Читать книгу Essex Girls - Laura Ziepe - Страница 7

After a day of moping about and feeling sorry for herself, Jade looked out of the window and saw her dad’s car pull up outside the flat. She looked around, sadly. She’d packed up her whole life in Bath in boxes, bags and suitcases and was ready to leave.

Yesterday had been one of the toughest days of her life. Tom was still the only thing she could think about. She had been with him for two and a half years and still couldn’t believe what had happened. Jade had been willing to change herself and her life to please him and he’d done nothing but lie and cheat in return. She’d already heard what had happened to him in the theatre; he’d been found by the cast of the play. Apparently someone had taken a photo on their mobile of him running away in a dress and it was going around Facebook. She thought that by publicly humiliating him it would make her feel better, but now she just felt nothing but sad.

She was tired. Tired of thinking about him and nothing else. Tired of only caring about her heartache and not having any interest in doing anything. It was as though nothing in her life was important. She felt so emotional about everything. Even an advert about animal cruelty had made her cry. She knew it had only just happened and she was bound to be upset, but she wondered; how long would she go on feeling like this? She was a complete mess, and didn’t want to talk to anyone, apart from Kelly and Lisa.

Tom had bombarded her with messages begging her to forgive him, insisting he’d never do it again, saying that despite what she had done to him, he still wanted to be with her. Jade had replied just once, to say that if he’d ever cared about her at all he’d leave her alone and let her get on with her life. Hopefully he would.

*

Jade opened the door to her dad before he knocked. He smiled at her as he walked along the path.

‘Hi Dad,’ she said, hugging him and kissing his cheek as he stepped through the door.

‘Hello love,’ he replied, wiping his feet on the welcome mat. ‘How have you been?’

‘I’ve been okay,’ she lied.

‘So is this everything?’ He pointed at her things on the floor, all ready to go. ‘You don’t need help with the packing then? That’s a bit of luck,’ he joked.

‘Yeah, I’ve done it all already. That’s everything.’

‘So, you’ve broken up with Tom? I thought it was all going well.’

Jade shrugged. ‘Things change.’

He laughed. ‘Just when your mum and I thought we’d got rid of you, eh?’

She managed a weak smile. Her dad wasn’t very good in these situations. He hated talking about feelings and even though she knew he loved her immensely, he’d never been particularly affectionate. He was a man’s man, as her mum always said.

Her father looked at her, concerned, and put his hand gently on her shoulder. ‘Are you sure you’re alright, love?’

‘I’m fine,’ she said, brushing him off and turning round to face the boxes. She couldn’t talk to her dad, she’d just get upset and she didn’t want him to see that. She just wanted to go home. ‘Right, shall we start to pack the car up then or did you want a cup of tea first?’

‘That’s alright. I stopped on the way for petrol and got some lunch and a coffee. Let’s head back shall we, and hopefully we’ll miss the traffic.’

‘Thanks, Dad. I really appreciate you helping me,’ Jade replied, and started to pick up the boxes to take to his car. There wasn’t enough room for everything to be put in her Mini, but she felt bad making her dad drive all the way down to Bath to help her. She sat in her car waiting for her dad to pull away so she could follow him.

As she drove down the road, a tear slid down her cheek and she quickly brushed it away.

This was really it. After three years in Bath, she was now going back to Essex for good. Back to the same old haunts she used to go to, seeing the same old faces she hadn’t seen in a long while. She didn’t even know if she’d fit in any more. It sounded silly, but she really had grown up. She was different. Her once bright blonde highlighted hair was now toned down with caramels and chocolate browns, her bras were no longer filled with gel and her make-up was subtle to the point of being almost non-existent. Would it be easy to fit right back into where she left off? Or would she be the odd one out now? The outsider? It was a scary thought. At least she had her two best friends, who would love her no matter what.

*

Jade’s first night at home felt strange. Her mum had fussed around her, made her favourite meal of roast chicken, and even her older brother Simon came to visit with his wife and two sons. Jade put on a brave face and pretended she was fine, that she was happy to be home. Playing cops and robbers with her nephews had actually taken her mind off Tom for once. She’d last seen them six months ago, and was amazed by how different they looked now. They had grown so much, even though they were only just four and six. It was nice that her family were happy to see her and have her back home. After feeling nothing but pretty rubbish about herself, heartbroken at what Tom had done to her, it was lovely to feel wanted again, even if it was also weird climbing back into her old bed, knowing this was where she would live for the time being. As much as she loved her parents, it would be hard to get used to living under their rules again. There would be no going back to Bath in a few days like normal. This was it.

