‘You’d better run.’ Louise let her go. ‘And call me,’ she shouted after her. ‘You have my number?’
Kate nodded, waving as she disappeared.
11
Kate sat on the sofa wrapped in a duvet, watching dawn break over Dublin while she let the events of the previous night sink in. It had all happened so fast. It was hard to believe that only last night Will had pulled her into his arms and asked her to take him to bed. She could still feel his mouth on hers, his heart jumping beneath her hand, in the same way that she could still feel the motion of the plane. The taste of him was still on her tongue, the impression of his hands on her body. She felt like an amputee – as though Will was a physical part of her that had been lopped off by a cack-handed surgeon. Tears fell down her cheeks again and she dabbed at her eyes gingerly with a sodden tissue. They were already raw from crying and gritty from lack of sleep.
She heard Freddie’s bedroom door open and he padded softly into the living room behind her.
‘Hello, Miss Thing!’ he gasped. ‘What areyoudoing here? Got tired of the rock-chick lifestyle and decided to slum it with us plebs for a while? You should have told me you were coming, I’d have—’ He stopped short as he took in Kate’s puffy, red eyes and the confetti of crumpled tissues that surrounded her. ‘Oh myGod! What happened, sweetie?’ He plonked down on the sofa and put an arm around her.
Kate had managed to stop crying, but Freddie’s sympathy brought a new lump to her throat.
‘Will’s father died,’ she said shakily, not knowing where to start.
‘Yeah, I saw it on the news.’ Freddie nodded. ‘You didn’t know him, though, did you?’ he asked.
‘No,’ Kate shook her head, ‘it’s not that. But Will was really upset, and… well, one thing led to another…’ She trailed off.
‘Oh my God, you shagged him!’ Freddie’s eyes were nearly popping out of his head.
‘No… Well, yes… more or less,’ Kate hedged. ‘And then Tina walked in.’
‘And she caught you shagging?’
‘Yes.’ Kate nodded miserably. ‘Well, not exactly shagging.’ She was plucking threads from a cushion absently.
‘Whatexactly?’
‘Well, I was sort of… I mean, I kind of… um, you know…’
‘Jesus! You’re starting to sound like Hugh Grant!’
Kate took a deep breath. ‘Okay. I was giving him a blow job,’ she said quickly.
‘What?’ Freddie’s voice cut like ice.
‘Well, his father had just died,’ Kate said defensively.
‘Right, okay.’ Freddie had apparently accepted this. But he couldn’t contain himself for long. ‘And you didn’t think maybe a nice cup of tea?’ he exploded.
‘I know, I know.’ Kate groaned, hugging the cushion to herself and burying her face in it. ‘God, how could I have been so stupid? I can’t believe I did that. He’s going to think I’m some kind of nut who goes around giving out blow jobs to the recently bereaved.’
‘Jesus!’ Freddie laughed. ‘I’ve heard of a sympathy fuck before, but this has got to be the first condolence blow job!’
Kate smiled weakly, peeping up from the cushion. ‘It’s not funny,’ she said, punching Freddie’s arm.
‘I beg to differ,’ he said archly. ‘But hang on – what are you doing here? I mean, I don’t think it was your best idea ever, but you’re not going to tell me he didn’tenjoyit. He’s a bloke. It was a blow job. Can’t go wrong, basically.’
‘He was enjoying it well enough until Tina turned up.’ Kate sniffed. ‘It was so awful, Freddie! The minute she appeared, he just pushed me away. He couldn’t get rid of me fast enough.’
Just then Freddie’s bedroom door opened again and Ken shuffled in, yawning, wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts. His eyes half closed, he looked as if he was sleepwalking.
‘Kate!’ he said groggily. ‘This is a nice surprise. I didn’t know you were here.’ He flopped onto the sofa beside her, put his feet on the coffee table and laid his head on her shoulder, snuggling into her neck with a contented sigh. ‘What are we talking about?’ he asked, closing his eyes against the sun streaming through the window.
‘Previously onDesperate Flatmates,’ Freddie said, doing his best American voiceover impression.
Kate shook her head almost imperceptibly at him, but Freddie ignored her. ‘Will’s girlfriend caught Kate giving him a blow job last night,’ he said before Kate could stop him.
