Page 17 of Jessica Beam is a Hot Mess
‘That’s quite an ensemble, Jess’ she says, studying my feather earrings.
Is it my imagination, or is Summer smirking?
‘Yeah, we had a massive disaster with my other outfit,’ I explain with an apologetic cringe.
Valentina takes a sip of her champagne, sighing with immense pleasure (a potential interviewee forThe Champagne Conspiracy?).She narrows her eyes and looks me up and down for what seems like ages.
Shit. She’s going to kick me out of the party. I clearly don’t belong here.
‘It’s so … on the money,’ she eventually declares, shaking her head in wonder. ‘All of us in dull black tie and here you are, vibrant like a beautiful fashionista parrot. Or should I say leopard! Bold move, lady. I respect it.’Is she kidding?‘Yes, I get it,’ she goes on, tilting her head to the side, a finger to her chin, examining me like I’m a work of art. ‘I really do. Pseudo-chav. Ironic. Northern, yes?’
‘Er … ’
‘I like you, Jessica Beam,’ she says. ‘You’re very current.’
‘Cheers.’ I wonder what on earth she’s talking about. ‘It was a last-minute decision, to be honest.’
‘Modest, too.’ She grins warmly as if I am the cleverest, most interesting person to walk the earth. I give Summer a discreet thumbs-up, which she returns with a lukewarm smile.
‘So, Valentina.’ Summer stands slightly in front of me. ‘Do I see Leo Frost over there talking to Davis Arthur Montblanc?’
‘What? Leo Frost? Where?’ Valentina’s voice has gone all weird and strangled.
Valentina and I peer over to where Summer is looking and spot Davis Arthur Montblanc himself in conversation with the tall red-headed twonk who nastily called me the entertainment. The twonk is stroking his chin and nursing a glass of whisky. I wonder how that idiot got hold of a non-champagne-based beverage?
‘Must be someone important,’ I mutter, resentfully taking another sip of champagne.
‘Oh,of courseyou know who Leo Frost is, Jess?’ Summer says, gathering her hair up and letting it fall back over her shoulders. ‘Artistic Director at Woolf Frost?’
I give her a blank look. ‘Nope. Never heard of the guy.’
‘Leo Frost, advertising wunderkind?’ She says it slowly, like I’m being thick. When I give no reaction, she goes on, ‘His dad owns the famous ad agency? Montblanc’s nephew? Broke Kate Middleton’s heart at St Andrews before she rebounded to Wills?’
I shrug and wonder how the hell he got that whisky. I wonder if he’ll get me some, because this champagne really sucks.
‘He’s the man of the moment, super enigmatic and mysterious.’ Summer’s eyes light up. ‘Anderson knows him quite well, actually. I once met him at this amazing party in Brooklyn. I am –was− totally in love with Anderson, but Leo Frost … well, I could have been tempted. He has this power, this magnetic power, you know, like Alexa Chung has. But he totally abuses it. He’s a real womanizer.’ She gazes over at him with blatant admiration.
‘Leo Frost is a vindictive, arrogant shit!’ Valentina suddenly spits, her face flushing cherry red to match her lipstick. She sucks in a huge lungful of breath and exhales, her mouth in a tight ‘O’ shape. ‘Apologies. I shouldn’t have said that.’
Her eyes water with barely restrained fury as she glares at him. Wow. She really hates this bloke. We all stare at Leo Frost. He must sense it because he turns round and gives Valentina an arrogant wink.
Valentina makes a weird sound somewhere in the middle of a sob and a squeak.
‘What’s the story there?’ I ask nosily.
Valentina sniffs and takes an enormous gulp of her champagne. ‘Oh, nothing, nothing.’ She pauses for a beat. ‘Well, apart from the six weeks we dated and he basically destroyed my heartandmy self-esteem.’
Eek.
‘Harsh beans,’ Summer says with a grimace.
‘I don’t fall easily,’ Valentina explains, anger making her eyes glint. ‘But I fell for him hard. Really hard. He made me feel like I was something special. Reeled me in. I thought we were serious, or getting there at least, and then I found out he was seeing three other women. Yes, three. He fucked a trio of women behind my back. Atrio.’
‘Nooo.’
‘Yes,’ Valentina nods sadly. ‘It was horrendous.’ Her nostrils flare and she shakes her head really quickly as if trying to clear away a bad memory. Woah. She has literally just transformed from a confident Elle McPherson-alike top editor to a broken wreck in the space of two minutes. More evidence of Mum’s wisdom: love shits on you.
‘I’m sorry, Valentina. That sounds properly crap.’
