‘I can’t believe you were organized enough to bring all the food and booze!’ Amy lifted her champagne flute for Sophie to refill and smiled. ‘You put the rest of us to shame. If you opened my fridge you’d be lucky to find a pint of milk at the moment.’ It wasn’t true. Her fridge would never be empty but she wanted to show Sophie how grateful she was.
Sophie smiled back at her. ‘Well, you know me and my stomach. I couldn’t risk having nothing to eat. Or worse, nothing to drink.’ She made a joke of it but actually Sophie was very organized and unless she’d brought the food and drink this weekend, they would have been left with tap water and cornflakes.
‘You’ll have to let us know how much we owe you. It’s not fair for you to pay for it all.’
Sophie threw Amy a grateful look. ‘Thanks, Amy, I will.’
Amy had lived in the single room the other side of Sophie and Melissa’s double room in their first year at university and the others had quickly cottoned on to the fact that she was the only one with any cooking ability and had exploited it fully. When they all went their separate ways after the first year, Sophie used to say that it was Amy and her prowess in the kitchen that she missed the most.
‘Have a look at what I’ve brought and let me know if there’s anything you need that I’ve forgotten,’ Sophie said. ‘I think there’s a small shop in the village.’
Amy nodded. It was automatically assumed that she would do the cooking. She didn’t mind. She loved cooking. It was her passion.
Amy could feel Sophie’s eyes on her, scrutinizing her face with a faint scowl of suspicion. ‘What?’ She tried to laugh but it came out as more of a snort.
‘You’re looking particularly… well,’ Sophie began, taking a sip of her Cava and narrowing her eyes meaningfully.
Amy raised her eyebrows. Sophie was a TV news journalist and a nosy one at that. There was no hiding anything from her.
‘There’s a reason for that, isn’t there, Amy?’ Emily blurted, nudging Amy hard, causing her Cava to swirl dangerously close to the rim of her flute.
‘Hey, careful!’ Amy tried to look annoyed but she couldn’t extinguish the smile that had spread across her face, or dampen the sudden heat in her cheeks.
‘Oooh, I like the sound of this!’ Melissa said, as they all leaned slightly towards Amy, waiting to hear what she had to say.
Amy knew that resistance was futile with her oldest friends. They could read her so well. And she didn’t want to keep it a secret anyway – she was much too excited. ‘Well…’ she began, picturing the pinkness that she knew would be spreading from her neck to her cheekbones. ‘I’ve met someone.’
‘I knew it! Tell us everything!’ Sophie demanded.
Amy beamed, before crossing her long legs underneath her and taking a leisurely sip of her drink, teasing out the moment, as the others held their breath in front of her, their eyes wide.
‘His name is Nick—’
‘Good name,’ Melissa cut in, before being silenced by glares of frustration from the others. ‘Sorry. Go on.’
‘His name is Nick and I met him through work.’
‘Colleague or client?’
Amy raised her eyebrows. ‘Good to see your journalistic training wasn’t wasted…’
Sophie shrugged. ‘It’s the obvious question.’
Amy smiled. She worked as an events organizer, organizing events for wealthy international clients.
‘To be fair, that’s what I was going to ask!’ Melissa grabbed a handful of crisps and began shovelling them into her mouth one after the other.
Amy paused, looking at each of them in turn, enjoying being the centre of attention for once. ‘Client!’
Another chorus of squeals followed.
‘Is he very rich?’ All eyes turned towards Melissa in mock disgust but quickly flicked back to Amy expectantly.
‘Well, it depends what you mean by very rich…’ Amy wondered how honest she should be before deciding that they would only find out anyway. ‘Yes! He’s loaded!’
‘But is he a good person?’
‘Oh, Emily! Who cares if he’s a good person?’ Melissa shot Emily an incredulous look.
‘No, Emily’s right.’ Amy raised her hands, as if she was refereeing a boxing match. ‘It is important that he’s a nice guy…’ She paused for a second, enjoying the moment. ‘But that’s the best thing of all – he’s awesome!’
An indecipherable sigh swept through the room as each of them digested her news. Amy’s eyes were drawn to Emily, wondering what she might be feeling. Even though she was just twenty-five, she was already a single mum to four-year-old Jack. She had fallen pregnant with him in their last term at university and as far as any of them knew, she had never had anything further to do with Jack’s father.
She couldn’t be sure of this because none of them actually knew for certain the identity of Jack’s father. Emily had always refused to say who it was and despite years of prodding and cajoling from each of them, either collectively or individually, it had become clear that she was never going to reveal the truth. They all strongly suspected that the father was one of their lecturers but Emily wasn’t confirming or denying anything. She just flatly refused to discuss it.
Emily noticed Amy watching her and smiled, her eyebrows raised questioningly. ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’
Amy shrugged. ‘I was just wondering if you’d met anyone new? It seems such a waste someone as gorgeous as you being single.’ They had all thought it over the years but rarely voiced it, as Emily could be prickly. But it was true. She was a beautiful girl and must have had dozens of offers.
Emily shook her head quickly, her dark eyes clouding as her shoulder-length, raven-coloured hair swished from side to side and she lowered her gaze. ‘No. I don’t have time. There’s only one man in my life and that’s Jack.’
‘Aw, how is the little love? Have you got any recent pictures?’ Amy was happy to change the subject.
