Learning curves by Gemma Townley Read Free Book Online

at least one table was made up of Bell Consultants. But which one?
    She stared ahead, wondering for the millionth time that evening what she would be doing if she were out with Angel. Or anyone else she actually chose to spend her time with.
    “So then she says that she doesn’t want to see him anymore because she’s been sleeping with his best friend for a year.”
    “No!”
    Two men had approached the bar and were talking in animated voices. Jen looked at them briefly, then turned back to her drink.
    “Yes. And he’s standing there in his underpants, and he’s looking at her, and . . . oh, ’scuse me . . .”
    Jen heard a mobile phone ring, and the guy who had been speaking answered it and pressed it to his ear.
    “Mr. Bell. Yes, I’m there now. No, not really. We’re just . . . you know, networking . . . Right you are. Yup. Yup. Okay, then. ’Bye.”
    Jen froze and gripped her drink. They must be the Bell consultants. And they were right next to her! She allowed her hair to fall in front of her face, and tried to edge a little bit closer while staring resolutely ahead.
    “Okay, so then, he goes round to see the friend,” the man continued, putting his mobile back in his pocket.
    “He goes round to see the friend? Seriously?”
    “I’m serious. He decides to have it out with him.”
    “And his wife is there?”
    “Yes. But not with the friend. She’s with the friend’s wife. Her girlfriend.”
    “No!”
    Jen rolled her eyes. So much for finding out anything useful, she thought, telling herself that she had no interest whatsoever in the man in his underpants.
    “I’m telling you. So he rocks up in his Mercedes. Locks the car. The front door of his friend’s house opens, and he jumps. I mean, the guy is all nerves. Anyway, he drops his car keys. He bends down to pick them up, but they’ve fallen down into the drain.”
    “They’ve fallen down into the drain?”
    “The God’s honest truth.”
    “And he’s still in his underpants?”
    “Seriously. Look, I need a slash. You get the drinks in and I’ll be back in a sec.”
    “I’ll come with you. I wanted to ask you about that Axiom thing, by the way.”
    Jen’s eyes darted toward the men, then back to her drink. Axiom? This she had to hear.
    “Oh that. Yeah, bloody nightmare. Where’s the men’s?”
    He directed his question at the barman, who pointed to the other side of the room. As they walked off, Jen looked around furtively, slipped off her stool, and followed them out of the ballroom and down a corridor. She watched them go into the men’s room, then she opened the door slightly, trying to hear what they were saying.
    “So anyway, he’s lost his car keys . . .”
    She rolled her eyes. What about Axiom, she wanted to ask. Sod the guy in his underpants.
    “. . . and he looks up and there in front of him is . . .”
    “Hello.”
    Jen looked around, startled. There was someone right behind her, evidently trying to get into the men’s room, and she was blocking his way. He was looking at her curiously and she wondered how long he’d been there.
    “Hello!” she said falteringly. She knew she should move, but with him right next to her, it wasn’t that easy—she couldn’t go forward into the men’s room, and now she couldn’t go back either.
    “Is this the . . . er . . . welcoming party?” he asked with a little smile. Jen reddened. This didn’t look very good, she realized. She was standing right in the doorway to the gents and, to add insult to injury, her head had been pressed right up against the door.
    She turned around to face him and cringed. Naturally, he was gorgeous. Had she been doing something that wasn’t embarrassing, and wearing a dress that fit her properly, it probably would have been one of the old codgers who found her.
    “Sorry. I was just . . . um . . . looking for someone,” she said quickly, wrapping her pashmina more closely around herself and nearly spilling her drink all over him in the