Page 39 of Faking It (and falling in love)

“Come to mine for a cuppa,” said Philippa, putting her arm back through Alex’s. “We can chat after Dottie’s gone to bed.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Philippa had never seen Alex looked as stressed as she did that evening. Once she’d checked Dottie was settled in bed, she emerged downstairs to see her friend sat on the sofa, her face strained, staring into space.

“Are you ok?” asked Philippa gently, not wanting to make Alex jump.

“Jess lied to Seren,” said Alex. “She told her I’m too busy to see her.”

Philippa pursed her lips. “She did. And it’s wrong and deeply unfair to both you and Seren.”

“What do I do now?” She turned and locked eyes with Philippa.

“Well, the first thing is we need to get you a proper routine to see her and spend quality time with her. From what you’ve said, this is a major issue,” said Philippa.

“And you think we can do that?” asked Alex, allowing herself a small smile.

“Yes,” said Philippa, “I do. But before we talk about how we do that, I really think you need a cup of tea and a biscuit or something.” Philippa walked towards the kitchen. “I’m nottrying to mother you,” she called back into the living room, “but you look like you need some sustenance.”

Philippa could hear Alex chuckling in the living room, and was relieved the tension had been broken slightly. “I can’t believe you did that,” said Alex as she walked into the kitchen.

“What?” Philippa was filling the kettle.

“Pretended to be my solicitor!” said Alex, a little colour returning to her face.

Philippa shrugged. “Yeah, was I a bit much?”

“No, it was epic,” said Alex. “Did you see her face? That’s the first time I’ve seen her lost for words in the last two years.”

“I just hope it might make her think again in the future,” said Philippa, laying out mugs and teabags.

“The way you just ran off the legal stuff like that,” said Alex. “Properly impressive.”

Philippa shrugged again, but smiled. “That’s what I do. It’s my job.”

“Well, I appreciated it,” said Alex.

“Here, take this.” Philippa handed Alex a mug of steaming tea. “Toast? Dottie has strong-armed me into Nutella, so perhaps we should break that open?”

“Ooh yeah,” said Alex, “I could definitely do with that.”

Once back in the living room, they sat side by side on the sofa, toast on their laps and tea on the stylish coffee table in front of them.

“You look a little better now,” said Philippa.

“Thanks. It’s been a tough time, really. That’s why I don’t talk about Seren. It means talking about Jess and the mess I made of my old life.” Alex took a generous mouthful of her toast.

“I can understand that,” said Philippa, endeavouring to be more ladylike with her toast consumption, but beginning to understand Dottie’s obsession with chocolate spread.

“I just thought if I did everything Jess asked, she’d understand I wasn’t trying to threaten her relationship with Seren. I thought she’d ease up and allow me more access.” Alex sighed. “It didn’t work.”

“No,” said Philippa, “I can see that. In fact, I’m thinking that one of the things we need to do is start to work out a way of setting some boundaries for your benefit, and of course for Seren’s. My professional opinion, for what it’s worth, is that you need to start pushing back.”

“Easier said than done,” said Alex, her face clouding.

“Yes, I know.”

Philippa really did know. The minutiae of co-parenting and family dynamics were complicated and laden with emotion. While the law was there to help, situations were sensitive and difficult in many ways. “I feel perhaps that Jess is trying to control this situation. Perhaps even trying to control you a little.” She chose her words carefully. She didn’t want to push Alex into an uncomfortable position.

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