Chapter 3
3
BEATRICE
Even though I feel a strong sisterly duty to help Dee with her latest disaster, my heart sinks at the thought of having to explain this to Jem and ask if he minds if I have a day – or maybe a few days, depending on the extent of Dee’s injury – away from running the business.
We’d made a commitment to each other to be entirely focused on getting it off the ground and had agreed not to have any time off until we were going strong.
I can’t believe I’m having to renege on that promise already.
But Dee’s family.
And she’s always had the toughest time out of both of us, being the more emotionally sensitive one. Plus, the way our dad has always seemed to favour me hasn’t helped, especially as our mum has been a pretty absent parent for the most part. She’s far too self-involved. You can’t ever rely on her to show up for you when you need her.
Even though Dee’s pretended, for the most part, that she doesn’t care about this inequality, I’ve always felt it as an invisible barrier between us.
When we were younger, I was always so grateful not to be in the firing line of our dad’s wrath, I let her take the brunt of it.
And the guilt’s weighed heavily on me over the years.
So, I feel like it’s the least I can do to help her out with this situation.
At least it’s not the worst time I could be asking this favour of Jem. We’re in a bit of a holding pattern until we hear whether we’ve been successful with the funding we’ve applied for anyway, so it won’t be the end of the world if I take a bit of time off right now.
But still, it feels like a big ask.
I really don’t want him thinking I’m not fully on board with what we’re trying to achieve.
My professional pride is at stake here.
So, after being briefed by Dee, dropping her at the hospital, then rushing back to her flat to borrow some of her clothes, I finally make it back to my place and search out Jem, who’s sitting at his computer, hammering away at his keyboard. It always fascinates me to watch him work. He’s the fastest typist I’ve ever seen; his fingers seeming to move without conscious thought as he writes the code we need for the financial accounts management system we’re building.
‘How is she?’ he asks dryly, not looking away from his screen as he finishes off a line of code.
‘She’s at the hospital waiting for an x-ray of her ankle,’ I say, perching carefully on the edge of my desk and waiting till he looks up at me. ‘It’s probably a bad sprain, but there’s a chance she’s broken a bone. I suspect she’s going to be out of action for a while.’
‘When you say, “out of action”—?’ I can tell from his expression that he’s already anticipated my need for some kind of goodwill here.
The problem is, Jem and Dee have never really got on that well. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they’re sworn enemies, but they don’t seem to be able to be in the same room together without riling each other up. Their personalities are so different and it can make for an explosive mix whenever they’re in the same vicinity.
So I’m not entirely sure how he’s going to take this.
‘I’m really sorry to ask, but can I have a couple of days off till we know how this is going to affect her?’
His sigh is heavy and I can tell he’s struggling not to just snap a ‘no’ at me.
‘What exactly has she got you to agree to do?’ he asks instead.
It amazes me how intuitive he is some days.
‘I’m just going to stand in for her at her job today so she doesn’t get fired on the spot. Her new boss is a real piece of work from the sounds of it.’
He shoots me a look of confusion. ‘Hang on a second. Do you mean you’re going to pretend to be her?’
My face heats. ‘Just for today, yes. There’s an important event happening, apparently, and she’s desperate not to let her boss down.’ I hold up both hands at his expression of incredulity. ‘I know, I know, but she’s been trying so hard recently and this job is such a good opportunity for her.’
‘You know you really can’t hold yourself responsible for other people’s happiness,’ he says with a frown. ‘And by “other people”, I’m obviously talking about Delilah.’
‘I know, but she got a rougher deal than me after our parents’ divorce and it’s taking her longer to figure out her life plan. Our mum’s been next to useless about helping her make decisions about her future and there’s no way she’d ask our dad for help. She just needs a break.’
His frown deepens. ‘I’m not sure that’s true. She seems to have done perfectly well for herself so far with very little effort expended.’
I wave a hand at him, dismissing his concern. This same conversation has happened a few times recently – any time he suggests Dee is taking the piss in fact, which is often. ‘Anyway, I’ve told her I’ll do it.’
There’s a heavy pause, then to my relief, he huffs out a sigh, then raises a hand in what looks like acquiescence. ‘Fine. I guess it’s not my place to comment on the state of your relationship with your sister.’ He pauses, then clearly can’t help adding, ‘But it drives me crazy to see how much Dee plays on your sense of sisterly duty. I never see her doing the same for you.’
‘No. Well, luckily I don’t tend to need her help with anything.’
‘Exactly,’ he says, ‘and I’m not sure how much you’re actually helping her by trying to fix her messes for her. She needs to grow up and start taking responsibility for her own mistakes.’
‘Give her a break, Jem. The sprained ankle wasn’t her fault. It was an accident.’
He makes a non-committal sound in the back of his throat, then murmurs, ‘If she wasn’t so hung up on trying to shag her celebrity boss, it probably wouldn’t have happened.’
I choose to ignore this, mostly because I know, deep down, that he’s not wrong. You see, Jem and I overheard her the other day talking on her phone to a friend about how gorgeous both the hotel and her boss are. She’s clearly fascinated by him, despite his bad boy reputation – or maybe because of it. Fame has always captivated Dee. I think there was some sort of scandal involving him recently, which was doing the rounds on social media a few months ago and only added to his troublemaker rep, but I didn’t pay enough attention to be able to relate the ins and outs of it.
And I don’t have time to form further defence of my sister right now either. I’m already running late for her job as it is.
‘Please, Jem. Be kind. She’s struggled with her mental health recently and she was crying on me earlier.’
I see his body language change as my words appear to have an impact on him. I use this to press my advantage. ‘I swear I won’t let this affect the business.’ I cross my fingers in my lap, hoping to God my sister’s actions won’t make a liar out of me.
‘Fine. Go and do her job for her. All I’m saying is, keep in mind you’ve got your own life to live. You can’t live hers too.’
‘I know. I hear what you’re saying. Thanks, Jem. Seriously. I really appreciate your understanding,’ I say, a mixture of relief and apprehension rushing through me.
I stand up and make for the door, feeling the lack of time pressing in on me.
I don’t look back at Jem as I leave. I daren’t.
In the car, I smooth down the skirt belonging to Dee that I’ve already changed into, trying to squash my nerves into a manageable low hum.
She assured me that I’ll probably not even see Jonah Jacobson today. She thinks he’ll be too busy hanging out with his friend, whose event it is, to notice me busying about behind the scenes.
But I don’t have time to worry about that right now. I need to get going.
So instead, I take a breath and mentally cross everything that she’s right and I’m not about to walk headlong into a disaster of my own.