CARRIE DUFFY
Diva

To Amy and Cleo

My Selby divas!

Table of Contents

Title Page

Dedication

Part One

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Part Two

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Part Three

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Read on for an exclusive Q & A with Carrie Duffy…

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Also by Carrie Duffy

Copyright

About the Publisher

PART ONE

1

Detroit, Michigan, USA

Dionne Summers sashayed down Rosa Parks Boulevard in cheap white heels and a butt-skimming mini that revealed acres of firm, chocolate-brown thigh.

‘Hey, Dionne. Lookin’ good!’

‘Drop dead, Mikey,’ snapped Dionne to the twelve-year-old kid who was checking her out. She wasn’t wearing any underwear and she wondered how much he could see.

‘Headin’ someplace special?’ Mikey persisted, cycling alongside her on a beaten-up BMX. Cocky, overweight, and dripping in fake gold jewellery, he hung around in the same gang as Dionne’s younger brother, Shawn, and like every poor kid on the block he was desperate to get out of Detroit.

‘I said leave me the fuck alone,’ Dionne growled, bending down towards him and unintentionally flashing eye-popping amounts of cleavage.

Mikey shrugged. ‘Hey, doll, if you want a good time, you know where I live,’ he quipped, before flipping her the bird and pedalling off.

Dionne laughed in disbelief. The kid was twelve, for chrissakes!

But today she had more important things to consider than the growing pains of pre-teen wannabes. She had a meeting about a modelling job – no, a casting, that was the right word. After all, if she was going to walk the walk she ought to learn how to talk the talk, Dionne grinned to herself.

Dash Ramón had set it up for her. The burly Colombian was a powerhouse in Dionne’s neighbourhood, a guy who made a formidable ally and a deadly enemy, and now he had a soft spot for Dionne, thanks to all the effort she’d put in over the last few weeks. She’d spent evenings at his favourite club, bringing him his favourite drink, looking fabulous and saying little before he finally agreed to do her this favour and organize a meeting with Luis Fernandez.

Luis Fernandez.

Just saying his name sent a thrill right through Dionne. She’d never heard of him, but Dash assured her he was the best and Dionne wanted to believe it. He could get her a spot in W or Harper’s – maybe even European Vogue, Dash had told her. He’d slipped her Fernandez’s card, told her to be there Monday afternoon.

‘I’ve got school,’ she blurted out stupidly. She was still only sixteen.

Dash raised an eyebrow as the intimidating crowd of black-clad heavies who were never far from his side laughed patronizingly. ‘Skip it,’ he told her, menacingly.

Dionne bit her lip nervously, but didn’t argue. If there was one thing you didn’t do, it was piss off Dash Ramón.

So that morning she’d remained huddled under her sheets while her younger sisters got ready around her.

‘Are you sick, honey?’ asked her mother, running a cursory hand over Dionne’s forehead.

‘I don’t feel too good, Momma,’ Dionne swallowed weakly. She knew her mom would be in too much of a rush to argue – her shift at the local deli started at seven a.m., and she couldn’t afford to be late.

‘I really can’t stay home …’ Natalie Summers looked torn.

‘I’ll be fine. I just need to rest. You get off to work, Mom.’

Dionne lay immobile, waiting until the sounds in the house had died down and the front door had banged half a dozen times, signalling that everyone had left. Well, almost everyone. Her daddy would still be in bed but Dionne wasn’t worried about him. He’d be out cold until he dragged himself up around midday, slumping in front of the TV and working his way through a bottle of Jack until her mother came home from her gruelling twelve-hour shift to fix him some dinner. Earl Summers hadn’t had a job since he’d been let go from General Motors more than five years ago, and since then it had been down to Dionne, as the eldest of the six kids, to help her momma keep everything together.

As soon as she’d turned sixteen, she’d found herself a Saturday job, working as a salesgirl in Macy’s over at Oakland Mall. It was a prestigious job, one which wouldn’t normally have been given to a young, black kid from the wrong side of the tracks, but Dionne was possessed of a natural charm and a disarming beauty, and she’d persuaded the manager to give her a chance. He hadn’t regretted it: Dionne was a born saleswoman and had no trouble persuading the rich suburban housewives to part with their husbands’ hard-earned cash. She gave her basic salary straight to her momma for housekeeping, but the commission she made was all hers. She’d opened up a savings account, and already there was almost a thousand dollars in there.

But if Luis Fernandez liked her, she’d be made for life, Dionne thought, offering up a quick, silent prayer that Ramón’s contact would give her the break she needed.

She knew she looked a million dollars. She’d spent yesterday in the African Princess salon, having her luxurious afro relaxed so that it hung straight and sleek down her back. She’d had her legs and bush waxed, her nail acrylics reapplied and decorated with small crystals.

And now she was tottering along Twelfth in tight, plastic heels that were already hurting her feet, her tiny skirt leaving little to the imagination. She’d made herself up carefully, applying fake eyelashes and clear lip gloss that made her bee-stung lips even more enormous. Dash had once told her that the first thing a man thought of when he saw her was what it would be like to be sucked off by those lips. Dionne had simply smiled and blown him a kiss. She hadn’t been blessed with much in life; she figured she might as well make the most of what she did have.

Dionne stopped, searching through her purse and checking the address she’d been given. She studied the badly printed card on its cheap paper, then glanced up at the house in front of her. It didn’t look anything special. In fact, it was a typical example of the houses in downtown Detroit – sprawling, ramshackle and falling to pieces, so the rent was dirt-cheap. The place looked as if it hadn’t been painted since the ’67 riots, and the garden was a jungle.

Taking a deep breath, Dionne pressed the buzzer firmly. Then she thought better of it and knocked; the buzzer looked like it had long since been disconnected.

‘Yeah?’ A small, wiry Hispanic guy opened the door just a crack and peered suspiciously at Dionne.

‘Mr Fernandez?’ she asked, trying to sound confident.

‘Depends who’s askin’.’

‘I’m Dionne Summers. Dash Ramón sent me. For the casting?’

‘Diane, hi!’ His lips crawled back over his teeth as he smiled charmlessly, his gaze flickering over her appraisingly. Dionne could tell he liked what he saw.

She smiled politely as she followed him into the house. It was a pigsty. Discarded takeaway cartons with their half-eaten contents rotting inside littered the floor, barely covered by the old newspaper cuttings and torn magazine articles that were strewn carelessly around the lounge. A couple of twists of foil lay on the stained coffee table, surrounded by crumpled beer cans. Fernandez didn’t even seem to notice the mess.

