Page 110 of The Dicktionary Club

‘Zo and I have been chatting,’ Katy began, ‘and we’ve decided, if you agree, we should take the website down at the end of the month.’

I sat up, surprised. ‘Really?’

Zola gulped. ‘Really. And I hate to say it, but you were right, Ella. It’s not us, babe. We wanted to do something nice, you know, female empowerment and all that jazz. But this has brought nothing but unnecessary drama. Not only with Philip – you should see the emails we’re getting from scorned women and adulterous men! We don’t even know what’s fact or fiction anymore.’

A wave of relief washed through me. I wanted nothing more than to put the Dicktionary Club behind me and forget it ever happened.

‘But why the end of the month? We could take it down now,’ I said.

‘We have to fulfil the month’s membership for everyone who’s paid. And it means we have a bit of money behind us. Maybe we could .?.?.’ Zola looked at Katy, who seemed like she would burst with excitement at any moment.

‘We could start our own marketing company!’ she exclaimed.

‘The three of us?’ I asked, processing the idea.

‘Yes! Think about it, Ella. We only stayed at Smart fricking Reputations because of our friendship, and we are bloody good at our jobs, but no thanks to Andrea. We could totally do this together.’ Zola was sitting forward, eagerness radiating off her. I could feel the excitement bouncing back and forth between them.

Right now, though, I couldn’t imagine ever leaving the house again, never mind running my own company.

‘We finally have the money to start this up, Ella,’ Katy said, urging me for a response.

I stood up and walked over to the window. The sun was shining over the most beautiful Glasgow landscape. I took my time, thinking it over. I knew we were all hardworking and really great at our jobs, and I wondered if a few of my closest clients would jump ship if we took the plunge or if the scandal would be too much for them. Finally, I breathed.

‘C’mon. What do you think, babe?’ Zola asked again.

‘She hates the idea,’ Katy muttered dramatically.

‘No.’ I turned to my friends. ‘I don’t hate the idea at all. If we can make something good come out of the Dicktionary Club, we should.’

My friends leaped towards me, hugging me tightly for a fewmoments.

‘We’ll need to decide on a name, and we could work from someone’s home until we have a premises,’ Katy said, already getting carried away.

‘Well, it won’t be my place,’ Zola mumbled.

‘Still not speaking to Curtis?’ I asked.

She shook her head. ‘And Philip?’

I sighed. ‘Not a word.’

‘God, what must he be thinking?’ Katy said. ‘His secretary RSVPed him earlier for the awards show tonight, so at least he’s going out in public.’

‘Who?’ I asked.

‘Philip! It’s the hospitality awards, remember? Blaze Boost is sponsoring it, and I set you both up on the front row. I’m still copied in on the emails.’

I felt a sting, knowing I was supposed to be his date for the evening. ‘Well, I hope he has fun, I guess.’

‘Oh, for fuck’s sake, Ella!’ Zola shouted.

‘What?’ I turned to her, not sure why I was getting called out.

‘Go and bloody talk to him,’ she said, looking massively frustrated with me.

‘What? Why would I do that?’ I chuckled a little. ‘Jesus Christ, Zo! He knows where I live if he wanted to sort any of this out, and I don’t blame him fornotwanting to after what we did.’

Zola shook her head. ‘And that’s it then? Look, Ella, Philip is the first man you’ve had feelings for in God knows how many years, right? Why would you let him go without even attempting to fix this?’

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