Free Two-Faced by Mandasue Heller Page B

seeing as you reckon they’ve all turned me down.’
    ‘Yeah, but they’re not the only ones in the book,’ Kim reminded her sharply. ‘You might not be good enough for them, but some one will bloody well want you.’
    Mia’s face reddened as the barbed words sank in deep and she pursed her lips tightly. Exhaling loudly, Kim closed her eyes and clenched her fists.
    ‘You know I didn’t mean it like that, so don’t try and put me on a guilt trip. I’ve been behind you a thousand per cent so far, but you’ve got to see this from my point of view. I’ve put everything into it, and I can’t afford to let you give up just because you’re pissed off about a few rejections. They’re idiots if they can’t see how good you are, but it’ll be their loss when you make it. And you will . But you’ve got to do your part. Even if it means starting out smaller than we intended. So I’m going to give that agent the photographer told us about a call.’
    ‘No way,’ Mia protested, pride making her baulk at the idea. ‘He’s not even got a Yellow Pages advert, so he must be well crap.’
    Saying ‘Beggars can’t be choosers,’ Kim rooted through her handbag for the slip of paper she’d carelessly stuffed in there – the one she’d thought she would never need. Finding it, she reached for the phone. She could feel Mia’s eyes boring into the back of her head as she tapped in the number, but she didn’t care. This wasn’t just about the money she already owed Len Pritchard, or what she owed the other loan shark she’d signed up with to get the rest of the money she’d needed; thanks to Eric, she was in the shit with the gas board as well.
    She hadn’t seen hide nor hair of him for weeks, and his phone had been switched off whenever she’d tried to ring him. So when he’d shown up out of the blue last week, she’d ignored the door and watched through the nets as he’d tried to get in with his key. Any normal man would have figured out that somebody must be in if the bolts were across. But not Eric. That thick bastard had stared at the door for a full five minutes, scratching his head, before going next door to ask Pam if she knew what was going on – and Kim had been furious to hear the devious bitch invite him in for a cup of tea.
    And it must have been one bloody big cup, because he’d been there ever since.
    Enraged afresh every time she heard them laughing or having sex through the thin walls now, Kim had taken to turning the TV up to drown them out. She didn’t even want him any more, she just wanted him to fix the meter, but they wouldn’t answer the door when she knocked and she hadn’t managed to catch them out on the street yet. And now the gas board had sent her a letter, telling her that they’d be coming round next Tuesday – and warning her that they’d be applying for a warrant if she didn’t let them in.
    So, yes, Mia might be upset about lowering her sights, but at least she wasn’t facing jail.
    ‘Hello, Mr Martin?’ Kim said when the phone was answered at last. ‘Sorry to disturb you, but I wondered if I could set up an appointment to see you . . . ?’
    Grimacing at the sound of her mum putting on the posh voice she’d been using at the agencies, Mia went back to bed. But just as she’d settled down, Kim ran in and yanked the quilt off her, saying, ‘Get up and have a bath. And don’t take all day about it, ’cos we’ve got to be at Sammy Martin’s dead on six, and we need to set your hair and get your make-up perfect.’
    Michelle was exhausted as she traipsed up the path to her home that afternoon. The school netball team had been playing an away match in Altrincham and the minibus had broken down on the way back, so they’d been forced to sit and wait until the school sent another one out to get them. All she wanted to do was have her dinner and go to bed, but she had a load of homework to get through first and she had to go to the library before it closed as