‘I’d be happy to take a look at if you’d like.’
‘You would?’
‘Sure.’
‘That would be great. I mean, it’s not ready to show to anyone yet, but when it is, I’d love you to read it.’
‘I’d be glad to.’
‘Anything else you’d like to know?’
‘Well… I know you don’t have a boyfriend as such – you’re still auditioning for the role, yes?’
‘Sort of.’
‘How many candidates are there, now that Mr Handy’s out of the picture?’
‘Actually… I may exaggerate a bit on the blog,’ she admitted.
‘Really? How much?’
She took a deep breath. ‘At the moment there are…’ she looked up at the ceiling as if counting ‘…none.’
‘None?’ His eyebrows shot up, but she couldn’t help thinking he seemed rather pleased.
‘Do you think I’m an awful fraud?’
‘I’m just surprised. I did allow for a certain amount of artistic license – several of my female friends who read your blog tell me that no single young woman could be getting that much action.’
‘Well, they’re right.’
‘You’re not going to tell me you make it all up, are you?’
‘Oh no!’ she gasped, in mock horror. ‘It’s sort of a blend – part reality, part fiction. LikeMade in Chelsea.’
‘Some scenes have been created for our entertainment?’
‘Exactly. Some of the men I describe are actually a mash-up of a couple of guys I’ve dated. Or I write about stuff that’s happened in the past. Some of the guys I made up completely, for my own amusement,’ she admitted, with a guilty smile.
‘Mr Bossy?’ he guessed.
‘Mr Bossy’s real, but he was a long time ago,’ she heard herself saying. She had no idea where that had come from. Surely it would have been simpler to make him fictional, and the more straightforward guys real. Well, it was said now – too late to take it back.
‘So there’s no one in your life at the moment?’
‘It’s my guilty secret.’
‘Would it be very cheesy to say I find that hard to believe?’
‘Very cheesy. But I happen to love cheese,’ she smiled, ‘so I’ll let you get away with it.’
‘So, seriously – how did that happen?’
‘Well, your friend is right. Good men aren’t that thick on the ground. And I’m quite fussy. There’s also the fact that I live with my mother now.’
‘You live with your mother?’
‘She’s been ill. She has a dodgy heart and she’s quite incapacitated, so I moved back home to look after her,’ she said.