As he pushed open the door to one of the back rooms, Dionne began to feel a little calmer. It was set up with professional-looking equipment; a couple of large studio lights on adjustable stands, a silver reflector lying in a corner and a neutral-coloured backdrop hanging from a rail.

There was a camera mounted on a tripod that looked like an antique. Fernandez didn’t touch it. He simply picked up a cheap, digital camera and told her, ‘I’m gonna take a few test shots first.’

Dionne stepped tentatively into the centre of the room, trying to look as if she knew what she was doing. ‘What do you want me to wear?’ she asked, hoping that Fernandez might suddenly produce a selection of beautiful designer gowns.

He didn’t even look up. ‘What you’re wearing’s fine. Don’t worry about it.’

Dionne nodded, pouting self-consciously and jutting out her hips in what she hoped was a provocative pose.

Fernandez fired off a few shots and checked his camera. ‘Hey, babe, lose the jacket. It’s not the fuckin’ Arctic in here,’ he yelled.

Silently, Dionne did as she was told. She didn’t want to piss him off and have him tell Ramón she was no good.

She shrugged off her fake-fur bomber jacket to reveal a white tank with a deep V-neck that couldn’t fail to draw attention to her full breasts and silky, dark-brown skin.

Fernandez let out a low whistle and Dionne felt a pang of triumph. He liked her! This was going to be a success!

‘Okay, honey, I want to see innocent,’ Fernandez commanded as Dionne tried her best to oblige, changing her body and her expressions the way Luis instructed.

Fernandez was pleased with what he saw. Yeah, she was getting more natural, more confident at playing with the camera. The girl – what was her name again? – definitely had something. And she was starting to trust him.

Luis smiled lasciviously, walking across his makeshift studio towards Dionne. He stood close to her, but she didn’t flinch. Guys invading her personal space was nothing new. Slowly, Fernandez looked her over, then his eyes caught on the gold necklace that sat just above her cleavage. He twisted it between his thumb and forefinger, his fingertips brushing her skin.

‘Nice,’ he commented.

Dionne’s gaze didn’t falter. ‘It was a present.’

‘From your boyfriend?’

‘From my parents.’

Fernandez flashed that sleazy smile again, seeming pleased with the answer. ‘Okay, take off your top.’

‘What? I—’

‘Just take it off,’ he drawled, suddenly sounding impatient.

The request was unexpected, but Dionne wasn’t ashamed of her body. Hesitating for only a second, she pulled her vest over her head. Hell, it was only like a bikini shoot, right?

Fernandez stared at her cheap white bra and raised an eyebrow.

‘As well?’ Dionne asked. ‘Do I really need to?’ Alarm bells were beginning to ring.

‘Come on, honey, I ain’t got time for this. If you want out, get out.’

He gestured towards the door, but Dionne remained motionless.

‘I’m serious. I ain’t gonna kidnap you or nuthin’. If you don’t wanna do this, then get out and stop wasting my time. But if you do wanna make it big, you gotta be prepared to start gettin’ ’em out. Look at Kate Moss – she’s always naked in the Europeans. French, Italian Vogue – do you read ’em? You should do if you’re serious about this industry. And you can’t move for the titties on their pages.’

Dionne hesitated. She remembered the precious stolen moments she’d spent poring over an ancient copy of British Vogue. The cover had shown a model giggling as she slipped a hand inside another girl’s dress, pretending to touch her breasts. Maybe it was the norm over there.

Reaching round to her back, Dionne unhooked her bra and let it fall away. Her breasts were heavy, the large, dark nipples swaying deliciously on her superb body.

Behind the camera, Luis Fernandez broke into a sweat. He checked three times that he had enough battery – he wasn’t going to miss getting those babies on camera – and fired off a dozen shots without a pause, as Dionne raised her arms above her head like he told her to. ‘It makes them look higher, more pert,’ Luis explained.

More pert? thought Dionne indignantly. She was sixteen years old. How much more pert did he want?

‘Right, I wanna try something different,’ he barked, as he crossed the studio and dragged an ageing chaise longue into the middle of the floor. It was covered in fading red velvet, heavily worn and edged in dark wood. Dionne could tell it had been nice … once. Now it was covered in unsavoury-looking stains and leaking yellow stuffing. Dionne sat down tentatively on the edge.

‘How about we try a few nude shots?’ suggested Fernandez, hastily wiping his perspiring forehead. Jesus, was it hot in here, or was it just the girl? He rearranged his trousers uncomfortably. Maybe she’d let him bang her after the shoot. ‘Upmarket stuff, of course,’ he continued. ‘Nothin’ funny. That’s why I brought the couch.’

He gestured to the dilapidated chaise longue, and Dionne looked at him doubtfully.

‘Look, sweetheart,’ he began, trying to sound kind. He placed a hand on her naked shoulder and Dionne flinched. ‘I know you’re only a kid, but you’ve got a great future ahead of you. I’m gonna put the word out about these shots, and I guarantee you’ll have jobs lined up like that,’ he insisted, clicking his fingers. ‘But I gotta have something to show my contacts, and the wider your portfolio, the better. They wanna see all the different things you can do – you gotta be able to project different images y’see, kid – that’s what makes you sellable.’

Dionne nodded.

‘Now I’m doing you a favour here, because you’re a friend of Ramón’s and he’s an amigo of mine. I ain’t charging you nuthin’ for these pictures, but they’re gonna be your passport to the big time.’

‘So what’s in it for you?’ Dionne challenged him. She was poor, from a neighbourhood full of Hispanics, African Americans and a handful of Eastern European migrants, but the one language everyone talked was money.

‘Me? I get to help make a big star. I have faith in you, Diane, and if you get to the top, I want you to repay the favour to Luis Fernandez. I make my money from shooting the big jobs – Vogue, Women’s Wear Daily, ad campaigns, see? It means I can afford to do a favour for a friend and help out a kid with huge …’ his eyes lingered on her breasts … ‘potential.’

Dionne took a deep breath. ‘Okay,’ she agreed, standing up and slipping out of her skirt to reveal a perfectly waxed pussy.

Fernandez nearly fell over. Christ, the kid was bald! Was she really that young?

‘Just lie back on the couch,’ he told her, trying to keep his cool. He didn’t want to alarm the girl – he had her exactly where he wanted her. ‘Put your arms above your head, and relax … that’s it … Make like some British rich bitch. You’re born to this kind of life. Elegance, luxury, that’s what we want …’

Dionne suppressed a giggle. It was hard to portray elegance and luxury when she was stark naked. If she’d been dripping in diamonds, it might have been different. She arched her back slightly, trying to get comfortable, and Fernandez caught his breath.

