Forfeit (Original Edit)

Chapter Eleven

The week before the wedding, the day after Shane and her boyfriend, Ryan, arrived from New Zealand, Scott and Clara joined us for lunch. Lum Cottage had become amazingly popular at mealtimes now Xander was the chef-practically-in-residence.

In the kitchen, Shane giggled as her and Xander shared a joke while making salads. We'd always had the same taste in men and she shamelessly flirted with Xander at every opportunity, leaving me to make polite chat with Ryan. Despite being a sensible hospital surgeon, Ryan was a bad boy - a weakness of mine. Throw in dark hair that always needed cutting, cheeky brown eyes, two day stubble and a terribly Cavalier attitude, and you have my ideal man. Ryan wasn't nearly as good-looking as Xander, but when I hugged him hello, I realised I still fancied him. Shane had shot me a warning look.

Eventually, when the table groaned under Caprese salad, pumpkin ravioli, meatballs, spaghetti and three flavours of foccacia, all handmade of course, Clara handed me a copy of Heat.

'Are you aware, Ms Fitzgerald, you're in Heat's Going Up section this week. 'Doing lunch with a BFF'.'

Appalled and excited, I barely dared to look. OMG, I was in a magazine and it had nothing to do with the HMS. The photo was of Tabitha and me walking along the main street in Haverton, and another of us laughing over cocktails. 'God, you can't tell but we were hammered.'

'Why on earth did you go for lunch with that posh tramp?' Shane frowned.

'She wanted to apologise. But calling it lunch is pushing the term a tad. We went to the OBB for BOGOF cocktails. I'm not convinced we ate anything.' We'd drunkenly chatted about Coronation Street, shagging and how lovely my dead husband had been. 'But actually, we got on like a house on fire. She apologised four times for trying it on with Tonio. The first would've done because she was sober and I think she meant it. The other three were because we were so bloody drunk.'

'You're also in Grazia.' Clara handed me another magazine. OMFG. 'This time it's the best dressed section so congratulations, all that Net-a-Porter action has paid off.'

I stuck my tongue out at her but Grazia said I looked cool? Really? I peered at the photo. Wow, we did look cool - skin-tight jeans, skyscraper heels, bang-on-trend scarves, enormous sunglasses and in her case a lovely woolly hat. Magazines used to only feature me to point out how undeserving I was to be the HMS's wife - this was altogether a very pleasant change. I couldn't stop my silly grin.

Shane laughed. 'Honestly, DAF, your vanity is worse than ever.'

'I've heard about DAF and the BFG, what's your acronym?' Xander asked Shane as he topped up her glass.

'It's BABE,' I said. 'It stands for Blonde hair And Boob Envy.'

Xander frowned, thoroughly confused but Shane laughed and threw an olive at me.

'You're such a bitch.' She uncrossed her arms and, smiling at Xander, she pointed to her tits. 'Fake, and though I've tried it many times, I can't pull off blonde. It was hell being friends with these two.'

'Oh yeah, because you're such a plain Jane,' Scott said to a now blushing Shane.

Shane was by far the prettiest of the three of us but spent much of her time moaning that gentlemen did prefer blondes and she looked like a boy as she had no tits. She had been very flat-chested at uni but looked bugger all like a boy - the very sexy Ryan, her boyfriend since sixth form, proved it.

'Christ,' Xander said, shaking his head. 'I can imagine the three of you out together. The boys wouldn't stand a chance.'

'We didn't.' Ryan winked at me so the others couldn't see. I tried not to giggle. He really was dreadful. I don't think Xander or Scott liked him.