STOCKINGS AND CELLULITE by Debbie Viggiano

Author:Debbie Viggiano [VIGGIANO, DEBBIE]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781848764361
Publisher: Matador

Chapter Twelve

I hadn’t been home long when Nell surprised me by popping over for coffee and a catch up. Despite appearing fairly upbeat, she confessed to sudden moments of black gloom. Pondering what might have been.

‘I don’t like crying in front of Ben,’ she stared unseeingly through the kitchen window, her eyes suddenly welling.

I patted her hand. ‘It’s okay to feel sad you know.’

She blinked furiously and gave a watery smile. ‘What I need is a damn good night out.’

‘Really? Well your luck is in! Liv and Toby are with their dad this weekend and if Ben’s up for babysitting Dylan, look no further than moi.’

‘Oh I’m up for it all right,’ Nell said with uncharacteristic fierceness.

‘Morag has a propensity to party quite hard,’ I warned. ‘Promise me you won’t overdo it – if at any point you want to go home then you must say so.’

‘Yes, yes, yes,’ Nell snapped irritably. ‘Sorry. Mood swing.’

On Saturday evening, a little after seven, Nell and I met up with Morag. She was aided and abetted by two legal cronies called Heather and Siobhan from rival firms. Julia and her pal, Kirsten, completed the group.

Tumbling into two minicabs between us, we drove to Maidstone where Morag assured the group that a good time would be had by all. Like a ship in full sail she glided into a heaving wine bar, the rest of us bobbing about in her wake. Our leader somehow managed to appropriate the only tiny unoccupied table left. Moments later Morag was armed and dangerous with a large gin and a second lined up. I was alarmed to see Nell following Morag’s example.

‘Do you think that’s wise?’ I jerked my head at her glass.

‘Oh shut up Cass. I know you mean well but frankly, right now, I couldn’t give a-’

‘All right, all right,’ I stuck my hands up in a backing off gesture. ‘Just concerned that’s all.’

‘Well don’t be,’ she took a swig from her glass. ‘I’m fine. I just want to have some fun and put the last few weeks of unbearable crap behind me.’

I nodded, smarting slightly from having been firmly put in my place.

The drink flowed and with it a gabble of conversation and indiscreet shrieking. Nell had become belligerently punchy and was furiously offloading buried resentment over Ben and his abortion pressure. Her usually respectable accent had completely disintegrated.

‘Fuckin’ dictator,’ she slurred to Heather. ‘S’my body innit? Wot right ’as any man to tell a woman wot she can do wiv ’er body, eh?’

Heather promptly nosedived into her gin sobbing profusely.

‘I’ve had an abortion,’ she howled. ‘I’ve never told a soul before now. I don’t know why I’m telling you.’

Nell flung an arm cosily around Heather’s shoulders. ‘It’s coz we’re mates. Probably soulmates.’

‘Really?’ Heather bleated pathetically. ‘How terribly nice. I’ve never had a soulmate before.’ She gazed at Nell as if she were the Holy Grail.

The pair of them had attracted the attention of two sniggering guys who were nudging each other and rolling their eyes.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.