‘Legs a little wider, honey … that’s it …’

Unconsciously, Dionne did what he told her, following his instructions and letting her mind wander over the scenario he had set up for her. She was the lady of the manor – rich, beautiful, glamorous … she had servants to look after her mansion, and a devastatingly handsome, successful husband who bought her everything she wanted – fast cars, trinkets from Tiffany …

Fernandez moved slowly across the room towards her, his feet silent on the grotty carpet. ‘I’m just gonna do some close-ups,’ he said softly.

Dionne barely heard him. There would be no more clothes from the Goodwill, no more sharing a room with three of her sisters in a grotty, roach-infested house that smelt of damp and stale bourbon. Instead she would be treated like a princess and hold grand balls in her country house, where exquisitely dressed, beautiful men and women would flock to her parties. She wanted it so badly it was almost tangible. She would be admired and in demand, she would be loved, respected, and—

‘What the fuck do you think you’re doing?’

Dionne jumped up from the couch and grabbed a nearby dustsheet to cover her body. Fernandez had been kneeling at the foot of the chaise longue, pointing the camera between her legs.

He grinned lecherously. ‘You know, you’re even more beautiful when you’re mad. And you’re the best bit of cunt Ramón’s ever sent me.’

Dionne felt sick.

‘Give me that camera,’ she yelled, lunging at him.

But Fernandez was too quick for her.

‘’Fraid not, cutie pie,’ he sneered. ‘I ain’t letting these go. You’re a natural, you know that? You should be a model.’

‘I am going to be a model,’ Dionne insisted, blinking back tears.

Fernandez laughed loudly and Dionne pulled the sheet more tightly around her. ‘You ain’t never gonna be no supermodel, honey. The public – they don’t like black trash, see? And that ass ain’t never gonna fit into any sample sizes.’

‘Give me those pictures!’ Dionne screamed again, snatching furiously at the camera. But Fernandez held on to it tightly.

‘Get the fuck out of my house,’ he snarled, pushing his face up close towards her. Dionne could smell the stench of his breath, see his yellowed teeth.

With a sob, she grabbed her clothes and ran down the corridor, leaving the door open behind her as she ran outside. Tears were streaming down her face as she sprinted barefoot into the street, her thick, black hair streaming out behind her. Passing cars honked their horns, amused by the spectacle of this beautiful girl running down the road with only a sheet wrapped around her, but Dionne was too upset to care.

How could she have been so fucking stupid? She’d thought this was going to be her big break, but he was just some fucking pervert. Jesus, he had those pictures of her – God only knew what he’d taken when she wasn’t paying attention. He’d been pointing the camera right between her legs, right up …

Dionne stopped running and collapsed into sobs. The photos would go all round Dash Ramón’s crew, she knew that. She wanted to kill him for humiliating her like this. She thought he’d been doing her a favour, but Dash Ramón was only looking out for himself, as usual. Shit, what if her daddy saw those photos?

‘Hey, Dionne! You okay?’

It was Trey Williams, one of the guys from her neighbourhood. They hung out with the same crowd and she’d slept with him a couple of times.

‘Baby, what happened?’ he asked, looking genuinely concerned as he pulled his car over to where Dionne was standing, shivering, on the sidewalk. ‘Come on, get in,’ Trey told her, opening the passenger side door.

Miserably, Dionne did as she was told.

‘What happened?’ Trey repeated, as she slid into the seat beside him.

‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ Dionne insisted, wiping her eyes furiously on a corner of the filthy sheet.

‘You wanna go back to mine – get yourself fixed up?’

Dionne nodded. He was a nice guy, and she didn’t want to go home yet.

‘Oh, Dionne, baby, you’re so good …’

Dionne lay back lifelessly as Trey writhed and moaned on top of her.

‘I told you Trey would cheer you up, didn’t I, baby?’ he whispered, pushing deeper into her.

Dionne lay silent, closing her mind as he used her body.

She didn’t mind, not really. It was all the same to her. Men always wanted sex, and she wanted to feel loved. It was a fair trade.

Dionne lay back passively, running over her options as Trey thrust inside her, grunting and squirming. She had to get out of here. She’d known it for years, but this afternoon had made her see there was no future for her in Detroit.

Ever since she was a kid, people had told her she ought to model. She was beautiful, with soft, flawless skin, high cheekbones, huge, liquid-brown eyes and legs that went on forever. But as she’d grown up, her body had refused to cooperate with her dream. Dionne had wanted to be tall and skinny with a flat chest and no hips, but nature wouldn’t play ball, obstinately blessing her with large breasts and a full-on booty that never seemed to get any smaller no matter how much she exercised. Whenever Dionne tried the big agencies, she always got the same answer: ‘Try glamour work. You haven’t got the right look for runway modelling.’

But Dionne refused to let them crush her dream and turned her attentions to Europe; after all, didn’t they like different-looking girls over there? Dionne was no Cindy Crawford, no all-American, California-tanned cheerleader type. But in Europe, the fashion world adored the tiny, bohemian Kate Moss, the doll-like Lily Cole and the Amazonian Naomi Campbell.

Trey began to thrust faster, and Dionne could tell he was close to climax. Obligingly, she moaned and arched her back, clenching herself around him. With a final groan, Trey came and collapsed onto her. He was heavy and sweating, and Dionne hoped he’d get off her soon.

‘Dionne, you’re the best, you know that?’ he told her, pulling out and rolling away from her. ‘I told you I’d cheer you up,’ he winked, clearly pleased with himself as he lit a spliff and lay back contentedly.

Dionne smiled weakly. ‘Thanks, Trey,’ she said, getting up and dressing hastily. ‘I’d better head off.’

‘Sure,’ he told her, unconcernedly. ‘I’ll see you around.’

Dionne paused. ‘Yeah, see you around.’ She let herself out, closing the door behind her, and stepped into the grimy streets, breathing in the polluted air. Suddenly she knew with absolute certainty that she had to get out of here, whatever it took. If she didn’t, the city would grind her down, her life becoming a carbon copy of her mother’s – marriage to a deadbeat drunk, a cluster of kids, a minimum wage job that exhausted her and made her look old before her time. There was no way she could let that happen. Dionne Summers wanted something more from life.

She thought of the money in her savings account. A thousand dollars. Enough to buy a plane ticket, a motel for a few nights. The possibilities swirled tantalizingly in her mind. She could go to Europe, find work, be a model. It all seemed so easy, so obvious.

Dionne looked around her, taking in the familiar streets for one last time. She felt something harden inside her, like steel, and she knew what she had to do.

