Naked Truths by Jo Carnegie Read Free Book Online Page B

something?’
    â€˜Just about! I’m down at the Natural History Museum doing a recce for the cocktail party. There’re men in hard hats everywhere, I think they’re adding on a new extension.’
    Visions of a fashionably clad, all-in-black Harriet holding a clipboard and issuing orders flashed through Caro’s mind. ‘Sounds awfully glamorous, are you sure you want to come and hang out with us? You must get invited to exciting parties all the time!’
    There was a slight hesitation. ‘To be honest, they’re not really my thing. I’d much rather come and see you and Milo.’
    Caro felt a flash of happiness. ‘Well in that case, you must be our first official guest!’
    There was the sound of muffled voices in the background.
    â€˜Ooh, I’d better shoot,’ said Harriet. ‘I’ll call you soon to make plans!’
    Caro put the phone down, feeling London wasn’t such an unfriendly place after all.

Chapter 6
    SAFFRON WAS LATE for work. Again. She had stayed at Fernando’s last night and he’d been in a particularly amorous mood. At 4 a.m., pleading exhaustion, Saffron had put a pillow between them and rolled over to try and get some sleep. It was all right for Fernando, he didn’t have to get up in the morning. Apart from a bar job he didn’t turn up to very often, her boyfriend spent the majority of his time sunbathing, lolling around watching
The Jeremy Kyle Show
, or honing his six-pack down the gym. Fernando had joined a small-time modelling agency, and claimed he wanted to get into acting school, but the biggest gig he’d got so far was showing off his torso for some dodgy sounding fat-reduction pills, the kind of advert found in the low-rent Sunday supplement magazines. Still, that hadn’t crushed his dreams of becoming the next Al Pacino.
    â€˜The world isn’t ready for Fernando Romero yet, but when I hit the big time – oh boy!’ he’d say to Saffron with his usual air of drama. So far she had stopped herself from pointing out that Al Pacino hadn’t hit the big time by lying under his duvet wanking all day.
    Sometimes, when it was left to her to get the drinks in again, or she phoned Fernando at lunchtime to discover he hadn’t got out of bed yet, Saffron wondered what she was doing with such a waster. Then again, she knew exactly why: she loved pretty boys, and wasn’t embarrassed to put sexy looks before scintillating conversation. At this stage in her life, that was all Saffron wanted. Plus the fact he could do things with his tongue she had scarcely thought possible. A memory of last night came back, and her eyes glazed over.
    â€˜Saffron? Have you got a minute?’ Catherine’s voice interrupted her lustful reverie. Saffron flushed guiltily, her boss didn’t look very happy. She followed Catherine into her office and shut the door.
    Catherine didn’t mince her words. ‘Saffron, is your alarm clock not working? This is the third time in the last week you’ve been late.’
    Saffron looked contrite and chewed her bottom lip. ‘Sorry, Catherine.’
    Catherine eyed her over the desk. ‘Sorry I won’t do it again? Or sorry I seem to have a problem getting up in the morning?’
    Saffron blushed, feeling rather stupid. ‘It won’t happen again, I promise.’
    â€˜See that it doesn’t.’ Catherine surveyed her features writer over the desk, not unkindly. ‘Saffron, I believe you’ve got a lot of potential, but punctuality is important. I need to know I can trust you to get here on time. We’re not in sixth form any more.’
    Saffron met her eye. ‘You can trust me, Catherine.’
    â€˜Good,’ Catherine nodded in the direction of the door. ‘Dismissed.’ Lightening the moment, Saffron did a mock-salute, and left the office.
    Catherine couldn’t help but smile. She liked Saffron and had high hopes