Chapter 45

We were woken by Belle just before 9am, as she pushed open the door and brought us breakfast.

“What if we were busy?” Jenny chided Belle.

“You’d have to be doing it very quietly, I always listen at the door before coming in.”

“It’s not like there’s anything we haven’t seen, anyway,” Poppy added as she brought in the coffee.

“She’s got a point,” Belle said as she passed us our breakfast, “eggs benedict, or at least it’s close, we’ve no ham so I used bacon, so it’s like special bacon and eggs.”

“Did you make this sauce?” Jenny asked after her first mouthful.

“I did! Is it OK?”

“It really is, and the bacon goes really well.”

“Thanks, I was browsing through one of the recipe books in the kitchen last night and thought I’d try it. I’m so glad you like it. Now to make waffles for everyone else.”

“Aren’t you making this for your sisters?”

“Oh no, that’s far too fancy for us, we’ll have waffles, we love waffles. Oh, by the way, I’ve got a list of the ingredients we need to make chocolates, Katie says we should be able to get them all from Whole Foods. So if it’s OK with you mum, we’ll travel into the city with you, then come back.”

“That’s fine with me. Oh, don’t make us any dinner, I was thinking of taking Lia and Katie out for dinner. It’ll give you most of the day together.”

“What if we don’t want to spend all day with dad?”

“Then you can spend all day with Poppy and your dad can get on with doing his day job, I’m sure Lois has sent him about a million emails of edits.”

“I’m sure we’ll find some way to distract him from his inbox...”

“I’m sure you will, Belle.”

“Finish your eggs,” Belle told us as she left us alone.

“Why are you keeping Katie and Lia all day?”

“It’s something Poppy said yesterday, how she’d not slept with you since Belle arrived, and I just got the feeling she wasn’t being honest when she said she didn’t miss it. So, I thought I’d give her the chance to catch up, and I’m sure being with Poppy and Belle at the same time will be utterly mind blowing.”

“Well, the idea does have some appeal...”

“I bet it does, now why don’t you take these empty plates and mugs downstairs while I get ready, I want to make sure I’m looking my best when I’ve got two stunners with me.”

“Do you want my credit card?” I asked as I stacked the plates and mugs on the tray.

“I’ll be fine, I got a pay rise, remember.”

“Pass me your phone a sec,” I asked.

“Why?”

“To put my mind at ease, in case the girls go wild in the lingerie shop, they can be seriously expensive.”

“How do you know how much bras cost?”

“Who paid for Poppy’s wardrobe?”

“Ahh, yes.” Jenny conceded as she tossed her phone to me.

I opened her Apple Pay app and added my credit card.

“Do you remember the PIN?”

“I think so, but I won’t need it, Lia is such a thrifty shopper.”

“Like I said, just in case. If you forget the PIN, Lia knows it.”

Jenny slid off the bed and walked to the en suite, she stopped at the door and burst out laughing.

“What are you laughing at?” I asked, smiling despite my confusion.

“You know, I’m the only person in this family with a real job, and I’ve got the least money.”

“Ahh, I’d not thought of that.”

“It’s not a problem. I don’t really care about money, if I did I wouldn’t have joined the police. I had some quite eye watering offers for modelling jobs when I finished college. I could have been as famous as Helen if I’d been confident enough to show my tits to the world.”

I remembered the photos Belle showed on her iPad, “Helen was very complimentary about your photos.”

“She was, but you have no idea how much courage it took to stand in front of a stranger just wearing a bikini. He was willing to pay me £500 to take that top off, but I couldn’t.”

“You’re confident enough being naked around us.”

“Yes, because I’m older, I’m more mature, and I take power from the girls’ willingness to be naked. I bet I’d be OK posing for a photographer now if anyone was willing to pay for pictures of older women with tummies and saggy boobs.”

“There’s an entire sub-genre of porn for people who enjoy exactly what you describe.”

“And how would you know that Alex,” Jenny smiled.

“Would you believe Belle told me?”

“Actually, I would. Anyway, if I even dared to do that, I’d lose my job in a heartbeat, and my work means so much more to me than money.”

Jenny pulled the en suite door, then stopped again, “what time is it?”

I looked across at the clock radio, “just after 9:30.”

“And the shops don’t open until 12, I’ve got a bit of time to spare.”

“To spare for what?”

“To build a bit of self-confidence by wandering around the house naked. Care to join me...”

“Providing Belle’s not opened the curtains.”

“Especially if Belle’s opened the curtains, I want to walk through the lounge with the danger that someone might see me. Oh god, I’m actually moist at the thought, come on Alex, before I lose my nerve.”

