Read Online Black Girls and Bad Boys: Changing his Tune by Neneh J. Gordon - Free Book Online

wasn’t such a bad idea. He’d noodle on the guitar and try to
figure out what to do next. There was no way he’d let John find a replacement
for Angie. She’d helped him. He needed her.
    And the kiss? Well, that hadn’t even happened, had it? They’d just
got caught up in the moment. It was only to be expected when they spent so much
time together.
    He’d find a way for her to come back and they’d forget all about it.
    ***
    T hree weeks later and Angelique had just about stopped beating
herself up over the fiasco with Noah Trent. As long as she didn’t think about
lawyers or custody hearings, she could almost bear to look at herself in the
mirror.
    She’d been lucky really – John had made The Cloister sign an
agreement to take her back when her stint with Noah was over, so at least she
had a job to go back to.
    It wasn’t much of a consolation when she thought about the money
she’d lost out on and what it could have done for her. Which is why she did her
best not to think about those things.
    Slipping back into her old routine proved frighteningly easy. After
the first few days, it was like she’d never been away. She went through the
motions on autopilot. Every day at work was the same.
    Until the day she got a message that someone was asking for her on
the phone.
    She had no idea who it could be – no one ever called her at The
Cloister. And then she started to worry. It was bound to be bad news. There was
no other reason for anyone to phone her. Please don’t let it be Lewis.
    There was only one telephone in the place – in the manager’s office.
She made her way through the corridors and knocked on the door. Andy called her
in and nodded to the phone.
    Taking the call off hold, she put the receiver to her ear. “Hello?”
    “Hello, Angelique. It’s John.”
    “John?” She glanced at Andy, he was busy on his computer.
    “Yes, John Lawson. Noah Trent’s manager.”
    She froze. What was he going to accuse her of now? Unless she was
wrong and something had happened to Noah. “What is it? What’s happened?”
    “Nothing to be alarmed about. I’d like to offer you your job back.”
    She stood in silence, staring off into space. That couldn’t be
right. She must have misheard. “My job back?”
    “Yes, if you’re willing to take it.”
    “Why? I don’t understand.”
    “Noah’s off on tour soon and we thought you’d be the best person to
go along with him.” He oozed oily diplomacy down the line. Something didn’t
smell right.
    “Is he there?”
    He paused. “Not at the moment I’m afraid. He’s busy in rehearsals.”
    That did sound plausible. After her initial disappointment, she
found she was relieved she didn’t have to talk to him. She’d run off without
saying goodbye – without saying anything. It would be too awkward to have to
explain herself to him. “I’m sorry, John, I can’t take the job. I’m settled
where I am.” She hung up the phone before he tried to talk her into it. There
was no point looking back.
    But the money...
    She pushed the thought aside. All the money in the world wouldn’t be
enough to argue away what she’d done. She’d let her son down – got drunk day
after day when he’d needed her to look after him. She didn’t deserve to get him
back.
    Straightening her uniform, she went back out to do her penance.
    ***
    “S he said no?”
    John nodded. “She said she couldn’t take the job and hung up on me.”
    Noah couldn’t believe it. After all those weeks showing John he
could be trusted and begging him to get her back, she’d turned around and said
no. “It must have been the way you asked her. What did you say?”
    “Nothing. I asked her if she wanted her job back and she said no.”
    It hadn’t even crossed his mind that she might not want to come
back. “But what about her son?”
    “What?”
    “Nothing.” He hadn’t shared that information with him. It felt like
betraying her to say anything to John. “What am I going to do