2

Manchester, UK Eighteen months later

Alyson Wakefield scurried out of school into the freezing February air. Her head was bowed, her shoulders rounded in her habitual pose, in a desperate effort not to be noticed. Standing just shy of five feet eleven in flats, with a rail-thin body and endless, coltish legs, being unobtrusive was not something that came naturally to seventeen-year-old Alyson Wakefield.

Her fine blonde hair had been hastily tied back with a simple band, revealing razor-sharp cheekbones and enormous blue eyes. With her clear porcelain skin and enviable poise that naturally lent itself to elegance, Alyson was on the verge of blossoming into a true beauty. But all she saw when she looked in the mirror were startled eyes and a skinny body that never filled out, no matter how much she ate. With her lean, gangly frame she felt clumsy and masculine, gauche and out of proportion compared to the other girls in her class. The boys teased her about her flat chest and towering height, the daily taunts ringing in her ears so that it was impossible for her to be anything other than self-conscious about the way she looked.

‘You workin’ tonight, Alyson?’ asked Kayleigh, a small, freckled girl with a shock of red hair and a prominent overbite.

Alyson nodded as she hurried to catch up with her friends. They were known as ‘The Misfits’, a group of five girls each as physically awkward and insecure as Alyson herself. Staying together meant safety in numbers.

‘Yeah, it’s going to be another late – ouch!’

She broke off as she was shoved in the shoulder by the group of boys walking towards her. Instinctively, Alyson spun round and saw Callum Bateman grinning at her. Dark-haired and good-looking, he was also cocky and arrogant, and did his best to humiliate Alyson whenever he saw her.

‘Fancy a fuck?’ he yelled. ‘I could do you up the arse, you’d love it.’

The ever-present group of admirers hanging off his every word burst out laughing as Alyson flushed bright red, her whole face lighting up like a beacon that was probably visible from the other side of the Pennines. But she kept her mouth shut and didn’t reply. She wasn’t about to get into a war of words with Callum Bateman. There would only be one winner, and it wouldn’t be Alyson.

Instead, her friend Leanne took up the challenge. Short and round, almost as wide as she was high, with a perma-orange fake tan and a face obscured by a mass of jet-black hair extensions, she relished a good argument.

‘Shut your face, you bell-end,’ she screeched, her voice carrying halfway across the car park.

‘Piss off, Leanne,’ sneered Callum. ‘I’d rather chop my dick off than put it in your rancid midget fanny.’

‘Go fuck yourself, gaylord,’ Leanne shot back venomously.

‘I’ve got to go,’ Alyson said under her breath, as she saw her bus pull up to the stop. Already the other kids were piling on, and she couldn’t afford to miss it. If she did, she’d be late for work. ‘I’ll see you guys tomorrow.’ She sprinted off, her long legs quickly covering the ground, leaping onto the bus as the doors closed behind her.

There were no seats left and she stood awkwardly at the front, speaking to no one. Instead, she kept her head down, pulling her tatty old duffel coat tightly around her like a security blanket and glancing out of the filthy windows from time to time as the bus made the short journey from Oldham to Manchester.

Three nights a week she travelled into the city centre to waitress at Il Mulino, an upmarket restaurant catering to the city’s most affluent residents. Her shift finished around midnight, when it would be a dash to make the last bus home and grab a few hours’ sleep before college in the morning.

It was a punishing lifestyle, but Alyson knew she was lucky to have been taken on by such a reputable restaurant as Il Mulino. It paid minimum wage but the tips were excellent, the clientele being predominantly the flashy, new-money set: media workers, property developers, footballers with their wives or girlfriends or mistresses. The footballers were the worst, their eyes roaming over her as she walked back and forth to their table. Men often looked at her like that, with a predatory, covetous gaze, and Alyson found it unsettling. She didn’t realize it was because she was beautiful – stunningly so, ethereal almost – and ripe for the picking.

The bus pulled into Piccadilly and Alyson jumped off, walking briskly towards Exchange Square. The pavements were already glowing with a thin sheen of frost, the bus covering her with slush as it drove away. But Alyson simply sunk her chin deeper into her knitted scarf and moved on.

She reached the restaurant in a few minutes, hurrying into the back and quickly saying hi to the other girls who were crowded round the tiny mirror applying mascara and lip gloss, spraying their slicked-back hair firmly in place. Alyson didn’t even glance at herself as she slipped out of her school uniform and into her well-worn white shirt and black skirt, pulling on thick black opaques and her smartest shoes. Stashing her bag in her locker, she dashed back through the double doors into the mania of the kitchen and grabbed the dishes that were waiting on the hot plate.

‘Table twenty-four,’ yelled the sous-chef, and Alyson was on her way.

It was an exhausting, spirit-crushing way to live, but it had become so routine that Alyson rarely stopped to think how tired she was. It was a necessity, a way of life, and it had been like this ever since her father walked out on them.

Alyson slammed down a plate with more severity than she had meant to, apologizing profusely to the indignant-looking woman at the table. The woman arched an over-plucked eyebrow, then smiled graciously – well, as far as she could manage with a face full of Botox. Alyson smiled politely, hoping she hadn’t just blown her chances of a good tip, and scurried away.

Even after all this time, memories of her father were still painful. Alyson had been just nine years old when Terry Wakefield had walked out on them, taking her younger brother, Scott, who was only six at the time. She remembered all too clearly the feeling of abandonment, the painful realization that her father had opted to leave her behind, that she somehow wasn’t good enough for him.

The reasons behind his departure were complex. For as long as Alyson could remember, her mother, Lynn, had had issues. Her erratic behaviour had characterized Alyson’s childhood – there were periods when she wouldn’t leave the house for weeks, convinced that the neighbours were plotting against her, or that Mrs Davidson next door was trying to communicate evil thoughts through the wall. Alyson wasn’t frightened, simply confused.

From time to time, her mother found work – low-skilled, low-paid appointments, like factory work or cleaning – but she struggled to keep a position as she swiftly gave her employers reason to get rid of her. Sometimes she stayed in bed for days on end, simply not turning up for work, until her employers got sick of trying to contact her and her P45 arrived in the post. Other times they would be disturbed by the bizarre things Lynn did – refusing to drink the mugs of tea she was offered for fear they were ‘contaminated’, or completely forgetting how to do a task she’d been shown a few hours earlier. It was only when she went to clean for an affluent and compassionate doctor that someone finally recognized what was wrong. When Alyson Wakefield was eight years old, her mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia.

For a while, life got better. With an accurate diagnosis, Lynn’s condition could be treated, but the run of good behaviour didn’t last long. Some of the side effects were unpleasant and she became increasingly reluctant to take the medication prescribed, treating her pills like headache tablets – taking one if she felt unwell, not bothering if she was having a good day. And as someone who enjoyed a drink, she didn’t see why being on heavy medication should stop her.

