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‘No,’ I said. ‘I’m not the right person. I’m too selfish to be an old woman’s companion.’
Natasha gripped my hand tighter.
‘Ow,’ I said. ‘Where is it?’
‘Clapham.’
I screwed my nose up.
‘I don’t like South London,’ I said.
‘It’s perfect,’ Phil commented. ‘There won’t be any paps down there. You’ll be left alone.’
He had a point, but that wasn’t enough to change my mind.
‘The rent’s cheap.’
‘How cheap?’
Natasha named a tiny figure that I could easily afford even if I didn’t work for the next six months, and Phil widened his eyes.
‘So I won’t need to bathe her?’ I said.
‘You probably won’t even see her,’ Natasha said. ‘She’s got loads of friends. I just need to know you’re going to be there overnight and that she can call on you if she needs to.’
‘I can only stay for a few weeks,’ I said, checking my phone to see if Babs had called back. ‘I’m going into the jungle, and who knows what could happen after that.’
‘My mother should be back by the New Year,’ Natasha said. ‘The timing is perfect.’
I knew when I was beaten.
‘Fine,’ I said, throwing my head back against the sofa. ‘Fine. Yes, I’ll move in.’
‘Tomorrow?’ Natasha said hopefully. Phil clapped his hands and I glared at him.
‘Tomorrow,’ I agreed wearily.
My phone rang and I snatched it up, hoping it was Babs with good news about the jungle. But it was Josie, a TV presenter who lived in the flat below Matty’s. She was probably calling for the gossip, I thought, cancelling the call. Immediately she rang again. I rejected the call once more. There was a pause, and Josie started calling again. I sighed.
‘I should take this,’ I said to Natasha and Phil. ‘Hi Josie.’
‘Amy, you need to get here,’ Josie said. ‘Matty’s putting all your stuff outside in the street. There are loads of tramps wearing your dresses and the paps are going crazy.’
‘WHAT?’ I shrieked. ‘Which dresses?’
‘I don’t know,’ Josie said. ‘Does it matter?’
‘I suppose not,’ I admitted. ‘I’m on my way.’
I ended the call and stood up, tossing my hair over my shoulders.
‘I have to go,’ I said, trying hard not to cry. ‘It seems that, not content with breaking my heart, Matty’s determined to make a fool of me in the papers too.’
Natasha delved into her huge tote bag and pulled out a piece of paper. She scribbled something on it, then delved again and found a set of keys.
‘Here,’ she said, shoving them at me. ‘This is the address and these are the keys. You can move in tonight if you like?’
Relief flooded me. And Phil, by the look on his face. Clearly he didn’t want to think about taking me – and all my belongings – back to his pristine flat for another night.
‘Thank you,’ I said, meaning it.
‘Will you be okay on your own?’ Phil said.
‘Oh, I’ll be fine,’ I said. ‘How much worse can things get?’
Ready to face the world – and the paparazzi – I twisted my hair into a ponytail, pulled on my baseball cap and picked up my sunglasses. Then I grabbed my bag and gave Phil a kiss.
‘Thanks for everything, buddy,’ I said. ‘I’ll give you a call later.’
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