The Unconventional Angel Read Free Page A

really don’t fancy sharing with a stranger.’ She was on a roll now. ‘I knew things weren’t right with me and Darren. He was pretty selfish, a real mummy’s boy, never did any chores. Always knew his parents would bail him out. He had the sex drive of an amoeba anyway, so in fact good bloody riddance to him, I say. Aitchoo!’
    ‘Bless you.’
    ‘Thank you.’
    ‘And as for Greg, well, I met him two nights ago in a pub in Chelsea and he randomly asked if I would help here today. He’s the first man who’s shown me an inch of kindness for a while and he is rather hot.’
    Yves sucked on his pipe and shivered slightly.
    ‘Do you want your coat back?’
    ‘No, it’s fine. I’m used to the cold.’
    A couple walked by hand in hand, laughing, then stopped and kissed right in front of them.
    ‘Happy Christmas!’ they both shouted back in unison as they ran towards a black cab.
    ‘So, out of all those things you said that were making you sad, which one of them doesn’t have a solution?’
    Evie looked up to the starry sky in thought.
    ‘There’s going to be a frost,’ she noted.
    ‘Evie, I asked you a question.’
    ‘Well, none of them, I suppose. In time I will get a job and a house. I need a man to get a baby, and that’s what I always struggle with. Finding a decent man. I’ve got a worse track record than Elizabeth Taylor, as a matter of fact.’
    ‘See, it’s not so bad – and who says you need a man to get a baby these days?’
    ‘True.’
    ‘And wouldn’t you rather have had the colourful life that Elizabeth Taylor led, than be someone for example who stayed in a loveless marriage for the security of it?’
    ‘Well, if you put it like that . . . I can’t believe I’m being so candid but if I’m totally honest, I am materialistic. I don’t like not having money or love in my life for that matter. I don’t want to have to scrape to buy a lipstick or treat a magazine as a luxury item. I’m too old to be living like a student again.’
    ‘Thar she blows again about age.’ Yves sucked harder on his pipe.
    ‘I mean, what sort of quality of life can you have without money, Yves? I hate to say it, but you are a prime example. You have one good boot, your clothes are horrible, you don’t have a bed to sleep in. I don’t believe you can ever wake up feeling happy.’
    Yves ignored her comment and offered Evie his hand to help her up. She sneezed again loudly. He took his coat gently from her shoulders, reached into a pocket and dabbed a menthol-smelling yellow cream under her nose.
    ‘Oi.’ She pulled away. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’
    ‘Trust me and meet me five p.m. tomorrow on the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral.’
    Evie finished wiping her nose and turned to answer, but the young tramp had already disappeared into the cold December night.

Chapter Three
    ‘What do you mean, someone put some ointment under your nose and your cold has completely gone?’
    ‘Just that. Honestly, it was the weirdest thing. I’m no longer sneezing, my sore throat’s gone, even the cough. I’m one hundred per cent better; in fact, I feel bloody great.’
    ‘It’s just a coincidence, Evie. I mean, colds do that. They come and then they go.’
    ‘He told me there was no such thing as a coincidence.’
    ‘Who is this man who has brainwashed you, anyway?’
    ‘His name’s Yves. He was born on Christmas Eve so his parents called him Yves. He’s a tramp.’
    ‘I know it’s only ten o’clock but are you on the sherry already?’
    ‘No. I’m not! I met him at the homeless shelter. He’s sweet. He said some lovely things. I’m meeting him later actually. At St Paul’s.’
    ‘I think you’ve gone mad – and where does the lovely Greg feature in all this?’
    ‘The lovely Greg has a girlfriend, unfortunately. I was all set to ask him out for a drink and she suddenly appeared. All petite and perfect, to work the night-shift with him.’
    ‘Well, it’s just a girlfriend, not a wife.