Page 33 of Just the Beginning

Chloe is typing…

Before any of their responses could land, Anya hastily added one more message.

Anya

Not a word, or I’ll block you all!

It was an empty threat, of course, but the three typing bubbles subsided. Shaking her head, Anya tucked her phone away and picked up the bag of sandwiches. She wasn’t naïve enough to think that would keep them quiet for long; no doubt the three of them had opened a private chat and were gossiping away behind her back. Fine with her. As long as they weren’t bombarding her with questions, she could think things through. Rick would be calling her later to set up their first date and she needed to know exactly what she was going to say to him.

Though she’d known she’d have to discuss it with her friends eventually, she still couldn’t believe it when there was a tap at the door not five minutes after she’d finished putting Freya to bed that evening. She glanced up to find the three of them grinning at her through the glass. Issy was holding a couple of pizza boxes and both Kat and Chloe were clutching bottles of Prosecco. Kat raised her bottle and her muffled voice came through the glass. ‘Hurry up, this is getting warm!’

Anya rose and walked to the door but instead of opening it, she turned the lock and yanked the curtain closed, blocking them out. ‘Go away!’

‘Boo!’

‘Spoilsport!’

‘Come on, Annie, let us in!’

Sighing, Anya pulled back the curtain and burst out laughing at the three exaggeratedly sad expressions that greetedher. She rolled her eyes and unlocked the door. ‘If I let you in, you have to promise to keep the noise down,’ she warned them. ‘I’ve just got Freya down for the night.’

‘We’ll be quiet as mice,’ Chloe promised as she all but pushed her way in. At least she paused long enough to peck a kiss on Anya’s cheek.

‘I got Four Seasons and a Margherita,’ Issy said, also stopping to give her a kiss. ‘Where’s the plates?’

‘Top right cupboard,’ Anya replied automatically as she grinned at Kat, who at least had the decency to look a little shame-faced about the group ambush. ‘I thought better of you, Katrina.’

‘It was Chloe’s idea,’ she admitted, giving Anya a one-armed hug. ‘We’ll go away if you really want us to.’

‘No we won’t,’ Anya’s cousin mock-whispered from the little kitchenette where she’d opened another cupboard and was pulling out wine glasses. Well, to call them glasses was to ignore the fact they were brightly coloured pieces of plastic that looked like they belonged in a picnic set rather than having been designed to grace any dinner table. Given Anya didn’thavea dinner table and they were eating takeaway pizza, she supposed they were exactly right for the occasion.

They gathered around the coffee table, Issy and Kat on the sofa, Anya in the chair and Chloe happy to sit on the floor. She filled their glasses and handed them out.

‘What shall we drink to?’ Issy asked as she accepted hers.

‘The four of us being together again,’ Kat suggested.

Chloe nodded. ‘Yes.’ She raised her glass and they followed suit. ‘To us!’

‘To us!’ they echoed.

‘And,’ Chloe added with a sly grin, ‘to Annie’s soon-to-be-revived sex life.’

Anya gasped. Kat just about swallowed before letting out a choked laugh. Poor Issy turned red, waved her hand in front of her face and eventually had to resort to spitting the mouthful of fizz she couldn’t get down back into her glass. ‘Oh my God!’ she exclaimed, wiping away tears. ‘Chloe!’

Chloe’s expression was all wide-eyed innocence. ‘What? Don’t you think it’s something to celebrate? At least one of us is going to be having some fun. It’s been such a long time since my nether regions saw any action, my poor lady garden is so overgrown I’m going to need to get Monty Don in to sort it out.’

They all laughed until Anya suddenly remembered Freya and shushed them. ‘It’s funny actually because I was thinking about it earlier.’

‘What? You were thinking about having sex with Rick when the only update we’ve had so far is that the two of you were holding hands? I feel like we’ve missed a few steps in this story.’ Kat leaned forward, eyes eager, the pizza on her plate forgotten. ‘Tell useverything!’

Anya shook her head at the overly dramatic tone. ‘No, you haven’t missed anything, or at least I’ve kind of rushed ahead in my brain. I know after everything that’s happened I should probably take things slowly?—’

Chloe grimaced. ‘Why the hell should you? You’re only twenty-seven, Anya; you deserve to enjoy yourself.’

‘There is Freya to consider in all this,’ Issy pointed out. ‘Anya can’t just throw caution to the wind like we can.’ She gave a self-deprecating laugh. ‘Although chance would be a fine thing!’

Anya nodded. ‘Exactly, but I’m almost thinking the opposite, like maybe Rick and I shouldn’t hang around too long before we figure out if we’re compatible in bed, because I don’t want Freya to become too attached and then I find out?—’

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