‘Oh, get the fuck off your high horse. She’ll break you, mark my words.’

  ‘Why would I believe you? At the moment, I don’t think I’ll be able to do that ever again.’

  ‘Always the dramatic one, eh?’

  ‘No, I’m not. I’m just a realist. Anyway, I have to get ready for work. I’ll see you later.’

  Amelia headed for her room, berating herself for being such a trustworthy fool. How could she not have known what Cecile was up to? All that bitching and putting her down for even talking to Vogue, when all along she just wanted her for herself. Amelia wouldn’t have minded if Cecile would have just been up front with her. If she had, Amelia would have totally backed off. Now they faced losing their friendship over a woman. It was a situation Amelia had never considered before. She thought her best friend was as straight as a line. In all the years she had known Cecile, she had never let it slip once that she was attracted to women. If she could hide that, what else was she hiding?

  It was too early in the morning to have so much drama, Amelia would have to deal with it later.

  Arriving at work, Amelia was surprised to see Jordan’s seat at her desk empty. She was normally the first there and the last to leave.

  ‘Hey, Trudy, where’s Jordan?’

  ‘No idea,’ Trudy said.

  Hmm that’s strange. She unlocked her drawer and took out her pad. Looking down at the design, she wondered if Vogue had fired her. But for what reason? She didn’t have to wait long for her answer.

  Melissa walked into the office with an expression that said she was there to announce bad news.

  ‘Just thought I’d let you guys know, Jordan has resigned. She no longer felt Styles was a fit for her in light of recent events.’

  Did she really jump or was she pushed?

  ‘Is someone going to replace her?’ Amelia asked when the others returned to their work.

  ‘No.’ Melissa took a seat by her side, speaking in a lowered tone so no one else could hear her. ‘Considering the current situation, we don’t think it would be appropriate to hire anyone else until we know where we stand with things.’

  ‘Makes sense,’ Amelia said. ‘Are you okay after yesterday? You were pretty upset.’

  ‘Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for asking. Suppose everything’s just getting a bit stressful. We’ve sorted our differences out.’

  ‘Good, I only wish it was that easy for me and Cecile.’

  ‘Oh? What happened?’

  ‘I won’t bore you with the details.’

  ‘Don’t be silly, I’m more than happy to listen.’

  Amelia didn’t know if she was doing the right thing, but her gut instinct was telling her to just do it. If she was going to help Vogue, she needed to know what Melissa’s intentions were. Friend or Foe.

  Vogue was too close to the situation to be objective, but she wasn’t. After the bombshell with Cecile, she didn’t think anyone could be trusted. Especially the ones who were so forthcoming with advice.

  ‘In that case, can we meet up after work? I don’t fancy going back to her place.’

  ‘Of course.’ Melissa scribbled her address on a piece of paper and handed it to Amelia. ‘Come ’round mine. I’ll cook.’

  ‘Sounds good. Thanks, Melissa.’

  ‘No problem. It’ll be nice to spend some time with you alone.’

  Amelia smiled, hoping she wasn’t reading too much into her comment. All she wanted was information.

  Definitely nothing else.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Melissa was beside herself with joy and hope as she made her way to Vogue’s office for the latest rounds of talks. Amelia agreeing to dinner was a sure sign that the door wasn’t closed on that connection just yet. There was still an opportunity and she was in with a chance. All she had to do was play it cool and keep her mouth shut when it came to Vogue. She wanted Amelia to believe that she was supporting Vogue through her time of need. That her loyalty was unwavering.

  Vogue was standing by the window when Melissa walked into the conference room. She could almost smell the fear as she took the last remaining seat at the table. Looking around at the people she had worked with for the past year gave her nothing but feelings of contempt. They had all brown-nosed Vogue and catered to her every whim. In her mind, they deserved what they had coming to them.

  Maybe it was a lesson they needed to learn – to grow a backbone. To not rely on anyone. They would learn the hard way, just like she had.

