Free Did The Earth Move? by Carmen Reid Page B

appliances,' she said.
    It was Jen's turn to snort. 'Oh please. That's not the same.'
    'Definitely not! Oh anyway ... I couldn't fit a man in.' They both had to shriek at this.
    'Into my schedule!' Eve explained. 'I've got kids, work, cooking, homework, cleaning, structured play, park time, paperwork, the older boys and all their stuff. There is no room in my life for a man needing sex and square dinners and patting and attention and weekends away and... all that stuff. And anyway,' Eve added, 'what would Anna and Robbie make of it all? No, no, no. I'm going to be celibate for years.'
    'Well you're a sad old bag,' Jen said. 'But anyway, I don't believe you. Why do you still look so nice then, all highlighted and toned and dressed in girlie gear? If you really weren't interested you'd just frump out bigtime.'
    'I'm a yummy mummy and anyway, I like to show you up.'
    'Ha, ha.'
    They both knew this was a joke because Jen was the most glamorous midwife this side of 40. She had made the decision many years ago that she might not be thin, but by God, was she sexy. This was a girl who could fill a pair of stretch bootlegs and a Wonderbra with plenty left to spare, and she was totally uninhibited about the overhang. 'Bloody body fascists,' she liked to shout out loud at adverts for Weight Watchers and the like.
    Her hair was always a deep mahogany brown, usually bundled up, and she liked scoop-necked tops, blouses unbuttoned one notch too low and to ooze from tight skirts and jeans. Eve didn't think she'd seen Jen without make-up for about ten years now and it was always deep, dark lipstick and smouldering eye shadow. The one thing Jen couldn't have was the long, painted nails she would have loved. Nails didn't really work in her profession. 1 can't go poking people in the pudenda,' she'd say. The two of them couldn't really have looked more different – Jen, short, dark haired, curvy and glammed up; Eve, tallish, willowy, fair and au naturel. She was your 'slap of moisturizer for every day', lipgloss and blusher for an event' kind of woman. Her long, highlighted hair was her one beauty extravagance and even that was done at mates' rates by Harry, her friend as well as hairdresser.
    'I'm up for a promotion at work,' she told Jen now, watching the candles she'd lit for their outdoor chat flicker in the breeze. 'A big promotion. The boss is leaving and he wants me to apply for his job.'
    'Fantastic'
    'Yeah but...'
    'Yeah but... yeah but... I know what you're going to say you sad and over-anxious mother hen,' Jen teased. 'What about my kids? Who will meet them off the bus and cook them organic lentils?'
    'God, I don't only eat lentils. Can we all get that straight?'
    'OK.' Jen was a little taken aback by this outburst.
    'Anyway, they're still really small, the little kids,' Eve protested. 'Robbie is two. And I worry about how I'll get all the mum stuff done on top of a big, scary job. I'm tired enough as it is. You know, being woken up too early, spending far too much of my life doing the domestic stuff instead of being down at the garden centre choosing new climbers.'
    'You are so sad,' Jen told her.
    There had been a burst of warm weather, so they'd decided to move their supper outside for the first time this year. And even though they were now in two jumpers each to keep out the chill, it was still wonderful to sit out and drink in the leafy dark, breathing in damp earth because Eve had been round with the hose.
    'Maybe it would do you good, the new job,' Jen said.
    'That's what Lester said,' Eve told her, feeling a little suspicious now. 'Why do I seem in need of being done good?'
    'Well there's nothing much going on for you, is there?'
    'Don't hold back, Jen, please.' She was a bit hurt now.
    'Sorry. I just mean since you and Joseph broke up and Robbie was born, nothing has changed at all. And that's over two years ago now, isn't it?'
    'What, you mean apart from having a new baby-toddler person to cope with?' Eve sounded a little