The Valentine Affair

by Lyons, Mary

  Having only met Susan during the course of writing her article, Alex hadn’t been at all sure how she and the other girl would get on together during the course of the long day. But she needn’t have worried. Right from the moment they’d left the house, intent on a mad spending spree, they’d both had a really great time.

  With London’s King’s Road full of dress shops and exclusive boutiques, it hadn’t been long before they’d found the perfect ball gown to complement Susan’s pale skin and auburn hair.

  It had clearly been a great choice, Alex thought now, gazing at the emerald-green satin dress, with its tight bodice emphasising Susan’s tiny waist and sweeping out into a full, gathered skirt. With matching shoes and small evening purse completing her ensemble, she looked really so pretty that Alex was certain that Nigel had only to take one glance at his fiancée, before he fell more madly in love with her than ever.

  In fact, Alex thought as she glanced around the room, she was really highly delighted at the effort everyone had made to look so glamorous for the ball tonight.

  While Dave seemed slightly uncomfortable, occasionally running a finger around the collar of his white evening shirt and clearly unaccustomed to wearing a dinner jacket, his girlfriend Kelly had really pulled out all the stops. The white-gold hair piled up in an intricate chignon at the top of her head might have been expected from someone who owned a hairdressing salon, however, the long, figure-hugging plain black crêpe dress had been an inspired choice. Wearing no jewellery but a small pair of gold earrings, Kelly looked a million dollars.

  ‘Don’t they look great together?’ she muttered to Sophie as they stared at the plumber and his girlfriend.

  ‘Mmm...’ her friend agreed. ‘And, if I may say so, you don’t look too bad yourself, kiddo!’ she added, rolling her eyes dramatically, before crossing the room to replenish the others’ glasses.

  Nor do you, Alex thought, quickly deciding to make Sophie a permanent gift of the long gold sheath dress. Quite why she’d ever thought of it as her ‘best’ dress, she had no idea. Because it obviously suited the other girl’s dark colouring far better than it had ever done her own.

  However, she had very strong doubts about her new ball gown. In fact, she was definitely beginning to think that she’d made a great mistake in allowing Susan’s encouragement to override her own good sense on their shopping trip earlier today.

  As soon as they’d set eyes on the vivid crimson satin dress with its very low-cut, heart-shaped strapless bodice, Susan had declared that it would be absolutely perfect for a St Valentine’s Day Ball.

  And maybe she had a point. But Alex couldn’t get rid of the sneaking suspicion that she now bore a very strong resemblance to Jessica Rabbit—the heroine of a wildly popular film which mixed cartoon characters with real actors.

  Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud ringing of the doorbell, and she quickly gathered up her guests, shepherding them out of the house and into the ultra-glamorous stretch limousine which she had hired to take them to the ball.

  ‘Well...I reckon that this has to be the only way to travel!’ Dave exclaimed as they arrived outside the large London hotel. ‘Come on, ladies—let’s hit the big time!’ he added, giving a regal, lordly nod of thanks to the chauffeur and following the rest of the party up the steps and through the wide revolving door.

  ‘Relax—stay cool!’ Alex murmured to Susan, who was hanging nervously back and gazing with frightened eyes at the large foyer crowded with guests. ‘I’m quite sure that Nigel will turn up. And, believe me, he’s going to think you look fantastic.’

  ‘Oh, I do hope so,’ the other girl muttered nervously.

  However, it very soon became clear that she needn’t have worried. Because, just as they were making their way towards the cloakroom to get rid of their overcoats and warm wraps, Alex spied the thin, fair-haired figure of Nigel, pushing his way through the crowd towards them.

  ‘I think “gobsmacked” is the right word!’ Sophie laughed as they watched Nigel staring transfixed down at his fiancée, as if gazing at a divine vision. In fact, it almost brought a tear to Alex’s eyes to see the tender way in which he gently raised her hand to his lips, before grinning proudly as he led Susan away into the ballroom.

  ‘I don’t think that you’ll see very much more of them tonight! I’ve never seen such a case of love’s young dream,’ Sophie muttered, a distinct note of envy in her voice.

  ‘What about your date?’ Alex asked.

  Her friend shrugged. ‘He’s bound to be around here somewhere. Oh, yes, there he is.’ She waved to a tall, handsome man across the room. ‘See you later, OK?’