For Terry Wakefield, the final straw came one night when he awoke to find his wife standing in the freezing cold kitchen, wearing only her underwear and holding a heavy metal pan high above her head. She claimed Mrs Davidson was trying to tunnel through from the house next door, and she wanted to be prepared for when she surfaced through the dirty lino floor.

The following day, Alyson came home from school to find the house unusually quiet. Her mother was slumped in an armchair, her eyes staring blankly into the middle distance and a near-empty bottle of vodka beside her chair.

‘Where’s Dad?’ asked Alyson, an ominous feeling creeping over her.

Lynn glanced up at Alyson. She looked exhausted, huge purple bags under her bloodshot eyes. ‘He’s gone.’

Alyson swallowed. Her father had left before – so many times that she’d lost count. Often he’d disappear for days at a time and there would be furious rows when he got back, her mother crying and screaming and drinking, while Alyson and her brother huddled together at the top of the stairs, longing for them to stop. But this time there was something different in Lynn Wakefield’s tone, an air of finality.

‘He’s taken Scott with him,’ she confirmed resignedly, picking up the vodka bottle and swallowing the final dregs.

From then on, it was just the two of them. Alyson never heard anything more from her father and grew to deeply resent him, furious at the way he’d abandoned them to struggle, choosing her brother over her and splitting up their family.

Alyson had had to grow up very quickly, learning to care for herself and her mother, ensuring she was always presentable for school lest the teachers became suspicious. One of the kids in her class had been taken away by social services, and for nine-year-old Alyson that seemed every bit as terrifying as being snatched by the Child Catcher. She was determined to avoid the same fate; after all, her mother was all she had left now.

Lynn Wakefield gave up looking for work when her husband left, the pair of them getting by on benefits and disability payments. There was barely enough to cover bills and food, let alone any money for extras like school trips or new clothes. Alyson dressed as cheaply as she could, buying clothes from charity shops and wearing them until they were threadbare. She wasn’t like the other kids, with fashionable outfits and designer trainers. She was different, obviously so, and was ostracized accordingly.

She began working as soon as she was old enough – a paper round, babysitting for the neighbours’ kids, then glass collecting at the local pub when she hit sixteen. Every penny she earned she took home to her mum, to help pay the heating or the water or whichever bill was coming through the letterbox stamped ‘Final Demand’ that week.

Sometimes, in her rare, quiet moments, she secretly dreamed of getting out; of escaping and going far, far away, like an adventurer in a fairytale. But in reality, she couldn’t see an end to this life. There was no time to think about her own dreams and ambitions, to consider what she wanted from the future. She was too busy fighting tooth and nail to keep everything together – school, work, home. She couldn’t stop for a second. If she did, she might break.

‘Alyson?’

Alyson jumped as her shift manager’s voice cut into her thoughts.

‘Yeah?’

‘I really hate to ask, but Carmen’s just rung in sick and I wondered if there was any chance of you covering for her tomorrow night?’ Helen bit her lip and looked pleadingly at Alyson.

Briefly Alyson thought about the English essay that was due in two days’ time, and the French verbs she was supposed to learn by tomorrow. She was a good student, bright and hard-working, but her troubled home life meant she couldn’t always finish her work on time or study as hard as she wanted for that exam. Her teachers got frustrated that she wasn’t reaching her full potential, but Alyson simply bowed her head and took their criticism, unwilling to go into details about her problems.

‘Sure,’ she told Helen, with a little shrug of her shoulders. Schoolwork could wait – they badly needed the extra money.

‘Great!’ Helen smiled gratefully at her, before disappearing back through the double doors into the restaurant.

It was raining lightly when Alyson climbed wearily off the night bus and set off through the darkness towards her house. It was almost one a.m., and the dank drizzle for which Manchester was renowned only added to her bleak mood. She was exhausted, longing to collapse into bed, but she dragged her aching body one step at a time through the deserted streets.

She lived in a small two-up two-down, just one of many on an estate with identical rows of red-brick terraces, built at the turn of the century for Oldham’s millworkers. Each opened directly onto the street in front, with a small yard out back and a narrow lane running behind. Beyond lay the rugged moorland, stretching for miles, but currently invisible in the blackness of the night.

Alyson slipped the key into the lock and opened the front door, surprised to find that the house was dark. Her mother was usually waiting up for her, watching TV or dozing in an armchair. With a strange sense of foreboding, Alyson flicked on the light and hurried through to the kitchen.

The first thing she saw was her mother’s red and white pills, scattered across the old, cracked lino. Her eyes followed the trail, refusing to take in what she was seeing. Lynn Wakefield lay slumped on the floor, her eyes closed and the pill bottle clutched in her hand.

The neon striplights at the hospital were harsh and draining, making it impossible to know whether it was night or day. Her mother was comfortable, they told her. Critical but stable. As yet, Alyson hadn’t been allowed to see her.

She’d been asked question after question, filled out form after form.

‘Who’s her next of kin?’ asked the young, male nurse, who’d introduced himself as Martin.

‘I am,’ Alyson answered clearly.

‘Is she married? We notice she’s wearing a wedding ring …’

‘He’s gone,’ Alyson said, and her voice was hard. ‘I don’t know where he is.’

The nurse looked at her sceptically. ‘Well, if you manage to think of anything, let us know. A contact number for your father would be very helpful.’

Alyson remained mute. Her father had been out of their lives for so long and she wasn’t about to invite him back again. I’m the one who looks after her, Alyson thought fiercely. I’m the one who’s cared for her every day for the past eight years. He doesn’t deserve any part of this.

Martin left, and for the next few hours she remained ignored, seated on a hard plastic chair in an endless white corridor, her head in her hands. She had no idea how long she kept up the vigil. She was on the verge of dozing off, her exhausted body finally running out of energy, when she heard a voice that made her think she was hallucinating.

‘Ally?’

Her head shot up. There was only one person who’d ever called her that.

Terry Wakefield stood in front of her, and he had the good grace to look embarrassed. Alyson stared at him in disbelief. He looked older than she remembered; his hair had grown thinner, the lines on his face etched deeper. Beside him was a tall, lanky guy that Alyson barely recognized – her brother, Scott. She hadn’t seen him since he was six years old, and he’d altered almost beyond recognition, becoming a sulky, sullen teenager with pale-blond hair and a bored expression. He looked as though he’d rather be anywhere but there – in the hospital, visiting the sick mother who was a stranger to him.

‘How … What the hell are you doing here?’ Alyson burst out. Her voice was anguished, a strangled cry.

Her father’s forehead creased anxiously. ‘They contacted me … The doctors. How is she?’

