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how tempted I’d
been to stamp on it.
    ‘Now this,’ I smiled, ‘this watch is really something but I can’t help thinking that along with all the other little trinkets that have come my way recently,
they’re guilt gifts and I don’t want them any more than I want you.’
    Forcefully I shoved the watch across the table and continued piling up Pandora boxes, along with several pairs of Louboutins.
    It took almost half an hour to pile up all the things Giles had forced on me, the woman he had said he loved because she was ‘natural’ and ‘unique’. Eventually the table
was groaning with the spoils of my urban transformation and Giles sat speechless as he stared at the mountain stacked up in front of him.
    Whether he was in shock or simply afraid that I would make more of a scene if he protested I couldn’t be sure, but it didn’t matter because I was loving every second and feeling
better with every damn thing I offloaded back onto him. As the bag got lighter my spirit did too and by the time it was empty I felt almost drunk.
    I stood up and shook it out just to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. The ridiculously expensive salon-worthy straighteners clattered out, scattering make-up and shoes far and wide.
    ‘Ooh!’ I squealed in mock excitement. ‘How could I have forgotten these? These really are the cherry on the cake, aren’t they?’
    To say Giles looked gutted in no way did justice to his expression. My actions had said it all; he didn’t need to have anything else explained.
    ‘I really hope you’re happy, Giles,’ I told him, as I mustered the courage to turn my back on him and walk out. ‘Because I am. I should thank you, really. If you
hadn’t dumped me I may very well have lived the rest of my life trying to fit your exacting standards. I would have turned myself inside out to be the woman you wanted me to be and that would
have been sad, wouldn’t it?’
    Giles drained his glass but didn’t say anything. I noticed his hand was shaking.
    ‘I really hope married life lives up to your expectations.’
    I turned to walk out just as another throng of early evening revellers came crashing through the doors. I heard him stand up, the mess I’d left behind rolling all over the floor as he
rushed to catch me up. It was now or never. Without so much as a backward glance I sped up and slipped out into the darkness, vowing that I would never see him again.

Chapter 5
    ‘Oh my god! I can’t believe you’re really here!’ Jemma squealed as she wrenched open the car door. Then, taking a second proper look at me, added,
‘Crikey, Lizzie, are you OK?’
    Of course I wasn’t OK. The cocky confidence that had helped me get through the day had evaporated the second I left the bar. I’d sobbed my way through the entire journey and
consequently blown the satisfying little fantasy I’d dreamt up, in which I’d bounce back with enough attitude to make Beyoncé proud. I had hoped for a minute to compose myself as
I parked up outside Jemma and Tom’s cosy and inviting home, but she had spotted the car and raced out to welcome me before I even had the chance to blow my nose.
    ‘Come on,’ she ordered, ‘into the house, it’s freezing out here.’
    ‘You go in and put the kettle on and I’ll get my stuff together and catch you up.’
    Jemma gave me another hard stare and just when I thought I was in for a lecture, she twigged. That was one of the nicest things about having a best friend you’d known forever; they could
tell when to back off without getting offended and sulky.
    ‘OK,’ she smiled, her breath streaming ahead of her in the chill crisp air, ‘but don’t be too long; you’ll catch your death!’ She rubbed her hands together
and ran back up the steps into the house.
    When exactly does that happen? I wondered, as I rummaged in my bag for my compact mirror and face wipes. Is there some miraculous moment during childbirth, just before the baby’s head
crowns, when all