  Alex nodded as Dave and Kelly joined her.

  ‘This is really great!’ Dave said enthusiastically. ‘We think we’ll just go off, if that’s all right?’

  ‘Fine,’ Alex told him. ‘I’m just going to track down our photographer, and then I think we’ll take most of the pictures as soon as possible. Which will mean you can then spend the rest of the evening enjoying yourselves.’

  ‘That’s a good idea,’ Kelly agreed with a grin. ‘Especially as I’m not sure just how long this hairdo of mine is going to stay up in one piece!’

  By the time Alex met up with Sid Reilly, most of the couples attending the dance had drifted away from the foyer and into the ballroom. It now looked almost certain that Leo and Fiona were not going to turn up.

  What’s new? she asked herself grimly, trying to ignore the load of heavy depression settling on her bare shoulders. After all, she’d always known that Leo would do his very best to wriggle out of attending this function—even if the ball was organised by his mother.

  ‘Now, are you sure that you know which are the right couples?’ she asked Sid. ‘It would be a disaster if you took pictures of the wrong ones!’

  ‘Yeah. There won’t be any problem,’ he assured her. ‘Although I must say that you’re looking very tasty, Alex. Very tasty, indeed!’ he added with a wolfish leer. ‘How that dress of yours manages to defy the laws of gravity beats me!’

  ‘Get lost, Sid! Kindly remember that you’ve a job to do.’ She grinned, having worked with the photographer before., and being well used to his banter. All the same...his words had accurately reflected her own doubts about the dress she was wearing. If her grandmother, for instance, had ever seen her in such a low-cut gown—she’d have had raving hysterics!

  ‘Talking of doing my job,’ Sid was saying, ‘I thought Mike said that there were supposed to be three pairs of lovebirds here tonight. Do I take it that one pair has flown away?’

  ‘Something like that,’ she agreed, and was just explaining that, despite all her best efforts, the upper-class couple hadn’t bothered to turn up, when she felt her arm being firmly grasped by a tall figure standing behind her.

  ‘Leo...!’ she gasped as he spun her around to face him.

  All the carefully prepared, crushing remarks which she’d been practising for the past week seemed to have deserted her as she gazed up into the gleaming green eyes beneath their heavy eyelids.

  ‘I...er...I was quite certain that you weren’t going to turn up,’ she muttered lamely as she desperately tried to pull herself together.

  ‘Oh, ye of little faith,’ he drawled coolly, before adding with a grin, ‘I couldn’t possibly be expected to miss seeing you in that quite disgracefully sexy dress, could I?’

  ‘But...but where’s Fiona?’ Alex asked, gazing quickly about the foyer as she tried to spot the other girl’s small, slight, dark figure.

  As much as she’d like to tell the foul man exactly what he could do with himself, Alex suddenly realised that she couldn’t. Or, at least, not just at the moment.

  Unfortunately, she had no alternative but to face the harsh facts of life: both she and Sid still had a job to do. It was only after the photographer had taken his pictures of the happy couples that she’d be able to have a blazing row with Leo—something she’d been looking forward to for the past week. And, with any luck,
she told herself viciously, cut him well down to size!

  “Ere. Isn’t this one of them missing aristos, then?’ Sid enquired, quickly snapping off a picture of Leo with his arm still about Alex’s waist.

  ‘Yes, he is.’

  ‘No, I’m not.’

  Both Alex and Leo answered together at once.

  ‘Suit yourselves!’ Sid shrugged, before ambling off to photograph the other two couples.

  ‘So—where is Fiona?’ Alex enquired bleakly, moving adroitly away from his tall figure. ‘If you’ve actually bothered to turn up, I don’t suppose your girlfriend can be far behind.’

  ‘Well, that’s where you’re quite wrong,’ Leo told her, his dark brows lowering as he frowned down at the tight, almost aggressive expression on Alex’s lovely face. ‘Look, we’ve got to have a good, long talk,’ he added, taking her arm and steering her across the foyer, away from the ballroom towards a quiet bar.

  ‘The thing is, Fiona couldn’t make it here tonight. I’ll explain exactly why, of course, but I’m going to have to ask you to... Oh, Lord—that’s torn it!’

  Startled to hear him mutter a quick oath under his breath, Alex’s gaze followed his to see a large, imperious lady bearing down on them. She would have recognised that huge beaky nose anywhere! It had to be Leo’s mother, Eleanor Lucas!

