Page 94 of The In-Laws

‘I’d be happy to.’

‘Okay, I’m going to start crying because you’re both being so nice to me. We’re on a roll here. Right, Melanie, what do we need to sort out for you?’

Melanie stood up abruptly and grabbed her bag. ‘Oh, nothing. I’m fine. I have to go anyway.’

‘Well, next time we’ll focus on you,’ Katie said.

Melanie rushed off, waving over her shoulder.

Amanda and Katie walked to their cars. ‘We’re here for you. Please remember that. Call me anytime, day or night,’ Katie said, hugging Amanda.

Amanda hugged her back. ‘Thank you for organizing these mornings and for your support. I feel so much better after a swim. It really does help clear your head, and the chats are like therapy for me. I feel so much less alone now.’

She meant every word. The swims and, more importantly, the time with her sisters-in-law had become a safespace for her, somewhere she felt supported, loved and never judged. It was like a lifebuoy, tossed to her in stormy seas. She was going to hold on to it for all she was worth. Like she had said, sink or swim, and she was certain now that she was not going to let Ross sink her.

32. Katie

Katie slowly opened her eyes. She stared up at the ceiling. Jamie was snoring beside her, but something was wrong.

God, her head. It felt as if it was going to explode. This was bad. Her mouth tasted like an ashtray. Had she smoked last night? She must have been really drunk if she was smoking. She hoped Jamie wouldn’t smell the nicotine: he was the smoke police.

He was snoring very loudly. Her eyes were blurry. She blinked and looked up again. The ceiling was painted blue. What?

Slowly, she turned her head to the right …

Sweet Mother of Jesus, that was not Jamie. She clamped her hand over her mouth so she didn’t scream. Who the hell was it? Where the hell was she?

The man muttered in his sleep and rolled over. Katie’s eyes were now wide open. She was in a hotel room. There were clothes, bottles of alcohol and chips strewn all over the floor.

Holding her breath, she reached down – she was topless.Noooo!She reached further down … Oh, thank God, she still had her tights and underwear on.

But how the hell had she ended up alone in bed with a stranger? What was she going to do? What time was it? She looked at her watch. It was five a.m. She had to get out of there and go home. What was she going to tell Jamie? Where was Frank? Had he seen her head off with this stranger? What had she done with this guy?

Katie thought she might have a heart attack. As slowly and quietly as she could, she slipped out of the bed and crawled around the floor, gathering her bra, dress, shoes and bag from the four corners of the room.

Thankfully, the stranger remained asleep. Crouching behind the sofa, she got dressed, too afraid to go to the bathroom for fear of waking him. She crawled to the door, opened it as gently as she could …

‘Hey, sexy, where you off to?’

Shiiiiiiiit!

Without turning around, she whispered, ‘Have to go.’

‘Come back to bed. You passed out so we never got to seal the deal.’

Thank God, she hadn’t had sex. Katie could have cried with relief.

‘Please just forget you ever met me,’ she croaked.

‘Suit yourself,’ he drawled. ‘Thanks for the coke, by the way. I found it in your pocket after you passed out. Hope you don’t mind.’

Oh, my God, Theo’s bag of cocaine. She’d completely forgotten about it.

‘You’re welcome.’

Katie slipped out of the door and was closing it when she heard a cheery ‘Morning, ma’am.’

Jesus! Katie almost jumped out of her skin. It was a bellboy showing a guest to their room. The guest looked at Katie in disgust, probably thinking she was a hooker.

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