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.’
Tom brought his face close to hers. ‘We’re not going to any more sodding hotels,’ he hissed, ‘particularly not his. You know I’ve got a meeting in London on Wednesday. I’m not missing it on account of him.’
Serena’s eyes blazed defiantly. ‘Well, I want to go.’
Tom laughed cruelly. ‘Oh, I bet you do.’
‘What do you mean by that?’
‘You want to fuck him, don’t you?’
‘What did you say?’ spat Serena incredulously.
‘You. Want. To. Fuck. Him,’ said Tom, his voice turned hard and emotionless.
Serena gasped, her face contorting into disgust. ‘You are revolting,’ she said quietly, her voice a malevolent whisper. ‘You can take the boy out of the gutter …’
Tom felt his heart pound so fiercely he thought it would explode. Never before had she seemed so snobbish, so shallow, so ugly.
At that moment Michael appeared by her side, sipping the kir. ‘Have you told Tom about coming to my hotel?’ he asked, as if it was a little secret between them.
Tom looked him up and down, taking in the white shirt with the black tufts of hair creeping over the collar, the sweating narrow face, the veins bulbously protruding from the side of his forehead. What can she see in him? he thought for a moment, then became angered by the very notion.
‘OK, let’s go,’ said Tom, taking Serena’s arm again. Serena was outraged now and shrugged him off, edging closer to Michael. Tom bridled as he watched Michael’s fingertips brush against the side of her thigh.
‘So you’ll both come for a couple of days?’ said Michael, misunderstanding. ‘It’ll be fun.’
