“Great, I’ll see you tomorrow, and thanks! Can’t wait! It will be fun!” I call out as she and her hips, which I am noticing for the first time are very voluptuous, sashay out of the office without looking back.
Chapter Three
Is There Any Love In Your Heart?
Mina
“So, what are you up to?” my sister asks with an audible yawn.
I stare down at the items in the hand not holding a phone to my ear. Nope, I cannot answer that question honestly.
“Just throwing some stuff out,” I say and it’s about as truthful as I’m prepared to be.
“Aren’t you supposed to do thatbeforeyou move house?”
I roll my eyes and feel my jaw tense. “I moved out in a bit of a rush, remember?”
“It wasn’t that rushed. You managed to live together for two weeks post break-up. That was almost civilised.”
“I don’t know what Hannah’s said to you but it was anything but civilised, especially when she brought Sally over for a little sleepover,” I say with a very deliberately facetious tone. That really had been the final straw.
“Don’t put me in the middle again,” Aisha groans. “I really thought those days were over.”
“I believe Hannah is the one putting you in the middle with her shitty behaviour.”
“Mina,” Aisha warns.
“She’s the one who broke land speed records with how quickly she moved on and she really didn’t need to bring her new girlfriend back to the flat she still shared with her ex, aka me!”
“Stop it, Minnie. You broke up with her, remember?” Aisha yawns again. “I knew it wouldn’t last anyway. I just wish you had listened to me a year ago. You never should have asked her out.”
I’m not in the mood to be reminded how right my sister was about this. Not again. “I’m sorry, am I keeping you up?” I ask.
“Pardon?”
“You keep yawning,” I point out bluntly.
“Oh, yeah, late night last night.” Aisha’s voice changes, softening. “Nick and I started wedding planning. Barely even started with the guest list but you’d be amazed how long that took. We lost track of time.”
Because it’s not a video call I let my top lip curl as much as it wants to but even so, I feel a slither of guilt snake through me. It’s not my sister’s fault I’m so bitter about Hannah, her wedding and, well, everything.
“I can only imagine.” I sigh as I drop the items I was holding back on the bed. I can’t keep looking at them. “I suppose now is the time when I offer to help you, what with me being Maid of Honour and all. I guess it’s part of my job to help, isn’t it?”
“Well, considering you make it sound like I’d be asking you to tie yourself to a train track, I think we can manage without you.” My sister half-laughs.
“I’m sorry Aish’. I just had a shitty day at work and the hot water’s still not fixed and I’m exhausted from last weekend’s packing and moving,” I say and it’s my turn to yawn. As if prompted by my display of tiredness, my cat Deborah Harry gets up from her curled-up position on the bed and pads closer to me so I can scratch the top of her black head while she presses her body against mine.
“Well, come and stay with us this weekend. We have a shower that works and I promise we won’t inflict any wed-min on you whatsoever.”
“Wed-min?”
“Wedding admin. I’ll expect you in an hour or so?”
“Shit, no, I can’t,” I say rubbing a hand across my forehead. “I actually have a… thing tomorrow night. I think it’s central somewhere, so I guess it wouldn’t be convenient to be down in Wimbledon.”
“What is it?”
I sigh as quietly as I can. “It’s a thing for a work… A colleague who needs a plus one for his mum’s birthday.It’s her seventieth.”