I picked up the breakfast things and we went downstairs.

“Hey mum,” Belle called as she saw us, “err, have you forgotten something?”

“I don’t think so, I’m going to watch some TV.”

Poppy dashed past, “we’ve been tidying up in there, the curtains are open.”

“Excellent, that’s what I want, sunshine,” Jenny replied as she pushed past a bemused Belle and entered the daylight filled lounge.

“Has mum been drinking?” Belle asked as the door closed behind Jenny.

“Not since last night,” I replied, “she was feeling a little insecure about going shopping with Lia and Katie.”

“Why?”

“Because she says they’re so pretty, and she’s older.”

“Mum is gorgeous, but that doesn’t explain why she’s streaking in the lounge,” Poppy replied, scratching her head.

“We were chatting about all kinds of stuff and she mentioned how she could have been a model, but she couldn’t pose topless or nude, so she couldn’t follow the same path as Helen.”

“So now she’s decided she is comfortable flashing her tits and lady bits to the neighbours,” Belle sighed, “does she even realise one of my teachers lives on this road?”

“I don’t think she’s thought too deeply about this at all, she just wanted to be nude, in the house, with the chance of being caught,” I told them.

“So, do you think she’s satisfied now, can we go and remove her from public display?”

“I think she was hoping one of you would join her, she said one of the things that made her feel comfortable being nude in private here was because of your propensity for stripping off.”

“Mmm, ok, I’d be happy to do that if it wasn’t for the chance people from school could see me,” Belle replied.

“I’m afraid I’m giving the same answer. I love being naked, but not when people who could rip me apart on Monday could catch me,” Poppy added.

“Hey, what’s the matter,” Lia asked as she joined us in her dressing gown, “and why are you naked dad?”

“Long story,” Poppy told her, “could you do us a massive favour, loose the dressing gown, go into the lounge and bring mum out.”

“Why do I have to go in there naked?”

“Because mum’s in there potentially flashing the neighbours and we think she’s waiting for one of us to join her.”

“Why me?”

“Because you won’t get the piss taken out of you in school on Monday if you get caught.”

“And you’ve been in the newspapers snogging a princess, so you’ve got form in this area,” Belle added for good measure.

‘Okay...” Lia replied, dropping her dressing gown.

“Knickers!” Poppy cried.

“Knickers to you!” Lia replied.

“Take your knickers off,” Belle told her.

“And show my lady garden to the neighbours?”

“That’s exactly what mum is doing right now.”

“Ahh shit,” Lia sighed, dropping her panties and kicking them across the room.

Lia steeled herself at the door, and with a deep sigh she pushed it open.

We watched from the open doorway as she turned her back to the floor to ceiling windows and crabbed across the room until she was standing between Jenny and the windows.

“Hey mum, is everything OK?”

“Everything’s fine honey, just enjoying the morning.”

“Are we spending the day naked? It’ll be quicker finding new undies for you this way. We can just try them on straight off the rail, no need to queue for the changing rooms.”

Jenny paused for a moment then looked at Lia, then down at her body, “ahh yes...” suddenly embarrassed, “perhaps I’ll get dressed.”

“Good idea, the seats on the Underground are grim, I wouldn’t want to put my bare arse on one.”

Jenny almost sprinted out of the room as Lia turned to close the curtains, she waved at someone as she pulled the thick drapes together.

“Who did you just wave at,” Poppy asked as Lia left the lounge.

“That nice man from three doors down.”

“You flashed Mr Newbold!” Belle cried, horrified.

“I think he enjoyed the view.”

“He’s gay,” Belle replied, “but I suppose that doesn’t stop him appreciating great beauty.”

Poppy hugged Belle, “I guess you’ll have something to talk about in Food Tech tomorrow.”

“He’s your teacher!” Lia cried, “I am so sorry!”

“It’s OK, it’s not like he saw mum, or Poppy, that would have been awkward.”

“And on that note,” Lia broke in, “I think you’d better get dressed, dad. Unless you’re also going shopping naked.”

“Ahh, no. And if we could try to wipe this incident from our minds, that would be nice.”

“Consider it forgotten,” Lia replied as she pulled on her dressing gown.

“I think I’ll be reminded of this tomorrow,” Belle sighed, “because I doubt Mr Newbold will forget seeing such a vision any time soon.”

“Thank you Belle, I like being called a vision. I hope it doesn’t cause you any problems. I can come in and explain if you get into trouble.”

