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that,’ said Ash. ‘Come to mention it, with the amount of stuff we would take I doubt we could buy a suitcase big enough.’
    ‘Oh well, looks like we go back to borrowing each other’s clothes again.’ Rachel beamed as she jumped up off the bed with the floral dress in her hand. ‘Have you told Dave yet?’
    ‘Er…’
    ‘Ash—’
    ‘What, nothing was for certain. I’ll have to tell him now it’s booked though,’ Ash slumped on to the bed.
    ‘Men too much hassle for me. But you do need to let him know.’ Rachel sat down beside her. ‘What’s the big deal?’
    ‘What if…’ Ash paused. ‘Well what if he, you know—’
    ‘Er no, I don’t know, what. What if he… oh… what if he cheats on you while your away?’
    Ash nodded.
    ‘Ash, honey, if he does then he’s a moron. But you can’t put your life on hold for a moron, can you?’ Rachel lifted Ash’s chin and smiled at her. ‘Can you Ash?’
    ‘No…’
    ‘Good. Right, let’s have a look at what you’ve got in the way of beachwear.’
    Rachel rummaged through Ash’s bikinis, tossing out any old or out-of—fashion garments then cooing over others. She left Ash’s flat on top of the world, bouncing down the steps as she left, waving frantically over her shoulder.
    Ash waved her off then went inside. She made some dinner and sat down to eat in front of the TV, thinking of her holiday and how excited she was. Ash remembered her date with Dave tomorrow night. She was going to have to tell him at some point—but at what point was her issue. She just hoped he wouldn’t mind too much. After all, she was a very trustworthy person—he just didn’t know her that well yet. Her mind bounced around his possible responses, her fear was that he would get bored waiting for her and go off with someone else.
    She went to bed soon after eating, but there was so much in her head that she couldn’t fall asleep but lay awake, turning from one side to another, thinking of how many bikinis to take; where she would buy her holiday outfits; how much money she would need… Then the thought floated into her head again: how would Dave react? She pondered on not telling him tomorrow night and perhaps doing it next week instead, but got sidetracked on how many sunbeds she could fit in before leaving.
    At least an hour went past but still she couldn’t sleep and sat up in bed.
    Right, Missy. You will sleep , she told herself.
    Lying back down, she tried to clear her mind by concentrating on her breathing and after some time she slowly eased into a soft, senseless sleep.
    * * *
    The evening air was close and there was a faint smell of bonfire smoke in the air. Ash was sitting in front of her mirror, pinning back her long, dark wavy hair. Every style she tried didn’t work so she decided to let it hang loose. She put some hair serum on to her fingers, smelling its sweet liquorice scent then ran her hands through her hair, separating the waves into loose curls. She opened her wardrobe door and pondered on what shoes would go with her small black dress, deciding on the new Manolo Blahnik sandals her Dad had sent over. Looking in the mirror she felt as ready as she would ever be.
    Dave had driven to Ash’s and was dead on time. After a brief embrace followed by a kiss, he opened the passenger door for her.
    ‘Not quite a convertible,’ he joked, holding out a hand to help her inside the small white van.
    She smiled. ‘At least it’s clean.’
    They drove through the West End over Chelsea Bridge into South London, arriving at Dave’s flat in Wandsworth dead on eight o’clock, just as Dave’s brother was leaving the flat. Dave ushered Ash along the hallway.
    ‘Pete, mate, you’ve not left yet?’ Dave rolled his eyes and turned to Ash. ‘Ash, this is my brother Peter. Pete, this is Ash.’
    ‘Hello, Ash, it’s a pleasure.’ Peter looked her up and down.
    ‘Hello,’ she said with a curious smile, realising that Peter and Dave were twins.
    ‘Just leaving