  ‘Hello, darling!’ the woman called out while still some six feet away, her voice booming like a foghorn and echoing off the walls of the large foyer. ‘How lovely to meet dear Fiona at last!’

  Quickly clasping Alex’s arm in an iron grip, Leo hissed out of the side of his mouth, ‘For God’s sake—keep your mouth shut. Fiona couldn’t make it tonight. So just agree to everything I say, OK?’

  ‘What...?’ Alex gazed up at him in bewilderment.

  ‘My dear, I’m so glad you were able to come to the ball.’ Eleanor was braying with a wide, toothy grin, clearly not recognising the girl she’d once known eight years ago. ‘And how is your mother? It seems simply ages since I’ve seen dear Ethel,’ the older woman added, with a completely false smile pinned to her lips.

  ‘Ethel and George were sorry they couldn’t be here tonight,’ Leo was saying coolly, when Alex suddenly decided she’d had it!

  She didn’t know what game these awful people thought they were playing—but she certainly had no intention of letting Leo make a fool of her yet again! Why on earth should she have to pretend to be Fiona Bliss? The whole idea was ridiculous!

  On the other hand...why not? Goodness knows, she had a long overdue score to settle with ghastly Eleanor Lucas. What the heck? She might as well enjoy herself—and cause as much trouble as possible.

  ‘I’m so sorry Mummy isn’t here,’ Alex simpered, trying her best to mimic Fiona’s breathless, small voice. ‘But, as she said, there’s no way she could bring herself to attend such a boring, low-class sort of function—full of the hoi polloi and general riffraff of London.’

  ‘Oh, really...?’ Eleanor’s lips tightened into an ominously thin line.

  ‘Mmm...’ Alex nodded happily, giving the older woman a beaming smile while Leo’s figure suddenly stiffened; he frowned down at the girl beside him, as if not entirely sure that he’d heard her correctly.

  ‘Which is why Mummy has decided to organise her own St Valentine’s ball next year,’ Alex prattled on, accurately placing her poisoned darts where she knew they would cause the most damage. ‘And, of course, it’s sure to be a big success, because most of her friends and acquaintances have already promised to buy lots of tickets.’

  ‘Oh, really...? That’s very interesting!’ Eleanor snapped angrily, her cheeks suddenly purple with rage at the thought of Ethel Bliss intending to take over her role as organiser of the best charity ball in London. ‘It seems I must have a word or two with your dear mother, doesn’t it?’ she added grimly.

  Right! That should take care of both Eleanor and Fiona’s mother, Alex told herself gleefully, feeling that she ought to be congratulated for scoring two bull’s-eyes at one and the same time.

  ‘Stop this—at once!’ Leo hissed out of the corner of his mouth, his fingers tightening threateningly on her arm.

  ‘Of course, Mummy’s absolutely mad about my darling, Leo,’ Alex continued, ignoring the dangerous glint of anger in his eyes as she gave him an adoring, simpering smile.

  ‘I’m such a lucky girl!’ she continued quickly, not giving Leo a chance to say anything as she turned back to flash Eleanor yet another hundred-megawatt smile. ‘Especially when I think of all those thousands of really, really glamorous women who’ve been in and out of his bedroom over the past few years!’

  ‘For God’s sake!’ Leo exploded.

  His mother gave an anxious, nervous laugh, quickly glancing around the foyer to make sure that no one else—especially any reporters!—had heard the artless prattle of this very beautiful but obviously dim-witted girl. She’d always known, of course, that her handsome son was...er... very attractive to the opposite sex. But he couldn’t possibly... Not that number of women, surely?

  ‘Oh, yes! Mummy says that he’s a real tiger between the sheets!’ Alex continued, positively drunk on the heady fumes of revenge.

  Ignoring both Leo’s fury and the harsh pain of his iron fingers suddenly biting deep into her arm, she added in a light, artless voice, ‘Darling Leo has said that I mustn’t expect him to give up all his girlfriends when we’re married because it would be asking far too much. But Mummy says that the threat of a loud, noisy and very acrimonious divorce case will soon sort him out. What do you think?’

  Eleanor gasped, clasping a hand to her bosom and turning her horrified gaze on her son, quite sure that she was about to have a heart attack any minute.

