Page 60 of Be More Lucy

‘Because I suspect she thinks I’ve reached my fuck by date, as you so delicately put it.’

‘What makes you say that?’

‘She doesn’t enjoy my company as much as she used to, even when Josh isn’t around. I’m starting to feel like an inconvenience. Nothing I do is right.’

‘I’m sorry.’ Lucy wasn’t sure what else to say.

They walked in silence for a few minutes. A vintage jewellery stall caught Lucy’s eye. She stopped to look at the necklaces and pendants.

The woman on the stall gave them both a smile. ‘Are you looking for a gift for your beautiful girlfriend?’ she asked Mark.

‘We’re not together,’ Lucy jumped in.But you wish you were.

‘Something for yourself then?’ she said to Lucy. ‘That one would go with your colouring perfectly.’ The woman pointed to a silver filigree pendant with a green stone in the centre. She picked it up. ‘Would you like to try it on?’

Lucy knew the tactic. Once she’d worn it, if she liked it, it would be hard to say no. But it was beautiful.

‘It’s Victorian.’ The seller walked round to the front of the stall and placed it around Lucy’s neck. She held up a mirror so Lucy could see it.

‘It goes with your eyes,’ Mark said.

Lucy felt a warm glow. She wasn’t sure if it was the hot air in the market or the way Mark was looking at her in the mirror.

Concentrate on the pendant.The chain was the perfect length. She could wear it for work or evening. ‘How much is it?’

‘£155. It’s Sterling Silver. You’d be paying a lot more if it were new.’

‘That’s more than I’ve got available to invest just now. I’ll have to think about it.’ Lucy took the pendant off and looked at it in her hands.

‘I don’t think I’ll have it for long,’ said the seller.

‘I’m sure you won’t. It is lovely, but I do need to leave it for now. Thank you.’ Lucy handed it back.

‘Come on, Mark. We haven’t got anything for your mother’s birthday yet.’

‘Did you really like that pendant?’ he asked as they walked down the next aisle.

‘I did, but I can’t justify buying it this month. Sometimes you can’t always have what you want.’

‘No, you can’t,’ he said distractedly.

32

‘Mind if I put the football on the radio? Everton are playing away.’ Josh said as he manoeuvred his car out of the parking space.

‘No. Carry on.’ Lucy hated football, but if Josh were concentrating on his team’s performance, he wouldn’t want to talk to her, which suited her perfectly. She needed to confront him about Hannah, but not until they got home when she could gauge his reaction properly.

She distracted herself with tidying up her email inbox while Josh navigated the Sunday afternoon traffic, shouting at the radio whenever the opposition scored, which, sadly for him, was twice more than Everton.

The game finished as they joined the M6. Josh turned off the radio. ‘That was a pretty crap match.’

It wasn’t the only crap match. After getting her unread message count down to zero, Lucy had been reflecting on her future with Josh. She decided they didn’t have one. It wasn’t only the length of time he’d spent with Hannah today that was bugging her. It was the sulky way he’d behaved yesterday. If he was like that when they’d only been going out for a couple of months, what would he be like after a few more months or even years? And then there was his laddish attitude, which was starting to annoy her.

‘What did you get up to with Mark this morning?’ Josh casually asked. She was surprised he was bothered.

‘We went to the market. Then we stopped at a cafe for a sandwich and came back to the flat.’

‘He’s probably a bit old for anything more exciting than shopping after a late night.’

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