‘Like you even care,’ Alyson spat. ‘How did they get your number? I never gave them it.’

‘They found it …’ Terry began awkwardly. ‘In your mother’s things.’

Alyson felt a slow, heavy, sinking feeling in her stomach, as though she’d just eaten a pile of lead.

‘We kept in touch, now and again,’ her father continued. ‘Sometimes I sent her some money … when she was struggling.’

Alyson felt sick. Her mother and father were still in contact, yet her father had never once asked to see her, her mother keeping silent about the clandestine meetings. And all the time she’d been slaving away, working until she dropped, her mother had failed to mention the extra money Terry Wakefield had given her. She’d probably spent it on alcohol, or something ridiculous from QVC, Alyson thought furiously.

‘Why didn’t you help me?’ Alyson demanded. Her voice was growing louder, more hysterical. ‘Why didn’t you want to see me?’ The room was spinning.

‘Ally …’

Her father stepped towards her, but at that moment a white-coated figure appeared from her mother’s room.

‘I’m Dr Chaudhry,’ he introduced himself, shaking hands with the three of them. ‘Would you like to come in now?’

They followed him through; Alyson went first, shocked to see her mother looking so small and fragile in the hospital bed. She was hooked up to all manner of machines, an IV tube attached to the back of her hand. She was sleeping right now, the machines around her beeping at regular intervals.

‘Please, take a seat, all of you,’ suggested Dr Chaudhry. They sat down, her brother rolling his eyes and sighing like this was all a big inconvenience.

‘I understand you’re her primary carer,’ he said, turning to Alyson. He looked tired but patient, and his dark-brown eyes were kind.

‘Yes, that’s correct,’ she said determinedly.

‘It’s a lot of responsibility for someone so young.’

‘I didn’t have a choice,’ she retorted, with a pointed glance at her father.

The doctor nodded, understanding. ‘Well, now you do.’

Alyson stared at him, her brow furrowing in incomprehension.

‘We think it might be better if your mother went somewhere she could get the help that she needs. Her condition is obviously serious, and Lynn might be better served in a place where they have the specialization to really look after her. Now, there are a number of care homes in the area—’

‘I look after her,’ Alyson burst out. ‘We’ve managed fine all these years.’

‘Ally, you’re clearly not coping,’ her father cut in.

‘We’ll be fine,’ Alyson insisted, her voice small and tight. She stared hard at the motionless figure in the bed, fighting back tears. ‘We don’t need you.’

‘Perhaps I’ll give you some time to talk this through,’ Dr Chaudhry suggested tactfully, sensing the atmosphere. ‘They have all the details you need at reception, and I’ll be back after my rounds if you have any questions.’

‘Listen, Ally,’ her father began after the doctor had left. ‘Think about it. And I mean seriously. You can’t spend the rest of your life looking after your mother – it’s just not fair on you. Now the doctor thinks this is the best option, and maybe he’s right. You’ve got to think about her too, not just what you want.’

‘Why not? That’s what you did, isn’t it?’ Alyson retorted. She was lashing out, all the anger that she’d bottled up over the past decade finally finding an outlet.

‘You need some time for yourself, sweetheart,’ Terry said adamantly. ‘And maybe it’s best for both of you. It could be that Lynn’s become too reliant on you …’

Alyson felt a swathe of guilt and hated her father for making her feel like that. Was he right? Was this somehow her fault, for encouraging her mother to become too dependent on her?

‘Look, love, I can give you a few hundred pounds, maybe more. You can do what you want, go where you want.’

‘I don’t need your money,’ Alyson spat, her eyes flashing dangerously. She couldn’t believe that her father thought he could just walk back into her life and pay her off.

Terry Wakefield leaned forward and caught her hand. His hold was strong, a little painful even. He stared straight into her eyes, the pressure on her palm getting stronger. When he spoke again, his voice was cold, threatening almost. ‘Think about it, Ally.’

3

Paris, France Three months later

Cécile Bouvier was late. She hurried down the rue de Rivoli, dodging tourists and taking furious drags on the Philip Morris cigarette dangling from her pillar-box-red lips. Everybody stared. A few tourists took pictures. No one could take their eyes off her.

Despite the heat of the day, she wore black drainpipe trousers with black brogues, and a Frankie Says Relax T-shirt that she’d slashed to her midriff so only the top half of the message was visible. At five foot four her frame was gamine, petite in that particularly French way, with her flat, porcelain-white stomach extending beneath the T-shirt, her small breasts jutting through the thin cotton fabric. She wore armfuls of bangles and Wayfarer sunglasses, while enormous earphones were clamped over her head, attached to a tiny iPod.

But the most striking thing about CeCe was her hair. On one side of her head it fell in a thick, dark curtain, straggly and gloriously unkempt. The other half was shaved in a severe buzzcut. The whole look was eccentric, edgy and individual. She’d been compared to early Madonna, Agyness Deyn and Alice Dellal, but as far as CeCe was concerned, the look was all her own. One hundred per cent original and impossible to replicate.

CeCe was twenty-one years old, and lived and breathed fashion. She was obsessed with clothes – and not in a superficial, Beverly-Hills-socialite way. CeCe saw clothes as an art form, a true expression of the individual. She was fascinated with the way they were conceived and created, the way they could alter moods, launch a star or destroy a career.

CeCe’s dream was to make it as a designer. She wanted her own fashion house, to be known the world over for her bold, glamorous designs. She’d sacrificed a lot to make it happen, but there was still a long way to go.

She came to a halt outside a large store at the less salubrious end of the rue de Rivoli, in the midst of shops selling tourist tat and cheap clothes. The sign above read ‘Rivoli Couture’, and the window display showed rail-thin, black plastic mannequins modelling ostentatious designer clothing. It was where CeCe worked as a sales assistant. The job was soul-destroying, but she had rent to pay.

She threw down her cigarette and burst through the door, pulling off her earphones and stuffing them into her bag. It was vintage Chanel tweed, and she’d customized it herself with ribbon and lace.

‘Bonjour, tout le monde,’ CeCe greeted everyone.

‘Morning CeCe.’

‘Buongiorno!’

‘Cześć, CeCe, how are you?’

A chorus of languages greeted her as she pulled off her sunglasses to reveal dark black circles under her eyes.

‘Christ, CeCe, you look like shit!’ exclaimed Maarit, a waif-like Finnish blonde, whose foul mouth belied her demure appearance.

‘I stayed awake until five a.m., designing,’ CeCe explained in her thick French accent. ‘I had an incredible idea that wouldn’t leave me, and I could not sleep until it was finished. Is Dionne here yet?’

‘Yeah, she’s out the back.’

