Keep Me (Beggar's Choice #3) by Lily Morton Read Free Book Online Page B

a thin, stern faced, silver haired lady. They point out which rooms have
hearing loops and that all the lecture theatres have them installed. They’re
ingenious devices in that they send a wireless signal to my hearing aid which
when I switch it to the right frequency lets me hear the sound without the
background noise.
    After shaking Julie’s hand and saying goodbye I’m free to
join the other students that are flocking into the lecture theatre steadily.
Spying an empty seat I ease into it and catch the eye of the girl sitting next
to me.
    “You on the BSC for Children’s Nursing?” she asks and I
think I detect a Welsh accent.
    “Yes, how about you?”
    “Yes.” She puts out her hand to shake. “I’m Elen,” she adds.
She has a very slow but direct way of speaking which gives what she says an air
of absolute truth. She has jet black hair cut into a blunt bob and quite a
formidable air about her. Also, although small she has a massive chest which I
can’t help but glance at. They’re like a shelf in front of her. Seeing me look
she smirks. “Tidy aren’t they?” she murmurs. “They’re my secret weapons.”
    I laugh. “Weapons of mass destruction I reckon, but alas
mine are more the Tony Blair model.” She looks at me questioningly and I smile.
“No one can quite put their fingers on them.”
    She lets out a roar of laughter. “Reckon we might be mates
then Alys. Where are you from?”
    “Belfast. How about you?”
    “Ah, Cardiff.”
    “So we’re both London newbies.”
    “Me not so much. I’ve lived here for a few years. I followed
a bloke over, had a kid and just stayed. London’s lasted longer than the bloke
though.”
    I wince. “Sorry,” I offer.
    She smiles sweetly and it totally transforms her somewhat
bolshy exterior. “Don’t be. I’d have been better following a fucking donkey
than that man.”
    I laugh. “Yeah they’re much easier than men I think.” I push
my hair back from my face and she catches sight of my hearing aid.
    “Are you deaf then?”
    I smile because I like her already. She’s very direct and
obviously takes no bullshit, but she seems forthright and honest. She reminds
me a bit of Bram because underneath all his charm is this forthright honesty
too. “I am.”
    She stares over the lecture theatre contemplatively. “Reckon
it’s lucky for me there was a spare seat next to me Alys because I like you
already. You’ll have to let me know if you struggle with anything or need me to
take notes for you.”
    I’m very touched. “Thanks but I don’t think there’ll be much
need. I can hear a lot with my other ear and what I miss the hearing aid mostly
picks up. The hearing loops are brilliant too as they amplify everything. What
courses have you signed up for? We’ll have to see if we’re on the same ones.”
We put our heads together over the course literature and I’m delighted to find
that she’s in most of my groups. Finally I look up. “So you have a child?”
    She gives a warm smile. “Yes, a little girl called Daisy.”
She roots through her purse and shows me a photo of a cheeky looking little
girl with masses of hair and a devilish, gap toothed smile.
    “She’s lovely.” I’m about to add something when a girl comes
up the steps and points to the empty seat on my other side.
    “Is this taken?” She’s blonde and rail thin with a lot of
make up on and a hard face but she’s very beautiful and already I can see some
of the blokes in the centre aisle taking notice of her.
     I smile and move my bag for her. “No, not at all.”
Sniffing she edges into her seat putting her rucksack down. “Are you on the
children’s nursing course?” I finally ask after a small silence. She nods
without looking at me and I catch Elen’s expression but I shrug and persevere.
“I’m Alys and this is Elen.”
    She looks at us for a long couple of seconds and then gives
us a thin smile. “Amber,” she offers curtly and then turns in time to catch the
eye