Page 70 of The Dicktionary Club

I turned to Zola for some positive reassuring speech on how well I had turned around the campaign, but her eyes were solely focused on the ground.

‘How crazy was it of Philip turning up to the office like that, by the way?’ I gasped, wanting to dive into a bitch session with my friends.

‘Oh my God! I know, Ella. But why do I sort of love it, too?’ Katy seemed smitten by his attempt at flattery.

‘You would! Wouldn’t she, Zo?’ I asked, turning to my friend, who was zoned out once again.

‘What?’ Zola replied, not having listened to a word I was saying.

‘Are you OK, babe? Are you still feeling shit or something?’ Katy asked, noticing Zola’s quietness.

‘I’m fine.’ Zola shrugged back defensively.

I turned to Katy, who pulled a face at our friend, looking too terrified to press the subject, and I paused.

‘Wait, Zola, is this because I cancelled Alvaro? Are you annoyed at me or something?’ I knew there was something going on with her, she seemed irritated or upset with me, and it was the only explanation I could fathom.

‘What? No! Of course not. What are you talking about?’

‘Well .?.?.What’s wrong?’ I asked. ‘Something is bothering you, Zola.’

Zola paused and turned to face both Katy and me. She suddenly looked worried, and I glanced behind me, half expecting to be ambushed by the hyper-religious speakers who liked to hang out on Buchanan Street.

‘Zola, what is it?’ Katy stomped her feet like a toddler demanding an answer.

‘OK,’ she sighed at last. ‘I do have something to tell you both, but you can’t tell a soul. I have done something awful, and I suppose .?.?. I don’t know how to fix it. Please don’t judge me.’ Zola’s brown eyes began to well up.

I turned to Katy, who looked as concerned as I felt.

‘Hey, stop!’ I hugged her. ‘We got you! You can tell us anything, Zo. I mean it.’

‘Anything!’ Katy confirmed. ‘Where’s the body? We’ll help you bury it, babe.’

Zola smiled, but only for the tiniest second. ‘The other night, I sort of .?.?.’ She paused, inhaling for courage. ‘I cheated on Curtis.’ And then she burst into tears in the middle of the high street.

I was suddenly aware that my jaw was hanging open and immediately closed it.

‘Zola, I’m sorry. What? When?’ I eventually managed.

‘With who?’ Katy added, also clearly pretty shocked.

My mind couldn’t think of anyone Zola met up with or wasfriends with in Glasgow other than us. I’d never known her to talk about any other man that she liked or fancied and I’d always assumed she was genuinely happy. I knew she moaned about Curtis on occasion, but it was for housework, or his laziness. No big deal. I felt completely baffled.

Zola’s head lowered. She looked ashamed, like she’d been carrying this huge secret all weekend, terrified we’d judge her the instant we found out. ‘Alvaro,’ she admitted softly.

I gasped. ‘No!’

‘I met up with him to tell him you wouldn’t make the date in person. I felt bad we’d cancelled on him so many times. Then we had a few drinks and a laugh together. The next thing I knew, we were kissing down a fucking alleyway.’

She covered her face as the tears streamed. I put my arm around her, guided her over to a bench, and we took a seat, the metal cold on our arses.

‘A kiss is soft cheating, right?’ Katy said. ‘It’s not like you shagged him.’

Zola hesitated.

‘Oh God, you didn’t shag him, did you?’ I asked.

Zola shook her head immediately. ‘We didn’t have sex, but he did .?.?.’

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