Page 90 of The Work Husband

‘Amazing, thank you.’ But my eyes didn’t leave the screen.

Footie star Trent spent the night in his local nick following a punch-up in a swanky Chelsea club. We can reveal that the striker, 28, was at the centre of a love triangle involving his on-again-off-again girlfriend/fiancée/quite honestly no one has a clue any more Rosie-Mae and a mystery man who was seen earlier canoodling with her on the dance floor. When contacted later at the £28-million Hyde Park penthouse she shares with Trent, the curvy blonde responded, ‘No comment.’

But who is the bearded Lothario whose looks are likely never to be the same again following Trent’s powerful right hook?

The word on the street is that Jamie Baldwin, celebrity fixer at blue-chip concierge firm Devereaux Partners, is currently out of office – and out of a job. Jamie, who attended Buckhurst School (fees £45,000 a year) along with fellow poshos, including the Duke of Altminster, was recently spotted boarding a flight to Vilnius, Lithuania, a favoured destination for cosmetic surgery abroad.

A coincidence? We couldn’t possibly say. Watch this space for more.

‘What are you smiling about?’ Sam asked.

‘Oh… nothing much. I’m just happy.’

Jamie’s comeuppance wasn’t as epic as he deserved, I thought as I stepped under the warm needles of the shower. But it was something – a humiliation, a job loss, reputational damage, not to mention the financial and physical cost of a full set of dental veneers. It was nothing compared to what he’d done to Ava and to a lesser extent to me. But living well is the best revenge, I told myself firmly.

And Jamie and Jasper simply didn’t matter to me any more. They were part of my past – a past I was in the process of not so much putting behind me as assimilating into my present, learning from and keeping the parts that were worthwhile and letting go of those that didn’t serve me.

That was how Elizabeth put it anyway, and I was grateful for her wisdom. But I wasn’t going to think about the past now – I had a future to focus on that was far more important, even though it wasn’t entirely my own.

‘Wasn’t he good?’ Molly said two hours later, snuggling Arthur in her arms, then putting him down so he could crawl across the grass and investigate a clump of spring daffodils. ‘He hardly cried at all, even when the vicar chucked water over his head.’

‘He could be a deckie on a yacht one day,’ I teased, ‘since he doesn’t mind getting wet.’

‘I’m not quite sure that’s the example I want you to give him as his godmother.’ Molly smiled. ‘But actually, he can be whatever he wants. He’s got his whole life to figure it out.’

‘I never thought christenings could be so fun.’ Ava came over to us holding a glass of champagne. She was wearing a violet dress that clashed with her hair, and she looked stunning. ‘So many of the old crowd from uni are here. It’s like a wedding only without hats.’

‘We weren’t sure whether to do it,’ Molly admitted, ‘but it seemed like a great excuse for a party, and besides, my mum was really keen, so I decided to pick my battles.’

I grimaced. ‘That’s a good strategy when it comes to mothers. I had an epic one over Dad’s wedding, but I insisted on going. It meant she didn’t talk to me for two weeks, but she’s over it now. And Emily’s really nice. It’s weird having a stepmother at my age, but I think we’ll end up being friends.’

I thought back to that day, just a few weeks before. Emily, radiant in her white dress. My father, glowing with pride as he posed for photographs with an arm around each of us, calling us ‘my girls’. Maybe the marriage would last and maybe it wouldn’t, but I hoped he’d learned enough from his unhappy marriage to create a happy one.

As for my mother, I couldn’t see her ever being happy, but I’d realised that her happiness was out of my control and her unhappiness not my fault.

‘Your arms are looking incredible, Ava,’ Molly was saying. ‘Totally ripped. What’ve you been up to?’

Ava grinned. ‘I’ve joined a gym. I can bench-press thirty kilograms now, and I’ve been going to boxing classes. Twice a week, I get to kick the crap out of whoever I’m partnered with, and then they kick the crap out of me. It’s great. I’m feeling so much more confident, and I’m even thinking maybe I’ll try dating again soon.’

She lost one of the people in her audience as Molly ran across the grass to stop Arthur eating a butterfly, but I was still listening.

‘That’s really great, Ava. Do you think you’ll…’ I trailed off, not sure whether she would want to talk about more serious things than her workout routine.

But she lowered her voice and leaned in to me. ‘I’ve been thinking a lot about what happened to me that night, Georgia.’

‘I’m sorry.’ I touched her arm. Molly was right – her muscles were incredible. ‘It must be so hard to keep reliving it.’

She shook her head. ‘It’s not like it was. I don’t have flashbacks any more, and hardly ever nightmares. I think maybe I’m strong enough now to report it properly. There was CCTV in the club that night, and even if the footage doesn’t exist any more, I told some of my friends what happened. Maybe I can prove he was there that night – I don’t know. But even if I can’t…’

‘You’ll have tried.’

She took another gulp of her champagne. ‘That’s it. It’s the right thing to do. There might be other people – other women he’s done that to.’

My shoulders braced and straightened under my flowery dress. If Ava was brave enough to stand up and tell people what Jamie had done to her, I would be too.

‘I’ll do whatever I can to help,’ I said. ‘It might not be much, but I want you to know that.’

‘Thanks, Georgia.’