Chapter Thirty-Four #2
I cleared my throat, my vision almost restored.
‘Ladies and gentlemen, kings,’ I darted my eyes to my two best friends who stepped closer to the stage to hear me speak, ‘and queens!’ Katy let out a small woo!
‘It is an honour to have you all here tonight to celebrate the work of one of this generation’s most exceptional artistic talents, Mr Alexander Cambi.
’ The room filled with warm applause. ‘When I first pitched for this exhibition, I dreamed of showcasing Alexander’s art to Scotland.
And here we are, Alexander’s first Scottish exhibition.
’ The room filled with appreciative faces.
‘And with your help tonight, through sharing this unique experience on your social media platforms, I believe that together we can share the beauty of this extraordinary artist’s work with the rest of the world.
I’m sure you can all agree how mesmerising these paintings are.
’ There was a ripple of agreement from the crowd.
‘Alexander, your art is exceptional, and we’re all truly blessed to be witnessing your first of many, I hope, Scottish exhibitions.
So, without further ado, please put your hands together for Mr Alexander Cambi. ’
The entire hall turned into one immense boom of applause, and a neat, bearded man waltzed down the stairs of Kelvingrove Art Gallery like a true king himself, taking it all in. He edged through a space made by the crowd and joined me onstage, taking hold of the microphone.
‘Thank you, Ella!’ He nodded gratefully and turned to his guests. ‘It is a pleasure being here with you tonight. I have always been a great fan of Scotland and the picturesque beauty surrounding your wonderful country,’ he began in his delicate accent.
As Alexander continued his speech, telling the room about his passion for art, my eyes squinted, searching for Philip in the darkness.
I found it difficult to distinguish between the men with their similar tuxedos.
Eventually, my eyes fell on him, standing with his arms crossed against his chest as a slim blonde girl rested her arm on his shoulder, whispering into his ear.
My eyes were straining against the bright lights.
Who was this bitch, and why was she all over my man?
! As though reading my thoughts, Philip removed her hand rather abruptly and pointed towards the stage, dismissing her.
She shook her head before storming away.
Shit. I couldn’t see her face. Who the hell was she?
I glanced over to Zola and Katy, who seemed to have missed the entire interaction.
‘Please have a wonderful evening, and please do enjoy the exhibition!’ Alexander finished, and loud applause once again roared around us.
I tapped him on the shoulder. ‘It has been a real pleasure to work on this project for you, Mr Cambi.’
Alexander kissed my hand. ‘No, the pleasure is mine. This is by far the grandest part of the tour to date. I’d love to work with you again.’
‘Anytime.’ I smiled, genuinely glad of his appreciation and delight. I’d actually nailed it.
The violinists began playing their own rendition of Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Traitor’, while I edged towards the stage steps, following Alexander down.
As we stepped back into the crowd, Alexander was quickly surrounded by press photographers keen to get a shot of him.
I smiled and stepped out of the way, allowing him to enjoy his well-deserved moment of glory.
‘Testing, testing!’ a voice called out over the crowd.
I turned my back to see that a very drunk Natasha had climbed onto the stage and stolen the mic.
Oh shit! What the fuck was she doing?
I turned around for Zola or Katy to help intercept, but the group of photographers blocked my path, and I felt like I was getting swept further and further from the stage.
‘I would like to thank Ella for inviting us here tonight and organising this whole thing. Isn’t this wonderful?’ Natasha screeched.
Fuck, fuck, FUCK! I could feel myself sweating, trying my best to barge through.
‘Excuse me! Excuse me!’ I called out.
‘Ella and I have also been working on a new project that launches tomorrow,’ Natasha announced.
‘And I would love it if you ladies could all sign up, so that together we can finally get our own back on the fucking arsehole loser men of Glasgow’s dating scene!
’ There was a shedload of venom behind her voice, causing it to echo off every inch of the cathedral-like venue.
The room turned deadly silent. Natasha had the entire audience’s undivided attention.
‘What is going on?’ Alexander bellowed.
‘So, basically, there is now a website called the Dicktionary Club,’ she continued, taking the silence for encouragement, ‘and it reviews all the men that use dating apps in Glasgow, so you can read up on what total dicks their previous lovers had learned they are before you date them. Genius, right?’ A few drunken cheers came from some of Natasha’s friends, who clearly thought this stunt was a great idea.
‘But my personal favourite part of the website is the section on a celebrity – or Z-lister in this man’s case! ’
Oh no . No . I could feel my heart plummet out of my arsehole. I began pushing more furiously, knocking people’s glasses out of their hands in my desperation to reach Natasha.
‘And this week’s special is Philip Khan, a local millionaire and playboy!
And Ella, what a fucking hero, has actually fake dated him, to finally out him for being .
.?.’ She glanced at her phone, reading from it: ‘ A cocky, arrogant, flashy, big-time show-off. Philip thinks he can buy affection with flowers and dinners. He is a complete womaniser and a full-on creep, who thinks any woman would fall for him because he has money! ’
A few amazed gasps popped off around the room as I finally got on the stage.
‘Isn’t that right, Ella?’ Natasha nodded at me, as if we’d been plotting this entire stunt together.