‘Merci,’ CeCe smiled, as she made her way across the shop, past groaning shelves overflowing with garish clothing. Rivoli Couture bought up the dross from France’s top designers, last season’s pieces that those with taste and money found too hideous to actually buy. Yet the tourists seemed to lap it up, leaving with bagfuls of designer labels at heavily discounted prices.

‘CeCe!’ Dionne exclaimed, kissing her on both cheeks. ‘Girl, I am loving your outfit! But hell, look at your eyes – you’re exhausted, honey.’

‘I was up the whole night working on something new: a beautiful full-length dress made of crêpe de chine, with shoulder draping and an asymmetrical hemline.’ Her hazel eyes sparkled as she described it. ‘I have made the toile and I need you to try it, Dionne, I just know it will look amazing on you. But where were you last night? You did not come home, no?’

‘No,’ Dionne giggled. She was wearing an obscenely short, cherry-red bandage dress that clung to her incredible curves. CeCe realized she’d come straight to work from wherever she’d spent the night.

‘Are you still drunk?’

‘Maybe just a little,’ Dionne admitted, as she broke down in another fit of giggles. ‘Shit, that reminds me, help me get these back before Khalid notices them,’ she hissed, pulling a pair of neon-yellow peep-toe stilettos out of her bag.

‘You wore those?’ CeCe asked disapprovingly. ‘They’re vile.’

‘I thought they were kind of fun,’ Dionne disagreed, as she turned them over to inspect them. The soles were badly scuffed, and a cigarette butt clung to the bottom of the right one. Dionne quickly shoved them back on the shelf with a shrug. ‘If anyone complains, just say they’re shop-soiled and give them ten per cent off.’

The way Dionne saw it, there was no point working in a clothes shop if you couldn’t borrow the occasional item. It was one of the few perks to this job, and meant she was rarely seen in the same outfit twice.

‘So where did you go?’

‘David took me for dinner, then we went on to Bijou,’ Dionne gushed, naming the hot new nightclub that had just opened in the Marais. ‘I had so much fun – you should have come. The champagne was flowing, I was dancing on the tables all night long, shaking my booty … And the best part …’ Dionne paused for effect, ensuring she had CeCe’s full attention. ‘… The owner. Philippe Rochefort. Man, that guy is hot! Loaded too – like, serious money. David introduced me to him and I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Very good-looking. Very French, you know what I’m saying?’

‘Poor David.’ CeCe smiled sympathetically. ‘He adores you.’

‘David’s a sweetie,’ Dionne conceded. ‘He’s a great guy but—’

‘But what?’

‘I don’t know.’ Dionne sighed despairingly. ‘There’s just not that spark. I want totally intense chemistry where you can’t keep your hands off each other, where there’s an orchestra playing every time you’re together and you think you might die when you’re apart.’

‘Life is not like in the movies, Dionne.’

‘My life’s going to be,’ Dionne replied indignantly. ‘There’s gonna be drama and passion and—’

‘Ah, ladies, much as I hate to interrupt you, I had hoped you might get round to doing a little work today.’

It was Khalid Hossein, owner of Rivoli Couture, a short, pot-bellied man in an ill-fitting beige suit. Egyptian by birth, he was a now a French national, for reasons neither Dionne nor CeCe could understand. Khalid never had a good word to say about the French, complaining about the Parisian weather, the taxation levels, and especially the liberal employment laws which, in his view, gave workers every excuse to slack off whilst making it virtually impossible to sack them.

‘I was just …’ CeCe began, then trailed off.

‘Putting these away for me,’ Dionne interjected, dumping a pile of lavishly decorated Christian Audigier jeans in her arms. ‘And I was about to—’

‘Do the coffee run,’ cut in CeCe, in a flash of inspiration.

‘Absolutely,’ Dionne purred, batting her eyelids at Khalid. ‘Can I get you anything?’

‘Well … an espresso,’ he agreed grudgingly. Dionne might have been lazy and unreliable, but she could charm the pants off anyone, employing the same skills she’d honed at Macy’s back home in Detroit to sweet-talk the Parisian tourists into leaving Rivoli Couture with bags full of overpriced, end-of-line designer gear. For Khalid Hossein, the bottom line was money. He would overlook a lot as long as the cash tills kept ringing.

Dionne slipped out to the café next door – the young guy there had a hopeless crush on her and gave her such a generous discount the order was practically free – as CeCe began straightening hangers. Khalid was OCD about having them all face the same way round.

There were times when CeCe hated this job with a passion. She put zero enthusiasm into it, saving her energy for her designing and her partying – the two great loves of her life. She and Dionne moved in moneyed, hip circles, and she loved the lifestyle, but she had to find some way of supporting herself. Her socializing was always paid for – her friends were rich and generous – but rent, food, the basics, all needed to be covered, and since falling out with her parents, CeCe had been on a steep learning curve, quickly discovering the harsh realities of working for a living.

CeCe had grown up in Clochiers, a small town in Auvergne in central France. It was stunningly beautiful, but boring as hell, and from a young age CeCe had been desperate to move to the city.

Her family were wealthy – CeCe had fallen in love with Paris when she’d accompanied her mother, Inès, on her regular shopping trips to the capital – but CeCe had little interest in money. Like Marilyn Monroe, she just wanted to be wonderful.

As a child she’d been given dolls to play with and she used them as her first models, cutting up old dresses then stitching them together in provocative, sensual designs that outraged her conservative mother. Whilst Inès’s wardrobe comprised chic, classic pieces by traditional French fashion houses, like Yves St Laurent and Givenchy, CeCe’s passions lay elsewhere. She loved the overt sexuality of Jean-Paul Gaultier, the high drama of Alexander McQueen and the punk-inspired eccentricity of Vivienne Westwood. Soon she was experimenting with her own style, mixing her father’s battered old walking boots with her mother’s vintage Dior, or using an Hermès scarf as a sash for her school uniform. She dressed to get attention – everyone in the small village knew her name, and that was just the way CeCe liked it.

When she hit her teenage years, CeCe cranked the rebellion up to max. She experimented with drink, drugs and sex, sleeping with both boys and girls – anything to push the boundaries. But there were dark times too. After the highs she would crash with depression, hiding beneath her sheets and refusing to get out of bed until her mother despaired and her father became white-lipped with fury. She remembered with horror the demons that had chased her down, pulling her deeper into a web of darkness that seemed impossible to escape from. It had taken a long time to fight her way out. There had been visits to a clinic – private and discreet, naturally – a startling array of pills and a course of counselling.

