Over You by Lucy Diamond Read Free Book Online Page B

the kettle with water.
    ‘Darlin’, compared to me, you are in the outer stratosphere,’ Nell told her bluntly. ‘And here I am, having started in the same place as you two and look at me! I’m homeless, jobless, boyfriendless . . .’ Nell pulled a face. ‘What am I doing wrong?’
    ‘Nothing!’ Josie said indignantly. ‘Hello? Reality check! You’ve been all over the world, seen tons of amazing things, had loads of adventures . . . Nell! Not many people have had even half the exciting times you’ve had. And you’ve got no strings! You’re free! Nobody’s holding you back from doing whatever you want to do!’
    Josie stopped abruptly, aware of the note of yearning in her voice.
    ‘I know that,’ Nell said, perching on the edge of the table. ‘And it’s good, being free, but it’s just . . . Well, I think I’m doing all right, but as soon as I compare myself to you two . . .’
    ‘Don’t even go there,’ Lisa said. ‘Yeah, so I’ve got a nice house and car, and can buy whatever I want to right now, but I’ve slogged in the City for years. I’ve worked late nights, weekends, I’ve dealt with shit from all the blokes there every single day. I’ve put everything on hold – family, friends, men, babies, all the rest of it – to climb the greasy pole. And take it from me, there have been plenty of times over the last few years when I’ve had a postcard from you, barefoot in Bali or Bolivia or Brazil or wherever, and I’ve thought exactly the same thing: What am I doing? Why aren’t I seeing the world like Nell, or having babies like Josie, or . . .’ She put the kettle down suddenly, and took a breath. ‘Maybe I should open some wine,’ she said. ‘This is all getting a bit serious.’
    ‘Maybe you should,’ Josie agreed. She was trying to catch Nell’s eye but Nell was staring out into the garden.
    ‘I just don’t know what to do now,’ Nell confessed, her blue eyes far away. ‘At least you two have some kind of game plan. You can see where it’s all going next in your lives. Me, I haven’t got a clue. Not a fucking clue.’
    ‘But that’s not so bad, is it?’ Lisa said, opening a cupboard door and squatting in front of rack upon rack of wine bottles. She pulled one out and considered it, then pushed it back in and selected another. ‘Red all right for everyone? This should be a good vintage. And would you really have it any other way, Nell? You’d hate my life. You’d resign from my job within seconds.’ She raised an eyebrow. ‘And it’s all very well having a nice house but you have to keep up the mortgage payments. Which, let me tell you, are a ball and chain in themselves.’
    ‘I suppose,’ Nell said, nodding.
    There was a silence while Lisa uncorked the bottle and poured three generous glasses full.
    Nell took the glass Lisa handed her and held it up. ‘Cheers anyway. To all of our futures. Whatever’s around the corner – let’s hope it’s something exciting.’
    ‘Definitely,’ said Josie, raising hers. Let’s hope it’s Rose , she thought immediately, a hand stealing around to her belly. That would be the best kind of excitement.
    Nell started talking rather more enthusiastically about the places she still wanted to visit – Sumatra and Zanzibar and Guatemala and a great long list of others – and Josie’s thoughts drifted homeward. Excitement wasn’t exactly something that her family did in spades, she realized, sipping her wine. She and Pete had been a lot more reckless before they’d had kids but now they existed in a safety chamber. They holidayed in the south of France now, or Cornwall, rather than anywhere tropical that required jabs or malaria tablets. Week in, week out, it was work for Pete, and playgroup, swimming lessons, gym club and trips to the park for her and the boys. Sunday dinner at the in-laws’. Maybe a child’s party to go to. It was all very . . . pedestrian, really. No excitement whatsoever.
    Josie took a larger slug of her