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‘On holiday. On my own. Well, with some friends first, and then a solo road trip.’
‘Wow.’ Janice gave Hannah an appraising look. ‘Don’t take this the wrong way, but that doesn’t sound very much like you.’
Hannah shrugged and smiled. ‘Well, I’m trying something new.’
Janice looked slightly disconcerted. ‘You ARE going to come back, aren’t you? You’re not going to fly off to Thailand, take a load of mushrooms and have some kind of spiritual awakening?’
‘I promise, Janice,’ laughed Hannah. ‘Whatever happens on my sabbatical I will not take mushrooms, and I will definitely come back.’
Janice gave her a motherly smile. ‘Well then. Let’s get back to work, shall we?’
‘What are you doing next Friday?’ Hannah asked, once Janice had clacked off to deal with a complaint about the lack of vegan options in the restaurant.
‘No big plans,’ Sam replied. ‘We’re both off in the afternoon, Janice is covering. Why do you ask?’
Hannah took a deep breath, the fizz of excitement now spreading from her chest to her belly. ‘Just carrying on from our conversation earlier, I was wondering if you’d take me shopping.’
‘Shit, really?’
‘Yeah. Clothes, shoes, make-up, the lot. Maybe give me some ideas on a haircut. I’m going on a girls’ holiday.’
‘Are you kidding?’ said Sam. ‘Oh my God, I LIVE for this kind of stuff. Wait, I saw this collection the other day that would be perfect for you.’ He craned his neck to check nobody was coming down the ornate staircase that led to the dining room, then grabbed his phone and tapped furiously until he found what he was looking for. ‘Here, what do you think?’
Hannah looked as Sam scrolled through an eye-watering montage of outfits in white, turquoise, red, orange and yellow. Maybe this was a bad idea.
‘Fire colours,’ said Sam. ‘You have a fabulous body and gorgeous colouring, so – with respect, hun – you really need to dump the black and navy and fucking BEIGE.’
‘My mum has a horrible dress in that shade of yellow,’ she said doubtfully, thinking of Elena’s Big Bird outfit from Friday.
‘Right, but is it the yellow that’s horrible, or the dress?’
Hannah thought about it for a moment. ‘Definitely the dress.’
‘Exactly,’ said Sam triumphantly. ‘And anyway, colour is only part of the solution. You need pieces that complement your shape, show off your legs and make you look cute and sexy.’
Hannah swallowed nervously and looked around for lurking guests. ‘Sam, I definitely can’t do sexy. And this whole thing isn’t about attracting men or anything. I just want to feel . . . different. I will never relax if my bum or my boobs are on show.’
Sam wafted his hand dismissively. ‘Fine, no titties. What about swimwear? Is a bikini OK, or do you need some kind of shroud?’
Hannah pulled a snarky face. ‘A bikini is fine. Just one of the sporty ones with a crop top and proper pants, not three lace triangles and some dental floss.’
‘Totally,’ said Sam happily. ‘I’m thinking Baby Spice rather than Ginger Spice.’
‘Yes, but also age appropriate. I’m thirty-two.’
‘Understood. But just to be clear, we’re leaving Sporty Spice behind, right?’
Hannah sighed heavily. ‘Do we have to?’
Sam reached over and touched her arm. ‘Hey, of course not,’ he said softly. ‘It’s your body, you can wear whatever you like. I’m not saying you should throw out all the sportswear, it’s a big part of who you are. I’m just suggesting broadening your horizons a little, having some fun. If it doesn’t feel right, we won’t buy it. No pressure, I promise.’
Hannah nodded, feeling a wave of affection for her friend. She took a deep breath and pressed her lips together with determination. ‘OK. Let’s do it.’
CHAPTER SEVEN
‘Holy SHIT,’ gasped Gaynor, boggling at Hannah as she walked into the bar. ‘What happened to you?’
‘What do you mean?’ said Hannah innocently. She hadn’t been able to resist wearing one of her new outfits, a pair of cropped jeans with cute silver sneakers and a coral-pink jumper with a wide neck and thin straps to stop it falling off her shoulders. She was still wearing the make-up from the lesson she’d had at the MAC store earlier, and the hair stylist had worked some magic on the shape of her hair at the back, which took the weight out of her natural curls and gave it back its bounce. He’d added a few blonde highlights too, which sparkled under the twinkling lights in the bar.
