Sophie was resolute. Anna hadn’t seen her quite like this before.
‘But what about Arlo and Petal?’
‘Oh, I’m not leaving them.’ Anna did a sigh of relief followed by a sharp intake of breath and she almost inhaled a marshmallow. If she wasn’t leaving the children was she expecting to move them in too? Sophie continued. ‘I’m going to get up early so I’ll be there when they wake up and then they’re off on holiday with the Kraken for two weeks.’
Anna was hugely relieved about this. She’d forgotten Karen was taking the children away for a while. ‘It might do you both good to have two weeks together without the children.’
Sophie was already shaking her head. ‘No way. I can’t do this any more.’ Her voice cracked and she pulled a tissue from her pocket and blew her nose loudly. ‘This isn’t what I wanted, Anna. I wasn’t meant to end up like this. I don’t know how it happened.’ She looked wretched sitting crossed-legged in the chair with her swollen belly stretching her top to the max. She was six months pregnant and she looked it. ‘I had plans … big plans. I was going to go places … see stuff. Not stay in the Midlands and wipe bums for the rest of my life.’
Anna put down her drink and went and gave Sophie another hug. She hated to see her like this. ‘What needs to change to make you happy again?’
Sophie sniffed. ‘Swapping Dave for Hudson would be a start.’ She gave a hiccup of a laugh.
‘You’d soon get fed up with his pretty face and perfect body. Yuk.’ Anna gave a pretend shudder, passed Sophie back her hot chocolate and Sophie gave a brief smile. ‘And I bet he leaves wet towels on the floor too.’
‘If it means he’s walking around naked, that’s fine with me.’ Sophie sipped her hot chocolate and gave herself a creamy moustache. ‘Hmmm,’ she said contentedly and Anna wasn’t sure if it was the hot chocolate or the thought of a naked Hudson making her emit the happy sound.
‘Dave isn’t all bad, though. I’m sure we can come up with a list of his good points.’ Anna scanned the room for a pen and paper. She had various ways to solve problems.
‘I’m not workshopping my marriage,’ said Sophie emphatically.
‘Fair enough.’ She had a point. ‘How about Relate counselling?’ Sophie shook her head. ‘Then how do we resolve this?’
‘I don’t think we can,’ said Sophie and she sniffed back more tears.
Anna’s phone pinged and she quickly scanned the message. Thanks for a great evening. Hope you got home safe. C.
Anna couldn’t hide the small smile before her eyes darted back to Sophie. Sophie was watching her. ‘It’s just Connor. Carry on,’ said Anna, gesturing with her hand.
‘I’m such a rubbish friend. You had your first date in like forever and I forgot to ask you how it went.’ Sophie’s forlorn expression reflected her slumped body language.
Anna waved the comment away. ‘Doesn’t matter.’
‘No, come on. I need cheering up. Tell me what you found out about the mysterious Connor.’ Sophie seemed to perk up. She tucked her feet underneath her and eyed Anna expectantly.
‘He’s two years younger than me, he works with mobile phones, lives in Coleshill and is close to his mum.’ Anna was pleased with her summary.
‘Come on I need more info.’ Sophie pouted. ‘What’s he look like? Did you get a photo?’
Anna pulled a face. ‘No, how weird would that have been?’ Sophie opened her mouth but closed it again. ‘He’s tall …’
‘Everyone is tall from the angle you view them.’
Anna stuck her tongue out and continued. ‘He looks younger than he is. He was clean and tidy … He was quite shy but he was nice.’
‘Nice?’ It was Sophie’s turn to pull a face. ‘Not rip-his-clothes-off sexy? Or pant-wettingly funny? Or awe-inspiringly clever?’
Anna realised it wasn’t the biggest compliment. ‘I liked him, he was …’ she paused to stop herself repeating nice ‘… pleasant.’
‘Ouch. Pleasant is worse than nice. He sounds as exciting as an out-of-date ready meal. No spark then?’ Sophie looked disappointed.
‘Not necessarily, but that’s not always instant. And even if it is, does it make for a lasting relationship?’
‘He was ugly,’ concluded Sophie and Anna swiped her with a cushion. Anna had been quite happy with the evening until now but she had to admit there had been little in the way of attraction between them. Maybe it would take a few more dates. Question was, was it worth finding out? They sipped their hot chocolates in silence as their thoughts wandered off.
Next morning Sophie had left by the time Anna stirred. She had a quick squiz around the spare bedroom in the hope Sophie had had a rethink during the night but whilst the bed was made her empty case was still there and her hastily grabbed things were still in the wardrobe. Anna sighed and she and Maurice padded through to the kitchen to get breakfast. Something caught Anna’s eye, a small brownish something with a tail balancing on the edge of Maurice’s food bowl.
‘Maurice,’ she whispered, pointing at the mouse. It was completely still, like a tiny statue. Maurice flopped on the floor and rolled over. Then all at once he spotted the mouse and the chase was on. Maurice landed in the food bowl sending the dry food inside catapulting across the kitchen floor. The mouse scurried along the line of the cabinets and disappeared into the hall at lightning speed. Maurice skidded on the laminate floor as he tried to turn quickly and went careering after the mouse. Anna grabbed a tea towel and followed the trail of destruction as cushions flew and vases and photo frames wobbled.
Maurice finally cornered the mouse in the spare room. It was cowering next to Sophie’s open case, trying to do a good impression of a luggage wheel. Anna scooped up a surprised and unimpressed Maurice, plonked him in the hall and shut the door. In one fluid movement she dropped the tea towel on the mouse, wrapped it up, bundled it into the case and shut the lid. She’d deal with it after she’d had breakfast and a shower.
As the suds soothed Anna’s shoulders, she planned herself a quiet evening in front of the telly and an early night. She needed some time to give the Sophie and Dave situation some serious thought. It worried her that Sophie hadn’t relented and gone home last night. This was far more serious than Anna had wanted to admit. They needed their heads banging together. She loved them both and she was convinced this wasn’t really the end of their relationship; she just had to work out a way of convincing Sophie that was the case.
A piercing shriek made her jolt. Sophie was back. Anna didn’t rush from the shower – she could work out that Sophie must have found the mouse. Uncharitably she wondered if a free-running mouse might be enough to send Sophie back to Dave.
A day of back-to-back meetings was finished off with her one-to-one session with Liam. So far she had failed to get any useful information out of him but she was hoping she might be able to today. Anna brought the coffees and would have liked a little more gratitude than ‘Ta’ from Liam for the large expensive shop-bought variety with an extra shot and syrup just how he liked it. She answered his first few questions about the programme and while he jotted some notes she decided to ask a few
