The Nanny Part 57

"But you were."

There was a silence.

"Not ruggedly handsome and captivating?"

"No." She smiled. "Not to me. Maybe to someone else. But to me you were nice, Gerry."

"b.u.g.g.e.r."

"I'm sorry."

There was a pause.

"You don't just want to still see each other as friends?" tried Gerry.

"No thanks."

"No strings?"

"No thanks."

"With Nick and Pippa?"

"No thanks."

Another pause. Jo knew she'd have to get off the phone quick, before she relented out of pure pity.

"I have to go now," she said, stirring the sauce.

"Can't blame a bloke for trying."

"No. And you certainly tried."

"Well"-he sighed-"if you really want something, you have to fight for it."

Jo paused from her stirring and pressed her eyes and mouth shut to stop herself from relenting.

"I'll say good-bye then," said Gerry.

"Bye."

She hung up, threw the phone in the air, and caught it just before it landed in the pasta sauce.

By the time Josh came home, Vanessa and d.i.c.k had tidied up from dinner.

"Mary Poppins in?" Josh asked, before going to his room.

"Nope," said Vanessa. "She's gone out with the girls. She's going to have to do all her packing on Sat.u.r.day at this rate."

"When's she going exactly?" asked d.i.c.k, looking up from the paper.

"Day after tomorrow," said Vanessa.

They all mulled that for a moment.

"It won't be the same without her," said d.i.c.k.

"No," agreed Vanessa, as Josh left the room.

Chapter 28.

On Friday afternoon, Ca.s.sie made a moving-out card with Zak and Tallulah, and they presented it to Jo at teatime. When she cried they felt awful.

When Jo put Ca.s.sie to bed that night, Ca.s.sie apologized for making her cry.

"Don't be a silly poppet," soothed Jo. "I'm crying because I'm so upset at leaving you all."

"Then why are you going?" asked Ca.s.sie.

"It's a long story."

"Is it 'cos of Josh?"

Jo stared at Ca.s.sie.

"What makes you say that?"

Ca.s.sie shrugged.

"'Cos I used to hate him, too. He's just another boy. But he's nice really."

Jo smiled. "He's very nice."

"So why are you moving out?"

Jo sighed. "It's a long story."

"You said that already."

Jo leaned across Ca.s.sie's bed and stroked her hair out of her eyes.

"You're a very clever little girl, aren't you?"

"If he likes you, and you like him, why are you moving out?"

"That's just it," said Jo, surprised at how good it felt to talk about it. "I don't think he does like me. I think I did something to hurt him. And it's horrid to spend time with someone who doesn't like you."

Ca.s.sie studied her, then Jo leaned forward and kissed Ca.s.sie gently on the cheek.

"Good night, sweetheart. I'm going to miss you very much."

Ca.s.sie hugged her, then snuggled down and closed her eyes.

Later that evening, Jo lay on her bed staring at the ceiling. She couldn't bring herself to pack. Nor could she bring herself to go out clubbing. She just didn't have the heart for it. But she couldn't stay in either, waiting for Josh to come home and ignore her. It looked like he was out for the evening. Her last evening in the house. He couldn't have made his position more clear.

Ten minutes before she was due to be picked up by Pippa, she got herself ready. Pippa came into her room and cast a look around.

"I'm picking you up tomorrow, right?"

"Yep."

"So when were you thinking of packing?"

"Tomorrow?" suggested Jo.

"Do you need a hand?"

"Oh yes, please," said Jo. "I can't bear the thought of doing it on my own. Not while he's in there." She nodded toward Josh's room.

"Is he there now?" whispered Pippa.

"Course not," said Jo morosely. "That might convey the impression that he liked me enough to stay in on my last night here. He's out for the evening."

"And so are you, girlie," announced Pippa. "And you're going to have fun whether you want to or not."

Jo grimaced.

"And then first thing tomorrow morning, I'll be round with coffee," said Pippa. "Double espressos all round."

"Why?"

"Because we're gonna need it after tonight."

"I'm not getting drunk," said Jo. "I'm going to be good."

"Yeah right."

"I am," said Jo, picking up her handbag and shutting her bedroom door behind them. "I need my wits about me tomorrow, and, anyway, I haven't got the energy."

Chapter 29.

Next morning, Jo's brain was Pot Noodle. The first thing she was conscious of was the pain in her head caused by the sound of Pippa standing over her bed tutting.

"Shhhhh," she moaned. "I've got a headache."

Pippa thrust a takeout coffee under her nose.

"It's noon," shouted Pippa. "We have to get started."

"Witch," whispered Jo through cracked lips.

Pippa opened the curtain onto next door's building site and opened the window.

"Ah!" she said. "Breathe in all that fresh concrete. Last night's rain has highlighted its piquant aroma. That reminds me, do you remember falling in the puddle and thinking you were drowning?"

Jo turned her head away and tried not to cry. She heard Pippa turn on the shower, come back into the room, and pull her duvet off her.

"Don't!" she shrieked, pulling the duvet back. "He might come in. He doesn't knock anymore."

"Josh is watching TV in the living room," said Pippa. "He was the one who let me in."

Jo glanced up.

"How did he look?"

"Um," considered Pippa. "Tall, dark, and handsome?"

"I mean how did he seem?"

"Quiet."

"Quiet sad or quiet happy?"

"For Christ's sake, Jo, just tell him how you feel."

Jo sat up and counted, using her fingers.

"I feel one: furious, two: misrepresented, three: misunderstood, four: hard-done-by, and"-Jo stared hard at her fifth finger-"and a bit sick."

"Get in that shower," ordered Pippa.

Jo stumbled into the bathroom.