The lights shone back in my face. I was dizzy and my mouth was painfully dry. The entire film crew, production cameras and assorted paparazzi faced me.
‘And I should know, babe. He did the same to me!’ Natasha confided drunkenly – to me, and the whole of Glasgow.
Wait. What was she talking about?
I glanced across the room at Philip, who stood frozen to the spot. People who recognised him were pointing and whispering as Natasha spoke, their eyes darting between the stage and him. Eventually, he locked eyes with me just as my head caught up.
Who was Natasha upset over that day in the gym?
Philip.
He held my gaze for one agonising moment, before he turned and stormed out.
‘Wait, no, wait!’ I cried, rushing down the stage steps and pushing back through the crowd to try and follow him.
What had Natasha done? Was she insane? Why would she fucking do this?
I wanted to vomit. I wanted to cry. I had to explain.
I pushed and budged my way outside just as Philip reached the bottom of the steps.
‘Philip, stop!’ I called out, tears flooding my face.
‘Don’t! Fucking don’t!’ he yelled back.
I continued regardless until he was close enough to touch. ‘I can explain!’ I puffed out. ‘I promise I didn’t want to hurt you.’
He turned around, his eyes glassy with tears. ‘You have humiliated me, strung me along, and for what? To launch a gossip website?’
I gulped down, knowing that was exactly what I had done.
‘Yes,’ I yelped. ‘But I didn’t know you then, and now that I do —’
‘Now that you do?’ Philip snapped, catching his breath. ‘But I don’t fucking know you !’
I could feel myself shaking. ‘I know. I know how bad this sounds, but—’
‘Bad? You may have just ended my career tonight. Do you realise that? Do you realise what this looks like to the press? To my clients? I’m a fucking laughing stock! What about my family? What will they think?’ He was clutching his head, still joining all of the puzzle pieces together.
I paused, realising I hadn’t taken any of this into consideration. I was so invested in getting revenge for Katy that I hadn’t even considered how our website would make the men feel.
‘But hey, congrats! You’ve driven up all the publicity you’ll ever need for your new site. I hope it works out for you,’ Philip snarled bitterly, then turned and headed through the park.
‘Oh, yeah, sure. Walk away. You won’t let me explain. But do you know what, I may have done that, but how many women have you hurt over the years, eh? Don’t pretend you’re innocent when I’ve just heard Natasha’s speech!’ I snapped back.
He held up one hand and continued into the park, not once looking back.
When he was out of sight, I felt my body lower to the ground. I was beaten, empty, and I felt utterly sick. I couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.
‘Ella!’ Andrea’s voice shrieked from behind.
I stumbled back to my feet and turned to face her.
‘You have ruined everything for this campaign! Everything!’
I nodded, fully agreeing with her. ‘I know,’ I said weakly.
In the distance, Katy and Zola bounced down the steps, hurtling as fast as they could in their heels.
‘Come to the office first thing in the morning. Get your shit off your desk and HR will be ready for you!’ Andrea yelled. ‘How dare you embarrass me like this!’ Venom was seething through her teeth.
‘No! You can’t do that, Andrea,’ Katy yelled back, eventually stepping past her and wrapping her arm around me. ‘This wasn’t Ella’s fault. You saw that girl steal the mic. What could Ella do?’
‘Look at the drama she’s caused!’ Andrea ranted. ‘This is a fucking PR nightmare!’
Zola tutted, wrapping her arm around me from the other side. ‘You can’t fire her for this, Andrea. We set up the site, too; it’s not all on Ella.’
Andrea levelled her gaze at us, her beady eyes narrowing until they were mere slits.
It was the craziest I had ever seen her.
‘Nine o’ clock tomorrow morning, the conference room.
All of you!’ She turned on her heels and headed back up the steps to the gallery.
‘And don’t fucking dare go near Alexander.
I’ll deal with this shitshow!’ she roared as she reached the top step.
I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. As a gasp escaped me, my two best friends tightened their arms around me. I cried and sobbed into their shoulders.
‘What the fuck was that?’ Zola murmured.
‘I think we might actually be getting fired this time,’ Katy said, sounding as much in disbelief as I was.
‘I’m so sorry. I will sort it with you guys and Andrea. I’ll explain everything tomorrow and take the blame. You two don’t deserve to be involved in this,’ I said.
Zola shook her head. ‘No. We’re in this together, yeah?
The Dicktionary Club was all of us, not just you.
And anyway, we hate that bitch! How many times has she threatened to sack us over the years?
But even she wouldn’t risk losing her three top employees.
Once she calms the fuck down, she’ll be fine, OK? ’
I gulped, trying hard to regain my composure.
‘We should go, Ella,’ Katy whispered, edging her head to the reporters who had followed the tempestuous scene down the steps. ‘Come to mine. We all need to stay together tonight.’
My friends gazed at me, and as much as the thought of Katy’s crumby, piss-stained couch revolted me, the thought of being alone after tonight felt far worse.
I couldn’t speak, so I just nodded. My two friends grabbed my hands and we stumbled through the park together. Each time I felt myself sobbing, I’d feel an arm hold me tighter until, eventually, we reached Katy’s.