Ten Days by Gillian Slovo Read Free Book Online Page A

he is, and he got there with my help. I thought he was genuinely interested in public service. And loyal.’
    There was a time when Joshua could have pointed out that a series of disastrous polls might have something to do with Whiteley’s new-found disloyalty, but he must now be more circumspect. He was saved anyway from replying because the door was flung open to reveal the Prime Minister’s son, Teddy, who was dressed in a pair of frayed cut-off shorts and no top, so that his sharp ribs seemed to stick out through his pale-white skin.
    â€˜Hello, Joshua,’ he said, and immediately turned away.
    â€˜Teddy!’
    He turned back. ‘Sorry.’ He put a hearty fakery into his voice as he repeated his greeting, ‘Hello, Joshua,’ adding, ‘enjoying the new job, are we?’
    â€˜Too early to say.’ Although Teddy’s tone had made it clear that he was only doing what his father expected of him, and with ill grace, Joshua couldn’t help smiling. Not easy to live under the spotlight in Downing Street when you were seventeen, especially when you were pitching for edgy eccentricity, as Teddy obviously was. And despite the pimples, and the louche posture, and the drawled disinterest, Joshua could still see remnants of the enthusiastic young boy he had always warmed to. ‘How are things with you?’
    â€˜Fucking awful, actually. Nothing but revision, and in this heat. Which, speaking of. Must get back to it.’
    He made to leave but stopped when his father said, ‘You remember I’m off tomorrow?’
    â€˜Sure do.’ It was said breezily enough and yet, Joshua thought, there was also something sad in Teddy’s tone. What was Marianne doing in the country when Teddy was about to sit exams, he wondered, a thought reinforced by the PM’s next statement.
    â€˜If you want Mum back while I’m gone, you only have to say.’
    â€˜Kind of you,’ another effete drawl, ‘but you’ll soon be,’ he made speech marks with his hand, ‘home . What more could I possibly need? You go and have a good time, why don’t you? I hope the glad-handing of a president does the trick with your disastrous polls.’
    The Prime Minister seemed to flinch, and yet when he said, ‘Try and get a bit of air when I’m away,’ he sounded calm.
    â€˜Will do.’
    â€˜But for pity’s sake dress properly when you go out.’
    â€˜What’s the matter, pater?’ Teddy smiled. ‘Do you think my ugly mug will impact your popularity?’ He winked at Joshua and exited, closing the door firmly behind him.
    â€˜He’s impossible.’ The Prime Minister sighed. ‘I’m sorry.’
    â€˜Not to worry.’
    Should he say something or should he keep his mouth shut?
    Of course he should say something: he was after all the boy’s godfather. ‘He has got very thin,’ he said.
    â€˜Has he?’ The PM’s frown displayed more uncertainty than disagreement – an odd thing to see in a man who was usually so bullishly confident. He swallowed. He leant forward and swallowed again. But if he had been about to say something, a loud knock on the door stopped him. He leant back. ‘Come.’
    A man poked his head around the door. ‘Sorry to disturb, Prime Minister, but you wanted to know when they arrived?’
    â€˜Thank you. I’ll be down in a moment.’ The door closed, and when the Prime Minister looked at Joshua, Joshua thought he must have imagined that earlier uncertainty. ‘Duty calls. I’m truly grateful for your coming at such short notice. Before you go, there is something I need to ask you.’
    10 p.m.
    The cake had tipped the kitchen from messy into a disaster zone, and she was trying to clear it when she heard Lyndall calling, ‘Mum.’
    If she’d told Lyndall once, she’d told her a thousand times: come into the same room as me if you want to