‘You gave her money as well?’ Claire asked. ‘That buggy must be worth a couple of hundred euro.’
‘Try five,’ Catherine said, opening the door of the bar. ‘I’m just glad to be rid of it. I never want to see another buggy as long as I live.’
They fought their way through the after-work crowd to the depths of the pub. There were no empty seats, but they found two stools at the bar and were served quickly by a young girl with an Australian accent.
‘I shouldn’t even be having this,’ Catherine said, as the girl put their gin and tonics in front of them.
‘Oh? Why not?’ Claire asked.
‘I have news,’ Catherine said, with a secretive smile. Then she placed a hand over her stomach.
The Australian girl threw her a dirty look before walking away.
‘Oh my God!’ Claire gasped. ‘You’re pregnant!’
‘Yup.’
‘How far along are you?’
‘Oh, only three or four weeks. I haven’t decided exactlyyet, but very early days – too soon to announce it on my blog or anything. But I can tell you.’
‘Well, congratulations!’
‘Thanks!’
They clinked glasses.
‘So, tell all,’ Catherine said, leaning forward avidly. ‘How did your weekend with Mark go?’
‘It was lovely.’ Claire smiled. ‘I had a really nice time. His place is really nice. He made me his world-famous nachos, took me to Highgate Cemetery and baked lemon drizzle cake. He’s so thoughtful. And I met his cat, Millie. We discussed ideas for the book. Oh, and he wants to read my novel as soon as it’s ready.’
‘That’s great! And was there more kissing?’
‘Yes.’ Claire smiled bashfully. ‘There was. Quite a lot of kissing.’ There had been more kissing on Sunday when he’d brought her to the airport. She couldn’t help smiling when she thought of it.
‘Anything else?’
‘No, just kissing. I’m not ready to go any further than that yet. So it’s great that I came up with the five-date rule. I can relax and just enjoy being with him for now.’
‘Yeah, that was a stroke of genius,’ Catherine said, poking her ice with a swizzle stick. ‘And you have the distance thing, so that slows things down a bit too.’
‘And five dates is just a minimum. It’s not a guarantee or anything.’
‘So are you two dates down now? Or is it three because you were with him two nights at the weekend?’
‘No, it’s two. I only counted Saturday night as a date.’
‘So, how’s it going with the other guy? Are you making progress?’
‘I’m starting to get the hang of the basics, but I still have a lot to learn.’
‘But isn’t it a bit…’
‘What?’
‘Well… awkward. Embarrassing. Having sex with him like that – in cold blood, as it were.’
‘I would have thought so, but it’s not really. It doesn’t feel like that – cold, I mean. Luca makes it easy. He’s really nice.’
