Free Kitty's Countryside Dream by Christie Barlow

a new dress was called for – I would need to go shopping.
    â€˜Yikes, I’m in! Jeannie, I’m going to need your help – a new dress is in order.’ I was grinning ecstatically.
    â€˜Not a problem.’
    â€˜So who’s the fourth person then?’
    â€˜Has that wine gone straight to your head? That is four people, silly.’ Jeannie, who was also very tipsy by now, giggled.
    â€˜I’ve only counted three,’ I responded in a very confused state.
    â€˜You, me, Tom and Robin,’ Jeannie announced. ‘One, two, three, four,’ she said, counting on her fingers.
    â€˜Very funny, you can’t date your brother, that is so wrong and I’m sure you’ll find it’s also against the law.’ I giggled.
    â€˜I’m not dating Robin, you are!’
    My smile suddenly plunged into despair and reality hit. She didn’t mean my date was with Tom, which could only mean one thing.
    â€˜Then who are you dating?’
    â€˜Er, Tom, who else?’
    Complete silence.
    Coming back down to earth instantly, I gave Jeannie a blank look; what the heck was she talking about?
    â€˜Robin couldn’t take his eyes off you at the market and begged me to engineer a date! You’ll adore him; he’s got such a good sense of humour.’
    My chest tightened. What a massive disaster.
    â€˜Are you OK, Kitty, you’ve gone kind of white?’
    I pretended to be distracted. ‘I feel a little faint, to be honest, must be the wine. I’ll open the window.’
    Once the window was open I began to slowly tidy away the dirty plates while I digested this information. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. Taking another huge gulp of wine, I pondered.
    I started speaking slowly, trying to take in the proposal; my natural response was to refuse. I didn’t like the thought of seeing Jeannie draped all over Tom. It felt horrible just thinking about it. I’d only known these people a few days, so why was I feeling so crushed? I’d never experienced feelings like this before, and so soon after meeting someone too.
    Let’s face it, I barely knew Tom, but we seemed to click so well, and he was so easy to be around – not to mention drop-dead gorgeous. There I was admitting it to myself: I liked him, really liked him.
    But, in reality why would he ever fall for me anyway? Jeannie was beautiful, stunning; five foot six, with a slim size-eight figure and clear skin to die for. And me, well, I think the words average and ordinary best described me. The only blind date I had ever been on hadn’t gone well; he was a trainspotter, and we’d been fixed up by one of my college friends. He liked standing around on station platforms scoring off train numbers in a pocket book. The only thing I fancied that day was a mint choc chip ice cream, but the ice-cream vendor was a no-show due to the excessive downpour of rain. A huge disappointment, just like the company. To say I hadn’t enjoyed the date was an understatement, and there was no way I was investing in an anorak; it wasn’t cool and it wasn’t hip.
    I had only really ever been in one serious relationship, with my ex, Luke. I thought we would eventually marry and have the dream, which included a house and two children. However, things began to rapidly fall apart once I gave up my university place. We grew apart and within a term of him starting at university, the relationship had ended. There hadn’t been anyone else since Luke.
    I settled back onto the seat in the kitchen and thought about explaining my predicament. This was my cue to come clean. Actually now was probably not the time to explain; Jeannie was very much a stranger too and me blurting out after two bottles of wine and a half-eaten chow mein that at my age I had only ever slept with one man seemed like too much too soon.
    â€˜So what do you think? Is it a yes?’ urged Jeannie, waiting for an