And then suddenly CeCe was back, as out of control and outrageous as ever, her behaviour even wilder than before. The summer after she turned eighteen, the issues came to a head and CeCe knew she needed to make a decision about her future. Her parents threatened to cut her off unless she curbed her ways and went to university to study for a proper degree. They wanted her to go into one of the professions, to become a doctor or a lawyer. Better still, to marry a doctor or a lawyer, and stay at home being a good housewife. CeCe couldn’t think of anything worse.

After a particularly heated argument, CeCe packed up her little Citroën and drove non-stop to Paris. She went first to her mother’s regular hairdresser in rue Cambon. Sitting in the stylist’s chair, CeCe stared hard at her reflection and took a deep breath. ‘I want you to shave off all my hair,’ she declared.

It was an exclusive salon, catering for well-heeled Parisians and known for its elegant styling.

‘Absolutely not,’ the woman replied in horror.

CeCe walked out, heading towards Les Halles, where she found a far less discerning establishment. She intended the haircut to be a gesture of liberation – her mother had always told her that her long, brunette hair was her best feature, and the childish locks reminded CeCe of the old life she was leaving behind. But halfway through, she told the hairdresser to stop. She liked it like that. She was half rebel, half princess. It suited her perfectly.

‘One double espresso for Madame le Designer.’ Dionne came back in, the pungent scent of freshly ground coffee filling the air.

‘Thanks, Dionne.’ CeCe took it gratefully, knocking it back in one. She felt the caffeine kick start her body, the jolt of energy hitting her instantly. She needed it after her late night.

‘Hey, I totally forgot to tell you,’ Dionne said, as she began refolding a pile of sweaters. ‘Elise is moving out.’

Elise was their flatmate.

‘Shit, really?’

‘Uh huh.’ Dionne pulled a face. ‘She told me last night. She’s moving in with her boyfriend.’

‘Fuck. I hope we find someone.’ CeCe sounded worried.

‘I’ll ask around, see if anyone we know wants to take the room,’ Dionne suggested. ‘And I can put a couple of ads up. We’ll get someone. After all, who wouldn’t want to live with the two most gorgeous, most popular girls in Paris?’ she exclaimed dramatically, as CeCe raised a sceptical eyebrow.

‘I hope you’re right. I can’t afford to make the rent between just the two of us.’

A flicker of an idea crossed Dionne’s eyes, and she smiled wickedly. ‘Well, if you need the extra money, you can always cover my shift this afternoon …’

CeCe groaned. ‘Dionne, I’m totally exhausted,’ she protested. ‘I barely slept last night.’

‘Please,’ Dionne begged, pouting like a child.

‘What is it for?’ CeCe asked resignedly. It was all a charade; they both knew that CeCe would agree.

‘Just a few go-sees, doing the rounds, but I’m booked all afternoon.’

‘Well, I suppose I—’

‘Thank you, honey, you’re a star!’ Dionne exclaimed, throwing her arms around CeCe. Then she caught sight of her reflection and was instantly distracted. ‘Do you think I’ve put on weight?’ Dionne frowned, turning from side to side as she scrutinized her incredible body. She was twenty pounds lighter than she had been in Detroit, and staying that way was a constant battle. ‘My agent told me I need to lose a little, and the last casting I went on I could barely fit into the samples.’

‘Dionne, you are gorgeous – vraiment parfaite,’ CeCe assured her. And she meant it.

When CeCe first met Dionne, she had hated her on sight. It had been in VIP Room, a cool nightspot catering to les branchés, the hip, well-connected crowd. Dionne had been loud and brash, impossible to ignore.

Typical American, CeCe thought, wrinkling her nose in distaste. Dionne was desperate to be the centre of attention, that curvaceous body poured into some little black dress that was so tight CeCe wondered how she could even breathe. Her hair ran wild in a tightly curled afro, and she held an ever-present glass of champagne in one hand while gesticulating wildly with the other. She didn’t stop talking, dancing, flirting the whole night.

By the time they left the club at six a.m., CeCe was converted, totally under Dionne’s spell. Within a month, the two girls had moved in together and were inseparable. They rented a beautiful apartment in the upmarket, 8th arrondissement, with high ceilings, polished wooden floors and even a baby grand piano in the living room.

‘It’s a lifestyle choice,’ Dionne had explained, and CeCe agreed.

The rent was killing them, so they let out the third room. CeCe had planned to use it as a small studio, but there was no way she could afford to. Her designs quickly took over the rest of the flat and there were always offcuts of calico draped over the sofa, the sewing machine permanently left out on the dining table, even rolls of fabric stashed upright in the bathroom.

The pair of them would get gloriously drunk on champagne as CeCe draped and tacked, while Dionne tottered up and down the makeshift runway between the living room and the kitchen, resplendent in a pair of fuck-me stilettos and whatever creation CeCe had pinned to her body.

Dionne was the perfect choice for CeCe’s flamboyant designs. Unlike many of the gay, male designers, CeCe appreciated a woman’s body and designed accordingly. She cited beautiful, strong, independent women as her inspiration and declared that Dionne was her muse – a title that fuelled Dionne’s already unfettered ego.

CeCe favoured bright, bold colours in shimmering, body-hugging fabrics. An aquamarine sheath, slit dazzlingly high at the thigh and decorated with oversize silver and gauze butterflies. An outrageous scarlet ballgown, with petalled layers of chiffon skirt and a beautifully boned corset that gave the wearer a figure to die for. The audacious colours looked stunning against Dionne’s dark skin, and she certainly had the confidence to carry off even the most outrageous designs.

One drunken night, CeCe and Dionne had made a pact. They vowed that whoever hit the big time first would do everything they could to help the other. So Dionne swore that when she became a top model, she would wear CeCe’s creations to every event she could to help raise her profile. And CeCe assured Dionne that even when the most beautiful women in the world were clamouring to wear her designs, it would be Dionne debuting them on the runway and heading up the ad campaigns.

‘Man, I can’t wait to get the hell out of here,’ Dionne sighed, glancing round the shop to where an obese woman was wrestling with a skintight lime-coloured T-shirt. ‘All I need is a chance. I mean, you know I’m a good model, right? I’ve got energy, personality …’ She struck a bold pose against a set of shelves, her hip jutting out, her neck elongated to emphasize her superb bone structure.

CeCe couldn’t help but smile. ‘You and I are destined for the top, chérie. This,’ CeCe waved her hand disparagingly to indicate their uninspiring surroundings, ‘is only temporary. One day you will be the famous supermodel, and I will be the most celebrated designer, and the whole world will know our names. We are a partnership, no?’

‘Right,’ Dionne agreed, finally cracking a smile. ‘You and me, boo.’

‘You and me,’ CeCe repeated.

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