t miss all the surreptitious glances sent her way, or the whispered comments when she was just out of range. Her mouth was aching from the permanent smile etched on it. She felt like the village idiot.

      They rode down in the elevator and, when they stepped outside onto Fifth Avenue, Brooke felt her shoulders relax. A cone of moonlight shone down on them and he turned to her and kissed her, his tongue licking the inside of her mouth. It was delicious and quite unexpected – spontaneous kisses, especially those in public places, were becoming thinner on the ground as they were constantly watched. His driver was parked across on the far corner and they walked to the car with his arm around her shoulders.

      ‘I’m sorry we were there so long,’ he said, opening the door of the Lexus for her. ‘But it wasn’t that bad, was it?’

      ‘Oh honey it was,’ she laughed.

      ‘I didn’t hear one person mention Jeff Daniels.’

      ‘They would hardly discuss the ins and outs of some scurrilous tabloid story with you,’ she said. ‘But believe me, they all knew the details.’

      He was silent for a moment as the car engine started. ‘You seemed to be getting on well with Ally.’

      ‘She’s nice …’ said Brooke obtusely.

      ‘You’re not jealous?’ he said, laughing softly.

      ‘I don’t trust her,’ she blurted out.

      ‘Trust her? What do you mean?’

      ‘Call me crazy,’ said Brooke, ‘but I’ve just got this feeling.’

      ‘A feeling about what?’ asked David. His words were measured, clipped. She could tell he was annoyed at the ‘trust’ jibe. Brooke supposed he had a point, considering how understanding he’d been about the Jeff Daniels accusations.

      ‘I just wondered if it was Alicia who leaked the Oracle gossip story,’ said Brooke.

      ‘What?’

      ‘Look, I spoke to Tess Garrett today and she said the story came from one of your ex-girlfriends.’

      ‘It sounds to me as if Tess Garrett is trying to justify her existence.’

      ‘She sounded pretty sure.’

      ‘On what basis?’

      ‘A source at the Oracle.’

      He pursed his lips together.

      Brooke paused before saying anything more. She never liked bringing up the subject of past girlfriends. In her experience it only made you look jealous or needy or both.

      ‘Aren’t you going to say anything?’ she asked.

      ‘How am I supposed to react?’ he said, anger in his voice.

      ‘Well, don’t you think it was Alicia? It had to come from somewhere.’

      ‘On what grounds?’

      ‘Well, she did go to Brown …’

      ‘Brooke, you’re being ridiculous.’

      ‘Am I?’ she said, challenging him.

      David was a serial monogamist: through his twenties there had been at least five girlfriends who had all lasted between six months and two years, and the Jeff Daniels leak could have come from any of them. They all had the same potential motivations: sour grapes, mean-spiritedness; some sense of thwarted entitlement, perhaps.

      But it had been Alicia’s bright-eyed friendliness and a feeling of gleeful pleasure when she mentioned the Oracle story: it all made her suspicious of Alicia. Call it female intuition, but she was sure she was behind it.

      ‘Yes you are being ridiculous! After all, it was your friend, that Matt Palmer, who was quoted.’

      She frowned. ‘It wasn’t him. I told you what he said. A journalist tracked him down and misquoted him.’

      ‘And you believe that?’ he asked.

      ‘Yes I do. He’s got less motivation for doing it than Alicia.’

      He turned on the seat to face her.

      ‘Alicia’s parents and my parents have known each other forever,’ said David tightly. ‘She is a lot of things, but she is not deliberately evil.’

      ‘It sounds to me like you’re defending her.’

      David rarely sounded angry. He always dealt with problems in his usual cool, composed way, but now his voice was raised. ‘I am not defending her. I just wonder what motivation she’d have for doing something like that.’

      ‘Oh, grow up, David,’ shouted Brooke. ‘Maybe, just maybe, she still loves you, did you ever think of that? Maybe she’ll do anything to stop you from being happy with anyone else.’

      David turned to look at her. His face was stony.

      ‘Brooke, she finished our relationship.’

      It stung Brooke like a slap in the face. She had always had the romantic notion of David Billington, America’s most eligible bachelor, rejecting each of his previous girlfriends because he was still searching, СКАЧАТЬ