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Sprinting to the door, the ring still in her hand, she watched in disbelief as the Ferrari roared away.
Chapter Four
‘OK, BREATHE, breathe…I always seem to be saying that to you; how come you have so much drama in your life? I’m having an exciting day if my card doesn’t work in the cash machine.’ Juggling a half-eaten tub of chocolate ice cream and a box of tissues, Vivien sat on the sofa next to Kelly. ‘How can you be pregnant? You haven’t had sex for four years. Even elephants don’t take that long.’
Kelly tried to fight her way through the panic. ‘I had sex three weeks ago.’
Ice cream and spoon fell to the carpet. ‘You had sex three weeks ago? But you don’t—I mean, who with? You never go out. You’re not the one-night-stand type—and three weeks ago was when Alekos…’ Vivien’s smile faltered and Kelly wrapped her arms around herself, feeling her face heat.
‘Yes.’ Just admitting it made her want to shrink. What had she been thinking?
‘Alekos?’
‘Can you stop saying his name? I seem to remember you being happy enough when he was kissing me.’
‘That was a kiss! Last time I checked, a kiss couldn’t make you pregnant! Alekos? This is the guy you hate, the guy who ruined your life.’ Vivien grabbed a handful of tissues and tried to mop up the worst of the ice cream. ‘What an unbelievable mess.’
‘I know that.’
‘I meant my carpet, not your life—although your life isn’t looking too great, either.’ Covered in chocolate ice cream, Vivien licked her fingers. ‘So is that why he walked out without taking the ring?’
‘I don’t know. I suppose so, but he didn’t talk to me, so I don’t know. He just vanished. As usual.’ Increasingly agitated, Kelly sprang up and walked around Vivien’s tiny living-room.
‘Kel.’ Vivien’s voice was firm. ‘It’s not that I don’t love you or that I don’t care deeply about your trauma, but would you mind awfully not treading on the bit with the ice cream? You’ll walk it all around the flat, and my landlord is going to shred me if the place is covered in chocolate footprints.’
‘Sorry.’ Kelly stood still, rubbing her hands over her arms, trying to warm herself up. She felt sick; was that pregnancy or panic? ‘Sorry. I’ll help you clean it up.’
‘Forget it. I’ll squirt something on it in the morning.’ Covering the stain with a cloth, Vivien flung herself in the chair and picked up the tub again. ‘So, you don’t speak to the guy for four years and then suddenly you have passionate sex. I’m seeing a whole different side to you. I honestly never thought of you as—’
‘Sex mad? Sex starved? Maybe this is what happens when you keep men at a distance for too many years. Oh God, what was I thinking, Vivi? He dumps me—’ her voice rose ‘—and what do I do? I reward him by having sex with him. What is the matter with me? Am I sick?’
Vivien eyed her warily. ‘I hope not because my carpet has taken enough punishment. How many years?’
‘What?’
‘You said this is what happens when you keep men at a distance for too many years. How long actually is it since you last had sex?’
Distracted, Kelly racked her brains. ‘I think it was about four years ago. Just after—it was part of my Alekos rehabilitation-programme.’
‘I gather it didn’t work.’
Kelly took slow, deep breaths, trying to calm herself so that she could think clearly. ‘Have you ever had a relationship where you just can’t help yourself? You know it isn’t good for you, you know there is going to be agony at the end of it, but something between you is so powerful it just draws you together.’
‘No. But my sister-in-law is an alcoholic and that description sounds uncannily close to how she feels about a bottle of vodka.’
‘I don’t find that analogy comforting. If she went without vodka for four years, would she still feel like that?’
‘Oh yes. She says the feeling never goes away. It’s just a question of not putting yourself near the vodka.’
‘The vodka took me home and barged into my house.’
Vivien blinked. ‘This conversation is getting too complicated for me. But vodka sounds like a good idea. I have some somewhere, for emergencies.’
‘I’m pregnant,’ Kelly said in a high voice. ‘I can’t drink.’
‘But I can. I’ll drink for both of us while you deci
de what you’re going to do.’ Moments later, Vivien emerged from the tiny kitchen carrying a bottle, her face white. ‘Forget that. You don’t need to decide what to do, it’s been taken out of your hands. There’s an enormous limousine outside my flat and I don’t know anyone who owns one.’
