Chapter Eighteen
It was strange working in the studio without Daniel. Anna kept expecting him to walk through the door at any moment, but of course he didn’t. She couldn’t help wondering what he was doing — whether he was getting to spend more time with Ben, as he’d said he had wanted to. She imagined him doing the school runs and going to the park or out for pizza in the evenings. She also wondered if he was working on his plans for a photography school. She still hadn’t had a chance to ask him how his future plans might affect her. She supposed she’d just have to wait and see, though she didn’t like that her future depended so much on someone else’s decisions. But after Monday, she realised that no one could really know what lay around the corner.
She had returned home on Tuesday to an almost hero’s welcome. Both her dad and Harry were so pleased to see her, and even Daisy had stopped by after work. Everyone wanted to know what had happened. As she had to go through it all again, the memory of it terrified her. Every night she relived it in her dreams, often waking with a start, sweat bathing her body. On Wednesday she’d visited the hospital in an attempt to see how Eva was doing. The nurses had told her that she was stable but, at the moment, she was only receiving family visitors. Anna wrote her a note, telling her she wished her well in her recovery, and went back home.
On Thursday, with everyone out at work, Anna had decided to come into the studio. Her exhibition was in two weeks’ time and there was plenty to be done. Besides, she reasoned, keeping busy would occupy her mind. Despite her best efforts, though, she couldn’t stop thinking about Daniel and how he had nearly kissed her, twice. She wondered what would have happened on Tuesday if they hadn’t been interrupted. Perhaps it was best that they had, and that Daniel was now in Cheshire. The last thing she needed in her life was any more complications.
She was deep in concentration, studying a photo she’d taken recently of the River Thames, from the outside of the Angel pub, wondering why it wasn’t quite right, when her phone rang. She picked it up without thinking, half-hoping it would be Daniel.
‘Hi, Anna, it’s Mark. How are you?’
For a moment she was startled by the sound of his voice, but eventually she managed to reply, ‘I’m fine, thanks. How are you?’
‘Good. I’ve been reading about you in the news and I wanted to make sure you’re okay.’
‘Yes, I’m fine, just a few cuts and bruises.’
‘It must have been terrifying.’
‘Yes, it was.’ It was strange to be speaking to him like this after the way they’d parted. Strange and a little disconcerting.
‘Lucky you had Redfern by your side, then.’
‘Sorry?’
‘I must say you two seem to be getting along. It hasn’t taken you long to work your magic on him, has it?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘That photo of the two of you. You certainly looked close.’
She recognised the sneer in his voice — a cold shudder ran down her spine. The photo had been splashed across the papers with the caption, “Daniel Redfern and his pretty assistant, survivors of the explosion.”
‘We’d just been through a very traumatic experience and he was concerned that I was injured. That’s all that photo was,’ she said, trying to defend herself. To defend them both.
‘If you say so, but you of all people know that a picture paints a thousand words.’
‘And two and two doesn’t make five. Is there anything else you want to say, Mark? Only I’m very busy—’
‘I’m sure you are. Not long until your exhibition now, is it? And I hear Redfern is sponsoring that too. Very cosy.’
Briefly she wondered how he knew about the exhibition. Charlotte hadn’t even told her yet where it was being held, which was beyond frustrating, but perhaps he’d heard through the grapevine. The gallery world was very small after all, and full of gossips.
‘Yes, I’m looking forward to it.’ She ignored the snipe. ‘You know it’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but up until now it hasn’t been possible.’
‘So the move has been to your advantage, then?’
‘Oh, I would say so, Mark. Best thing I could have done to be honest. Thanks for your call and your concern, but I really am very busy.’ And with that she cut him off. She dropped the phone onto the desk, as though it had just scalded her, and realised she was shaking.
Mark wasn’t the kind of man who liked to be second best and she recognised the tone in his voice. It spelled trouble. With her hands still shaking, she made herself a cup of coffee. Mark was just jealous that she was doing well for herself without him, she reasoned. And, besides, what could he possibly do to hurt her now?
* * *
It was a relief when she walked into the studio on Friday morning to find Daniel sitting at the desk.
‘Hello!’ she said in surprise. ‘You didn’t say you were coming back.’
‘I got back late last night. Lucinda let Ben stay at mine all week, but he’s going on a school trip today so he went back to hers last night so she could make sure he had everything he needed. She was surprisingly accommodating, considering it was such short notice.’
‘Well, she couldn’t not be after what you’ve just been through.’
‘Perhaps not, but I needed to get back anyway. We’ve got a lot to do here.’
‘We have?’
‘Yes, Fashionista have asked for the photos they want to use for the memorial article, so we need to get to work on them, and when that’s done we’ve got an exhibition to prepare for.’
‘Yes, well, I’ve been working on that while you’ve been away.’
‘Good. I’ll take a look at where you’re at this afternoon.’
Anna felt a wave of relief wash over her. He hadn’t been in touch with her at all since he’d been away and she was beginning to think that he’d forgotten about her exhibition — and her for that matter.
‘And,’ he continued. ‘Charlotte is coming round later to discuss the final arrangements.’
‘Oh, good. I hope that means she’ll finally tell us where the venue is.’
‘Yes.’ He frowned. ‘I must admit she’s being very cagey about that, says it’s a surprise.’
‘I look forward to being surprised then, as I’d really like to know where it’s going to be.’
Daniel nodded. ‘I know what you mean. All this secrecy is a bit strange.’
As she worked throughout the rest of the morning, she worried about her debut exhibition. She’d let them both take over and now she had hardly any control over what should be her proudest moment.
* * *
‘So.’ Charlotte clapped her hands, a huge grin on her face. ‘The big reveal is that your exhibition is going to be held at . . .’ She paused for dramatic effect. ‘The Whigmore art gallery.’
Anna eventually found her voice. ‘The Whigmore?’
‘Yes, it’s brilliant isn’t it? They don’t normally exhibit photography, so this is a real coup.’
‘I know,’ Anna said. ‘I used to work there.’
‘That’s the best bit of all. You’re going to be a huge success and they’re going to see how far you’ve come since leaving them.’
‘I’m not so sure about that.’ Now Anna realised the reason behind Mark’s phone call earlier in the week. He’d known all along, and she hadn’t, and that made her feel at a complete disadvantage. She looked towards Daniel, hoping for some support. He was obviously as confused as she was.
‘Charlotte, can you not see that this might make Anna feel uncomfortable? At the very least you could have run this by her before now. In case it didn’t feel right to her.’
For a moment Charlotte looked uncertain, then the smile was back on her face. She looked directly at Anna. ‘But that’s precisely why I didn’t tell you. You don’t have the self-confidence and you’d have wanted to back out, but it’s too late now. Believe me.’
‘If you say so,’ Anna said reluctantly. But she had a very bad feeling about this. A very bad feeling indeed.