“Thank you for coming with me,” Charlotte said, even though she hadn’t given Julia much choice. “Now, we can really talk. Tell me, how are you getting on?”
Her words were not gossipy but kind. Nevertheless, Julia was aware this was a family friend and she forced herself to be discreet even though she desperately wanted to talk to someone, anyone.
“I’m settling in…” she started.
“Codswallop,” Charlotte announced, the strange word forcing a giggle out of Julia and making her relax.
“Okay, it’s been tough,” Julia allowed.
“Tough is when you break the heel of your favourite pair of Jimmy Choos. There’s another word for it when your whole life turns on its head.” She took a drag from her cigarette and blew the smoke away from Julia. “Come on, you can tell Auntie Charlie,” she coaxed with an encouraging smile.
Julia smiled back. She needed someone to talk to and Charlotte seemed genuinely concerned so she gave in. “I’m tired, exhausted… the kids are, well… things are not good.”
“Monique,” Charlotte guessed, making the name sound like a curse and correctly judging the state of affairs at Sommersgate. “That woman is a nightmare. She wasn’t a good mother and she certainly isn’t a good grandmother.”
Julia was stunned by her frankness and curious at her words. Tamsin (and certainly not Douglas) had never spoken about her relationship with her mother even though Julia knew it was obviously nothing like what she and Gav had with Patricia. She knew, though, that it was none of her business.
“It’ll get better,” Julia assured her, trying to believe it herself. “I haven’t even been here for a week. I haven’t had the chance to really talk to Douglas.”
“Who ever really talks to Douglas?” Charlotte asked with further brazen honesty as she waved her cigarette around in the air. “I love him but he’s about as approachable as The Guards.” She took another deep drag and then glanced at the crowd, obviously worried that Oliver would discover her habit then her eyes moved back to Julia. “Listen to me, I was Tammy’s friend, I miss her. She was wonderful and an important part of my life. But I cannot imagine what possessed her to do this to you and Douglas. She loved that house, God knows why, it’s the creepiest place on earth. But she connected with it. I figure she talked Gavin into having the kids brought up there and to protect you, they made Douglas guardian too.”
Julia couldn’t hide her surprise at this announcement. She, too, had spent hours trying to figure out what intentions Gavin and Tamsin had when they put her and Douglas in what was seeming, more and more, not only an impossible, not even an inconceivable but maybe a catastrophic situation. Especially if Julia couldn’t control the avid clenching of her stomach any time Douglas was near.
“Do you think?” Julia asked.
“I can’t imagine why else. Tammy adored Douglas but she didn’t fool herself about him. He’s a good man but, let’s face it, he’s no father figure.” Julia couldn’t help but laugh out loud at that, Charlotte threw her a grin and carried on. “So, Tammy wanted the kids at Sommersgate and you to raise them because they both thought you were fabulous and everyone knows you love those kids. But they had to know Monique would be a problem. Ergo, Douglas is thrown into the fray, poor man. He worshipped his sister, you know.”
No, she didn’t know. Worship was the kind of thing people did to Douglas, not the other way around.
Charlotte continued. “It’s clear he’s already decided on protecting you, if you know what I mean. So, my advice to you is to take him up on it.”
Julia frowned. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“The possessive arm thing, wasting no time in dragging you in front of the paparazzi as a declaration of your position and his favour. Trust me, everyone in there…” she gestured with her cigarette to the gallery, “knows who you are and why you’re here and that you are not, upon arrival in this country, being hidden away like a poor relation whose role is now nanny of her Lady Sister-in-Law’s children. No, instead, you’re out here, looking fabulous… and you do look fabulous by the way, that dress is amazing… and drinking champagne. And Douglas’s favour is a sought after commodity. He shines his light on you, not even Monique could dim it. Believe me, there is nothing, not one thing that Douglas does that doesn’t have a purpose. This…” she gestured lavishly to the alley, “is his subtle way of telling his mother, when she returns, and anyone else for that matter, to back, the hell, off. Well done him!” She finished, clapping her hands, rather dangerously in Julia’s opinion, considering the lit cigarette.
This news, coming from a woman who had known Douglas for years, was so welcome that Julia felt the tears sting her eyes.
“Oh no, don’t do that!” Charlotte cried, coming close to Julia and squeezing her arm reassuringly. “Your makeup is gorgeous and everyone’s going to be looking at you. You can’t ruin it. Here, have a cigarette, it’ll calm you down.”
“I quit ages ago,” Julia admitted, taking a deep breath to fight back the tears.
“Well, I suppose since you’re currently the moral compass for three children, now isn’t the time to start up again. I must quit too or Ollie will divorce me.” She gave Julia’s arm another squeeze before she took her hand away. She dropped her cigarette and crushed it under the toe of her beautifully-shod foot. She straightened her shoulders, tucked Julia’s arm in her elbow and started forward but Julia pulled firmly back and looked at the woman. For the first time in months she felt less tense and less worried and those feelings lit her green eyes to sparkles, even in the dark alley.
“I…” Julia hesitated, not knowing how to put her feelings into words, then she continued, “thank you. I appreciate you telling me this.”
Charlotte shook her head and patted Julia’s arm, her eyes kind. “Enough of this, let’s go show them how fabulous you are.”
And that was what Charlotte did.
For the rest of the night, Julia had a wonderful time. She was wrong, Charlotte wasn’t just witty, she was hilarious. They drank glass after glass of champagne and Charlotte introduced her to everyone, making outrageous comments that made Julia laugh so hard she nearly cried.
Douglas hadn’t been lost in Charlotte’s determined efforts for the evening, even as she whisked Julia from person to person, and drink to drink, they always came back to Douglas. Charlotte would deposit Julia firmly at his side for just enough time for him to smile down on her or lean over and comment in her ear, showing everyone clearly, and they were most definitely watching, that Julia did indeed have his “favour”. Then Charlotte would whisk Julia away to show her off again.