“Like what?”
“Some panties from a set Seb bought me, one of my favourite bras, a pair of shoes I use for work all the time… just little bits that could have a very good reason for their disappearance but I have a nagging niggle…”
“Why haven’t you said anything sooner? Does Seb know? Your parents? Suzie?”
“Oh God no - I don’t want to worry my family and once Sebastian is aware, can you imagine the life I’ll lead? Er - haven’t we just talked about this - Operation suffocateLutothepointofmaddness!”
“Well, I understand that, but you have to discuss this with him and you have to do something.” She shudders openly. “I’ve got the hebbie jeebies now!”
“Welcome to my world, Abs - I’m on the brink of insanity, I swear.”
“No you’re not. I know you and this doesn’t sound right. You need to go with your gut and talk to Sebastian - just tell him you’re pregnant first. Unfortunately, you’re going to have to double bag this one. Something maybe you should have thought about a few weeks ago?”
I ignore her hint at contraception again and sink deeper into my chair. “Lucky me.”
“My advice would be to soften the blow, with a blow-job in between - that way he’ll at least be calm and relaxed?”
I giggle at her silly suggestion. “I’ll see how it goes but I might just need to take your advice on this one, babe.”
Four hours later and I’m thankfully ensconced inside my house, Finn has been bathed and fed and is now snuggled up in bed.
What the bloody hell?” Meg shouts standing in the open front doorway trying to light her now soaked and floppy cigarette. “Did you hear that boom?” her voice is drowned out by the ground-shaking rumble of imminent rain.
I slide into my favourite coral toe-post slippers, hook a leg underneath my bum and flop back onto my Lemsip-advert plumfy chair. I’d been downstairs since settling Finn for about five minutes when I’d heard the knock at door and Meg had come round from hers. She only lived a few doors down and I felt bad as I hadn’t spent much time with her since my sexual escapades with Sebastian. She and I had been good for each-other when we’d suddenly both become single mums and I’ve definitely not been there for her of late.
“Wow, that storm sounds close. Yes, there’s the lightening. That was, what - two seconds?” I ask, as a flicker of ultraviolet light floods the lounge. My mind is definitely on other things.
“Yeah I reckon. Although we should all be used to it on Rose Avenue now; the thunder bolts and lightening is very very frightening and a regular occurrence since Mr. Sexy Silver turned up.” She laughs, amused at her childish tune.
I raise my brows to her in question “Are you annoyed that Sebastian and I got together Meg – I know you fancied him?” I sense that the comment came over as a little bitchy and I’m surprised at my own territorial instincts. Where had that come from? Blame it on the hormones.
“No don’t be daft, chick,” she corrects me, fumbling to light another Menthol. “He is a gorgeous catch but I knew from our first night in Lords that he had unfinished business with you – even if you didn’t you daft brush.”
I scrunch my face up and shake my head, reluctant to go into too much detail with regard to the fuck up that Seb and I are at present, she doesn’t know about the pregnancy, nor do I intend to tell her for some time. After all, Meg was going home to Leo and the last thing I want is an ex, no matter how brief, feeling smug at my poor decision making. Speaking about going home - she really needed to soon - he’d be here in an hour.
“I’m not sure what our business is, other than risky at the moment. We were basically fuck buddies, getting together for mutually beneficial sex – sorry… make that great sex then we became more, but he is a player through and through and comes with a lot of female baggage!” I correct myself smiling secretively, in despite of my anger towards him. It really was fantastic. Who’d have thought such good friends could have such hot energy in bed?
Who’d have thought you’d be pregnant the first time you slept together?
Meg snorts “All right, don’t brag. You know that you’re both perfect for one another but equally too god damned stubborn to realize it yet - right? I’m just glad to see you getting back into the sexual saddle, shall we say.” Giggling she draws heavily on the last part of her fag and stubs it out in the little terracotta ashtray, I’d brought back from Portugal a few years ago. “Besides, I have to say I’m rather taken with Leo, but he’s a bit of a slow burner and that Chris ain’t half bad either. It’s great to finally have some fit men in Bodley. What do you think? Surely they can’t resist all of … this?” she wiggles her arms silkily up and down her body, in the style of a generation game hostess.