Free Sin Tropez by Aita Ighodaro

what she would go on to next. Pam had hinted that there might be a chance
for her to stay on longer, but it wasn’t clear whether that was a job offer or simply an extension of the internship. Still, there were only six people working on editorial for the Gazette and four of them were nearing retirement age so surely they must be looking for someone. Then perhaps she could apply for something more stretching in a year’s time.
    She let herself into the small office and was surprised to find the usually subdued team chatting heatedly.
    ‘What’s up?’ she asked. ‘Anything exciting happening in the ghettos of Wimbledon?’
    ‘Well actually,’ replied Tom, struggling to pick up a stapler that had fallen off a pile of papers on Sarah’s desk, ‘we do have an interesting assignment for you.’
Tom, her youngest colleague at thirty-four, but with a chin for each year of his life, had been in love with Sarah since she’d first walked in, and she found his ardour very sweet. Not that
she’d ever fall for it, she was very happy in her relationship with Simon Tamarand, her childhood sweetheart.
    ‘As you might have heard,’ continued Tom, ‘Willy Eckhardt is moving to the UK from LA to make a fresh start, trying to resuscitate his pop career while setting up a series of
business ventures in the entertainment sector. Anyhow, the place he has chosen for his new home is none other than our very own Wimbledon.’
    ‘And,’ cut in Pam, ‘he’s agreed to give us his first interview this evening.’
    ‘Exactly,’ said Tom. ‘He’s notorious for not giving much away, but as you can turn men into babies with your smile we thought we’d give you the assignment!
We’ve booked the Wolseley for 9 p.m. this evening and you’re to meet him and his publicist, Gloria, there for supper.’
    ‘Oh gosh!’ exclaimed Sarah. ‘Well OK, yep, sure. Um. OK!’ This was very out of the blue. She hadn’t had any big pieces to do and suddenly they were giving her their
biggest star all to herself. Willy was huge! Sure, a couple of things he’d done were verging on naff – that Willy Make it in Hollywood? documentary was truly dreadful – but
in terms of exposure he was massive, everybody knew him. Good thing she hadn’t changed her mind and gone on that free holiday with Abena; this was an amazing opportunity. She glanced back at
the others, not quite believing it, and noticed that Tom was still gazing at her with a pained expression on his face. He reminded her of the rescued French Bulldog puppy she’d had when she
was younger, which had looked at her in that way whenever she wasn’t paying him any attention. Feeling sorry for him she asked Tom to accompany her to the theatre tomorrow as Si had to work
late.
    Sarah had an understated beauty that crept up on you. She was not a bombshell in a flashy, look-at-me kind of way. Instead there was a quiet loveliness about her. Nothing in her appearance stood
out for its unusually gorgeous configuration, but every feature fitted in neatly with every other feature. Nothing was exaggerated and nothing was lacking. Sarah’s mouth was not full and
seductive, nor was it too thin. Her nose didn’t draw attention to itself, because it was not extraordinary in any way. Her eyes were mid-brown, neither large nor small. Her skin, smooth and
lightly tanned all year round, had no interesting quirks; no childlike freckles, no Cindy Crawford moles, just a clear complexion. And her thick hair was a natural dark brown and fell to her
shoulders in a simple, straight cut. She looked like a healthy young woman who one day would bear a brood of gorgeous wholesome kids with their own set of perfect features. She was friendly and
easygoing too, and almost every straight man fell for her in some way.
    It was not that they merely fancied her. Women have never found it difficult to seduce men. What was exceptional about Sarah was that she made men want to marry her. They wanted not only
her