  ‘So I’ll be upfront… things are not looking good.’ Vogue turned away from the window to face them all. ‘In fact, I can categorically say this is looking like the end of the road for Styles. I tried talking Tina around, but she’s not interested in doing business with us. No one is.’

  John slammed his fist down on the table startling everyone, even Melissa.

  ‘Who the fuck leaked it? How could someone do this to us?’

  Melissa pressed her lips firmly together to stop them curling up into a snarl. That was exactly what she was talking about. The undying loyalty. Styles wasn’t John’s company. He was merely an employee, yet the way he spoke was as if he had a personal investment in it.

  Melissa wasn’t doing anything to him. Vogue was her target and only Vogue. If others got caught in the crossfire, so be it.

  ‘I wish I knew, John, but I fear whoever it is, they aren’t going to give up. And by us continuing, all it’s going to do is fan the flames. I’m just scared it’s going to have an adverse effect on your names if you don’t get out now. You’ll be given a month’s pay. That’s all I can do, as well as a glowing reference for what it’s worth.’

  Melissa relaxed back in her seat. This was much easier than she thought. She was almost disappointed that the crashing of Vogue’s empire wasn’t a tad more dramatic. She was on the verge of offering her sympathy to the team when things took a sudden turn she wasn’t expecting.

  ‘We aren’t leaving, Vogue. We believe in you. We know you had nothing to do with stealing that woman’s designs,’ John said with determination. ‘And we’re going to fight to the end. So what if Tina won’t help. We’ll find someone else. Even if it means looking outside the UK.’

  ‘Yeah.’ Chrissie stood too. You’ve always supported us and been there for us no matter how big or small our problems have been. D’you really think we’d abandon you when you need us most?’

  ‘We’re going to weather this storm,’ Carol said. ‘You know what people are like, next week their minds will be focused elsewhere.’

  The muscles in Melissa’s face tensed as she clenched her teeth. It was all she could do not to scream as one by one, each of the people around the table professed their loyalty to Vogue and her company. What was even more sickening was the way Vogue lapped it all up.

  Eyes brimming with tears, Vogue stood at the head of the table thanking everyone for their support, her hands resting on her hips, resembling a superhero about to fight her latest battle.

  But Vogue wasn’t a superhero, and this was one battle she wasn’t going to win.

  ***

  Melissa set the table in her moderately sized kitchen. Candles, white porcelain plates, crystal glasses, the only thing missing were rose petals. Her intention was to invoke a romantic atmosphere to the evening without being overly obvious. Pouring herself another glass of wine, she took a mouthful before checking the food in the oven – moussaka.

  The accompanying salad was ready, the wine chilled, all she needed now was Amelia.

  Melissa hadn’t seen her since she’d left her office earlier that morning as Melissa had been too busy taking orders from Vogue. Her instructions were to find as many manufacturers as she could in China and try to set up meetings for her. Of course, Melissa had only played lip service to her request and spent most of the day calling random numbers and having meaningless conversations. The main thing was that she looked busy.

  As if they were going to find anything. Melissa wasn’t stupid. She had covered her tracks so deeply they’d need a professional to reveal them. There was no way they could trace anything back to her. Jordan wasn’t going to blab again either.

  The doorbell rang and Melissa made her way into the hallway, checking her appearance in the mirror before opening the door to Amelia.

  ‘I didn’t know if you preferred red or white, so I bought both,’ Amelia said.

  Melissa pulled Amelia in for a hug, trying not to linger for too long despite not wanting to let her go. ‘Either’s good, thanks.’

  Melissa gestured for Amelia to follow her into the kitchen.

  ‘Mmm, something smells good,’ Amelia said, sniffing the air.

  ‘I hope you like moussaka?’

  ‘Love it. One of my favourite dishes.’

  Amelia took her jacket off and handed it to Melissa, who hung it on the back of a chair.

  ‘So how was your day?’ Amelia asked as Melissa plated their food.

  ‘Manic.’

  ‘Yeah, I noticed a lot of activity going on,’ Amelia said.

  ‘Did Vogue tell you her plans?’

  Amelia shook her head.