Jade had woken on the first morning at five a.m., and it took her a while to remember where she was and why. She was sick to death of crying, but couldn’t help it when she realised the reality of her situation. She preferred to sleep, where she was happy in her dream world. Why did she have to wake up? She missed Tom already. She hated herself for it after what he’d done, but she knew she was going to miss everything about him. Their long chats for hours about nothing, his silly jokes, his amazing body. Would she ever meet someone she loved as much again? After all, in all her twenty-one years, Tom was the only person that had made her knees go weak. What if she never got that again? She had to get over it, Jade told herself sternly. Had to stop crying all the time and move on with her life. He’d cheated. Tom wasn’t the person she thought he was – she had to keep thinking of things she hadn’t liked so much about him rather than all the good things. Like the way he and his friends often made fun of her Essex accent.

‘You alriiight babe, you look branna today than last week, you been on a sun bed?’ they’d mocked her at times. ‘I’m just gonna go to Saffend in me eye-eels.’ Then they would all burst into laughter.

‘Ha ha,’ she’d usually replied, not really finding it at all funny and feeling self-conscious every time she spoke. They made her feel ashamed that she was from Essex and she hated to admit it to herself but, looking back, she realised she was always trying to impress Tom and be the person that he wanted her to be.

He hadn’t been perfect and she had to stop believing he was.

After four hours of tossing and turning, Jade sleepily dragged herself out of bed, had a shower and got dressed into her black skinny jeans and a short leopard print blouse. She studied herself in the mirror, satisfied that her outfit could pass for both day and night. Today, she was going to make an effort with her appearance for once. She straightened her long hair with her GHDs, which she normally just left wavy, and applied her make-up carefully, adding a lot more bronzer than usual – after all, she was back in Essex, you could never wear too much. She felt better already. She packed her bag with make-up so she could touch up later if she went out with the girls. She couldn’t wait to see Kelly and Lisa. Spending the day with them was going to be great; it didn’t matter that they had no idea where they were going yet. If anyone could make her laugh right now it was them.

*

Kelly was in her dressing gown, relaxing on the couch in the lounge. Her hairdresser, Amy, had already been this morning and as usual, had blow-dried her hair to perfection, so all she had to do was apply her make-up and she was ready for the day. Amy was the only hairdresser she trusted to get her hair just right and she had her round to the house at least twice a week; she didn’t know what she’d do without her. It was all about the big hair, Kelly thought as she caught sight of her reflection on the mirrored coffee table. She’d made Amy backcomb for England this morning and was very pleased with the outcome.

Her mum’s chihuahua, Lord McButterpants, jumped up at the sofa and she scooped him up and placed him on her lap, much to the dog’s delight. He was a gorgeous little thing; he had long, soft, creamy-coloured fur and was no bigger than a kitten. Her mum was out today and Kelly promised she’d look after him. He hated walking because his tiny legs got tired so quickly, so she would take him out in her mum’s Louis Vuitton dog carrier, she decided as she spotted it on the floor in the hall.

She was so glad her best friend was finally back in Essex – she’d missed her more than she’d ever realised. Going out was never the same without Jade. Yes, she always had a good time on nights out, but not in the same way she did when Jade was there. She did go out with Lisa sometimes, but she was always with her boyfriend, Jake, which was a bit annoying, so Kelly usually had to resort to going out with some girls from her salon.

She had been gutted when Jade had told her she was going to university, especially when she said it was all the way down the country in Bath. She felt like she’d be left behind and forgotten about. Then Jade had said she was going to live in Bath for good with Tom, and Kelly had seriously thought she’d lost her friend forever. Secretly, Kelly had never been too keen on Tom, as he seemed to look down his nose at her, and Kelly also believed he was the reason Jade was changing so much. Jade always wanted to impress him and never did things she thought he wouldn’t approve of. It was hard to watch your best friend changing for someone else, especially when you thought they were pretty much perfect just the way they were.

There was no way that she could ever have gone to university – she hated writing essays and had barely passed her GCSEs. Kelly was certainly not academic and had decided a beauty course was definitely the thing for her. She loved making people feel better about themselves and their appearance and it was amazing how a spray tan could really lift your mood and make you feel a hundred times better. Everyone should have them in her opinion; even men, and her male client list was getting longer by the day.

