'There's Sellotape on the wardrobe, too,' I say. 'And Oh my God!' I point up. A glass of
water is balanced on top of the wardrobe, ready to drench us if we open the door.
'That cow!' says Lissy as I reach up for it. 'You know, I had to spend all evening fielding calls
for her the other night, and she wasn't even grateful.'
She waits until I've put the water down safely, then reaches for the door. 'Ready?'
'Ready.'
Lissy takes a deep breath, then opens the wardrobe door. Immediately, a loud, piercing siren
begins to wail. 'Wee-oo wee-oo wee-oo'
'Shit!' she says, banging the door shut. 'Shit! How did she do that?'
'It's still going!' I say agitatedly. 'Make it stop. Make it stop!'
'I don't know how to! You probably need a special code!'
We're both jabbing frantically at the wardrobe, patting it, searching for an off-switch.
'I can't see a button, or a switch or anything'
Abruptly the noise stops, and we stare at each other, panting slightly.
'Actually,' says Lissy after a long pause. 'Actually, I think that might have been a car alarm
outside.'
'Oh,' I say. 'Oh right. Yes, maybe it was.'
Looking a bit sheepish, Lissy reaches for the door again, and this time it's silent. 'OK,' she
says. 'Here goes.'
'Wow,' we breathe as one as she swings the door open.
Jemima's wardrobe is like a treasure chest. It's like a Christmas stocking. It's new, shiny,
gorgeous clothes, one after another, all neatly folded and hung on scented hangers, like in a
shop. All the shoes in shoe-boxes with Polaroids on
the front. All the belts hanging neatly
from hooks. All the bags are neatly lined up on a shelf. It's a while since I borrowed anything
from Jemima, and every single item seems to have changed since then.
'She must spend about an hour a day keeping this tidy,' I say with a slight sigh, thinking of the
jumble of my own wardrobe.
'She does,' says Lissy. 'I've seen her.'
Mind you, Lissy's wardrobe is even worse. It consists of a chair in her room, on which
everything is heaped in a great big pile. She says putting stuff away makes her brain ache, and
as long as it's clean, what does it matter?
'So!' says Lissy with a grin, and reaches for a white sparkly dress. 'What look would Madam
like this evening?'
I don't wear the white sparkly dress. But I do try it on. In fact, we both try on quite a lot of
stuff, and then have to put it all back, very carefully. At one point another car alarm goes off
outside, and we both jump in terror, then immediately pretend we weren't fazed.
In the end, I go for this amazing new red top of Jemima's with slashed shoulders, over my
own black DKNY chiffon trousers (?25 from the Notting Hill Housing Trust shop) and
Jemima's silver high heels from Prada. And then, although I wasn't intending to, at the last
minute I grab a little black Gucci bag.
'You look amazing!' says Lissy as I do a twirl. 'Completely fab!'
'Do I look too smart?'
'Of course not! Come on, you're going out to dinner with a multimillionaire.'
'Don't say that!' I exclaim, feeling nerves clutch my stomach. I look at my watch. It's almost
eight o'clock.
Oh God. Now I really am starting to feel nervous. In the fun of getting ready, I'd almost
forgotten what it was all for.
Keep calm, I tell myself. It's just dinner. That's all it is. Nothing special. Nothing out of the-'
'Fuck!' Lissy's looking out of the window in the sitting room. 'Fuck! There's a great big car
outside!'
'What? Where?' I hurry to join her, my heart galloping. As I follow her gaze, I almost can't
breathe.
An enormous posh car is waiting outside our house. I mean, enormous . It's silver and shiny,
and looks incredibly conspicuous in our tiny little street. In fact I can see some people looking
curiously out of the house opposite.
And all at once I'm really scared. What am I doing? This is a world I know nothing about.
When we were sitting on those plane seats, Jack and I were just two people on an equal level.
But look at us now. Look at the world he lives in and look at the world I live in.
'Lissy,' I say in a tiny voice. 'I don't want to go.'
'Yes you do!' says Lissy but I can see, she's just as freaked out as me.
The buzzer goes, and we jump.
I feel like I might throw up.
OK. OK. Here I go.
'Hi,' I say into the intercom. 'I'll I'll be right down.' I put the phone down and look at Lissy.
'Well,' I say in a trembling voice. 'This is it!'
'Emma.' Lissy grabs my hands. 'Before you go. Don't take any notice of what Jemima said.
Just have a lovely time.' She hugs me tightly. 'Call me if you get a chance.'
'I will.'
I take one last look at myself in the mirror, then open the door and make my way down the
stairs.
I open the door, and Jack's standing there, wearing a jacket and tie. He smiles at me, and all
my fears fly away like butterflies. Jemima's wrong. This isn't me against him. This is me with
him.
'Hi,' he says, smiling warmly. 'You look very nice.'
'Thanks.'
I reach for the door handle, but a man in a peaked cap rushes forward to open it for me.