The next evening she swung by Jules and Angus’s house at around seven. Jules answered the door and squealed.
‘You’re home early!’ Libby said. The hours of an accountant weren’t great, and Jules was rarely home before eight thirty.
‘I was so excited about seeing you that I left early in your honour!’ Jules gave her a massive hug, immediately lifting up her top to scrutinise her stomach. ‘How are you feeling?’
‘Tired. I had to have a nap this afternoon to make sure I didn’t fall asleep in the middle of dinner.’
‘Poor you.’ She took the bottle of wine Libby had brought and led her down the corridor. They walked through into the kitchen where Angus was stirring a huge casserole on the hob. He was an incredible cook, and what was more he really enjoyed it. He was always experimenting with new recipes, and loved nothing more than being in the kitchen rustling up meals to share with friends.
‘Hi Angus, that smells amazing. What is it?’ Libby hugged him and peered into the stew. Antonio’s cooking lessons had really boosted her confidence in the kitchen and she was determined to keep it up now she was home.
‘Chicken, chilli, chickpea, peanut butter and tomato casserole.’
‘Yum!’ Libby’s stomach rumbled. ‘You’ll have to give me the recipe, that sounds delicious.’ They chatted for a while as Angus added the last few ingredients. ‘Do we have time to have a look at your artwork before we eat?’ asked Libby.
‘Definitely,’ said Angus. They went up to the top floor of the house. The loft had been converted into a huge, spacious studio. The north-facing windows had been enlarged to allow streams of light to flood the room. Paintings from his latest series depicting the Lake District rested on shelves all around the walls, and a huge canvas stood proudly on the easel in the centre of the room.
‘Oh my god, they’re incredible!’ Libby couldn’t believe her eyes. The colours were vivid and bright, yet muted by the softening effect of light that seemed to permeate each piece, as though lit by the sun itself. The effect was breathtaking. ‘You are unbelievably talented.’ Angus glowed at the compliment.
‘They’re not bad, not bad at all,’ agreed Jules.
‘Thanks Libs. I am very pleased with them, it has to be said. They’ve turned out better than I had hoped. Let’s hope they sell well.’
Jules took her phone out of her pocket and said, ‘Damn, I’ve got to make a call before we eat. Sorry… there’s no rush is there?’ she asked Angus.
‘No it’s fine bubbling away,’ said Angus. ‘Don’t worry.’
Jules gave Libby an extremely knowing look. She had phoned her earlier in the day and told her in no uncertain terms that she was not keeping her secret any longer, and that Libby had no choice but to tell Angus about her pregnancy that evening. This was clearly Jules’s tactic to give her a chance to do so in private.
Libby took a deep breath as Jules went down the stairs. She paused at a particularly striking painting of a lake illuminated by the soft light of twilight, trying to work out how to start the conversation.
‘Angus, I have something to tell you,’ she said, finally working up the courage.
‘Oh yes?’ he replied. He seemed lost in contemplation as he studied one of his larger canvases.
She turned to face him. ‘I told Jules a couple of weeks ago. Don’t be mad at her for keeping it from you, I made her swear. I needed to tell you face to face…’
This had caught Angus’s attention. He was scrutinising her face with a quizzical expression, clearly trying to work out what she could be talking about.
‘Right,’ he said. ‘What’s happened?’
‘I’m… I’m pregnant,’ she mumbled, suddenly unable to make eye contact, her eyes staring blindly at the floor.
She was greeted by silence. Looking up she could see that Angus’s eyebrows were hovering somewhere near his hairline; his forehead was creased with surprise and shock. He clearly hadn’t been expecting that.
‘You’repregnant?’ he repeated, aghast.
‘Yes.’ She felt as though she was standing in her headmaster’s office at school, that sickly feeling she remembered so well churned at the pit of her stomach.
‘What the hell, Libby?’ he shook his head. His eyes flashed with disappointment, even anger.
‘I know… I know…’ she trailed off. Her eyes welled with tears. ‘It was an accident.’
‘Well I’m not surprised to hear that…’ Angus said.
‘We used protection, always. I don’t know how it happened.’ She could see that Angus didn’t believe her. He thought she had taken her reckless approach to life to a new level. She felt annoyed with him on his immediate judgement. ‘There’s no point looking at me like that,’ she said. ‘It could happen to anyone.’
‘But it doesn’t, does it Libby? It happened to you. For god’s sake, a baby? Are you even nearly ready for that? You barely even know this guy – how long has it been? A couple of months? What about your training contract, everything you have worked so hard for. Are you just going to throw all that away?’ He rubbed his temples. ‘How could you have been so careless?’
