The Bucket List to Mend a Broken Heart Read Online Free Page A

smiling.
    ‘Well, let’s get you over to the sinks andthen we can get started. I’m so excited. I think you’re going to look amazing. I don’t usually advocate self-mutilation, but I think in this case it’s going to turn out just fine.’
    After what seemed like the quickest hair wash ever, thanks to the seventy-five per cent reduction in my hair, Carly gets to work. She rakes up tiny bits of hair at a time and snips away what seems to be an awful lotconsidering she doesn’t have much to work with. My heart is racing quicker with every cut. It isn’t until she starts to blow dry it, and I begin to see it taking shape, that I start to relax.
    By the time my bob has been masterfully flicked around my face, in a way that I’ll never be able to replicate, no matter how hard I try, I barely recognise the person in the mirror.
    OK, so I can still seeit’s me, thanks to the saucer-like dark circles under my eyes, but I look different. I look all right. In fact, I look pretty damn good.
    I wonder if Joseph would like it?
    No, no, no, I think, shaking my head and invoking the wrath of Carly, who almost takes a chunk out at the front of my hair. I apologise before trying to banish thoughts of Joseph from my mind. I’m not thinking about him today.

    I’m so busy trying to rid myself of thoughts of my ex that I haven’t been paying attention to the finishing touches Carly is doing.
    ‘Ta-daa,’ she says theatrically. She picks up a round mirror and holds it behind my head so that I can see the back of my hair.
    ‘Bloody hell,’ I say. She’s clearly run a product through my hair that’s given it a sheen and shine that makes it look as glossy as chocolatefondue.
    ‘It really suits you. See, you should have let me do this type of cut years ago.’
    I put my hand up to it, and recoil almost immediately, too frightened that I’m going to mess it up.
    ‘I can’t believe it’s me,’ I say in a whisper.
    ‘You look gorgeous,’ says Carly. ‘Now, I hope you’re going to go somewhere good tonight to show it off?’
    ‘I’m not sure yet.’
    ‘Well, make sure you do,’ saysCarly.
    She pulls my chair back and I slowly rise to my feet and follow her over to the till, paying and thanking her profusely as I leave.
    I shove my hat into my bag – there’s no way I’m going to put that on now, even if it means my ears are going to get a little chilly.
    I have a spring in my step as I walk down Southsea High Street to meet Sian, and I find myself grinning at strangers. Mymouth muscles start to ache, unused to all the smiling, but I don’t care. For the first time in weeks, I feel happy. It’s like I’ve seen a glimpse of my old self.
    I spot Sian in the distance standing outside the department store where we planned to meet. As I get closer to her I start to feel nervous and begin to doubt my radical new hairdo. What if it’s too drastic? Sure, Carly said she likedit, but can you really trust a hairdresser that you once saw with half her hair cut in a pink bob and the other side completely shaved off?
    Sian hasn’t noticed me yet; she’s too busy scrolling on her phone. I walk right up and stand in front of her. She glances up momentarily, but she doesn’t say anything and instead turns her attention back to her phone.
    Has all that time hiding in my flatturned me invisible? I continue to stand there, waiting for her to notice me.
    She looks up again, this time with a hint of annoyance on her face, before her jaw drops open.
    ‘Oh, my God. Abi!’
    ‘Hiya,’ I say, laughing. It’s not often that I shock my friend.
    ‘I can’t believe it’s you. Look at your hair.’
    I tuck a bit behind my ear, self-consciously.
    ‘Do you like it?’ I say, holding my breath.

    ‘I don’t like it,’ she says, causing my heart to sink. ‘I love it! It really suits you. Wow. I can’t believe it’s you.’
    I catch my reflection in the shop window, and I can’t believe it’s me either.
    ‘You’re like a