Rose stood trying not to shuffle her feet like some sort of servant from the Middle Ages. She smiled and held out her hand. ‘I’m pleased to meet you, Ms Goldsmith.’
Jessamine studied her for a second, her glance no doubt taking in the cheap suit Rose wore. Whatever she saw seemed to reassure her and she smiled, the famous smile Rose knew from the times she had seen her in the movies. It lit up her face, turning her from a petulant teenager into a woman of remarkable beauty.
Jessamine ignored Rose’s outstretched hand and dropped two air kisses on either side of Rose’s cheeks.
‘Would you like something to drink? Champagne perhaps? Tea?’
‘Tea would be lovely,’ Jonathan said firmly. ‘Now, Jessamine, what can I do for you?’
‘It’s my stomach,’ she said. ‘It hurts like crazy.’
‘Why don’t you lie down while I take a look?’ Jonathan suggested.
‘Perhaps Rose wouldn’t mind going downstairs to organise the tea while you’re examining me?’ There was no mistaking the glint in Jessamine’s eye.
‘Sorry, Jess, I need Rose here.’ He sent Rose a look that implied that if she even thought about leaving him alone, she would have him to answer to. ‘In case I need to take blood. Now, don’t be difficult, let’s have a look. Have you been eating properly? You know we spoke about this before. Your tummy hurts because you’re hungry. You have to have more than five hundred calories a day.’
‘That’s all very well for you to say.’ Jessamine pouted again. ‘You know how the camera adds pounds and I have an audition tomorrow.’
Jessamine lay down on the sofa and lifted her T shirt, revealing her stomach. It was, as Rose had suspected, as flat as a pancake. But Jonathan was right, she was too thin. Rose could almost count each individual rib poking through the skin. When Jonathan made Jessamine sit up, so he could listen to her breathing from her back, it was the same, each vertebrae sticking out like a railway track.
‘Your chest is fine and so is your heart. Rose, could you take Jessamine’s blood pressure, please?’
It took Rose about two seconds to wrap the cuff around the too-thin arms. The blood pressure was slightly on the low side, but nothing particularly concerning. Despite her thinness, Jessamine was, on the surface, in good physical condition. While Rose was taking her blood pressure, Jessamine was talking to Jonathan. She was speaking too fast, her eyes bright and feverish.
‘I hope you haven’t forgotten about the Wakeleys’ yacht party next weekend, Johnny? All the crowd is going. I know you and Felicity aren’t together any more, but you mustn’t stay at home and mope. You must come too, Rose,’ she added as an afterthought.
Rose knew it was only politeness that had made Jessamine invite her.
‘I’m sure Rose would love to come,’ Jonathan said before Rose could decline. ‘In fact, I’ll bring her myself.’
The response was obviously not what Jessamine had been hoping for. She narrowed her cat’s eyes at Rose, and then with another dismissive glance seemed to remember that Rose offered no competition.
Rose opened her mouth to protest. She might be working for Jonathan, but that didn’t give him the right to accept invitations on her behalf. Besides, she had her own plans. She would be going down to the pub, her old local, to meet up with friends she hadn’t seen for months. Nevertheless, she felt slightly wistful. When was the last time she’d been to a party? And when would she ever have a chance to go to one like the one Jessamine was talking about? Never was the answer. But there was no point in even thinking about it: she’d be completely out of her depth. She caught Jonathan’s eye. He was looking at her, willing her not to contradict him, so she wouldn’t. She could always send her apologies with him on the night.
Eventually, after Jonathan had taken some blood and given Jessamine a lecture about eating properly and had received a promise in return that everyone in the room knew was empty, he made their excuses.
‘We’ll see you a week on Sunday, Jess,’ he said. ‘And I’ll come back and see you before then. I don’t think there’s anything to worry about at the moment, but I’m going to keep an eye on you. But you have to eat more regularly. If you don’t, you will continue to suffer from indigestion. But that’s not the only thing. You’re harming your body by starving yourself.’ He frowned down at her. ‘Is it really worth putting your health at risk, Jess?’
‘Please don’t tell me off, Johnny. I promise I’ll be good. I just have to audition for this next film and then I’ll put a few pounds back on, I promise.’
She held up two fingers in a salute Rose knew well. ‘Brownies’ honour.’ She slid a pointed glance at Rose. Her look was mocking and challenging at the same time. She had taken a dislike to Rose, that much was obvious, and Rose had no idea why.
Outside, Jonathan held open the door of his car. ‘Can I drop you off at home?’ he asked.
Rose shook her head. ‘I think there’s a tube station not far from here. I need to pick up a few things on my way home so, thanks, but no thanks.’
‘Then I’ll drop you off at the station. Hop in. We can have a chat about Jessamine on the way.’
Rose did as he suggested. ‘You seemed pretty sure it was indigestion,’ she said.
‘I am. Given her lifestyle, it’s the likely diagnosis. But I’m not ruling out other possibilities just yet either. I want to check her blood count—do a full blood screen, just to be on the safe side.’
Although it probably was just indigestion, Rose had been worried that Jonathan didn’t seem to be taking the symptoms seriously enough. There was something about the casual way the consultations were held, the familiarity with the patients, that disturbed her. Jonathan’s manner was so easygoing, her earlier doubts were resurfacing. Did he really know what he was doing? However nothing in the thorough way he examined the patients or his detailed notes suggested otherwise. Perhaps it was simply that this world was so different from anything she had ever encountered.
‘You think it could be more than indigestion?’ she asked.
‘Let’s just say I’m not going to take any chances.’
Rose was relieved by his reply. Apart from the ethical considerations of working with a less than thorough doctor, it had become important to her that Jonathan had a modicum of respect for the profession in which he was practising.
Suddenly he grinned at her and her heart gave a disconcerting lurch.
‘How was your first day, then?’
‘Not really what I’m used to,’ Rose admitted. ‘But interesting.’
She wasn’t lying. But the most intriguing thing about the whole day was this man sitting beside her. She studied him surreptitiously from under her eyelashes. She had never met anyone like him before. How could she have? Her upbringing had been as different from his as it was possible to be. Her father and mother had worked hard just to keep their heads above water. Treats had been few and far between, but if material possessions had been in short supply, Rose had always felt treasured and loved.
She had always been studious, but she had never really been ambitious. After leaving school, without sitting A levels, she had done a secretarial course and had taken a job as a medical secretary with an out-of-town practice. It was there that she had realised that she wanted to do more with her life. The patients and their illnesses had fascinated her and she’d found herself becoming immersed in their lives. Soon the patients had been stopping by her desk on a regular basis to tell her the latest on their families, sharing their hopes and fears with her. One of the doctors had noticed how easily the patients spoke to her and how quickly she picked up the medical terminology