Read Online Second Hand Jane by Michelle Vernal - Free Book Online Page B

am—but hey,
nobody will notice and if they do, they will have forgotten all
about it by tomorrow, especially if you don’t smile at them and jog
their memory.” There was a little snort down the phone before she
added, “Anyway, nobody reads the Dublin Central .”
    “I heard that
snort! You better not be laughing at me, Nora Brennan, and for your
information, forty percent of Dubliners read that newspaper. I’m
officially mortified!” It was the Express ’s rival paper and she wouldn’t have put it past the
paper’s weasel-like editor, Jimmy Mulroney, to have put the photo
in just to spite her. He was known to hold a grudge and she had
turned him down flat when he’d tried to poach her from the Express . As far
as she was concerned, she’d definitely made the right decision and
he had just cemented his reputation as a mean git who suffered from
short man’s disease.
    “It’s not
fair,” she whined. “I really liked Nick but I’ve no chance of
hearing from him, not now! Bloody hell, choking on my wine was bad
enough but this… this is…”
    “Enough to send
a gal off for her annual check-up at the dentist’s?”
    “Shut up
Nora!”
    “Look, if
that’s what you’re really worried about, rest assured—I saw the
kiss Nick planted on you last night. You’ll hear from him again.
Trust me.”
     
    ***
     
    He rang on
Sunday night.
    “Hey, Jessica,
it’s Nick Jameson. How are you?”
    Her stomach did
this funny sort of a flip-flop somersault at the sound of his voice
and she sat up straighter on the settee, turning the television
down.
    “Hi, I’m good,
thanks, Nick. How are you?” She hoped her voice didn’t betray how
wobbly her tummy felt.
    As the
conversation moved swiftly on to the weather, she steadied her
nerves. It was a subject they didn’t mull over for long. They did
live in Ireland and it was mid-September after all. There was only
so much you could say about rain.
    Jess was
unwilling to mention the photo in the paper just yet, happy to let
Nick make small talk about a hailstorm he’d gotten caught in
earlier that day.
    She’d only left the apartment once over
the weekend and that was out of desperation. She’d needed to get a
carton of milk and a loaf of bread, so she’d donned a hoodie and
dark glasses. Nevertheless, she’d expected to be on the receiving
end of cat calls along the lines of, “Hey, Jessica, when are you
auditioning for the Pogues!” as she’d scurried down to her local
Spar shop. As it was, nobody had looked twice at her, so perhaps
she had overreacted after all. Chewing on her nail, she decided it
was no good; she’d just have to bite the bullet and put herself out
of her misery. It was that or she’d start talking about squally
showers and drizzle. She cut him off just as he was saying
something about the hailstones being the size of golf balls. “So,
um, Nick, did you happen to see the Dublin Central yesterday
morning?”
    “Nope, I’m an Express man myself. There’s a column in
there I never miss on a Saturday.”
    A smile spread
involuntarily across Jess’s face and she was glad they weren’t on
Skype because she knew she’d look like a dippy fool.
    “ Besides, I don’t like all that gossip
fodder in the middle of the Central : most of it’s a load of shite. Some of the crap that gets
written about Ewan is unbelievable and who cares where so-and-so
has their lunch or where the latest place to be seen is. Why do you
ask?”
    Jess allowed
herself to exhale. Thank goodness he hadn’t seen it! Somebody
upstairs was looking out for her after all. She’d have to apologise
to Harry next time she saw him and from now on, she promised,
looking heavenward, she would never blasphemy ever again. “Oh, um,
just a bit of a survey my boss asked me to conduct—you know, to see
who reads what.” It sounded pretty lame and she cringed but
thankfully Nick didn’t seem to pick up on it as he got to the point
of his call.
    “Oh, right,
well, I’m heading