media campaigns so I was just checking something and amazingly I got a signal. Sorry, rude of me.” Abby smiled smoothly which made Stevie feel slightly guilty.
“Amazing tagine, by the way – the lamb is melt in your mouth,” Abby told Vic.
Kat rubbed Abby’s shoulder as Stu sat back and rubbed his full stomach.
“So what is it you do, Abby?” Stu asked, even though he knew. His shaved head was glistening with sweat, as tended to happen after food.
“HR – big corporate firm. Very boring.” Abby dismissed her job with a wave of the hand.
“HR director, honey,” Kat said.
Abby simply gave a shrug.
Kat continued. “She’s in charge of over a thousand employees worldwide, very important.”
The group slid on their impressed faces.
“Bit of a struggle getting time off this week, so sorry if I’m a nuisance checking mails and all of that. America’s just hitting their stride.”
“Well, Kat knows all about that with her job, don’t you?” Stevie smiled across the table at her friend, the banking exec. “Always on your Blackberry – have you had it surgically removed this weekend? Or are you now so important you have a PA in your suitcase upstairs answering all your mails for you?”
Abby’s body froze, then after a few seconds she glanced at Kat.
Stevie clocked it all and narrowed her eyes.
Kat, meanwhile, was still holding her grin in place and laughing at Stevie’s joke, but her calmly panicked features told Stevie something wasn’t quite right. But Kat was a consummate pro.
“The latter. My new PA’s called Helga and she’s very accommodating,” Kat said. “If there was any tagine left, I said I’d take it up for her.”
Abby shifted in her seat and frowned.
Stevie tried to work the puzzle out, but failed.
Geri simply grinned at Kat. “So this Helga – she cute?” Geri took a sip of her wine.
“It was the only criterion for the job,” Kat said.
“Remember when you kept getting emails from America when we were in Wales on the ten-year anniversary?” Laura said. “Didn’t we answer a couple through a drunken haze?”
“I think we went to but luckily we saved them as draft by mistake,” Kat smiled.
“That’s right,” Laura mumbled, looking down at her empty plate.
Stevie saw her nodding, then blushing. What Stevie remembered about last time was Kat and Laura getting very drunk and ending up in bed together, something they’d been trying to erase from their memories ever since. But Stevie knew from experience that reality was difficult to erase, painted onto your life in permanent ink just like a tattoo.
Vic & Stevie
“You want to go first?” Stevie switched on the bathroom light in their en-suite and ran her hand over her short blonde hair.
Vic had seen flickers of the old Stevie breaking through tonight, spurred on by shared memories.
“Nah, you go – I want to see if I can get reception.”
Stevie nodded and closed the bathroom door.
Vic swiped her phone from the bedside table where she’d left it with her hangover this morning and headed for the stairs. Midway, she nearly toppled over a canoodling Tash and Laura. Vic apologised and carried on, raising her eyebrows at their teenage need to begin before they were in their room – they’d been together long enough now.
It was pure jealousy of course, but she couldn’t help it.
In the lounge, Vic heard Stu still up with Geri, Kat and Abby, putting the world to rights.
Vic filled two glasses with water, drank one and refilled. The cold water slid down her throat with ease and splashed into her stomach. She wanted to check her email, but reception was sporadic all over the house. Vic padded to the far corner of the kitchen and held her phone up as high as she could. She squinted at the screen. Nothing.
Vic then moved to the hallway, opening the front door and hanging out of it. Even if she got reception, she wouldn’t be able to see a damn thing. She didn’t fancy a late-night trip
“Amazing tagine, by the way – the lamb is melt in your mouth,” Abby told Vic.
Kat rubbed Abby’s shoulder as Stu sat back and rubbed his full stomach.
“So what is it you do, Abby?” Stu asked, even though he knew. His shaved head was glistening with sweat, as tended to happen after food.
“HR – big corporate firm. Very boring.” Abby dismissed her job with a wave of the hand.
“HR director, honey,” Kat said.
Abby simply gave a shrug.
Kat continued. “She’s in charge of over a thousand employees worldwide, very important.”
The group slid on their impressed faces.
“Bit of a struggle getting time off this week, so sorry if I’m a nuisance checking mails and all of that. America’s just hitting their stride.”
“Well, Kat knows all about that with her job, don’t you?” Stevie smiled across the table at her friend, the banking exec. “Always on your Blackberry – have you had it surgically removed this weekend? Or are you now so important you have a PA in your suitcase upstairs answering all your mails for you?”
Abby’s body froze, then after a few seconds she glanced at Kat.
Stevie clocked it all and narrowed her eyes.
Kat, meanwhile, was still holding her grin in place and laughing at Stevie’s joke, but her calmly panicked features told Stevie something wasn’t quite right. But Kat was a consummate pro.
“The latter. My new PA’s called Helga and she’s very accommodating,” Kat said. “If there was any tagine left, I said I’d take it up for her.”
Abby shifted in her seat and frowned.
Stevie tried to work the puzzle out, but failed.
Geri simply grinned at Kat. “So this Helga – she cute?” Geri took a sip of her wine.
“It was the only criterion for the job,” Kat said.
“Remember when you kept getting emails from America when we were in Wales on the ten-year anniversary?” Laura said. “Didn’t we answer a couple through a drunken haze?”
“I think we went to but luckily we saved them as draft by mistake,” Kat smiled.
“That’s right,” Laura mumbled, looking down at her empty plate.
Stevie saw her nodding, then blushing. What Stevie remembered about last time was Kat and Laura getting very drunk and ending up in bed together, something they’d been trying to erase from their memories ever since. But Stevie knew from experience that reality was difficult to erase, painted onto your life in permanent ink just like a tattoo.
Vic & Stevie
“You want to go first?” Stevie switched on the bathroom light in their en-suite and ran her hand over her short blonde hair.
Vic had seen flickers of the old Stevie breaking through tonight, spurred on by shared memories.
“Nah, you go – I want to see if I can get reception.”
Stevie nodded and closed the bathroom door.
Vic swiped her phone from the bedside table where she’d left it with her hangover this morning and headed for the stairs. Midway, she nearly toppled over a canoodling Tash and Laura. Vic apologised and carried on, raising her eyebrows at their teenage need to begin before they were in their room – they’d been together long enough now.
It was pure jealousy of course, but she couldn’t help it.
In the lounge, Vic heard Stu still up with Geri, Kat and Abby, putting the world to rights.
Vic filled two glasses with water, drank one and refilled. The cold water slid down her throat with ease and splashed into her stomach. She wanted to check her email, but reception was sporadic all over the house. Vic padded to the far corner of the kitchen and held her phone up as high as she could. She squinted at the screen. Nothing.
Vic then moved to the hallway, opening the front door and hanging out of it. Even if she got reception, she wouldn’t be able to see a damn thing. She didn’t fancy a late-night trip
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