After breakfast, Kim took Joe to one side.
‘Can you try and find out from him about contacting Jean-Claude, while I go over the road to talk to Josie?’
Her neighbour opened the door so quickly that Kim wondered whether she had been watching at the window.
‘Morning,’ she began brightly. ‘Have you got a minute? I just thought I’d pop round to explain about poor old Xavier yesterday.’
Josie, curious as a cat, practically dragged Kim inside and settled her on the sofa.
‘I did wonder. Friend of yours, is he?’
Kim explained, as best she could, about the intern from her husband’s firm, recently arrived from Sweden to stay with them and somewhat disorientated from jet lag. She knew full well it was a tall tale, and her bright red face and nervous demeanour didn’t help in the telling. Josie however, while intensely nosey, wasn’t so ill-mannered as to call her neighbour a liar to her face.
‘He’s very pale, isn’t he?’ she commented.
‘I think all Scandinavians are, aren’t they?’ said Kim. ‘I expect by the time he’s been here for a week or two, he’ll get some colour in those cheeks, don’t you think?’
Josie nodded and then, unaccountably, blushed. Kim wondered which cheeks she might be thinking of.
‘He’s not a naturist or anything,’ she added hastily. ‘He’d just had a shower and got a bit confused. He was mortified when he realised,’ she added, crossing her fingers in her pocket.
‘Yes, well, just so long as he covers up for the rest of the time he’s here. How long did you say he’s staying?’
‘We’re not really sure,’ Kim extemporised. ‘He’s waiting for a job offer but they’re haggling over salary. It’s always about the money, isn’t it?’
They chatted back and forth for a bit. Josie had spotted Kim’s manicure and wanted to know where she’d had it done. With her fingers crossed in her pocket, Kim hastily invented a new salon in Tonbridge and then excused herself before Josie could interrogate her further.
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