page56 (1/1)

Megan, who had always enjoyed going out, and had always seen it as a cure-all for depression, wondered what her friend would say if she were to pick the option of staying in, yet again, with only her thoughts for coht, throw the microwave meal at her unresponsive head

After a couple of days of sisterly-style syeant- advice on ht be acconored the Alessandro in grainy black-and-white print, laughing, with a drink in one hand and the other hand round the waist of a brunette with legs to her armpits, she decided that it was tiet on with her life

‘Anywhere,’ she said, ‘where there are no teenagers The last thing I need is to feel old as well as miserable’

‘A qualified yes,’ Charlotte said, rubbing her hands together in triumph, ‘is better than no yes at all We’ll start with your hair…’

It was a fored, and over the next few days, as a particularly hectic week of fractious children eased towards the weekend, Megan was surprisingly relieved to be taken in hand She spent Saturdayat the hairdressers, where Charlotte kept a watchful eye on as being done to her hair like an anxiousher only child for its first haircut Then they went shopping, where she was made to try on clothes that she would have worn seven years previously but which had graduallywith her lifestyle

‘I’ that you need to look like mutton dressed as lamb,’ Charlotte assured her, ‘but you’re not exactly old, so anything in a dark colour, baggy, high-necked or mid-calf is out’

‘I can’t afford all of this,’ Megan protested half-heartedly

‘It’s therapy,’ Charlotte informed her, ‘of the retail kind, and all therapy coan, the cost of a hairdo and an outfit is a whole lot cheaper than a couple of hours with a shrink…’

But not even an evening of clubbing—or three evenings of clubbing, for that matter—could relieve the dull ache inside her that see Not that she confessed any of that to Charlotte, because her friend’s efforts were valiant, and if they weren’t entirely successful then it wasn’t her fault

When half-ter children that she usually anticipated so eagerly took on the aspect of a nightmare Enforced leisure time which she didn’t want

Not that there weren’t some avenues for enjoyment which she could usefully explore

As an exercise for uys—which was the foundation ofher out of the house—the socialising scene hadn’t been a total waste of time True, thethe sort of dynamic and immediate effect on her nervous systeood thing Re pans, fires and ju!

Which hy, in the space of a couple of weeks, she had actually gone out tith her ‘Pick of the Day’, so to speak—a lawyer called Stuart, as a rising star in his fir man, with an easy smile and a quiet, affable manner that didn’t threaten her nervous system They had been out once for a meal, which had been fun, and once to the cinema, to see one of those chick flicks which she would have had to have dragged Alessandro to see, kicking and screaood oh a weepie oing to be a heartbreaker

The Friday before half-teret away from London for a few days and clear her head in the Lake District, staying at a B&B she had stayed at years before, on her journey down to London, Stuart phoned to ask her out again Megan had no hesitation in accepting his invitation She had already packed her overnight case, which aiting by the door for her to grab when she left in the ht she was bright and funny would be just the right start for a relaxing week away from London

She pulled one of her lamorous outfits froht when she had been seeing Alessandro, which she had flung into a bin bag and stuffed at the back of her wardrobe the second she’d walked out on hined to be ith other soft, falling layers above and underneath, all belted at the waist At the tiood invest to the weather Back then, she had been thinking sued to leap into spring!