She went up to her room to start on her make-up and wondered what Jade would be wearing for their day out. She’d almost given her a heart attack when she went out last time she was back in Essex, as she was only wearing mascara and no fake tan! For Jade’s last birthday, Kelly had bought her a St Tropez gift set, hoping she would take the hint, but to her surprise she still went out looking as white as a sheet. She just looked so different and even sounded strange too; her normal accent was slowly fading away. She felt like all her friend’s Essex traits were disappearing and if she’d have been with Tom any longer, he would have made sure they were gone for good. Jade would be back to normal soon, Kelly told herself, it wouldn’t take long; she’d make sure of it.

She was just finishing applying her Benefit lip gloss when the doorbell rang and she jumped up excitedly. As she answered her front door she screamed. ‘Ahhhhh! My Essex girl is home!’

She hugged Jade tightly.

‘Hi, Kel.’

‘Come in, babe. Lisa will be here soon. It’s so nice to see you! I’ll put the kettle on.’

Kelly glanced at Jade. She was wearing bronzer, so that was a good start. Still no fake tan or eyelashes though. There was only one thing for it; she needed an Essex make-over.

*

Jade followed Kelly into the kitchen as she went to make the tea. It only seemed like yesterday that they were in here, gossiping and laughing after a night out, eating one of Kelly’s mum’s amazing fry-ups. Kelly’s parents were a lot more relaxed than her own and Lisa’s were so strict they were a nightmare, so the girls had always stayed at Kelly’s house after nights out.

‘Lord McButterpants!’ Jade squealed happily, picking up the little dog who was wagging his tail frantically with excitement. She’d missed Kelly’s mum’s dog; he was utterly adorable. She remembered the first time Kelly told her what they had decided to name him and she thought it was a joke.

‘Don’t laugh, Lord McButterpants will hear you!’ Kelly said with a stern expression as she covered the dog’s ears.

Jade had soon got used to the unusual name and had to admit, it actually suited him. Lord McButterpants was exceptionally confident and walked around the house with his head held high, full of self-importance. He went crazy over peanut butter treats, which is where the word ‘butter’ came from in his name. Jade thought his name was hilarious – and so did everyone else when Kelly called him in the park.

Jade studied her best friend. She hadn’t altered one bit in three years. She had lovely blonde hair, which was thick and wavy, and the most amazingly large blue eyes she’d ever seen. Despite the fact she had long eyelashes anyway, she was never without her false ones and today was no exception. Her tan was clearly false as she hadn’t been away since the previous summer, but always flawless, even if it was too dark to be natural. Jade always got Kelly to do her tan, as she was a full-time beautician and a very good one too. If it was anyone else they would have been resentful of the extra work, as Jade used to have a fake tan every weekend they went out, but Kelly was so lovely natured and generous that she enjoyed making her friends happy.

Jade had never met anyone else like Kelly. To look at you’d assume she was arrogant, because of her stunning looks, but that was far from the truth; she had a heart of gold. She wasn’t the sharpest tool in the box, but she knew this, didn’t care and even made fun of herself. In fact, she often played up to it in front of men and they all seemed to love her. Whoever Kelly set her sights on she seemed to attract. She made it look so easy.

Kelly turned to her, looked her up and down and smiled. ‘Hun, do you mind if I do you a tan and a make-over before we go out? I want to try this new instant tanning lotion I’ve just bought and I’m getting tested on make-up next week at college.’

Jade eyed her suspiciously. ‘But you finished college years ago?’

Kelly faltered. ‘Errr … yeah, but I’m doing this new evening course in make-up. Did I not mention it?’

Jade shook her head. Kelly was definitely lying, she just knew it. Kelly couldn’t even look her in the eye, which was a sure sign that her friend had just made up a load of rubbish.

‘Kelly, tell me the truth. What’s wrong with my make-up?’

‘Nothing.’

‘Kelly …’ Jade folded her arms across her chest.

Kelly hesitated, wondering whether to say it or not. ‘Okay, but promise you won’t take this the wrong way? I’m only saying this because I’m your best friend and I love you.’

‘No, I won’t take it the wrong way.’

‘You’re pale!’ Kelly blurted, as soon as Jade had finished her sentence. She took a deep breath. ‘And not just a little bit pale, we’re talking Vicky Jenkins pale.’

Jade gasped in shock. Vicky Jenkins was a girl from their old school who everyone used to laugh at because she was so white and hated tans. The colour of the make-up she used to put on in the school playground was the colour of talcum powder! ‘I think that may be the worst thing you’ve ever said to me.’

