As she scrolled through the photos, I noted the designer watch, the sparkle of that huge diamond on her ring finger. I wondered how she’d ‘acquired’ it – Jamie didn’t have that kind of money, perhaps he’d borrowed it? Perhaps Ella had money? But why, if she had money, would she steal someone’s jewellery? I tried not to think about the earrings and focussed my eyes on the photos of their breathtaking wedding on an Italian clifftop. I confess I had to swallow down little pangs of envy.
‘This was the ceremony,’ she said, long nude nails touching the screen, to reveal the bride and groom, her in a long, silk blush-pink dress, tight around her slim body and full breasts, ending with a swirling fishtail. Jamie in a designer suit, open-necked shirt, several people standing around them, probably witnesses. But they were of no consequence; the bride and groom looked like film stars smiling with their perfect teeth, sun-brushed skin, the Amalfi Coast glittering behind them. They looked so happy, and young, and sexy and rich and I could only imagine the life they’d go on to have. It would be so different to ours.
Despite claiming to want to join the family firm, I couldn’t imagine either of them living the nine-to-five in rainy Manchester. Jamie had never settled into a job, or a home, and looking at Ella, I didn’t see her destiny in a life of work and kids in a new build on a suburban estate. No, they were so different to us – I imagined their Instagram, black and white photos of a large, shuttered town house in Paris or Milan. In this stylish European love nest they’d make beautiful, bilingual children and she’d never get fat and he’d never lose interest.
‘Lovely,’ I murmured, trying to reconcile this beautiful bride with the woman I’d seen only hours before stealing earrings from her mother-in-law’s room.
‘I’ll get some of the photos printed off,’ Ella said, ‘so the family can have some to frame.’
‘Great.’ I smiled and went back to the arm of the other chair, wishing Dan would offer me his seat and show everyone that he loved me as much as Jamie loved Ella. He didn’t.
‘So, are you ready for some real work?’ he asked Jamie.
‘I was born ready,’ Jamie responded, sticking his chest out, his prowess clearly threatened by the older lion in the jungle.
‘Good. Just hope you know what you’re in for,’ Dan added, no doubt glad that Jamie was finally having to face up to real life. He might have hidden his glee slightly.
‘If you mean – do I know I’m in for showing you how it’s done, bro, then yes, I am,’ Jamie said, his smile hinting at banter.
‘We’ll see,’ Dan said, unsmiling.
I’d never experienced this before between Dan and Jamie – the sibling rivalry had always been cheeky but affectionate, but this had an edge. Now Jamie had a wife to impress, it seemed he wasn’t happy playing the little brother role any more.
‘Actually, Ella and I have been talking a lot about the business,’ he said. So he was still planning to join the company? I’d thought it was all talk, I just couldn’t see it working and it would be so stressful for Dan having to ‘manage’ his younger brother. ‘Ella’s got some great ideas for Taylor’s.’
I quickly turned to look at her. She couldn’t possibly be interested in our little property company; surely Ella had much bigger fish to fry? What about her photography, her modelling, the reality TV show?
‘Lovely,’ said Joy. I could see by her rictus smile that she definitely didn’t mean it. Joy and Bob would never really let go. They probably didn’t even trust their sons to do things right in their retirement, let alone the new daughter-in-law they hardly knew.
‘Ideas?’ Dan repeated, not even attempting to hide his doubts. ‘Okay, let’s hear them Ella.’ He said this with a teasing in his voice, his eyes twinkling – was this because he found her amusing, or fascinating? I couldn’t tell, but he leaned forward to hear what she had to say.
Ella looked up from caressing Jamie’s ear. ‘Well, Jamie’s told me all about Taylor’s, and it sounds like it just needs a little push on the marketing side.’ She sat up a little, like she was being interviewed by Dan, like she wanted to impress him, show him she was serious about this. ‘Thing is, you need a new website, you need to be on Instagram and all social media platforms… These days, you have to be interactive, you have to ask questions… like “Look at our new penthouse for sale, can you guess who the architect is—”’
‘Penthouse?’ I said, smiling, looking around the room for the other incredulous faces, but everyone was looking at Ella.
‘Clare, you just interrupted my train of thought,’ she said, holding her head with both hands quite dramatically.
‘Sorry,’ I muttered, then shut up, while everyone else waited politely for her to continue. Even the boys were quiet, though that had more to do with them being engrossed in some game on the iPad.
Violet meanwhile was waiting with bated breath to hear what her new heroine had to say. ‘You were talking about an architect… in a penthouse,’ she said, giving Ella her prompt.
‘So… yeah, that’s it, thanks Vee.’
I bristled slightly. Her name was Violet, but perhaps I was being petty?
‘Yeah… so,’ she continued. ‘The penthouse, so I’d get involved with a paint company, do a giveaway – something like, “What colour palette would you use if this was your new home? Tell us and win all the paint you want for a year.” You know?’ she looked around, nodding for affirmation. ‘So, like, you’re asking questions to your followers and if they want the free shit they have to respond?’
Violet shot a look at me and smirked slightly at the mention of shit. I didn’t flinch, but Joy did. ‘Taylor’s has based itself on old-fashioned values, Ella, so Instagram and Twitter hasn’t really been its thing,’ she said.
‘We do need to get a grip of social media though,’ Dan said. I agreed, it would be up to Dan and Jamie to modernise the company in order to compete with the biggest and best. And the most effective weapon could be social media.
Ella smiled at Dan. ‘You are so right.’ She smiled, and I caught a glance between them that made my stomach dip.
‘Yes, we do need to get a grip of it,’ I echoed, wanting to interrupt, to come between them. ‘I’ll look into it when—’ I started, but she spoke over me.
‘I do the same with my followers, I get them to interact with me by asking them which bikini I should wear, what bra fits me best.’ She brushed her hands across her breasts, as Dan listened intently. ‘I ask them what they think I should wear for a party, or a date… That was before Jamie of course.’ She suddenly remembered him and squeezed his knee, which seemed to be enough for him – he smiled lovingly back.
‘Wow, that sounds brilliant,’ Dan said, gazing at her like everything she uttered was vital to his existence. I knew this, because he once looked at me like that, but in the madness of marriage and children, I’d forgotten. Women found my husband irresistible. ‘We might not be able to afford to pay you and Jamie to work at Taylor’s, so let’s just have you, Ella,’ he laughed.
Ella positively glowed.