Immediately, Emily’s face transformed. She grabbed her large bag from the hall and rummaged in it for a minute, before pulling out a creased photo. They all cooed as they handed it around. Amy’s heart jolted as she looked at it. Jack was absolutely gorgeous. His hair was almost white-blond and long enough to look cool but short enough to stop it looking ridiculous. His full mouth, which could have given him a sulky appearance, was counteracted by the wideness of his smile, revealing perfectly white milk teeth. His eyes were a bright, piercing blue and even at four years old, it was already clear he was going to be tall.
‘Oh, Em, he’s really beautiful.’ Unlike the others, Amy had always yearned for children of her own, something she had told Nick on their second date and when he hadn’t run a mile, that’s when she had decided he could be the one for her.
Emily flushed with pride and reached out to take the photo from Amy’s grasp but she hung on to it. ‘He doesn’t look like you at all…’
‘Well, I’m definitely his mother, if that’s what you’re suggesting – I’ve got the stretch marks to prove it!’ Emily tried to grab the photo but Amy swiped it out of her reach.
‘I’m just trying to think who he reminds me of…’ Amy stared hard at the photo. It was one of their old lecturers, she was sure of it. A vague memory of Emily becoming fixated on one of them – Anton, she thought it was – bubbled to the surface, but although she ran through a mental Rolodex of their faces, after four years the images were already too blurred and hazy.
Reluctantly, she handed the photo back to Emily, who looked slightly panicked. For the millionth time, Amy wondered why she didn’t trust anyone enough to tell them the truth. Even Emily’s parents didn’t know the identity of Jack’s father and Emily had actually lived with them for the first couple of years after she left university. She had finally moved into a flat of her own but it was still close to her parents’ home in south-east London and her mum looked after Jack all the time when Emily was at work.
‘Anyway, Sophie,’ she said, turning her attention away from Emily. ‘Isn’t it about time you and Steve had a baby?’
Sophie’s eyes bulged in Amy’s direction. ‘What? Where the hell did that come from? I’m only twenty-five!’
Amy shrugged. ‘So am I but if I was in a settled relationship like you, I’d do it while I was still young. Get it out of the way like Emily did.’
Emily spluttered on her Cava. ‘Christ! I don’t think anyone should follow my example… I love Jack to distraction but it’s been bloody hard from day one. Given the choice I would definitely wait until I had established my career and was a lot more secure financially.’
‘But you haven’t got a partner like Sophie ha—’ Amy tailed off in embarrassment as she realized too late how tactless her words sounded.
‘No. I don’t have a partner. Thank you for pointing that out, Amy.’ Emily looked suddenly furious.
‘I’m sure Amy didn’t mean it like that.’ Sophie shot Amy a warning look as she spoke. ‘No, I’m not planning babies any time soon, thanks, Amy. Anyway, we’re not even married,’ she added.
‘What’s your name? Jane Austen?’ Amy teased and a low snigger of amusement emitted from Melissa.
‘No, it’s just…’ Sophie stood up and scrunched her long chestnut hair distractedly into a ponytail. She looked flustered. ‘Well, I can’t imagine what it must be like to throw away the condoms and actually plan to make a baby. We’ve all spent so many years trying desperately not to get pregnant after what happened to Em… Sorry, Em, but you know what I mean, don’t you?’
Emily nodded, slightly wearily.
Amy’s head whirled with thoughts of Nick. She tried not to get too carried away – after all, they had only been dating for four months. But already she could picture them as parents. Nick was so protective of her and caring. He made her feel special in a way that no one ever had before. She knew she didn’t have the wit or the brains or the personality that the others had. She was the quiet one who hated any kind of confrontation and would go along with what everyone else wanted to do in order to keep the peace. But Nick seemed to find her captivating and hung on her every word. He wanted to spend every waking minute with her and told her he couldn’t get enough of her. She loved it.
She wondered idly whether their children would inherit her auburn hair and green eyes or Nick’s swarthy dark good looks, hoping it would be the latter. He was such a beautiful man – even thinking about him now made her feel weak with longing. She had had many boyfriends in the past but Nick was different. Special. She already felt that he was ‘the one’.
‘Do you think you and Steve will get married then?’ Emily interrupted the silence, cutting through Amy’s daydream.
All eyes locked on to Sophie, who seemed to quail slightly as she spoke: ‘Uh… maybe. I’ve never really thought about it.’
‘Oh, you should!’ Amy clapped her hands together several times, excitement bubbling up inside her. ‘It would be so fantastic to have a wedding to go to. I could bring Nick…’ She left the thought hanging tantalizingly in the air, imagining already what she might wear, how perfect Nick would look in a morning suit.
‘Well, I’m not planning to get married just so that you lot can have a day out.’ Sophie frowned at Amy. ‘And you need to stop daydreaming, Amy. You’ll frighten him off if you’re too keen.’
Amy grinned. ‘I can’t help it. You know what I’m like. And it hasn’t frightened him off so far.’
‘True. But then, he hasn’t met me yet!’ Melissa stood up and stretched languorously, showing off her toned, brown-skinned belly as she did so. Amy laughed, though a tiny prickle of nervousness passed through her. Melissa was a legendary flirt. But despite her sexiness and beauty, she had never enjoyed anything more than flings and one-night stands. Men never seemed to stick around. And she didn’t think Melissa was Nick’s type anyway. He was always telling Amy how much he loved her because she was so unusual, with her long, slim legs, mane of red hair and dazzling green eyes. She could easily have been a successful model but standing and posing in front of a lens had never interested her. She was too dreamy. Too creative. If anything, she wanted to be the one holding the camera.
‘Anyway, girls, enough of this nonsense. I’m starving.’ Melissa threw Amy a pleading look. ‘Amy, get a move on and cook our dinner.’