Never Mind The Botox: Rachel Read Free

said Shali.
    ‘What’s the business called?’ said Natalie.
    ‘Beau Street Group. Apparently they do every sort of procedure you can think of.’
    ‘Maybe they have celebrity clients,’ said Shali.
    ‘God, I hadn’t thought of that,’ said Rachel. ‘How exciting!’
    ‘You’ll have to let me know how much they’re charging for boob jobs,’ said Natalie.
    Rachel and Shali both looked at her.
    She added quickly, ‘This good friend of mine is thinking of having one. She’s a TV make-up artist and they’re all into that sort of thing.’
    ‘I wonder if they do all those weird things like you see on TV − you know, toe reshaping, injections to stop your armpits sweating, all that sort of thing,’ Shali added.
    ‘Maybe they’ll even do, well, you know…’ Natalie nodding knowingly.
    ‘What?’ said Rachel.
    ‘Well, how shall I say it − tightening operations.’
    Rachel nearly choked on her latte. ‘God Natalie, where did that come from?’
    ‘I saw it on one of those dreadful car crash TV shows that you can’t help watching. This woman in her forties wanted the fanny of a teenager, so the surgeon gave her one − sorry, I mean, you know, created her one.’
    At this point Rachel and Shali were laughing so much that the girl behind the counter waved at them to keep it down.
    ‘Lucky you, Rach,’ said Shali, catching her breath. ‘What a great job to be working on. I’m so jealous. You’ll have to report back regularly, you know, give us the whole scoop.’
    ‘Well, I’m not sure I can − you know, business ethics, need-to-know basis and all that. After all, I am the ultimate professional.’ Rachel flicked her hair as she spoke.
    ‘Since when? And besides, we definitely need to know,’ said Shali.
    ‘Look seriously, though, it’s highly confidential that the business might even be up for sale, so you guys mustn’t talk to anyone else about it, okay? But if I see any celebrities, you’ll be the first to know,’ said Rachel, tapping her nose.
    ‘No accepting any inappropriate gifts while you’re on this job either,’ said Shali, laughing. ‘We’ll have to report you if you start turning up with a smooth forehead.’
    By now it was nearly half past three and Rachel hadn’t done a stroke of work all day.
    ‘Better get back,’ she said. She picked up her gym bag. Natalie and Shali stared at it. ‘Don’t ask,’ she said. ‘It’s actually got my weekend stuff in. I’m off home after work as my brother’s back.’
    ‘How is your handsome brother these days?’ said Shali. ‘I definitely fancy him.’
    Rachel’s brother Rowan was a couple of years older than her and he’d always been popular with her friends. He’d be thirty this year.
    ‘Married with a baby. God, do you have an off switch?’ said Rachel.
    ‘Not so I’ve noticed. Anyway, let’s go,’ said Shali. ‘You’ve got an important project to plan for.’
    Yes, thought Rachel, and I need to make it count.

Chapter 2
    Having briefed her team for Monday and sent a few carefully placed emails, Rachel sneaked out of the office. She was paranoid that she would bump into Pauline any minute and be forced to pretend she was off to the gym. Fortunately she didn’t and she was soon getting out of a cab at the station.
    ‘Return to Bath, please.’
    The ticket man didn’t even look up. ‘What day ya coming back?’ he said.
    ‘Sunday, early evening.’
    ‘Makes no odds to me what time you travel on a Sunday,’ the ticket man said, seemingly annoyed that Rachel had bothered him with such irrelevant information.
    Rachel glared at him but he didn’t notice. He printed her tickets and passed them under the window.
    ‘Which platform for Bath?’ Rachel asked in her politest voice.
    ‘’S’on the board,’ said the ticket man, nodding his head towards the large screen in the middle of the station.
    ‘Gosh, thanks for your help,’ said Rachel. ‘No problem,’ said the ticket man, oblivious to her sarcasm.
    It was