  But he, suddenly breaking out of his equally horrified trance, was now striding swiftly away towards the ballroom, determinedly dragging his ‘fiancée’ behind him.

  ‘And just what did you think you were doing with that quite disgusting, totally slanderous performance?’ he ground out through clenched teeth, marching onto the dance floor and pulling her roughly into his arms.

  ‘I was just enjoying myself at your expense, you rat!’ she retorted, raising her voice to be heard over the music. ‘After all, it was your idea to pretend that I was Fiona Bliss. And where is your dear fiancée, anyway?’

  ‘You can leave Fiona out of this,’ he hissed furiously, and moved adroitly to avoid another couple on the crowded floor. ‘Because she had absolutely nothing to do with that...that horrific exhibition you’ve just put on. Goodness knows the ideas you’ve now put into my mother’s head!’ he raged, practically grinding his teeth with fury.

  ‘I’m not going to suffer a bleeding heart about that,’ Alex retorted. ‘Besides, maybe it’s about time that Eleanor learned just what a Casanova her son really is. You really do believe in the adage “love ’em and leave ‘em”, don’t you?’ she added with a shrill, high-pitched laugh.

  ‘What the hell are you talking about?’

  ‘I’m talking about the fact that it’s a week since I last saw you and you haven’t even bothered to try and contact me. Other than a brief call—which didn’t make any sense at all—from somewhere that sounded like the bottom of the sea. So, it looks as if I was just another notch on your bedpost, doesn’t it?’ she ground out, desperately wishing that there were enough room on the dance floor for her to be able to take a hefty swing and give him a punishing kick on the shins.

  ‘You’re determined to think ill of me, aren’t you?’ he demanded angrily.

  ‘Yes, I damn well am!’ she snapped, just getting ready to give him yet another piece of her mind when she found herself jerked hard up against his chest, his arms closing tightly about her slim figure as his mouth ruthlessly crushed hers in a furiously angry kiss.

  There were, of course, many other dancers on the floor engaged in romantic embraces. But none of them seemed to attract the attention of the Chronicle’s photographer who, having finished taking pictures of the other two couples,
now turned his attention to the closely entwined figures of Leo and Alex.

  Long after the music stopped, they remained locked together on the floor. And it was only the bright, blinding flash of the camera which jerked them sharply back to reality.

  Swearing violently under his breath, and practically grinding his teeth with rage as he saw that he and Alex were being viewed with some considerable ribald amusement by well over two hundred people, Leo quickly took hold of Alex’s wrist, and swiftly towed her off the dance floor.

  ‘What in hell do you think you’re doing?’ Alex panted, barely able to keep up with the stride of his tall figure as Leo hauled her out of the ballroom and into a small, deserted anteroom.

  ‘If you think I’m impressed with these caveman tactics, you’re very much mistaken!’ she ground out, rubbing her sore wrist and glancing down at the bare skin of her upper arm, certain that she could see bruises forming where Leo had gripped her so fiercely earlier out in the hotel foyer.

  ‘This “me Tarzan—you Jane” attitude doesn’t impress me, you know,’ she added defiantly as Leo paused to slam the door shut behind him before advancing menacingly across the floor towards her.

  ‘Believe me, I’ve got far better things to do than try to impress a dyed-in-the-wool troublemaker like you,’ he snarled dangerously. ‘You’ve really enjoyed yourself this evening, haven’t you, Alex?’

  ‘Yes...yes, actually I have,’ she retorted, raising her chin and refusing to be intimidated by the angry figure looming over her. ‘And it serves you right!’

  ‘Oh, it does, does it?’ he snorted with fury. ‘Well, if it makes you feel any better—I’m quite willing to agree with you.’

  Puzzled by this sudden volte-face, Alex frowned, almost wincing at the glimpse of terrible rage in his glinting green eyes.

  ‘Yes, it definitely serves me right. Because I already knew that you were trouble with a capital T, didn’t I? Right from the very first moment you appeared in my office. I should have taken to the hills as fast as I could.’

  He gave a dry, caustic bark of laughter. ‘And no one can say I didn’t have fair warning. Because you even told me yourself that your name was Nemesis! So... maybe you can also tell me why I was such an idiot as to have anything more to do with you. Because I’d deariy like to know why I’ve been so insane!’ he thundered, waving his arms angrily in the air for a moment, and then beginning to pace furiously up and down the room.