Page 20 of It's Now or Never

Settled on the sofa, Angie proceeded to tell me all about her honeymoon – showing me photos of their beachside villa and shot after shot of golden sands, blue skies and beautifully put together plates of food. It looked idyllic.

‘Tom did some snorkelling and some paragliding. You know what he’s like. He needs to get his adrenalin fix, but I was just happy to sit by the pool or on the beach, reading my book and dipping into the water occasionally just to cool off.’

‘Sounds wonderful,’ I sighed.

‘Oh, it was. These last few months have been such a heady whirl. I have such lovely memories of our wedding day. I don’t think it could have been more perfect. And to share it with the people we love most in the world, well, what more could we have asked for?’ Angie let out a heartfelt sigh. ‘So, did anything happen between you and Alex? Every time I looked over at you two, you were deep in conversation, gazing into each other’s eyes.’

I laughed. ‘I’m not sure about the gazing into each other’seyes bit, but we had a great time. I’m really glad Alex was there to share the day with me. Yeah, it was good fun.’

If I’d been trying for nonchalant, Angie was having none of it.

‘Good fun? Is that all? What happened after we left? Did you two go on somewhere? Was there any schmoozy-moozy stuff going on that I should know about?’

‘No, don’t be daft. We just went for a quick drink to round the evening off. It was lovely, really nice.’

Angie and I didn’t have secrets from each other, or at least we hadn’t up until now, but I wasn’t going to admit to her or to anyone else, come to that, that I’d gone home with Alex that night. I barely liked to admit it to myself. Just the thought brought me out in a hot prickly rash. Besides, Angie had Tom to confide in so it was perfectly reasonable that we wouldn’t share absolutely everything with each other any more.

‘He’s been asking after you, you know?’

‘Who has?’

‘Alex, of course!’ said Angie, looking exasperated. ‘He was saying to Tom what a great girl he thought you were and how much he enjoyed your company. I think he was trying to find out if there was anybody else on the scene. If you were available?’

‘Really?’ I looked away, not wanting to meet Angie’s eagle-eyed gaze, the hot prickly sensation putting in a reappearance. Funny, I thought I’d had ‘available’ plastered all over my forehead. ‘Well, I do hope Tom didn’t give away all my deepest secrets.’

‘Well, you know Tom. He’s pretty clueless when it comes to these things so I think your secrets are safe with him. Do you think you’ll see him again?’

‘Alex? He’s texted me a few times, but I don’t know that I will.’ I didn’t enjoy lying to Angie, but to be honest I still wasn’t sure if I’d done the right thing in agreeing to a date. Half of me was stillthinking I might cancel. ‘Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great guy, funny and charming and good-looking, but…’

But what? If I’d heard anyone else describing a single available man that way I would have rushed over and nabbed him for myself. What was it that was stopping me from seeing someone I actually really liked? Alex was the first guy I’d fancied in ages, so why couldn’t I just roll with it. The trouble was – it wasn’t only the fact I fancied the pants off Alex, there was more to it than that. We’d clicked in a way that rarely happened with other guys; there was a connection between us that I’m sure I hadn’t imagined. One I couldn’t put down solely to the number of glasses of wine we’d drunk that day either.

‘…we’re different people,’ I managed to conjure up. ‘And he’s really not my type.’

‘Well to be honest, I’m pleased,’ said Angie, sounding relieved. ‘I was worried he might have cast you under his spell. You wouldn’t be the first or the last. From what Tom’s told me, he’s bad news as far as women are concerned. P-L-A-Y-E-R. Big time. Commitment issues too, I think.’

If I’d been wavering, Angie’s damning assassination of Alex’s character had definitely put paid to any doubts.

‘Sounds like I did well to escape his clutches then,’ I said, breezily, trying hard to hide my disappointment.

That was the issue. It had been almost too easy being with Alex; the conversation had flowed smoothly, along with the wine, and falling into bed with him had seemed like the most natural thing in the world. A one-off, never happened to me before kind of thing, but I was realising it was much more of a regular, everyday kind of thing for Alex. Did I really just want to be another notch on his bedpost?

As soon as Angie went home I’d send Alex a text cancelling our date.

‘Anyway, I’m going to have a top-up,’ I said, picking up my empty glass. Best to forget all about it and move on. I brought the bottle of wine in from the kitchen. ‘Are you ready for one?’

Angie shifted on the sofa, tucking her legs beneath her.

‘Um, do you have something soft, a coke or a lemonade?’

I looked at her askance. The girl who could drink me under the table and still come up smiling was asking for a lemonade. If this is what married life did to you I wasn’t sure I wanted any of it.

‘Oh my god,’ I cried, in a blinding moment of realisation, almost dropping the bottle in surprise. There could only be one reason for Angie being off the booze. ‘You’re pregnant!’ I said, accusingly, dropping back down on to the sofa.

She nodded, her eyes widening. A smile spread across her lips as her cheeks flushed pink.

‘Yep. Can you believe it? It wasn’t planned. It just happened.’ Angie held her hands up to the sky as though it was one of life’s mysteries. ‘It did mean I spent most of the honeymoon throwing up but I always think if you’re going to be ill then it’s much better to do that in paradise.’

‘Oh darling, I am so happy for you both. That’s the most amazing news.’ I stared at her stomach as though seeing it for the first time, as though it had taken on a life force of its own, which it had! I pulled her towards me for a hug, surprised to feel tears gathering in my eyes.

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