Page 70 of Date with Destiny

She messages again.

Please xxxxxxxxxxx

I let go of Mikey’s hand, suddenly feeling intensely cold and unsexy. He glances over at me in surprise.

‘You OK?’ he says, registering my face. I shake my head.

‘I’ve just had a bit of an argument with my sister on text.’

‘Oh shit.’ He shuffles as close as the seatbelt will allow. ‘I’m sorry, that’s horrible. Do you want to talk about it?’

See? He’sso nice. Maybe I should just ignore Toni’s message, try to forget it and go have an amazing night with Mikey. I can deal with the fallout of Shawn’s crap tomorrow.

I re-read her last message.

Please xxxxxxxxxxx

I sigh heavily. ‘I’m really sorry, Mikey, but do you mind if I head home? I need to talk to her and I won’t be able to have fun tonight with that weighing on me.’

His face falls but he recovers quickly. ‘Yeah, of course.’ He pauses. ‘Are you sure though? I could really cheer you up, y’know? Take your mind off it, and she’ll still be around tomorrow?’ He smiles cheekily and I giggle.

‘It’s tempting, but I don’t think I’d be able to give you my full attention.’ I smile bashfully. ‘And I really want to. Can we pick this up later in the week?’

‘Sure,’ he smiles sadly, before leaning forward to redirect our driver.

Minutes later I’m outside my mum’s house and he leaps out to hug me goodbye. ‘Wow,’ he says, taking in the tall Edwardian building surrounded by elegant fencing. ‘Your mum’s house is amazing.’

I nod, embarrassed. It is beautiful, but it’s not my home. I would do almost anything to be living somewhere else, in my own space.

‘I’ll message you tomorrow,’ I promise as I chastely kiss him on the cheek and hurry inside. Time to face the music. And Shawn. Ugh.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

I walk into the house feeling head-to-toe dread. I hate confrontation. And I meanI hateconfrontation. Toni and I argued as kids, but with our age gap, it wasn’t ever really that much. She only got annoying just as I was heading off to university. And since then, we’ve just been pals.

I hate that we’re about to have a fight. And I really hate that it’s about men we’re dating.

I am so coiled and ready for Toni that I’m taken by surprise when I enter the kitchen and find Celeste sitting at the kitchen table, a large brandy in front of her.

‘Oh, it’s you, Mum!’ I say in shock and she cocks her head.

‘Is it so horrifying to find your mother in her own kitchen?’ she says with mock-hurt. ‘I should be more surprised to seeyou. I thought you were staying out at Myfanwy’s tonight?’

‘Change of plan,’ I say conversationally, listening out for sounds of life in the rest of the house.

‘What was the change of plan?’ she demands and I try not to sigh out loud. ‘Youwerewith Myfanwy, weren’t you?’

‘Er yes,’ I hedge. I hate lying, but no way was I going to tell her I had a date with my ex-boyfriend, Mikey. She’d have my wedding rearranged in ten minutes flat. ‘Myfanwy decided she wanted a romantic night in with Sonali,’ I explain, avoiding eye contact.

‘Hmm,’ she says, but the usually lengthy interrogation ends there.

‘Are you OK?’ I ask, looking at her closer. She looks tired and sad. Her sparkle isn’t quite so bright.

She shrugs. ‘The media hates the new range.’ She says it casually but I hear the wobble in her voice.

‘Oh no,’ I say, taking a seat at the table across from her. ‘What have they said?’

She throws a newspaper on the table between us and I pick it up, scanning an article that talks about Celeste jumping on a bandwagon nobody wants to ride. How she’s trying to attract the young and all she’s doing is alienating her customer base. There is a lot about how hideous the items themselves are, too, but a lot of it seems to be a personal attack on Celeste’s ego. Bizarrely, the piece is right next to a brightly illustrated Q&A with theLove Islandstar who’s fronting the range, talking about her exes and which couples she’s rooting for on the latest series. It comes with a credit underneath explaining where and how you can order Celeste’s ‘exciting’ new range.

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