The Liberation of Alice Love - Abby McDonald [135]
“Fine.” Alice prodded at the hateful new intercom that Vivienne had presented as “a little gift.” “I’ll be right down.”
With a sigh, she reached for the latest in what seemed like a never-ending stream of paperwork. Vivienne was rising to the challenge of burying Alice in contract work, and there hadn’t been a night for all week that she didn’t haul home a stack of contracts to finish. It was just as well that the rest of her schedule was almost entirely empty. Just as she vowed, she had cut off all contact with Ella’s activities, but without her dance classes, investigation, or even occasional drinks with Nadia, she had plenty of spare time—and a pang of wistful regret whenever she thought of the jazz class she should be in at that very moment.
But it was for the best, Alice reminded herself, skipping down the staircase. She had managed to extricate herself from months of lies without detection, and that alone was worth the cost. So she missed the distraction of Ella’s routine, or the thrill that came from spinning some elaborate story. She was just lucky she’d kept her lives so separate, and that it had been simple to detach one from the other. All it took was a new mobile number and for her to stop attending her normal classes, and it was as if Ella had never existed.
“Anything else?” she asked Saskia, a note of irritation in her voice as she passed her the papers.
“Not right now.” Saskia sashayed off.
“Sitting this one out, huh?” Tyrell sauntered into reception, idly tapping away at his ubiquitous phone console.
“What do you mean?” Alice found a jumble of post that had yet to be sorted and began to pick out the letters addressed to her.
“You know, Vivienne and—” Tyrell paused. “Oh, you don’t know. Whoops.” He added, unapologetic, “Maybe you were kept out of the loop for a reason.”
Alice felt an ominous chill. “Tell me what’s going on.”
He sighed. “She’s meeting with Kieran right now, up in her office. I’m surprised you didn’t know. But hey, I guess he’s not really your client…”
Alice was already hurrying away before he had time to finish. She barreled up the stairs and pushed open Vivienne’s door to find her serving Kieran macaroons from a silver platter, her head bent toward him conspiratorially.
“And of course, I had no doubt you’d find your niche—”
She broke off, looking at Alice without even a hint of guilt. “Yes? Did you want something, dear?”
Kieran brightened. “Hi.” He waved awkwardly. “Vi said you weren’t going to be able to make it.”
Alice gaped. “I…I mean, what?” It took her a moment to recover, such was the blatant underhandedness of Vivienne’s secret little meeting. Then Alice realized: this was exactly what she’d done to win Kieran over herself, she just hadn’t had the nerve to do it under Vivienne’s nose. Pulling herself together, she forced a smile.
“I had another meeting, but I canceled.” Alice walked over and greeted Kieran brightly. “Is that a new haircut? I like it!” Settling into a chair, she reached for a macaroon, meeting Vivienne’s gaze in a defiant stare. “Now, what have I missed?”
***
The meeting was nothing more than a general chitchat, praising Kieran for his stellar performances and assuring him that this was only the beginning of his glittering career. Alice had heard Vivienne’s routine countless times, but on this occasion, every compliment felt like a personal insult. The moment Kieran had been ushered out, full of best wishes about his upcoming auditions, Alice turned to her.
“I must have missed the memo, about this little meeting.”
Vivienne arched her eyebrow. “Now, darling, don’t get all het up. I just thought it time Kieran and I caught up, it’s been so long since I saw him last.”
“Yes,” Alice replied coolly. “He did mention it had been at least five months since you’d last contacted him.”
Vivienne laughed gaily. “You know how busy I get!”
“Exactly.” Alice fought to keep her temper. “Which is why we agreed I’d be taking over with Kieran. And Julia,” she added, in