‘It’s only because I care,’ Kelly smiled sweetly.

‘Okay, what else?’

‘You really want to know?’

‘Yes. I can handle it,’ Jade said bravely.

‘Your hair,’ Kelly shook her head looking at it. ‘It’s like the flattest hair in the whole of Essex. It’s almost stuck to your head! You need volume, waves, backcombing. You have hardly any make-up on. I don’t think I can even see any eyeshadow, your eyelashes are non-existent and don’t even get me started on your chipped red nails. Which, by the way, is so last season’s colour.’ Kelly exhaled a deep breath as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

Jade was shocked. She’d actually made an effort today, and here was Kelly telling her she looked all wrong.

Kelly was worried she’d upset her. ‘Babe, you’re stunning and you always look nice. But, come on, you’re not in Bath any more. You’re in Essex now, where you belong.’

Jade sighed. ‘You’re right. I’m so used to Tom criticising me about wearing make-up and dressing up that I don’t remember what I used to be like before. Help me. Please?’

Kelly beamed and practically danced round the room. ‘I’ve been dying to get my hands on you for the past two and a half years! Right, clothes off. You can’t have a spray tan seeing as we’re going out tonight and it takes hours to develop, but I have some really good instant tan we can use. I’ll run up to my room and get everything. We can use the mirror in the kitchen.’

Five minutes later, Jade was standing in just her underwear while Kelly worked her magic, applying layers of thick brown tanning cream to her legs.

‘So how have you been feeling, babe?’ Kelly questioned.

‘Not the best, I won’t lie. Still really pissed off about the whole thing with Tom. I feel slightly better today though.’

‘I can’t believe what you did to him. How funny. I was telling loads of girls from my old beauty salon about it and we were all in stitches! I would’ve loved to have seen his face when he realised it was you and not her!’ Kelly smiled.

‘I know,’ Jade grinned. ‘It is pretty funny. He asked for it though.’

The girls chatted about Tom, and Jade explained how he’d contacted her since they’d split up and how she’d told him to leave her alone.

‘It must be hard, hun,’ Kelly sympathised. ‘He seemed quite nice when he came to Essex. I don’t think he liked me though.’

‘Of course he liked you!’ Jade fibbed. ‘He was nice – when he wasn’t lying to me that is. Well, I thought he was anyway. I can see now that it’s for the best we’re not together. I loved him. But I never felt like I was good enough for him.’

Kelly gave Jade a dressing gown to sit in while her tan dried, wiped her make-up off and applied some tanning lotion to her face. Then she got out her nail varnish case which was full of hundreds of glossy varnishes, in every colour of the rainbow.

‘I love that colour,’ Jade pointed to a deep red.

‘No babe, it’s all about pink for summer. Trust me; this is the colour for you,’ Kelly said pulling out a hot pink bottle of OPI varnish. ‘I’m going to bling your nails up too with some little crystals, because personally I think they look better with a bit of sparkle.’

An hour later and Jade couldn’t believe her eyes when Kelly handed her the mirror.

‘See,’ Kelly said. ‘Much better. You look like the old Jade!’

‘Oh my God!’ Jade said with her mouth wide open. She looked incredible. Her eyes were covered in a gorgeous smokey black MAC eyeshadow, lashings of eyeliner and huge false eyelashes. She had nude glossy lips and her cheekbones looked amazing because of the Bobbi Brown blusher and highlighter Kelly had applied. Even her eyebrows, which she never usually touched, looked perfect. Best of all though, she had a tan! Just looking at herself now made her realise how she’d missed it.

‘What do you think of the hair?’ Kelly grinned, pleased with her work

‘Fantastic!’ Jade said, swishing her backcombed locks happily. ‘I feel like I finally look like I belong back in Essex.’

‘Totes! I’ve got some clip-in hair extensions you can use too, babe. I’ll put them in before we go. If we’d had time, I could have given you HD brows, but I’ll have to do that another day.’

Jade was baffled. ‘HD what?’

‘HD brows, hun. Haven’t you heard of them?’ Kelly looked surprised as she re-applied some more Dior lip gloss to her lips in the mirror. ‘All the celebs have them. They’re totally in right now. You get the perfect arch on the eyebrow and pluck, tint and thread them until they look beauts.’

‘Next time I’ll have them then. Thank you, Kelly.’

