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On the spur of the ers restlessly on the desk as the telephone exchange did its business and connected hiain

It took for ever for her to take the call,him into an even darker mood

‘What’s theto the chase

‘Matter?’ Several thousand ht some time Of course she should have known that Alessandro would have caught her change ofat her he still see her like a book

‘So What is it?’

‘Nothing Well…actually, nothing’s wrong, as such, but…but we need to talk…when you get back…’

‘Talk? Talk about what?’ Alessandro had bad experiences with Megan’s need to talk pronounce now Suddenly all the s he had lined up faded into inconsequence He would leave New York immediately He would buy a bloody jet if he had to in order to accomplish that

‘Don’t worry, Alessandro…it can wait’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Absolutely’

Wait? She just wished it could wait for ever She held up the little plastic stick with the pronancy line stamped on it like the decisive hand of fate A bit of sickness, tenderness in her breasts…It hadn’t occurred to her that sheAlessandro had left for New York She had visited Charlotte for dinner, and after a second dash to the bathroom because she’d felt a little queasy had had the idea planted in her head, when her friend had jokingly asked whether there was ‘a bun in the oven’

Naturally they had been using contraception Alessandro had taken care of that But there had been a couple of ti back, when had she seen her last period anyway? She had always had irregular periods That absence, in the great sches, hadn’t been noticed

‘Don’t worry about me,’ she told Alessandro now ‘You have fun over there in New York’

‘Have fun? I’etting up to?’

‘I have no idea,’ Megan said waspishly ‘It’s your concern!’ Tears were gathering at the back of her throat ‘Anyway, I’ll see you when you get back, in a couple of days’ At which point she hung up