Stirred with Love by Marcie Steele Page A

SEVEN
    ‘Have you got Freddie?’ Ben questioned Chloe as he watched his sister busy pouting at herself, checking her reflection yet again in the visor mirror.
    ‘Yep, I’ve checked four times already.’ Chloe picked up her bag and pulled out Ben’s lucky mascot. Originally the bright green fluffy toy had belonged to her anyway. Martin Farmer had won it for her at the fair when she was twelve. He’d spent all his money trying to score 21 with three darts only for her to finish with him a week later.
    ‘I hope he’s as lucky for you,’ Ben added.
    ‘He didn’t do you any harm,’ she teased, rubbing the cuddly toy over his face.
    Ben pushed her hand away. ‘Yes, but I’m smarter than you. I didn’t need luck.’
    Chloe climbed out of the car, slung her bag over her shoulder and walked around to the driver’s door.
    ‘Thanks for lunch, it was great. And for the lift too. I have big plans to get drunk this afternoon.’
    ‘Give’em hell, little sister!’ Ben winked and held up his hand for her to high five. ‘And don’t worry if you flunk it. You’ll still have the Ward family charm to fall back on.’
    After waving him off, Chloe scanned the crowd for her friend’s familiar face amongst the throng of students making their way noisily into the main hall. Manda was waiting for her on the top step. She watched her nervously flicking her pen on and off at great speed as she legged it up the last two steps to reach her.
    ‘You good to go?’
    ‘Not really, but who gives a toss. Let’s do it.’
     
    Staring absent-mindedly through the floor-length glass mirrors in front of her, for once Kate was glad that there weren’t many exercisers in the small gym on Friday afternoon. With heavy feet, she stepped onto the first of four-in-a-row treadmills, punched in a ludicrously high setting and notched in her usual hill program. What she desperately needed was a tough challenge to take her mind off things.
    But ten minutes into her run, the cogs were still whirring as she pounded on towards her five-mile target. In vain, she tried to concentrate on the TV screen as the half-naked body of the lead singer of some hot new boy band frolicked around in the sand dunes in their latest video. Oh, to be young and free of worries, she thought, as she forced herself to go faster. Knowing she wasn’t going to go in to the zone today, where her mind would be concentrating more on her breathing rather than her worries, she decided to focus on what to do next. Maybe all she and Nick needed was a short break, giving them both time to re-align their feelings and get back into synch. She knew she’d taken Nick for granted, hadn’t really cared about him that much in the end. But the more he wasn’t there, the more she wanted him back.
    Finally, the treadmill clocked up her target mileage and she allowed herself to take a breather and push down the speed. Although she’d originally come to forget her predicament, her sub-conscience had worked everything out for her anyway.
    After a few days holiday rather than face things, she was dreading going back to work on Monday morning. Maybe her work colleagues, with the exception of Louise, of course, would be more concerned about sharing their weekend’s stories and escapades rather than concentrating on how pale Kate McKenzie looked, about how much weight she’d dropped during the longest week of her life, and what her mental state was now that she was on her own.
    Not that she was going to tell anyone straight away, as she might not be there for very much longer.
     
    Are you sure you want to do this, Lily? It’s such a big step to take.’
    Lily Mortimer wasn’t sure she was doing the right thing at all, but nothing was going to deter her now she’d made up her mind.
    ‘Yes, Mr Stead,’ she replied. ‘I’m sure.’
    ‘You could bow out gracefully and sell the building how it stands.’
    ‘I could,’ said Lily, indebted to him because he’d agreed to call on his way back