‘Any time. You look gorgeous. Just remember my motto and you’ll always look unreal: “Keep your heels, hair and head held high.”’

Jade laughed and Kelly walked over to boil the kettle and make another cup of tea. She picked up her mobile with a concerned expression. ‘Oh no! There’s something wrong with my mobile. It’s been charging for ages and still has no battery. I’ll have to go and get it fixed or something today.’

Jade’s eyes followed the charger lead to the plug and noticed it wasn’t even switched on. ‘Errr, Kelly.’

She looked up, her eyes wide with anticipation. ‘What?’

‘It might help if you switched it on.’ Jade gave a throaty laugh and Kelly joined in.

‘So, do you know the other girl that Tom was with?’ Kelly asked, as she sat at the table with her mug of tea.

Jade shook her head, still unable to take her eyes off her new appearance in the mirror.

‘Facebook?’

‘What about it?’

Kelly was shocked. ‘Haven’t you even looked her up?’

Jade shrugged her shoulders casually. ‘No.’

‘Check his friends list. That’s if you want to.’

Jade smirked. Kelly was clearly dying to see what the other girl looked like and she didn’t blame her. If she hadn’t felt so heartbroken it was normally the first thing she would have done. She was always secretly nosing around people’s profiles and even sometimes ended up looking through albums of people she didn’t even know.

Kelly continued, ‘Have you not even been on there since you broke up?’

‘No,’ Jade shook her head again, picking up Lord McButterpants and stroking him. ‘I didn’t want to go on there to be honest. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I’m dreading seeing what he’s up to and changing my relationship status so everyone can see we’re over. It’s so embarrassing. I may just delete myself.’

‘Don’t be so silly. You shouldn’t delete yourself. You never did anything wrong.’

‘You’re right,’ Jade agreed. She felt stronger already talking to Kelly. ‘Do you still have your laptop? I’ll change my status now. That’s if he hasn’t already done it.’

‘He won’t have,’ Kelly assured her, jumping to her feet and hurrying out the room.

A minute later, Kelly returned with the laptop. Jade signed into her Facebook account, apprehensively. She was slightly relieved when it still stated she was ‘in a relationship with Tom Noble’ on her profile page. She wanted to be the one to change it, not him. She clicked and checked the single box. Done. She then checked his page and was relieved to see he didn’t have any updates in over two weeks, indicating he hadn’t been online. Clicking on his friends list, she searched the name ‘Louisa’. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she knew she’d be on there. A plain-looking blonde girl appeared on the screen.

‘I’ve found her,’ Jade told Kelly as she shifted in her chair.

‘Let’s see,’ Kelly replied, turning the laptop round to face her. She gasped. ‘She looks fat!’

‘Do you think?’ Jade said hopefully, knowing full well she wasn’t. She appreciated Kelly’s attempt though; slagging the other girl off was what friends did, it was completely understandable. Louisa was definitely not drop-dead gorgeous, just your average everyday type, but by no means was she fat.

‘She looks like she’s been eating far too many pies in her profile picture. Damn, that’s the only one we can see, she’s set it to private. She has two chins for God’s sake, what on earth was he thinking?’

‘Do you not think she’s at all pretty?’

‘Jade, take a look in the mirror and now take a look at fatty on Facebook. You win, hands down. Tom is an idiot!’

They were interrupted by the sound of the doorbell; Lisa had arrived. Jade reached up to hug her friend.

‘Hi,’ they both chorused happily.

Jade had forgotten how amazing Lisa’s figure was. Wearing her skin tight wet-look leggings, her long legs looked phenomenal. She looked like a supermodel. She was five foot nine and it always made Jade laugh when she walked next to Kelly, who was only five foot one. The two of them usually made her stand in the middle.

After discussing how vile Louisa was and updating Lisa on the situation, Jade was well and truly finished with the subject.

‘So you two, how are your love lives going? They’ve got to be better than mine.’ She turned to Lisa. ‘Are things still all good with you and Jake?’

Jake was Lisa’s long-term boyfriend. They’d been together since they were sixteen after meeting at an under-eighteens nightclub, and were practically inseparable. Jade and Kelly both really liked him; he was like one of their own friends.

‘Yeah we’re good, the usual.’ Lisa beamed, unable to hide her happiness.

‘You two will be married soon,’ Kelly teased. ‘Let me be bridesmaid, remember?’

‘You’ll both be my bridesmaids, but give me a break, I’m only twenty-one still.’

