‘Oh god, no,’ I stutter, ‘I can’t do that! Are you kidding me, Clara? Ican’t.’
She fishes out a Creme Egg from the plastic bags and unwraps it. ‘I’ve told them you’re coming, you can’t bail now. The list is locked in.’ She bites off the top, fixing me with a hard stare, ‘Plus, you do actually owe Milo an apology for being so mean to him last night.’
My hands fly to my eyes. ‘Nooooo!’ I cry. ‘Please don’t shame me! I feel awful enough with this hangover, I can’t deal with an emotional, humiliation hangover, too.’
I peep through my fingers to find her lovingly tonguingwhite fondant out of the egg hole. This is why I never drink. I’m an awful drunk, I hate Drunk Jemma.
She eyeballs me. ‘Just say you’ll come later and we’ll never mention any of it again,’ she promises. ‘Including your massive argument with the loo attendant over a paper hand towel.’
The chip timer goes off as hazy memories from the party accost me. ‘Oh god,’ I murmur. ‘Just let me eat seven tonnes of yellow food and then…’ I sigh, ‘… OK, I’ll come.’
She squeals excitedly, yanking the chips out of the oven, then peering at them disapprovingly. ‘Jem, these are not cooked at all. They’re barely even warm.’
I grab the tray from her, throwing cold, hard chips into my mouth. ‘I don’t care. I have to gokickboxing.’
Chapter Twenty-SevenCLARA
From: [email protected]
Subject:Milo S
Hey Katies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Got your email, thanks babe. So great to hear you finally got hold of my reference and glad it was all good – of course, I knew it would be!! My old boss Harry was always saying how incredibly impressed he was with my publicity work at Celebs R Us.
LOVING the sound of kickboxing, and yep, we’ll be there from 3.30pm as requested. I’ve rounded up three extra people for the class like you asked, to top up numbers. I’ve got the taxi booked – yay expense account!!!! It’ll be a huge success, you can definitely trust me. And also, I’m actually AMAZING at kickboxing, I’ve been doing it for years – I didthree classes just last week. You don’t have to worry about ANYTHING. I’ve got Milo covered, you just focus on growing some more, like, toenails and eyebrows inside your womb or whatever – LOL!! Do babies even have eyebrows?!!! Anyhoo, speak soon, lots of love.
Clara xxxxxx
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Milo S
Hey Katies!!!!!!!!!!!
Totally get it, no more weird questions about your baby, PROMISE!! And yes, I do understand it’s not an expense account. I’ll keep the receipt.
Quick one – did Milo say anything about me? Like, is he excited for us to be working together? Excited to becollaborating on this venture? Can you tell him I’m SUPER excited and can’t wait? I know we’re going to be a brilliant team, our vibes are very similar, y’know? Don’t you think I should have his personal phone number? So I can text him a few quick Qs???
Speak soon!!
C xxxxx
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Re:Milo S
Hey Katies!!!!!!!!
No problem, agreed this isn’t school andvibesaren’t everyone’s Mia cup of tea. Don’t worry, I can totally be professional!!!
Are you sure I can’t have Milo’s number? I reckon he’d want me to have it! It would only be for, like,reallyimportant stuff. Emergencies only!!!! BTW, what’s his fave colour??? I think it would be so cute if we wore matching colours at the event tonight!!!
