‘Where shall we start this lot? Mother and Child. I can start the bidding at sixty thousand.’

My hands were clammy and a hot flush reddened my cheeks. I kept my eyes pinned on the rostrum. The wait was interminable. Oliver’s thigh had moved away.

‘Sixty-five thousand; seventy; seventy-five thousand…’ The numbers increased and I only dared breathe when the gavel finally went down. ‘One hundred and twenty thousand pounds.’

I nearly passed out with all the excitement but Oliver was ominously quiet. There was no instantaneous celebration.

We trudged in silence back to the tube station. Oliver didn’t even pretend. His twenty-thousand-pound windfall was no consolation for my greater fortune. Whereas real love relishes another’s success, Oliver was driven by motives far from noble. His darker side took even firmer root in the days following the auction.

31

Rebecca

I made up my mind to leave as soon as I had James’s and Crystal’s blessing. I gambled that they would release me from the terms of my contract and let me leave their employ early.

This meant keeping James close a while longer. I told him I wanted to leave the gallery but he didn’t know that I was moving to the other side of the world. I spent the rest of the week making plans. My meagre belongings were put into storage and I made do with bed linen, a few mugs and plates and, what I termed ‘my essentials’ wardrobe. I padded round the bare flat, buoyed by a determination that things were about to change. All that was left to do was book a flight and pop home to see my parents one last time.

It was a Friday and, unbeknown to James, it would be our last Friday together. I locked up at work around five and headed for our usual meeting place. I felt decidedly uncluttered and light-headed as the future beckoned.

Mitch and I had made plans to travel the world, to backpack through Asia, scour the markets of Bangkok and then head for South America; take in the Amazon and Machu Picchu. Love had made us free or perhaps we were free spirits. I’m not sure which.

Although my trip down under might not have been the one of my dreams, for now the wide open spaces of Australia were exciting and it felt good to be moving on.

‘Hola! Your wish is my command.’ James waved the contract in the air. ‘What’s it worth?’

We sat at the same table we did every Friday. James had no idea how much things were about to change.

‘Thank you.’ I leant across and kissed him tenderly on the cheek. My gratitude was sincere. I took a deep breath.

‘Please don’t tell Oliver,’ he said. ‘Crystal is determined that at least one of you holds the fort until a replacement is found.’