Read Online Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend by Jenny Colgan - Free Book Online

for the first time, I cursed myself for not paying more attention at school.
     
    ‘Cal’s at art college too. He’s a sculptor as well.’
     
    Ooh, this was looking up. Suddenly I saw us all at a glamorous opening (somewhat dressed up) with someone saying, ‘And of course, the Old Kent Road school very much used Sophia Chesterton as a muse . . .’
     
    ‘And Wolverine . . . he’s just . . . I don’t know where he came from actually. A lot of flats have someone like that, don’t you find?’
     
    I had not found. In my limited experience, someone you didn’t know very well living in your house did nice things for you, like your laundry, or getting you a frappucino when you had a hangover.
     
    Eck bent his head over his papers again and cleared his throat a little nervously. My dad always did say Limeys were funny talking about money.
     
    ‘So. It’s six hundred quid a month for the room. So I’ll need that and the deposit, and did you bring references? ’
     
    I looked at him. What was he talking about, deposit?
     
    ‘What do you mean, “deposit”?’ I said.
     
    ‘You do know,’ said Eck, looking slightly embarrassed. ‘You have to leave an amount of money with the landlord in case you break stuff or mess up the flat.’
     
    Shit. Shit, I hadn’t known that. Why hadn’t I known that? Did everyone else know all this stuff? Did everyone get a handbook when they turned eighteen and I hadn’t been paying attention that day?
     
    ‘Uh,’ I said. Then I just said what was on my mind.
     
    ‘Eck, really - how could I break stuff or mess up this flat?’ I said. ‘I don’t have a deposit. I’ve got six hundred pounds. For now. Then next month I’ll have it again. Definitely.’
     
    I tried to say ‘definitely’ with as much honest confidence as I could muster. If I could get a flat, I could get my old job back, couldn’t I? Couldn’t I?
     
    But I wasn’t lying about the money. That really was it. I couldn’t put any more down. I just couldn’t.
     
    Eck looked really pained. Which was good. At least he wasn’t going to hurl me out on the street. I felt my heart beating hard.
     
    ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, ‘have you never rented a flat before?’
     
    I shook my head, mutely. Eck excused himself, and disappeared into the hallway. I hoped and hoped that this was a good sign, that he would be able to sort something out. Because if he couldn’t . . .
     
    I crept to the sitting room doorway, but I could just hear a discussion going on between Cal and Eck, with occasional grunting from Wolverine. I went back to my seat and closed my eyes. Just don’t send me away, please. Because I really, and truly, had nowhere else to go.
     
    After what seemed like an age, the boys filed through into the kitchen. Cal looked snotty, Eck embarrassed, Wolverine . . . well, hungry, probably.
     
    ‘Here’s the thing,’ said Eck, staring at the floor, ‘Cal thinks—’
     
    ‘We all think,’ interrupted Cal.
     
    ‘. . . that one way we could get round the fact that you don’t have enough money—’
     
    ‘But Eck would like you to live here . . .’ Cal’s lip curled up. Eck stopped momentarily and shot Cal a dirty look.
     
    ‘One way might be if you helped—’
     
    ‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, spit it out,’ said Cal. ‘Listen. If you want to stop me putting Wolverine in that room—’
     
    ‘You won’t,’ said Eck. They shot looks at one another and I wondered how well they actually got on. Cal took over the conversation.
     
    ‘You need to make up for not paying your share of the deposit.’
     
    I couldn’t quite concentrate, but it sounded like they were going to let me stay. That was a good thing, despite the state of the place.
     
    ‘What do you mean?’
     
    ‘Well, you can see the state of this place.’
     
    I could.
     
    ‘If you could look after it for us, we could forget the deposit.’
     
    Nooo!
     
    I looked at Eck. He shot me a hopeful glance.
     
    ‘What do