Suze did not dignify that with an answer.
Zoe pulled herself together. ‘I mean—I broke all his rules. He said I’d be out on the hour if I fell in love with him.’
‘Are you in love with him?’ said Suze curiously, buttering toast.
‘Yes,’ said Zoe baldly.
Suze bit back a gleeful smile. ‘Then you’d better go in and let him sack you,’ she advised.
Zoe gave a wan smile. ‘Get it over as soon as possible if you’re afraid of it? You’re not the first to give me that advice.’
‘And you’re not the first to be afraid of Jay Christopher,’ said Suze comfortingly.
But Zoe looked surprised. ‘Oh, I’m not afraid of him.’
‘Now that,’ said Suze, handing her her jacket, ‘is a first.’
But Jay was not available when Zoe steadfastly called Blonde Mark II for a slot to see the boss.
‘Don’t think he’ll be available all day,’ said Poppy, kindly enough. ‘Merger talks. You can try dropping by before you go home. He might be finished then.’
So Zoe did not see Jay. She did see—and would rather not have done—the unbelievably beautiful Bharati Christopher.
‘Miss Brown,’ said the tall, exquisitely dressed woman, pausing by Zoe’s desk. ‘Abby told me that was who you were. I am Jay’s mother.’
She held out an expensively manicured hand. Zoe shook it as if she were in a dream.
‘Hello, Mrs Christopher.’
‘May I invite you to lunch?’
‘Oh, no,’ said Zoe with genuine horror.
Bharati looked rather pleased. ‘Then show me where your water cooler is.’
Zoe leaped to her feet. ‘This way.’
Bharati sipped cold water out of a plastic cup with all the elegance she would have accorded vintage champagne.
‘So you won’t talk to him,’ she said musingly.
‘I—er—’ Zoe pulled herself together. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I am on a shopping trip. So I stay at my son’s house. He was back very late last night. And very chastened.’
‘Oh,’ said Zoe.
‘You seem to have him tied up in knots,’ said Bharati Christopher dispassionately.
‘Oh.’
‘And while I would, of course, prefer that he were not tied up in general,’ she went on in her gentle, precise voice, ‘you are the first woman to have got close to Jay for years. Perhaps ever.’ She put the plastic cup in the bin provided with great care. ‘Don’t waste it.’
Zoe was speechless.
Bharati left with a faint smile.
Zoe threw her head back. ‘Aaaaaarrgh!’
But it confirmed her resolve not to go home until she had seen him.
Was his mother right? The first woman to have got close to Jay! Was it possible?
And what about Carla Donner? Zoe had gone through every newspaper this morning and there had been no mention of the television gardener, let alone Jay’s affair with her. Yet would his mother necessarily know?
She was torn all day. There was work to do, but Zoe was working on autopilot. She hardly noticed what she was doing. She got odd looks from Molly, but she did not seem to have told anyone else that she had met Zoe along with Jay at the airport, coming back from their weekend in Venice.
Kind Abby asked her whether she was feeling all right, though. Clearly Zoe’s distraction was showing.
‘Look,’ said Abby, as everyone else began to drift away at the end of the day, ‘you haven’t had anything to eat all day. You haven’t been out of the building. What’s wrong?’
But Zoe just shook her head. ‘I—er—think I’ll get some coffee,’ she said uneasily. ‘Poppy said there was always a pot on the go for Jay in her office.’
‘Good idea,’ said Abby, unsuspecting. She pushed her sunglasses on top of her head and hiked up her shoulder bag. ‘Don’t stay too late. It’s a beautiful summer night. Everyone ought to be out looking at the stars.’
Fat chance, thought Zoe.
But she went bravely up to Jay’s office.
Poppy had obviously gone. Her desk was tidy and nearly empty. The room was quiet, but the air was full of the luscious smell of Jay’s favourite coffee. Zoe helped herself, skirted the man-eating plant and opened the door to his office. Jay’s desk was equally clear.