  ‘Oh, I thought she would have. You two seem to have got close.’

  ‘Close? Not really? I only went out for a drink with her yesterday to talk about my designs and whether I wanted to jump ship.’

  Melissa carried their food across the room to the dining table and Amelia followed.

  It gave her a few seconds to figure things out in her mind. So, Vogue hadn’t taken Amelia into her confidence like Melissa had first thought. That was a good sign.

  ‘Oh right.’ Melissa refilled their glasses.

  ‘So I take it the news of the theft and plagiarism was the big secret you mentioned the other day?’

  Melissa nodded. ‘But it wasn’t that much of a secret in the company. Most people higher up knew what had happened,’ Melissa said, setting the scene to make others look liable for the leak. It wouldn’t look good on her if Amelia thought she was the only person who knew what Vogue had been accused of.

  ‘It must be hard for Vogue to face the industry with everyone thinking she’s a thief. I mean, who would do something that evil? So hateful?’

  ‘You make a lot of enemies in the business world. It’s dog eat dog.’

  ‘I just don’t understand why she paid the woman off.’

  Melissa shrugged non-committedly. ‘Who knows. Vogue and Bev were best friends, they were as thick as thieves, excuse the pun. Only they know what went down.’

  Amelia snorted. ‘Friend? I’m beginning to wonder if anyone is actually who they say they are.’

  Melissa concentrated on her food, afraid of Amelia discovering the deception in her eyes.

  ‘I think there’s a lot more good people in this world than bad. It’s just about weeding them out.’

  ‘You think?’ Amelia said, savouring a mouthful of food before taking a long sip of wine.

  ‘Yes, I do.’

  ‘So why d’you think someone would try to take Vogue down? Because that’s what they’re doing.’

  ‘I have no idea.’

  ‘So how did you know this was about to blow up?’

  ‘People talk?’

  ‘Like who?’

  Melissa placed her cutlery on her plate. ‘You seem very invested in this situation.’

  ‘That’s because I am. I don’t want to be associated with a company whose boss steals from people. If there’s any truth behind all of this, I’m ready to walk.’

  The words hung in the air between them.

  ‘You are?’ Melissa asked.

  ‘Of course. I hate the fact that people with money are allowed to get away with things us mere mortals would probably be locked up for.’

  ‘Totally agree with you on that,’ Melissa said, thinking of the inheritance her mother left to Vogue. Every single last penny, without a thought in the world for Melissa. Not that Melissa wanted any of it, well what was left anyway.

  All she wanted was recognition from the woman who brought her into the world, and she was denied that. What sort of a person did something like that?

  ‘How’s your food?’ Melissa asked after a few minutes of silence.

  ‘Mmm, it’s delicious.’

  ‘Good.’

  Despite Amelia not showing any signs of deception, Melissa couldn’t shake off the feeling that she had an agenda. For a moment, Melissa wondered if she was in cahoots with Vogue in an attempt to do some digging, then quickly brush that aside. It was Melissa who suggested Amelia come to her place, not the other way around. And it wasn’t as if Amelia hadn’t been out with her before. No, she was just being paranoid.

  They finished their meal before moving into the living room, where they sat on the floor side by side, their wine glasses within reach on the coffee table.

  ‘D’you want to talk about what happened between you and Cecile. You were really upset earlier,’ Melissa said.

  ‘Yeah, but I’m feeling better now. I’ve just got to accept that I can’t change other people’s behaviour, only my own.’

  ‘I learnt that a long time ago.’ Melissa leant across the table and picked up the remote control for the music centre. Seconds later, soft music filled the air.

  ‘You say that like you’ve experienced crap relationships too.’

  ‘You could say that.’

  ‘Parents or friends?’

  Melissa was on the verge of telling Amelia that she didn’t want to talk about her past, when she suddenly had the urge to open up to her. There was something about Amelia that made her feel safe to talk to.

  ‘I was adopted…’ Melissa glanced over at Amelia who looked back at her with an open expression.

  ‘I’m sorry, that must’ve been painful.’