“It’ll be fine, I’ll just tell him you’re our au pair and you do all the housework naked while we sleep in on Sundays.”

“Ahh, the old Scandinavian au pair story, that will definitely work,” Lia laughed as she poured us all fresh coffee.

“What are you all laughing about,” Katie asked as she stumbled into the kitchen, yawning.

“It’s a long story,” Lia told her as she pushed another mug of coffee across the kitchen counter.

“Why’s dad naked?”

“That’s part of the long story,” I replied, “I think I’ll go get showered and dressed while they tell you all about it.”

Upstairs, Jenny was sitting at her dressing table, “well, that was a bad idea,” she sighed as I entered the bedroom, “do they think I’m insane?”

“Not at all, they’re somewhat surprised, but that’s all. I think they’re more concerned that Lia waved at Mr Newbold whilst wearing nothing but a smile.”

“Oh god!” she gasped, “he didn’t see me, did he?”

“I doubt it, this was after you’d left the room. Did anyone see you?”

“I don’t think so. I didn’t notice anyone walk past.”

“Anyway, the upshot is, the girls have no idea why you’re worried, because you’re gorgeous.”

“They’re just being polite.”

“No they’re not, nor am I. You’re not outclassed by our daughters, you fit in with them perfectly.”

“mmm, well I’d better get dressed, I don’t want to put this fine ass directly onto a tube seat.”

As I passed on my way to the en suite she gasped and grabbed my arm, “oh my god! Belle’s teacher saw Lia, naked! Oh fuck Alex, it’s parents’ evening this week, what will he say when we see him?”

“Belle will be able to explain it. Besides, it’s not like he saw you, or even worse, Belle or Poppy.”

“Or Katie.”

“Or Katie, although I think she’s unlikely to be ... err ... carefree enough to wander around the house naked.”

“That’s true, she’s the sensible one.”

“Were you being honest when you said I was gorgeous,” Jenny asked as I emerged from the en suite wrapped in a towel.

“Absolutely. I seem to remember us having a house rule about honesty.”

“Even if it’s just to make me feel better?”

“Nope, it’s still not a lie. You’re beautiful, and we all agree.”

“I can’t see how I compare to Belle, or Poppy, or Lia, have you seen her? She’s like a super model with that figure!”

“Yes, I saw her. It’s not a competition, Jenny. There’s no need to try to compete with them.”

“I think it’s seeing the four of them last night, and JoJo, and Helen. I don’t feel I glow in the same way they do.”

I knelt beside her, “you’re beautiful Jenny. I love you, so do the girls. I wish you’d heard Lia yesterday morning talking to Katie about her night. She was gushing about making love with you.”

“Really?”

“Yes, they all prefer sleeping with you than me.”

“That can’t be right.”

“I’m not saying they don’t enjoy sleeping with me, but they’d rather sleep with you.”

“What about Belle, she loves you as much as she loves Poppy.”

“But not as much as she loves monkeys...” I added.

“What?”

“Never mind, just something she said in the zoo yesterday. But yes, even Belle loves sleeping with you more than me.”

I think I’d finally gotten through to Jenny, she perked up and started to run her fingers through her lipstick collection, “mmm, Vampire, Exorcism or Outlaw?”

I looked and they were all more or less the same shade of red.

“No, I think Lolita,” she said, pulling out a dark pink shade, “these lipsticks are so expensive, I can’t believe Helen left them all for Poppy.”

“And I can’t believe you helped yourself to Poppy’s lipstick collection,” I laughed.

“Be honest, can you see Poppy wearing this shade of pink?”

“No, but Belle would.”

“She doesn’t wear makeup, she doesn’t need to.”

“True. So, are we good?”

“Yes, I feel better now. I’ve no idea what I’m going to say to them.”

“Don’t worry about it, nobody here is the slightest bit bothered, and I think Lia was secretly happy to be caught naked.”

And that’s exactly how it went down, nobody mentioned the earlier incident.

“Hey mum, you look nice,” Lia said as we entered the kitchen, “I love that lipstick.”

“Thank you, I stole it from Poppy.”

“I thought that drawer was a bit emptier.”

“Yes, sorry, I also stole all the really slutty red shades as well.”

“Mmmm, you can keep the pink, but I want my reds back.”

“Ok, if Helen will tell me where she got them, I’ll buy you some replacements. We’ve got your dad’s credit card, so we can go wild.”

“It’s ok mum, just let me have Outlaw back, that’s my favourite.”

“Is that the colour I like on you, the one that doesn’t come off no matter how hard I kiss you?” Belle asked.