‘You’re lucky to have a decent man like Jake. My love life is crap. Can’t find anyone I fancy,’ Kelly moaned. ‘All the blokes round this way are either ugly or love themselves. I’m so bored of it all. I wish I could go somewhere else. I don’t want much. Just a nice man, preferably older and more mature, good looking and maybe rich too. ’

Jade and Lisa laughed.

‘I’m not being shallow but he’d have to be. I’m not going to be a millionaire beautician, am I?’

‘Maybe you should put the prices of your spray tans up,’ Lisa joked. ‘You are good.’

Kelly giggled. ‘Can you imagine if I said I’d had lots of good feedback, was the best in Essex and put them up to fifty quid? My clients would have a heart attack.’

‘Well at least you have a job,’ Jade complained sulkily. ‘I still don’t even know what I want to do with my life.’

‘I can always see if they need people at my place?’ Lisa offered.

As much as Jade appreciated her looking out for her, Lisa worked at a television company, something that didn’t really interest her.

‘Thanks, but I’ll be okay. I’ll find something soon hopefully.’

Kelly squeezed Jade’s hand gently. ‘Cheer up Jade. I know you’ve been feeling down lately but today is going to be a good one now you’re with us, I promise. You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy clothes – and that’s close enough.’

They laughed and Jade decided she was going to make an effort to brighten up now she was back with her friends.

‘Where are we going today anyway? Shopping I take it?’ Lisa asked, running her fingers through her long dark hair.

‘After I’ve sorted my face out and you’ve told me what outfit looks best – I’ve got three options – I was thinking shopping in Loughton, lunch, then The King William pub and Nu Bar for old times’ sake?’

Jade and Lisa both agreed with Kelly. This was just like the old days.

*

The girls teetered down Loughton High Street in their heels and sighed as they were stopped by yet another group of girls wanting to stroke Lord McButterpants.

‘How do you get anywhere with this dog?’ Jade asked Kelly as the gushing girls finally walked off in the other direction. ‘We’ve been stopped about ten times already!’

Kelly looked down at the dog proudly. His little head was curiously poking out her brown and beige Louis Vuitton dog carrier. ‘Ahhh, he can’t help it that he’s pure beauts, can you Lord McButterpants? He’s a babe magnet, especially in his cute little leather jacket I’ve dressed him in today. Totes brings out the colour in his eyes.’

‘He sure is cute,’ Lisa agreed, slowing down as a white dress in the window of a boutique caught her eye. ‘Let’s go in here, girls.’

‘Are you sure you don’t want to go in there instead?’ Jade joked pointing to the baby shop next door and nudging Lisa teasingly. ‘You and Jake will be having kids before you know it. You may as well get started on a wardrobe for them.’

Kelly’s face lit up. ‘Oh, please let me be godmother! And you can’t use the name Evangelina for a girl or Parker for a boy; they’re my baby names.’

Lisa wrinkled her nose. ‘Evangelina and Parker? It’ll be hard not to pinch those two,’ she laughed playfully. ‘What are you two on about anyway? I don’t want kids for a long time. I want a career and to travel before even thinking about becoming a mum. That’s years away in my opinion.’

‘What about Jake?’ Jade asked, as they made their way into the boutique. ‘He loves kids, doesn’t he? It wouldn’t surprise me if he’ll be wanting them soon. Probably as soon as you move in together.’

Lisa hesitated. ‘Well, he does talk about kids and that he doesn’t want to be an old dad, but I’m just nowhere near ready. The thought freaks me out a bit so I just change the subject every time Jake mentions it.’ She pulled out a navy dress from the rail. ‘What do you think of this?’

‘Stunning, hun. Your legs will look unreal in that, and the colour will compliment your dark features. You have to try it on, it would be rude not to,’ Kelly said, eyes sparkling with excitement as she made her way over to the shoes.

After lunch in The King William, they dropped Lord McButterpants back to Kelly’s mum’s house, re-applied their make-up and made their way back to Loughton. Seeing as it was a Saturday night, Nu Bar was packed and the girls were feeling tipsy after two bottles of wine. Jade glanced around her, memories flooding back from previous nights spent there before she went to university. It was like a different world. Girls were preened to perfection, with either perfectly straight hair or immaculate curls, not a strand out of place. Jade caught glimpses of designer bags by Gucci and Dolce and Gabbana. Their killer heels were gigantic and their skirts minuscule. False, long eyelashes were fluttering everywhere and there wasn’t a pale person in the whole bar. It was like a competition for the most tanned person; and that included the boys. Thank goodness Kelly had given her a make-over otherwise she definitely would have been the palest! Or the most normal, whichever way you wanted to look at it. The boys had made the same amount of effort as the girls. Their gelled hair was swept over, faces glowing, trousers tight and smart shirts tucked in. Oh yes, Jade was definitely back home.

