Free The Sisterhood by Emily Barr Page B

about himself. Now he can walk away feeling all fluffy, telling himself that he's done the right thing. He wanted to be friends. Tempting as that was, I turned him down.'
    'It never works, does it, the "can we still be friends" thing?'
    'Particularly not under our circumstances.'
    Matt leaned forwards on his elbows. 'Do you think it's better or worse, though, being left for a man? On the one hand, it's like it's nothing personal — it's the whole of womankind that's not doing it for him. On the other hand, he's left you for a boy, and that's just not normal, is it?'
    I sighed. 'Thanks, Matt. Thanks for the analysis.'
    'Just thinking aloud. You know it's quiet here today. And apart from you and Steve, no one's given me any interesting gossip for weeks.'
    'You should start doing food. Proper food, I mean. Not the croissanty stuff. Then everyone would come for their hangover breakfasts.'
    He nodded, slowly, several times. 'I'm thinking about it. Big expense. I'd need to get a proper kitchen, and a few people to work it, and that would take more space. And money. But I know where you're coming from, and you're right.'
    I remembered why, originally, I had been on my way here. 'Hey, Matt?'
    'Mmm?'
    'Remember about six weeks ago? I was in here and I got talking to a woman? Rosa?'
    He stepped back, looked at me, and laughed loudly. '"Got talking to" her?' he bellowed. Two people drinking milky coffees at a nearby table looked round. 'Got wildly drunk with her, more like. Yes, I do remember. I remember listening to you moaning to her about how you'd never have a baby.'
    I winced. 'Does she come in often?'
    He shrugged. 'Mmm. From time to time. Used to come in when he was a bloke. Gave me a shock the first time he rocked up in a dress.'
    'I'm sure you got over it. Does she live round here?'
    'Over by the station, I think. Why? Do you want to renew the friendship?'
    I ignored the unmistakable sarcasm.
    'I want to talk to her about something.' I swallowed. 'It's important. Does she have a boyfriend? Or a girlfriend?'
    He blew his hair off his face. 'Either. Both. Plenty, I'd say. Sometimes she's on her own, and other times she's on a date. Gets them off the internet, I reckon. They have special sites, you know.'
    I looked at him. 'I guess she's had the operation by now.'
    He held up his hands. 'Too much information, thank you.'
    'Look, if you see her, um, can you just say that I was asking after her?' I handed him a piece of paper. 'Give her my number?'
    He looked at me, sizing me up. 'Is this a sneaky way of giving me your number? Is it Rosa you want to call you, or is it me?'
    I laughed. 'You flatter yourself.'
    A couple came through the door, and Matt turned to them with a professional smile. They ignored him, white with hangovers.
    'Seriously,' he said, out of the corner of his mouth. 'I'd give her a wide berth. She's nice, but she's trouble.'

 
     
chapter eight
Helen
     
    10 January
    I had to gasp for breath when I saw what I had supposedly written. It was horrible. A stream of abuse had snaked its way down wires and across national borders from my little laptop to the computer, wherever it was, that belonged to the most important woman in the world. I stared at it, in my sent messages folder, unable to take it in. Words jumped off the screen. They were random, splenetic abuse. Promiscuous bitch , I had apparently written. What makes you think you can have a baby? Going to be a crap mother just like yours. You make us all sick. You deserve all the misery.
    Liz had received this, from me. Tears streamed down my cheeks. Every moment of my life was consumed by my relationship with Liz. I imagined her, tall and slender like Mother and me. I pictured myself meeting her for the first time. I thought, all the time, about the scene, the wonderful scene, that would take place when I brought her back here, the way she would light up the chateau.
    'Tom!' I yelled. 'Tom, you get your fucking arse down here right now!'
    Of course, he did not.