  ‘It was. Still is sometimes. It’s the not knowing what you did wrong that hurts the most. The rejection.’

  ‘I’m not trying to justify why someone would give their baby away, but in some circumstances, the mother might not be able to cope.’

  ‘If that was the case, why would they then go on to have another child and keep her, it!’

  ‘Circumstances change I suppose. Look, what I’m trying to say is that I don’t think it’s anything to do with the child per se. I mean, look at you, any woman would be proud to call you their daughter.’

  Melissa had to fight back the tears as her body became awash with all the emotions she had suppressed for years. ‘You don’t need to say that.’

  ‘It’s true.’

  Melissa’s voice was full of emotion. ‘Sue and Ted, my adoptive, you know… they had a picture of me when I was a baby, that’s how I found her… they knew roughly where she was living at the time… and I got lucky.’

  ‘Did you make contact?’

  ‘I couldn’t. She was ill but her… family didn’t want the stress from the past to make her condition worse.’

  ‘That’s so sad.’

  Melissa brushed away a single tear that rolled down her cheek with the back of her hand. ‘I lost my last chance to meet her.’ Because Vogue stopped me.

  How many letters had she written to Vogue explaining who she was, only to be told that the police would be called if she made any attempt to approach any members of the family? When she had seen her mother’s obituary in the newspaper the following week, she was heartbroken. She watched the family grieve from afar. Her mother was dead, and her half-sister was to her as well. Nothing on earth could make her forgive Vogue for denying her the opportunity to meet her own mother before she died.

  ‘Have you still got the picture?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘Can I see it?’ Amelia said smiling. ‘I’d love to see what you looked like as a baby.’

  Melissa pushed herself onto her feet and went in search of the photo in her office, returning with it shortly after and sitting back down.

  ‘Here you go,’ Melissa said as she handed Amelia the photo. ‘Me and my mum.’

  Amelia’s eyes widened. ‘She’s… she’s … beautiful…’

  ‘She was,’ Melissa said proudly. ‘I wish I could’ve got to know her before she died.’

  Amelia took a mouthful of wine, draining it in one go.

  Melissa laughed. ‘You trying to make yourself sick, knocking it back like that.’

  ‘Sorry, I was um… thirsty.’

  Melissa took the photo back from Amelia, leaving her fingers in contact with Amelia’s for a little longer than required.

  ‘You know,’ Melissa leant forward and touched Amelia’s cheek, ‘you can always stay here if you don’t want to go back to Cecile’s tonight.’

  Melissa saw the rise and fall of Amelia’s chest.

  ‘I… I can’t. I don’t want to make things worse with Cecile. She’ll think I’m giving her the silent treatment or something.’

  ‘Okay. Understood,’ Melissa dropped her hand to her side quickly. ‘D’you mind if we call it a night. I’ve got to be in the office early tomorrow.’

  Melissa noticed the look of relief on Amelia’s face and realised the truth had been staring at her the whole time. Amelia wasn’t attracted to her. Probably never was. Their first meeting was an anomaly. Maybe there had been chemistry between them but there wasn’t anymore.

  They both got to their feet. ‘Well, thanks for a lovely evening, Melissa.’

  Amelia reached out and hugged her. Holding her tight.

  This to Melissa was worth more than anything that could have happened in the bedroom. For the first time in her life, she felt visible. Connected to another human being.

  Feeling an overwhelming sense of emotion wash over her, Melissa drew back. ‘Let’s do this again soon.’

  ‘Definitely.’

  Melissa walked her to the door, and they hugged briefly again. Shutting the door behind her, Melissa exhaled a deep breath.

  How was she going to get over a woman she was slowly falling in love with? A woman who she knew would never love her back.

  It felt like her mother’s loss all over again.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  The sound of the doorbell startled Vogue. She wasn’t expecting anyone. She opened the front door and could do nothing but stare at the woman standing a few feet away from her. To say she was dumbstruck was an understatement. Vogue swallowed hard, finding it difficult to speak. She could hardly believe the woman in front of her had the gall to show her face.