‘Shots!’ Kelly shouted above the music, as the shot girl wearing tiny hot pants and a matching top made her way over to them.

‘I’m crap with shots,’ Jade worried. ‘Honestly, I’m always sick. I never did them at uni, I just couldn’t.’

‘Oh come on,’ Lisa said. ‘Live a little!’

Okay, Jade thought, one shot won’t hurt. She downed the sambucca in one and gagged, passing the glass back to the girl. I would rather drink my own urine than this, she thought. Never again. To her horror Kelly was passing her another.

‘Why are we doing another? What’s this? I’ve just downed one.’

‘It’s on me, babe. A welcome home shot.’

Not wanting to look boring or ungrateful, Jade downed it on the count of three along with Lisa and Kelly.

‘Cheers babe,’ Kelly said to the shot girl, handing their glasses back. She complimented her, ‘Reem outfit.’

‘Thanks. This is one of the more boring ones; we get to wear all different sets.’

‘Oh my God, shut up! I’d love to dress up like that while I was working.’

‘You should get a job with the company I work for, the money is great,’ the girl suggested. ‘Look online. The company is called Sexy Shots.’ She walked off to some men calling her.

‘Oh please one of you get a job as a shot girl with me,’ Kelly pleaded, smiling. ‘It looks so much fun and I could do with the extra money so badly. Come on Jade, you need a job?’

‘Why not?’ Jade replied, thinking it would be great to get a fun part-time job while she was searching for a career. ‘So long as I don’t have to drink them. It has to be better than serving miserable customers in Café Rouge.’

‘Count me out,’ Lisa answered. ‘Jake would go mad if I was dressed like that and walking round bars chatting to men. I am a tad jealous though; my friend’s mate does it and on good nights makes over two hundred pounds.’

‘You’re kidding! In one night? Me and you will definitely look tomorrow then,’ Kelly said to Jade.

After a couple of hours, Lisa, who had been texting on her phone for the last thirty minutes, decided to call it a night.

‘I’m off, girls. Jake is picking me up and I’m staying at his.’

‘I’m so jealous, you cow. You’re getting your lovely boyfriend to come get you and leaving us surrounded by these creeps,’ Kelly sulked, looking around at the unappealing men left in the bar.

Jade agreed, silently. She’d had an excellent night with the girls, but seeing the men she had to choose from now she was single was depressing. No one here was as good looking as Tom, not even close. She kept looking at her mobile, wishing he’d text again, but knowing it was best if he didn’t. She just needed to be reassured he felt as miserable as she did, wherever he was at that precise moment. She was drunk, but not drunk enough to make the mistake of contacting him though, so she pushed the thought from her mind.

‘Go on. Go have sex with your gorgeous boyfriend and leave us moping about our pathetic love lives in here.’

Lisa smiled, cheekily. ‘I may just do that. He’s just texted saying he’s outside, so I’m off. Bye girls.’ She kissed them both on the cheek. ‘See you soon.’

Jade watched as Lisa walked off and saw some of the men eyeing her up on the way out. She was naturally very pretty. She was half Spanish and had beautiful long dark hair, which was glossy and shiny because it had never been touched with hair dye; it was the envy of every woman. She never went over the top with make-up, because with her dark, olive complexion and coffee-coloured eyes, she didn’t have to. Personally, Jade thought she looked prettier without any make-up on anyway.

They decided it was time to go home, so waited for a taxi outside. Kelly seemed a bit bored.

‘Honestly, I just feel fed up with it here. As much as I love doing beauty, I’m always skint. I had to save for like, two months to get my new Marc Jacobs bag and I’m sorry, but that’s just not on. I know everyone wherever I go and can never find a man I’m interested in. I feel like I just need to get away somewhere,’ Kelly explained in the queue.

‘We could always go away somewhere new for the weekend. What about Brighton? Or Newcastle, somewhere up north?’

‘Nah, never understand their accents, babe.’

‘What about Brighton then? People in Brighton don’t have accents,’ Jade said.

