lover in front of Cal. She
couldn't resist looking at the party walking along
the promenade as she kissed Juan.
Bingo! she thought to herself, seeing Cal turning
round and staring back at her as she deliberately
pressed her body into Juan's.
'So how do you know Cal?' Juan asked as the two
of them packed up their things.
'I've known him for years,' Angel tried to say as casually
as possible. 'He's just a friend.'
Three weeks into their romance and Juan still
hadn't persuaded Angel to have sex with him,
despite his best efforts. But by the time Cal's leaving
party came round, Angel had decided that she
wanted to go further with Juan. She knew that he
was just a summer fling who would soon be gone,
but she liked him a lot. She trusted him and he had
already proven himself to be a skilful lover. And
after the crap sex with Greg, Angel thought she
deserved him.
They had spent the week before the party
scouring the second-hand clothes shops to find a
gangster-style suit for Juan, who was going to go as
Al Pacino in The Godfather . Angel still didn't have an
idea of who to go as, but then they came across an
amazing playboy bunny costume in a dress hire
shop. Juan persuaded her to try it on as a laugh, but
when she checked herself out in the mirror she
knew that would have to be her costume. The black
satin all-in-one fitted her perfectly, showing off her
curves and long legs. So what if Mel's theme was
Hollywood stars? Angel wanted to make an impact.
'Sit still, can't you!' Gemma ordered Angel as she
tried to stick on her false eyelashes while Angel was
fidgeting.
'Gemma,' Angel moaned, 'if you're going to be a
beautician you really need to learn how to talk to
your clients properly!'
'I'm certain I'm never going to have a client as
difficult as you,' replied Gemma. 'Now for the lips.'
Gemma surveyed her handiwork; Angel looked
ravishing.
'Gemma!' Angel squealed, catching sight of
herself. 'That is so cool.'
She loved the way that Gemma's make-up subtly
but skilfully made her look sexy, and she practised
fluttering her false eyelashes and pouting with her
sexy glossed lips.
'I definitely think you should go blonde soon,'
Gemma said to her friend. 'It would really suit you.'
When Juan came to pick her up he couldn't
believe his eyes; he kept going on and on about how
beautiful she was. He is so good for my ego , Angel
thought to herself, thinking he also looked pretty
hot in his pinstripe suit, with his smouldering
brown eyes and handsome tanned face.
She was dreading the next part of the evening.
Before the party she and Juan were going to meet
her parents. She had warned him that her dad
might be offhand and distant with him, but in the
end it wasn't like that at all. Frank had already had
a few drinks. He and Michelle were won over by
Juan's perfect manners and charm and when her
dad discovered his passion for football, as a lifelong
Barca fan, he had no problem in seeing him as
Angel's boyfriend. And for the first time her
parents seemed to notice that their daughter was a
beauty. Her mum actually insisted on getting out
the camera and taking a picture of her.
'He's very handsome,' Michelle told her
daughter, sitting on her bed and watching as Angel
put the finishing touches to her make-up in her
bedroom mirror.
'Yes, he's lovely,' Angel agreed.
'You are being careful, aren't you, love?'
Michelle whispered, looking anxiously at her
daughter.
It took a second for Angel to realise what she was
talking about as she and her mum never had those kinds of conversations.
'Of course, Mum,' she insisted, desperate not to
go into details. 'Don't worry about it.' If she wanted
advice on contraception, her mum was the very last
person in the world she would have asked. 'Come
on, the taxi's here and you know Dad doesn't like to
keep it waiting.'
The party was well under way by the time they
arrived. Angel immediately spotted Gemma and
grabbed Juan by the hand as she rushed over to see
her friend. Gemma was
Victoria Christopher Murray