and tell him I can’t make tonight. Would it be okay if I came back in about forty minutes?’ she asked Tony.
‘Perfect,’ Tony said, rubbing his hands together and getting out of his seat.
After dropping Kelly off home to get ready to go out with Billy, Jade pulled into Sam’s drive. For the first time since they’d been a couple she actually felt a little nervous about his response.
‘Hi,’ he grinned, opening the front door and kissing her.
‘Bad news,’ Jade said as she walked into his bedroom and sat on his bed.
Sam’s smile vanished. ‘You can’t come?’ he guessed, looking disappointed and making her feel terrible.
‘I’m so sorry,’ Jade said, ‘I’ll be done in a few hours and can meet you after if you like? I could co—’
Sam interrupted her. ‘I’ve already bought the tickets for the cinema and booked a meal. Is there no way you can get out of it?’ he asked, unable to control his irritable tone.
Jade shook her head, bit her lip and looked at the floor. ‘Tony is going on holiday for two weeks so it has to be done tonight.’
Sam nodded, looking even more unimpressed now she’d mentioned his name. ‘Right.’
‘I can meet you after?’ Jade asked hopefully.
‘Don’t worry about it,’ Sam said curtly, looking away. ‘My mates are going to Sugar Hut tonight and I blew them off because I wanted to see you, but I’ll tell them my plans have changed. There’s no point in you rushing around for me when you have work to do.’
Jade nodded, knowing he was angry. ‘Tomorrow?’
Sam raised his shoulders. ‘I have a football match late afternoon and then I said I’d help my cousin move out.’
‘I can help you?’ she offered, desperate to make it up to him somehow.
There was a long pause. ‘No, it’s going to be lifting loads of heavy things. Thanks anyway though.’
Jade felt awkward. He was being slightly cold towards her and it hurt. She felt like he wanted her to leave. Sam was never like this normally; he was always so affectionate and loving. ‘Are we okay?’ she asked, her voice slightly shaky.
He nodded and cleared his throat. ‘Fine.’
‘Okay, well I’d better be getting back to Tony,’ Jade told him, standing up and swinging her bag over her shoulder.
‘Of course,’ he said blankly, opening his bedroom door with an unreadable expression.
Jade sighed sadly. ‘Speak to you soon then. Have a nice night.’
As Jade left Sam’s flat, she felt unsettled. Was her business ruining her relationship?
CHAPTER 3
Adele was bored as she waited for her nails to dry. She grabbed her laptop from the dressing table and switched it on. As she waited for it to come alive, she thought about what had happened that day. She couldn’t believe she’d bumped into Kelly and Jade at last. She hadn’t seen them since Marbella and had been dying to go out with them on a night out. She’d been gutted when she realised she didn’t get their numbers after the holiday, even if things didn’t end on the best note. They always looked like they had fun when they went out and she knew they lived close to her, so it would be perfect to use them for that reason. She’d wanted to send them both a friend request on Facebook, but had worried that they wouldn’t accept it because of what had happened in Marbella. Surely they were over her stealing their junk from the market to sew on their swimwear? Adele couldn’t handle the thought of them rejecting her friend request, she was far too proud for that, so in the end she had stopped herself. Kelly, Jade and Lisa had all looked like such good friends today; Adele wanted to be included in their plans and go out for girly nights, lunches and shopping trips. They were nauseatingly pretty though; could she really handle being around them all the time and having to fight for attention? She cursed herself for thinking that way. Of course she could – she was easily as attractive as them, if not more so. She’d heard that Jade was going out with Sam now. She absolutely hated the thought of them together and could kick herself that her plan to split them up in Marbella hadn’t worked. Oh well, Jade was welcome to her sloppy seconds, Adele thought nastily. She’d already been there, done that and got the t-shirt.
She was going to Sugar Hut tonight with an old friend from school called Donna. They’d become really close recently and Adele loved going out with her because Donna was a bit on the heavy side, which meant she ended up stealing all the limelight. Donna did everything she said too and Adele loved it that she always got to pick where they went out. Adele liked being in control; she had to be, in fact. They were friends at school, but had lost contact when Donna went to college and then off to university.
Adele had contacted Donna after her mum had bumped into Donna’s mum and told her Donna worked for Mulberry in the head office. Why couldn’t Adele land an amazing job like that? She didn’t even want to think about the discounts she must get, which Donna was very tight-lipped about. Some people just had it so lucky. So what if Donna had a degree in fashion and marketing? She didn’t exactly look the part, being a size sixteen (though secretly Adele thought she looked more like a size eighteen and that maybe she was lying). Adele would be much better suited to a fun job like that, and it angered her that sometimes life was just so unfair. She was hoping Donna could get her in the company somehow, but so far she’d been nothing but useless, saying some crap about how she couldn’t and she’d have to go through the normal hiring process. Whatever! Everyone knew that if you knew someone in a company they could always manage to get you in somehow and put in a good word. Adele hadn’t really worked since Marbella, she realised as she stretched her legs out on the bed. She’d done the odd couple of shifts in her mum’s boutique in Ongar, but apart from that, nothing. She was getting slightly bored, she had to admit. Money was never an issue, her dad made sure of that, but she did feel the need to do something with her life, other than going shopping, getting her hair done and just sitting around and looking pretty. She wondered if she should try modelling or acting or something interesting like that and told herself she’d look into it on Monday.
Maybe she should text Jade and ask her to come out tonight? See if Kelly and that other Lisa girl wanted to come too? It was sometimes a bit boring being with just Donna and Adele imagined it would be much more fun with a group of them. She took her phone from her dressing gown pocket.
Hey babe. How are you? Fancy coming out tonight? I’ve got a table with champers? On me of course Xx
The reply came back almost instantly.
Busy, sorry x
Is that it? Adele thought, infuriated. No, ‘I’m fine thanks’, ‘how are you?’ or ‘thanks for the offer’. There was no need to be so short; it was just plain rude! Who did Jade think she was, treating her like unwanted rubbish?
Adele logged into her Facebook account miserably for a browse. Donna would be round soon and she’d have to start on her hair. She noticed that one of her friends had ‘liked’ a company called Vajazzle My Bikini. Intrigued, she clicked on it and when the image of Jade and Kelly appeared on her screen, Adele couldn’t believe her eyes. So they had decided to make their customised swimwear into a business
