ambitious you know er Anyway!' I quickly spritz myself with perfume. 'Let's go!'
I have to get him out of here quickly before he does something like spot a Tampax and ask me
what it is. I mean, honestly! Why on earth is he so interested in everything?
FIFTEEN
there's a completely different atmosphere from yesterday night. No scary cars; no posh
restaurants. It feels more casual. More fun.
'So,' says Jack, as we walk up to the main road. 'An evening out, Emma-style.'
'Absolutely!' I stick out my hand and hail a taxi, and give the name of the road in Clerkenwell
off which the little alley runs.
'We're allowed to go by taxi, are we?' says Jack mildly as we get in. 'We don't have to wait for
a bus?'
'As a very special treat,' I say with mock severity.
'So, are we eating? Drinking? Dancing?' says Jack, as we move off down the street.
'Wait and see!' I beam at him. 'I just thought we could have a really laid-back, spontaneous
evening.'
'I guess I over-planned last night,' says Jack after a pause.
'No, it was lovely!' I say kindly. 'But sometimes you can put too much thought into things.
You know, sometimes it's better just to go with the flow and see what happens.'
'You're right.' Jack smiles. 'Well, I look forward to going with the flow.'
As we whiz along Upper Street, I feel quite proud of myself. It just shows I'm a true Londoner.
I can take my guests to little places off the beaten track. I can find spots which aren't just the
obvious venues to go. I mean, not that Jack's restaurant wasn't amazing. But how much cooler
will this be? A secret club! And I mean, who knows, Madonna might be there this evening!
After about twenty minutes we get to Clerkenwell. I insist on paying the taxi fare, and lead
Jack down the alley.
'Very interesting,' says Jack, looking around. 'So where are we heading?'
'Just wait,' I say enigmatically. I head for the door, press the buzzer and take Lissy's key out of
my pocket with a little frisson of excitement.
He is going to be so impressed. He is going to be so impressed!
'Hello?' comes a voice.
'Hello,' I say casually. 'I'd like to speak to Alexander, please.'
'Who?' says the voice.
'Alexander,' I repeat, and give a knowing smile. Obviously they have to double-check.
'Ees no Alexander here.'
'You don't understand. Al-ex-and-er,' I enunciate clearly.
'Ees no Alexander.'
Maybe I got the wrong door, it suddenly occurs to me. I mean, I remember it as being this one
but maybe it was this other one with the frosted glass. Yes. That one looks quite familiar,
actually.
'Tiny hitch,' I smile at Jack, and press the new bell.
There's silence. I wait a few minutes, then try again, and again. There's no reply. OK. So
it's not this one either.
Fuck.
I am a moron. Why didn't I check the address? I was just so sure I'd remember where it was.
'Is there a problem?' says Jack.
'No!' I say at once, and smile brightly. 'I'm just trying to recall exactly'
I look up and down the street, trying not to panic. Which one was it? Am I going to have to
ring every single doorbell in the street? I take a few steps along the pavement, trying to trigger
my memory. And then, through an arch, I spy another alley, almost identical to this one.
I feel a huge thud of horror. Am I in the right alley , even? I dart forward and peer into the
other alley. It looks exactly the same. Rows of nondescript doors and blanked-out windows.
My heart starts to beat more quickly. What am I going to do? I can't try every single doorbell
in every bloody alley in the vicinity. It never once occurred to me that this might happen. Not
once. I never even thought to-
OK, I'm being stupid. I'll call Lissy! She'll tell me. I pull out my mobile and dial home, but
immediately it clicks onto answerphone.
'Hi, Lissy, it's me,' I say, trying to sound light and casual. 'A tiny little hitch has happened,
which is that I can't remember exactly which door the club is behind. Or actually which
alley it's in either. So if you get
this, could you give me a call? Thanks!'
I look up to see Jack watching me.
'Everything OK?'
'Just a slight glitch,' I say, and give a relaxed little laugh. 'There's this secret club along here
somewhere, but I can't quite remember where.'
'Never mind,' says Jack nicely. 'These things happen.'
I jab the number for home again, but it's engaged. Quickly I dial Lissy's mobile number, but
it's switched off.
Oh fuck. Fuck. We can't stand here in the street all night.
'Emma,' says Jack cautiously. 'Would you like me to make a reservation at-'
'No!' I jump as though stung. Jack's not going to reserve anything. I've said I'll organize this
evening, and I will. 'No thanks. It's OK.' I make a snap decision. 'Change of plan. We'll go to
Antonio's instead.'
'I could call the car' begins Jack.
'We don't need the car!' I stride purposefully towards the main road and thank God, a taxi's
coming along with its light on. I flag it down, open the door for Jack and say to the driver,