He flicked at a fly buzzing around his face. So why couldn’t he leave her?
The thought had crossed his mind a hundred times. But when he really imagined life without her, he was caught between a sense of sheer relief and horrible insecurity. What would happen to Tom without Serena? They were as inseparable as Siamese twins. He shuddered despite the heat.
‘Tom Archer! Come and join the group, you naughty thing.’
Jolene Schwartz was a brazen, heavily tanned fifty-something Texan who had married well and divorced better. She came sashaying towards him, twirling a frilly white parasol above her like a deep-fried Dolly Parton.
‘Just coming,’ called Tom, getting to his feet. ‘Are we leaving?’
‘We were supposed to meet at the Great Hall twenty minutes ago to head back to the boat.’ She wagged her finger at him at the same time as fixing him with a flirtatious smile. ‘I’m going to have to put you over my knee.’
Unconsciously, Tom found himself looking at Jolene’s legs and her unnaturally smooth knees – an obvious product of the latest surgery craze that was sweeping New York. He tore his gaze away and gave a weak, cracked smile.
‘I’d better get a move on then, hadn’t I?’
They walked as quickly as the hot sun would allow to the entrance, where a black Range Rover was waiting for them. Tom wedged himself into the cream leather back seat between Jolene and Roman’s boyfriend, Patric, a handsome, grey-haired, softly spoken architect from Provence.
‘So, who are you going to introduce me to on the boat?’ said Jolene playfully to Patric as the car began to weave through traffic towards the docks. ‘I haven’t worked out who’s single yet.’
‘What about Frédéric?’ suggested Patric playfully.
She spluttered, ‘But he’s queer!’ She looked at Patric’s mock-crushed expression and quickly corrected herself. ‘Sorry, sorry. I love gay men. I just don’t want to date one.’
‘What about Michael Sarkis?’ asked Tom. ‘I’m sure he’s not gay.’
Jolene looked at him and giggled. ‘Now honey, that’s where I draw the line. In New York they call him the cat burglar. Always after other people’s pussy,’ she giggled with a smoker’s rasp. ‘I don’t know anyone he hasn’t screwed.’
Patric shifted uncomfortably in his chair as Jolene smiled at him.
‘No, what I want is someone like this one,’ she said, squeezing the top of Tom’s knee.
Catching Tom’s frozen expression, Patric tried to change the subject. ‘Did you enjoy Karnak, Tom?’ he asked. ‘It’s sometimes good to get away from that boat, yes?’
‘Yes, the Mamounia was getting a little busy,’ said Tom diplomatically.
‘I know,’ replied Patric sympathetically, ‘I’m the less social one in our partnership, too. Roman, he loves to throw parties even when he should be working. But me …’ He trailed off.
‘Sounds a lot like our household,’ smiled Tom, trying to edge away from Jolene’s thigh.
‘How is life with you and Lady Serena?’ chimed in Jolene, keen not to be left out of the conversation.
‘She’s not a lady.’
‘So I’ve heard.’
Tom smiled thinly. ‘No, I mean that in England a baron’s daughter has the title “The Honourable”. A lady is like a duke or earl’s daughter or something.’
‘Lady or not, she’s so beautiful,’ said Patric approvingly. ‘I know Roman can’t stop giving her clothes. She wears everything so incredibly. I think she may be becoming the ambassador for the line this year.’
‘More clothes,’ laughed Tom, looking out of the window at the chaotic traffic. ‘Our house can’t stand any more clothes! I mean, did you know she has nearly a thousand pairs of shoes! They have their own room where they sit on these little carousels. Why does anyone need shoe carousels?’
‘If you were a woman, you’d know,’ laughed Jolene, touching his arm lightly.
‘This is life with the beautiful,’ shrugged Patric. ‘Wonderful, but high-maintenance.’
Tom laughed to himself. Patric didn’t know the half of it. Serena was broke and it was he who was supporting her jet-set lifestyle. She had got though a small trust fund left to her by her mother years ago and there was little obvious income from the Balcon family trust. Old money? No money was more like it, if you listened to the rumours about Oswald’s financial difficulties. And while Serena still earned something in the region of two million pounds a year in advertising contracts and film roles, her expenditure was enormous: the Cheyne Walk townhouse, the six-thousand-pound-a-year John Frieda highlights, the agent and publicist’s fees, the Dior couture clothes, the weekly manicures, pedicures and facials – the list was endless and her tastes were expensive. ‘Keeping up with the Jemimas,’ she called it. So it was left to Tom to mop up the bills for the Necker Island holidays, the Hermès bags, the San Lorenzo suppers and the brand new Aston Martin. Having been brought up in a house where everyone knew the price of a loaf of bread, and not knowing whether his movie career would last another three or thirty years, the level of spending was making him nervous. It was a high-maintenance lifestyle indeed – for both of them.
As they arrived at the dock, the sun was much lower in the sky, smudging the blue with purple and apricot, and crisscrossing the walnut decking of La Mamounia with long grey shadows. As Tom walked up the gangplank into the bowels of the boat, he could immediately see Serena through the crowd. For a moment he stopped to watch her. Her head tipped back laughing, the blonde hair spilling down her back, one strap of her sundress falling off her shoulder leaving it round and bare like a scoop of ice cream. He began to smile, then noticed that Serena’s hand was on Michael’s shoulder, while the playboy’s fingers were reaching like a predator’s to touch her arm. Tom’s stomach tightened. The mixed feelings he’d been having all afternoon – regret, pity, sadness – all crystallized into one clear emotion. He grabbed a large gin from a passing steward and drank it in one gulp, striding over to where Serena and Michael stood laughing.
As Tom approached, Michael walked away towards the bar.
‘Where’ve you been?’ demanded Serena immediately.
‘I’ve been to Karnak with Patric and Jolene. Not that you would have noticed since you’ve been glued to that playboy since I left.’
‘Oh, was it fascinating in the desert, professor?’ taunted Serena sarcastically, her words slightly slurred. ‘You must tell me all about it.’ Her eyes looked glassy and her voice had the edge of aggression that came with cocaine.
‘Let’s go to the cabin,’ he said, struggling to control his voice, ‘I need to change.’
‘And why would I want to come and watch that?’ said Serena mockingly. ‘Anyway, I’m talking to Michael, and he’s getting us drinks.’ They both looked over to the bar where Michael was collecting two flutes of kir royale.
‘Come on, we’re going,’ said Tom, grabbing her arm to pull her away. The drink and heat had hit him and his touch was a little too heavy.
‘Get off me,’ Serena yelped, pulling her arm away and rubbing her bare skin. ‘I’m talking to Michael. He’s invited us to stay at his boutique hotel in the Valley of the Kings after the cruise. At least he has some manners.’