I don’t usually think about Ben during the day. I’ve learned quite a lot of self-restraint over the years and try not to think about him at all. Sometimes I wonder if I could have done things differently. I still cringe when I remember how I practically threw myself at him on his last night. As if he would have had sex with me! I shudder at the memory.
‘Seriously, whatareyou thinking about?’ Mel again.
‘I’m cold,’ I say. ‘I hope I’m not coming down with something.’
‘Swine flu,’ Nicola states. ‘Are you feeling achy all over?’
‘No.’
‘Shivery?’
‘Not really,’ I admit.
‘Headache?’
‘Yes. Actually I’m probably just hungover.’
‘Have another Tim Tam,’ Nicola offers.
‘Thanks.’
I can’t blame Mel for latching onto my expression. Gossip plays a big part of our lives. How could it not, when we’re sitting here without a manager to oversee us every second of the day. Strictly speaking, Nicola is supposed to be in charge. She’s the most senior of us. But that’s almost laughable. She’s the biggest gossip of the lot.
I have nothing to be ashamed about, I remind myself.I know you loved me too. And now I must stop thinking about you.
‘Plans for the weekend?’ Nicola asks towards the end of the day.
‘I’ve got my friend coming over from Brisbane,’ Mel says. ‘Shopping tomorrow daytime, followed by dinner in the city, bar crawl then a club. We seriously need to pick up some men. You?’
‘Going to see my mum,’ Nicola says. ‘And Sunday’s supposed to be hot so a group of us are going to the beach for a picnic.’
‘I should go and seemymum, actually,’ I state.
‘Has she got a new boyfriend yet?’ Nicola asks.
‘Not since she found out that Jeremy was banging his secretary.’
‘Ouch,’ Mel interjects.
‘Your mum has been so unlucky in love,’ Nicola comments.
‘On the contrary. She’s been incredibly lucky, but the good guys – like Michael – never stand a chance.’
‘When’s the gorgeous Josh coming over?’ Nicola asks excitedly.
These two know everything about my life in Australia to date. Well, noteverything. But like I said, gossip is practically in our job descriptions. Anyway, Josh emailed me a few weeks ago with a picture of himself standing next to a car he’d done up. Nicola almost fell off her stool when she saw him.
‘Easter weekend.’ I grin.
‘What are you planning to do with him?’ she asks.
‘Big night out. You can come if you like.’
‘Seriously?’ Nicola is already reaching for her diary.
‘Can I come too?’ Mel asks.
‘Sure!’ I’m pleasantly surprised they’d both want to. We don’t usually catch up on weekends, let alone holiday weekends. But a night out with a bunch of us would be fun. And I’d like to introduce Nicola and Mel to Molly and Lucy. Although saying that, Lucy will have just got back from her honeymoon. And Molly and Sam might not want to pay for a sitter so they can come out with me and my one-time-almost-stepbrother for the night. I’ll ask Richard what he thinks later.
