Life and Soul of the Party Read Online Free Page B

minute,’ I replied. ‘Maybe a bit later.’
    ‘Don’t be silly. Getting drinks is what boys do best.’ Laura pulled out her mobile and dialled. ‘Coop, it’s me. Melissa’s here now, can you get her a drink?’
    Cooper and Chris, waiting patiently to be served at the bar, smiled and waved at us.
    ‘What are you drinking?’
    ‘I’ll have a Becks if that’s all right?’
    Laura rolled her eyes as though my politeness was trying her patience. ‘Melissa wants a bottle of Becks and a packet of prawn cocktail crisps and be quick about it!’
    I poked her in the elbow with my finger. ‘You tell him right now that I don’t want any crisps . . . least of all prawn cocktail.’
    ‘You might not . . . but I certainly do. I’m starving.’
    Vicky looked perplexed. ‘I thought you were on that Courtney Cox diet? Are prawn cocktail crisps part of the menu?’
    ‘Tomorrow,’ grinned Laura. ‘The diet starts tomorrow.’

    Laura and I had been friends for as long as she had been going out with Cooper, which give or take a few months was about six years. Cooper had met her when he’d first moved to Manchester after splitting up with his girlfriend. I hadn’t been too sure about Laura at first; she seemed much more of a boys’ girl than a girls’ girl, thriving on any male attention that was available. And although she’d probably be the first to admit that this was true, she was also a lot of other things besides and it was these that made me warm to her over time. For starters, she could be really funny when she wanted to be which I consider a good sign; beautiful people like Laura rarely bother cultivating a sense of humour. She was also burdened with more than her fair share of insecurities (she hated her nose, was a borderline bulimic through her teenage years and constantly put herself down for not being smart enough). And so once I discovered her human side, I found it much easier to like her and, with the minimum of adjustment, space was made to include Laura in the tight bond that existed between Vicky and me.
    While we waited for our drinks we exchanged stories about our various days.
    ‘Well, my highlight,’ Vicky began, ‘was watching Chris trying to teach William how to fly the kite we got for him for Christmas. It would’ve been hilarious if it hadn’t been so cold. Chris was running around like a demon trying to get the thing in the air and William kept asking if it was time to go home because he was freezing to death.’
    ‘Well, given that I only got out of bed about four hours ago,’ began Laura, ‘I’m guessing this is probably the highlight of my day.’
    Vicky could hardly believe it. ‘Four hours ago?’
    Laura nodded sheepishly. ‘I went out with a few of my old work friends from Albright High last night and it turned into a bit of a late one. I didn’t get in until three.’
    ‘How about you, Mel?’ asked Vicky. ‘What have you been up to today?’
    ‘Nothing much,’ I sighed, ‘I read about ten pages of that Monica Ali book that you lent me, watched a double episode of Deal or No Deal and finished off the entire top layer of the selection of chocolate biscuits that my evil stick-thin sister Mia gave me for Christmas. Not exactly the most fruitful of days but I’m not complaining.’
    Vicky laughed. ‘I’d kill to spend the afternoon watching Noel Edmunds and eating biscuits.’
    ‘You’re welcome to my life any time you want it. Really, just say the word and it’s yours. You have my life and I’ll move into yours and raise William as my own.’
    ‘You do realise you’ll have to sleep with Chris, then, don’t you?’
    I pulled a face and replied: ‘Ours would be a chaste marriage.’
    ‘So anyway,’ said Laura grinning, ‘moving on from that distasteful picture, how are we all feeling in general about the year ahead? Optimistic?’
    ‘As you all know,’ I began, ‘I hate New Year’s Eve and thinking about the future, so it would be fair to say that