Lauren smiled. Talking to Zak always soothed her, made her feel less neurotic. ‘Tell me more.’

‘You know that I normally don’t encourage you to drink to excess. Well, today I’ll make an exception. If you can get your gladrags on in the next half an hour, I’ll reveal all to you. Make sure you’ve had some breakfast too.’

Lauren looked down at the half-finished bowl of stale muesli. ‘I’ve already eaten.’

‘Good. And wear shoes that you can walk in, not those ridiculous heels you like so much.’

She hadn’t realised that Zak was paying so much attention to her choice of footwear.

‘Go and get ready,’ her friend said.

‘Tell me,’ Lauren said, a frisson of excitement running through her. She was already off the sofa and scraping the remains of the soggy breakfast cereal into the bin. ‘Tell me where we’re going.’

Zak sighed. ‘You’re so impatient.’

‘A girl needs to be able to dress appropriately.’

Another sigh. This time perplexed. ‘A bunch of us are doing the Monopoly Board Pub Crawl.’

Lauren laughed. ‘The what?’ She was already in her bedroom, shrugging off her dressing-gown. It was a good job that this wasn’t a videophone.

‘Twenty-six pubs, one in each of the locations listed on the Monopoly Board. One drink in each.’

‘Wow. That’s a lot of drinks. Even for me.’

‘Then we won’t make them doubles,’ her friend said. ‘We’re starting at the George on the Old Kent Road.’

‘At this time in the morning?’

‘They’re opening up early for us. I’ll be with you soon.’

‘Thanks, Zak.’ She hung up. Now she wasn’t a sad and lonely single mistress, she had a fun day to look forward to in good company.

Lauren pulled on her jeans and a T-shirt. There was no time for a shower if she was going to be ready in time. She fluffed up her hair and tied it in a scrunchy, then slicked some make-up round her face.

Not five minutes later, the doorbell rang. ‘Bloody hell,’ she muttered. ‘That was quick.’

Lauren flung the door open and was surprised to see not Zak standing there, but Jude.

Chapter 62

Chapter 62

I don’t do the car wash. You’ll probably think that I’m pathetic. I know that Lauren will. Instead, I sadly strip off my Bunny Girl outfit and pull on my old tracksuit bottoms and a skanky T-shirt.

I know that there are a thousand things that I could do round the house this afternoon, but I don’t fancy any of them. If, for the sake of marital relations, I can’t carry on with the car wash for fundraising, then I need to think of something else – and quick. Or – also for the sake of marital relations – do I need to drop this silly idea altogether?