“Um, I was not on the street. I wasinsidethe Egerton Hotel. Second floor. Supreme Suite. Beautiful windows.”
“But you could—” I say, but before I can finish my sentence, I realise. “Oh, Haz!”
“Yeah, um… my hands were… busy.” I roll my eyes. It’s Haz, and I have to accept him the way he is.
“Are you sure? You could be wrong…”
“Her parents were there too. They are quite recognisable.”
“Where are you now?”
“I’m still here,” he replies, with a hint of smugness.
As I pause to think, I hear my friend humming.
“If you dare singSex Machine, I swear I’ll hang up.”
“Hey, hey, hold on. I didn’t tell you the most important bit.”
“The house number!” I urge him.
“No! That she’s pregnant!”
I almost drop the phone on the floor. “Pregnant?” My blood freezes in my veins. Deep down, I’ve always known that she would start a new life, but what I’ve just heard strikes me like a dead knell. Of course, she must have met a man, one she really loves, they live in a warm and cosy cottage, and they’re having a baby.
“Yes, pregnant! You know, when a woman expects a child…”
“Are you sure?” I ask, feeling miserable.
“Either she’s pregnant, or she’s put on a lot of weight, but, judging from my experience, that didn’t look like fat to me!”
“Experience in pregnancies?” I remark sceptically.
“You don’t know how many of those I’ve avoided.”
“Jemma is pregnant.” I don’t know if I’m repeating it to myself or to Harring. The thought of her and another man having a child together makes me fall into despair.
“Yes, she is.”
I do the maths without speaking. “How far is she?”
“What?”
“How many months is she pregnant?” I rephrase, impatiently.
“Oh, what do I know? I’m not a fucking midwife!”
“You saw the belly! How big was it? Six, seven months?”
“Ash, forgive me if I go into detail, but I was busy giving an unforgettable orgasm at that moment, and the fact that we were in front of the window was purely coincidental. Sorry if I didn’t verify the state of pregnancy of your ex-wife. How far is she? How can you ask me such a thing?”
“Oh, fuck you, Haz,” I shout into the receiver.
“If not nine months, certainly past eight,” a female voice says on the other end of the phone.
“What did you say, sexy?” Haz asks the female voice.
“It was a big belly. Either it’s twins or she’s nine months pregnant.”
