Page 63 of Love Me Till Wednesday

‘You could try clambering into the seat behind me?’ Pete suggested.

‘I wasn’t that supple when we were teenagers, let alone now.’

‘Don’t be defeatist. I reckon it’s doable.’

‘Says the man who’s been sitting in a comfortable seat for the last fifteen minutes. Alright, I’ll give it a go.’

Nick tried to move out of the way to let her through.

Ed chuckled. ‘We’re getting some funny looks. That woman who just walked past looked terrified.’

‘Probably because you’re rocking the hearse,’ Pete laughed.

‘Is everything alright, sir?’ Nick looked up to see a policeman knocking on the driver’s window. ’What have you got in the back?’

‘Just a couple of friends. They prefer to travel incognito.’ Ed said as Lisa stuck her head into the front of the hearse.

‘I believe it’s illegal to ride in the back of a hearse if you’re alive,’ the policeman said, though he didn’t sound 100% sure.

Lisa put on her most innocent face. ‘Is it, officer? I don’t remember reading that in the Highway Code.’

Nick didn’t hear the rest of the conversation because the creak of the rear door of the hearse opening drowned it out. ‘Am I glad to see you,’ he said to Brad.

‘You alright?’

‘I will be when I get out of here.’ Nick started to crawl backwards out of the hearse.

‘Just a moment, sir. I need to take everyone’s names.’ The policeman must have walked round to the back of the hearse. Nick dusted himself off as he stood up on road. Now might be an excellent time to turn on the film star charm. ‘Pleased to meet you. Nick Nixon,’ he said, smiling and offering the officer his hand to shake. ’I’m sure everything’s fine.’

The policeman looked stunned. Nick waved and strode purposefully to his waiting Range Rover.

33

‘I’m Allegra, Jed’s assistant. We’re almost ready for you,’ the woman said as she walked out of the radio studio and into the waiting area. Lisa could see Jed through the glass, talking into a large microphone. He was in his early thirties, she guessed. Too young to be a Stars fan. He waved at her and smiled. Lisa waved back.

‘I could do with the bog,’ Ed announced.

‘Bog? ‘ Allegra asked. Judging by her upper-class accent, Lisa guessed she’d never referred to the toilet as a bog in her life.

‘It’s just down the corridor on the left,’ Lisa said. ‘We passed it on the way here.’

Allegra looked concerned as she watched Ed walk off. ‘Don’t be long. You’re on in a few minutes,’ she called after him.

Lisa’s phone beeped.

Allegra spun round to face her. ‘You might want to turn that off.’

‘Sure.’ Lisa looked at the notification. It was a message from Mel.

How did it go last night?

She showed Pete.

‘What are you going to say?’ he asked.

‘Nothing. Not now. She’s on a hen do in Spain until Monday. I’ll confront her when she comes around for our Tuesday night run. I might have got my head around it all by then.’

Pete nodded. ‘It’s about time.’

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