Page 56 of Never Too Late to Date

‘Oh my God, you did, didn’t you?’

Carol reached over and patted her friend’s leg.

‘Come on, spill. How did I never know this?’

Teresa squirmed in her seat.

‘It was only the once…’

Carol’s laugh echoed around the room.

‘I’m sure once was enough.’

‘More than enough, believe me.’

‘Well, you certainly kept that hidden.’

Teresa smiled broadly.

‘I wish Frank had.’

They were all in fits of giggles again.

Suzie scooped up the last few peanuts and threw them into her mouth.

‘We were so young. We all did crazy things back then. I know I did.’

Carol turned to face her.

‘Was Christian one of your crazy things?’

Carol was turning out to be quite the interrogator. She’d better stall for time.

‘What do you mean?’

‘We had eyes, Suze. We all thought you two would ride off into the sunset together.’

‘God, no. It was fun while it lasted, but as you probably remember, Christian wasn’t really one for settling down. Or sticking to one woman for that matter.’

The memory of finding him in his dressing room with his tongue down the throat of Kim, their make-up artist, was still raw all these years later.

Carol leant forward.

‘No, that’s true. He’d got it into his head that he was going to be the next Adam Ant, hadn’t he? And to be fair, he did end up being a lot more famous than any of us for a while. I used to watch him on Top of the Pops, and think, I knew you when you were still a teenager who used a tonne of foundation to cover up your acne.’

Teresa sniggered into her glass.

Suzie was just relieved the focus was off her for a moment. Or at least off her and Christian as an item.

‘Let’s have a toast.’

She raised her glass in the air.

‘To no regrets!’

‘No regrets’ was echoed back at her with gusto. It wasn’t exactly true in her case, but it would do as a handy sentiment. Everyone had regrets of one sort or another when they’d got to their age. It was just whether those missed opportunities were minor irritations or major life changers. There was one big thing from those days that she wished she could change. But it was too late now anyway.

Frank’s appearance with three parcels wrapped in white greaseproof paper stopped her musings in their tracks. The smell alone made her stomach groan.