Free Tell Him About It by Holly Kinsella Page B

students a book each – signing and dedicating the copies.
    Towards the end of the event a pudding-faced journalist turned up from the local paper to profile the author. He first asked Adam questions about the book and the current state of affairs in Afghanistan (the journalist having not read the former and being ill-informed about the latter). He then asked Adam if he would like to comment about the rumour that his ex-wife was dating James Cardinal, the wild-boy Shakespearean actor.
    “No comment,” the ex-soldier replied, with more than just a little steel in his voice and expression.
    The warning shot across his bow was sufficient enough to encourage the hack to stick to his brief of just talking about the book. After the journalist left Sara apologised to her author, saying that she had spoken to him beforehand about the parameters of the interview.
    “There’s no need to apologise Sara. I know it wasn’t your fault. He’s a journalist. If a vulture spots a carcass he’s going to want to feast,” Adam remarked philosophically.
    *
    The rain continued to fall. After the signing Adam suggested that they have lunch. He recommended a nice, independent Italian restaurant which was a short walk away (remembering how Sara had mentioned the previous evening that Italian was her favourite food). But she said that she had to get to the hotel and catch up on some work. She felt guilty in snubbing him – and lying to him – but Sara felt guiltier still in regards to Simon. This had been the longest period, for some time, that they hadn’t spoken to each other. She needed to go back to the hotel and call him.
    As Sara got back to her room she received another email from Margaret Duvall. The first part mentioned how she had locked herself out from her twitter account again and the second part asked for an update on whether any of the newspapers had bitten in regards to an interview with Adam Cooper. Sara was more than tempted to open up the mini bar after reading the message, but she merely sighed and poured herself a glass of water.
    In contrast to the hotel in Birmingham, where her room had looked out upon a garden and some pear trees at the back of the hotel, Sara now gazed upon a half empty staff carpark and some over-filled bins. She felt compensated however as she noticed a card by the phone in her room, advertising that the hotel offered its guest thirty minutes of complimentary international calls. As phoning Simon on his mobile would be costly she decided to take advantages of the offer. It would now be morning in New York and she hoped to catch him before he left for work. She would doubtless spend more time listening to him, rather than talking, when they shared their week but that was fine. After all, her week had so far involved possibly falling for another man.
    “Hello, Simon Keegan’s phone,” a woman answered, professional politeness mixed with slight confusion from the strange number coming up on the caller register.
    “Come back to bed babe. You’ve played secretary enough on this trip. You need to role play something else,” Simon announced suggestively in the background.
    “Hello, who is this?” the woman, which Sara now recognised as being Lisa, Simon’s secretary, asked.
    “Simon’s ex-girlfriend.”
    Lisa gasped, but before she could say anything else Sara hung up the call. Sara bent over, as if she were about to be sick, and then fell onto the bed. Blood rushed up to her face – she was embarrassed and ashamed. And then her face grew redder with anger... She felt dizzy and sobbed, almost to the point of choking – gasping for air. Sara replayed Lisa’s voice – and his – over in her head again and wanted the ground to swallow her up. Or she wished that the ground could swallow them up. Bury all trace of him.
    She received a call back from him, but ignored it, throwing the phone down on the bed as if it were poisonous. His snake-like face popped-up on the screen and she winced. The