“Well, as you might have seen, I’ve had other issues tocontend with, you know… work… Alexander.” Irritation flickers across my skin.
The last thing I need right now is Kelly critiquing me.
I don’t want her to add herself to my rolodex of misery. It’s already overflowing with people: Pietro, Tony, Mum, Paul, Ryan, and countless others.
“Did I hear Alexander shout that he was your boyfriend last night?” she asks, putting the pad back down. She turns the chair round to face me and sits down.
My heart jumps again, like a kid in a playground with a skipping rope, at hearing Kelly say the wordboyfriend. I’m barely getting used to it myself, and the thought that I’m actually back in a relationship after nearly four years.
“Yes,” I say, feeling my cheeks redden.
“Oh my God. Chris. That’s amazing!” Kelly leaps toward me, knocking me back against the bed as she squeezes me tightly. “Wait,” she says, rolling off me. “Does that mean I need to make an extra space for him at the wedding?”
“You know that can’t happen.” My heart sinks faster than Rose dropping the Heart of the Ocean back down to the Titanic.
How lovely it would be to have him sit next to me at the wedding.
To dance with him on the dance floor.
And this, of course, is the reality I now face.
That we as a couple will never exist outside of the confines of four walls and places where Alexander can go unnoticed. Kelly’s thumbs twiddle away in her lap, her upside-down smile reaffirming my painful reality.
“Let’s get out of here,” she says, whacking my knee as she rises out of the chair.
“The room?”
“No, let's go for a run. The weather’s nice and Regent’s Park is just behind the hotel. Plus, I need to shift the last couple ofpounds, and I don’t dare go to the gym, in case any of the other family members are there.”
I’m already regretting agreeing to Kelly’s idea.
I’m absolutely cream-crackered from the lack of sleep and I can barely keep up with Kelly’s pace.
“Come on, pigeon belly,” she shouts back at me.
“Fuck off, fatso,” I shout back.
She extends her middle finger as I attempt to chase after her round the pond. The ducks waddling along the bank get in my way, and Kelly worms her way between a group of Chinese tourists queuing up to get into the paddle boats.
I swear she was a ninja in a previous life. Either that or an assassin, such is her ruthlessness and ability to duck and dive, avoiding anything and everything that confronts her. It’s a skill I’ve only half managed to perfect when it comes to communication.
The sight of the ice cream van offers a welcome relief. Kelly stops a few yards in front of me, and I rest my hands on my knees, bending over to catch my breath.
I really should have spent more time on the treadmill this week.
The sweat drips from my pink Nike top and forms a small puddle underneath me.
“What do you fancy?” I ask, turning to Kelly once I’ve caught my breath.
“I better not,” she says, tightening her ponytail.
“Come on, we’ve earned it,” I say, snaking my arm over her and moving into the queue.
I take in the list of options on the side of the van. The man infront of us, currently getting two cones from the vendor, looks remarkably like our father.
“What will it be?” the vendor asks, leaning forward.
“I’ll take the screwball,” I say, looking at Kelly.