Kelly thought for a moment. ‘You sure?’ she asked, doubtfully.

Jade shook her head and laughed. Most people would think Kelly was joking, but Jade knew her well enough to know she was being serious. Kelly paused and thought for a second, then a smile slowly crept up on her face.

‘Oh my God, babe, I’ve got the best idea ever,’ she said, excitedly.

‘What? Where are we going?’

‘Marbella! I went last year on holiday and loved it. But I only went for a long weekend and it wasn’t long enough.’

Jade looked at the floor sadly. ‘I remember. I couldn’t go because I went to France with Tom.’

‘You’ll love it, it’s brilliant. But I was thinking, instead of just going for a week, why don’t we work there? I saw so many girls last year working in clubs and that and they looked like they were having the time of their lives. It’ll be so much fun – imagine our tans! We could stay for a few months. It shouldn’t be too hard to get a job in a bar or something and we can save up some money for flights by doing shot work. What do you think?’

Jade thought about what Kelly was asking her. It was perfect timing to do something like this. She didn’t have a full-time job yet and when she did, she would never be able to work away for the summer. Was this her last chance to do something spontaneous and fun? She wasn’t happy thinking about Tom all the time, so surely working in Marbella would take her mind off things? It would be great. She could see herself now, sunbathing all day and getting a gorgeous tan, chilling out over sangria and then off to her fun bar job in the evenings. It sounded perfect. Jade started to get excited.

‘I think it’s a great idea! Let’s do it!’

*

Lisa snuggled up to Jake in his huge warm bed and thought about how lucky she was to have him. It was so nice to go out with her friends, without the worry of looking for a boyfriend; knowing that she already had the perfect one. Jake was different to most men they knew. For one, he was mature and wanted to settle down, even though he was only twenty-two. She thought about poor Jade and how Tom had cheated on her. She couldn’t imagine how painful that must have been. If Jake ever did that to her she would fall apart. She trusted him one hundred per cent, and genuinely didn’t feel like there was a chance of that ever happening.

It was so nice to have Jade back home, to have the three of them back together again. If she was honest, it took the pressure off her always having to go out with Kelly. Lisa loved going out, but not every single weekend, and she felt guilty when she had to let Kelly down. Sometimes she just wanted to spend her free time with Jake. Jake worked around the clock as a carpenter and she worked long hours for a TV company so any free time they had was precious. Plus, as she wasn’t looking for a man, she usually preferred just going to the cinema or for a meal, but Kelly always insisted they went to a bar or club.

‘You okay babe? Can you not sleep?’ Jake asked, when she cuddled up close to him.

‘I’m fine,’ she said, finding his lips in the dark and kissing him.

‘Good,’ he said, drawing her closer. ‘I forgot to mention something to you actually, so I’m glad you’re awake. You know the other day when you were talking about getting a new car? Well I was thinking, instead of us both getting cars, why don’t we just buy one between us? I’m sure we’ll be moving in together soon and let’s face it, seeing as you’ll only be needing the car at weekends, it works out perfectly. It’s silly us both getting cars, especially when I already have my work van too. That would mean we’d have three vehicles between us.’

Lisa thought for a moment, considering what he was saying. He was right; three vehicles between two people didn’t make any sense. Jake had a work van already, but wanted to buy a nice car to drive round in when he wasn’t working. Her heart was set on getting a Range Rover though, and she knew he hated them as he was often saying how common they were in Essex and how bad they were for the environment. She’d also been looking forward to having her own freedom and being able to go and see her friends as and when she liked. If they shared a car, she’d always have to ask permission and vice versa. She yawned. ‘I’m not so sure, Jake. You know how much I’ve been looking forward to getting a Range Rover.’

‘Yes, but it makes so much more sense for us to share a car. I’m sure there’s one we can both agree on. What about a Golf? We won’t need a big car and it’ll save us money. When we move in together, we’re going to need to watch what we spend. We’ll have bills to pay, council tax, food shopping; the list is endless.’

Lisa wrinkled her nose at the thought. She didn’t want a Golf. She wanted a Range Rover, and had done for ages. The thought of saving money and being careful with every penny she spent sounded so grown up and tedious. Bored of the conversation, and deciding not to discuss it further she rolled over onto her front, away from Jake. ‘Let’s just talk about it another day, yeah? I need to sleep.’

‘Okay, well think about it. Night. I love you,’ he said.

‘I love you too, Jake,’ she said sleepily. ‘More than you know.’