Outrageous Fortune by Lulu Taylor

Author:Lulu Taylor
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781448106233
Publisher: Random House

Part Three

41

ONCE SHE HAD agreed to the scheme put to her by Margaret Anderson, Coco found that her life was taken out of her own hands.

Back in the pristine office, Margaret had opened out an extensive contract. Coco hadn’t bothered reading much of it except to check how much they’d be paying her and when, and what she had to do in return. The money clause seemed pretty straightforward: £50,000 for the job, half now and half on completion. Fifty grand! With that I might be able to get started, think about investing in a dance studio. Roberto and I can go into business together maybe … The obligation clause was a little less clear, just saying she had to supply such information as was in her power according to the requirements of blah-blah-blah. She’d got bored with that bit, and skipped to the end and signed it.

‘Good,’ Miss Anderson had said. ‘Now, I’ll need your bank details to make the first payment.’

‘Don’t have a bank account,’ returned Coco. ‘Cash, please.’

‘No bank account?’ The other woman had looked astonished. ‘Very well, cash if you want it. I’ll give you a small advance now – say five hundred – and arrange for the rest. But I do advise you to get an account, your money will be much safer that way. You’ll only need a passport and a utility bill with your address on it.’

Coco sighed sulkily, running her fingers through her white hair. ‘No passport, no address – OK?’

Margaret Anderson frowned, pursing her thin lips. ‘No passport? We’ll certainly have to remedy that. Do you have a birth certificate?’

‘My mum probably has it.’

‘Then you’ll have to get it from her at some point. It’s not urgent. Perhaps when you see her at Christmas. But we will need it.’

Coco hadn’t been intending to see her mother at Christmas, or at any other time come to that, but she supposed she might be able to stand the prospect if it was the only way of getting the rest of her dough.

As soon as Coco had signed the contract, it was as though this Margaret woman thought she owned her. She went with her back to the Victoria hotel and checked her out at once, settled the bill and hailed a taxi. Within a short time they were bowling up to a house in Kensington, one of those wedding-cake white-iced ones with pillars at the front.

Margaret led her up the stairs to the third floor, talking as she went. ‘Luckily, Mr Dangerfield has a property vacant that you can use while this business is going on. I will take care of the admin, but you’ll be registered here as the tenant. That will give you a permanent address and then we can see about getting you a bank account and whatever else you might need.’

When they got inside, Coco looked about, pleased. The flat was small all right, and felt like the kind of place where no one stayed for long: a stop gap or a holiday home.

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