Out of the Blue. Isabel Wolff

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СКАЧАТЬ I repeated.

      ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Zat’s right. Jean.’

      ‘Jean,’ I said again.

      ‘Yes. Yes. Zat’s right. Jean. Eet eez spelt –’

      ‘It’s perfectly all right,’ I said quickly. ‘I know how to spell it. I’ve just remembered. It’s spelt J, E, A, N. Jean!’

      ‘Er … exactement, Madame Smeeth.’

      ‘Jean!’

      ‘Correct.’ I could feel laughter rising up in my throat like bubbles in a glass of champagne. ‘I am phoning from ze French publishers, Hachette,’ he went on. ‘Peter knows me, we are working togezer on a book.’

      ‘Ah,’ I said. ‘I see.’

      ‘And I need to talk to ’eem again today, but ’is secretary she say she donno where he eez. You know, your ’usband is a very naughty boy, Madame Smeeth,’ he added with a laugh. ‘Because ’e don’ always return my calls.’

      ‘Oh. Oh. Yes, that is naughty,’ I agreed.

      ‘So I ask you please to ask ’eem to call me at my ’ome, çe soir. You have a pen? I give you ze number.’

      ‘Oh yes,’ I said as I now suppressed the urge to shout with joy. ‘Yes, of course I have a pen,’ I added happily. ‘OK. Let me write it down. Got that. And thank you very much.’

      ‘No, sank you,’ he said, clearly taken aback by my enthusiasm.

      ‘It’s so nice of you to call,’ I added warmly, ‘I’m very, very glad that you did. And the minute Peter’s home, I’ll get the “naughty boy” to phone you right back. Au revoir, Jean, au revoir!’ I slammed the phone down with an exultant cry; and I was just about to phone Lily and tell her about my ridiculous mistake, when Graham suddenly barked and I heard the key turning in the lock. It was Peter; back early.

      ‘Darling!’ I exclaimed joyfully. ‘Listen, I’ve got something to say!’

      ‘No,’ he said as Graham leaped up to greet him, ‘I’ve got something to say to you.’

      ‘But I just want to tell you that I’ve made this stupid, stupid mistake, you see … ’

      ‘Faith, whatever it is – it can wait. Graham, look, will you please get down. Faith,’ he said. ‘Faith … ’ His profile was reflected in the sunburst mirror.

      ‘Yes?’

      ‘Look, there’s something you’ve got to know.’ My pulse was racing.

      ‘Yes?’ I said again. Peter took a deep breath.

      ‘I’m leaving.’

      ‘Sorry?’

      ‘I’m leaving,’ he repeated as we faced each other in the hall.

      ‘You’re leaving what?’ I said, faintly. ‘Me?’

      ‘No, you twit – Fenton & Friend. I’m out!’

      ‘My God!’ I said with a gasp. ‘She’s done it! She’s finally sacked you, the cow!’ Peter’s face was still a mask of seriousness; but then he suddenly grinned.

      ‘No, Faith, she didn’t sack me,’ he explained. ‘Because I resigned first. And I told her that I was resigning … ’

      ‘Yes?’

      ‘Because I’ve been offered another job!’

      ‘You’ve got another job!’ I yelled. ‘Oh, how marvellous!’ I threw my arms round him. I was having a very good day. ‘How fantastic! Oh, Peter! Where?’

      ‘Faith,’ he said, and now his face was wreathed in smiles, ‘I’m going to be the new managing director of Bishopsgate!’

      ‘Bishopsgate,’ I gasped. ‘Bishopsgate? My God! But they’re huge!’

      ‘Yes, I know,’ he said wonderingly as he took off his coat. ‘And because they’ve expanded so much in the last couple of years they were looking for a new MD. So I was interviewed twice.’

      ‘But why didn’t you tell me?’ I said as we went into the sitting room.

      ‘Because I was scared I wouldn’t get it, and I wanted it so much. But they did one final interview with me at lunchtime, then Andy phoned to say I’d got the job.’

      ‘Oh, darling!’ I said and I hugged him again.

      ‘And Faith,’ he went on, wonderingly, as he fixed himself a drink. ‘The money. The money’s going to be three times what I get now. We won’t have to struggle so much.’

      ‘God, how fantastic! But what did Charmaine say?’

      ‘She was livid,’ he said as he sat down and loosened his tie. ‘She was spitting fire. Especially when I told her about my new job. She kept telling me that it was “outrageous” – it’s her favourite word, silly old bat. She had the nerve to accuse me of being disloyal. So I pointed out that I’d worked for Fenton & Friend very happily for thirteen years, and that the only reason I’d been looking elsewhere was because she’s such a nightmare.’

      ‘Oh, darling, that was really brave of you – and typically truthful, too.’

      ‘I had nothing to lose at that stage,’ he explained with a shrug. ‘Anyway, she tried to kick me out, on the spot. But I wasn’t having that. I informed her that I was on three months’ notice, as stipulated in my contract. Then I got a call from Personnel, who are going to pay me off to leave by the fourteenth. Now I’ve got to call all my authors,’ he said as he rummaged in his briefcase. ‘I feel bad for them, but there’s nothing I can do. I suspect half of them are going to end up with ghastly Oiliver, poor things. But, Faith,’ he said as he flicked through his address book, ‘I feel bad about leaving, but I really had no choice. Charmaine and Oliver were out to destroy me, but now, thanks to Andy, I’m safe. I’m going to take Andy for lunch at the Ritz,’ he added as he reached for the phone.

      ‘Oh, yes,’ I said, ‘you must. He deserves it.’ But Peter was busy dialling a number and didn’t seem to hear what I’d said.

      ‘I’ll call Clare Barry first,’ he said.

      ‘You’ve got to call Jean, too. And darling that’s what I meant to tell you,’ I added. ‘I’ve got a confession to make.’

      ‘You have?’

      ‘Yes. The reason why I’ve been behaving so … stupidly. I’m really sorry. You see, I’d got this silly idea that you were seeing someone called Jean. But now I know that “Jean”, isn’t “Jean”. She’s Jean. Or rather he is. And I only realised that when Jean rang up today.’

      ‘Jean?’ Peter repeated. ‘Yes, Jean and I have СКАЧАТЬ