“Yep, that’s the one.”

“I shall steal it back right now,” Belle replied as she dashed upstairs.

Later, we parted ways at Green Park, where we hopped off the tube and Jenny carried on to Oxford Circus with Katie and Lia.

Belle had almost as good a time in Whole Foods as she’d had at the zoo yesterday.

She quickly filled her basket with the ingredients she needed for the chocolates, then carried on around the shop buying fancy pasta shapes, spices, a couple of types of nut milk.

At one point she borrowed Poppy’s phone so she could check a recipe, “I’m going to make some of the dumplings we had last night, do you remember what they were called?”

“Momo I think, but I don’t know what the dips are called.”

“I’m sure I can make any kind of spicy dips, it’s the little dumpling things that are important. Mmm, minced lamb, that’s a bit fatty, and dad’s getting a tummy from all my nice food, I think we’ll swap that for lean minced beef.”

“Oi, I’m not getting fat,” I replied.

“Relax, I’m taking the piss. Anyway, we can always find something for you to do that’ll work off the calories.”

“Yes, you can start by carrying this basket,” Poppy added, “it’s getting really heavy now.”

So, for the next 20 minutes I followed Belle around as she picked through the shelves for ever more obscure ingredients for meals she’d be making for the next few weeks.

“I love this store,” she gushed as we waited in line for the checkout, “so many things I’ve read about in recipe books and had no idea what they actually were. Like this,” she said, holding a small, mostly empty jar aloft, “saffron. I’ve seen it in so many recipes, but I had no idea what it looked like, it’s little twigs, and it’s seriously fucking expensive,” she whispered, “this is less than half a gram and it’s £5.”

“What!” Poppy cried, “that’s dearer than heroin, and err, I don’t have personal experience of buying heroin...”

“Yeah, but I don’t think you can use smack to make tasty custard.”

“Well, there is that,” Poppy agreed, “and tasty custard rarely kills you if you eat too much.”

“Oh wow, ODing on custard, that’s something I’d like to try,” Belle replied, just as the line moved forwards and the till operative gave her a very odd look.

“Err, ignore what you just heard,” Poppy said as she started to unpack the basket.

As we walked slowly back to the underground, weighed down by a heavy bag each, Belle asked “have we got one of those espresso makers?”

“I think I’ve got one in the back of a cupboard, do you need one?”

“Yeah, I need to make strong coffee, for the coffee cream flavour.”

“Ewww, who even likes coffee cream chocolates,” Poppy grimaced.

“I love them,” Belle replied, “and I’m not going to make you eat one.”

“Did you buy a mould to make different shapes,” Poppy asked, “how will we know which is which?”

“I just picked up a heart shaped mould, I’ll draw different designs with a pin, so a coffee bean for the coffee flavour, an orange for the orange flavour, I don’t know about peppermint, maybe draw a Polo mint or something.”

“Or you could do straight lines for one, wiggles for another, and a cross, if that’s simpler.”

“Oh yes, that will be better, because I really don’t know how to draw a coffee bean.”

“How many flavours are we having?” I asked.

“Coffee, peppermint, orange, strawberry, mango and blueberry, all fondant fillings, so quite simple. I’ll make up one fondant mix and split it up and add flavours. I bought natural flavourings.”

“You didn’t buy any chocolate though,” I asked, “have I got some at home?”

“Not that I could find. Milk chocolate looks fairly easy to make, just cacao butter, cocoa powder, milk powder and icing sugar, melt the cacao butter over a pan of hot water, sieve in the powders, stir until dissolved and lump free, then pour in the moulds.”

“I had no idea it would be so simple.”

“Yeah,” Poppy replied, “and if it all goes tits up we’ll have time to leg it down to Waitrose and buy some of their artisan chocolates to show mum.”

“That will not be happening. I’m going to make some chocolates for Maisie. They might not look brilliant, but I’m going to damn well try to make them taste nice.”

Back home I warmed up a pan of soup for lunch as Poppy helped Belle sort the ingredients.

“We’ll make the fondant first,” Belle said, “can you find six of those little glass dishes to mix the fillings.”

Poppy dug around in the cupboard until she found them, along with a glass mixing bowl, and a mocha pot to make the espresso.

“I’ll give everything a good wash,” she said.

“They’ve got to be super dry,” Belle told her, “the milk chocolate recipes I read were very specific about the bowl being dry, as any water can ruin the chocolate.”

“And we do not want ruined chocolate,” Poppy replied, “that would be a crime.”

As we ate our soup Belle went over the plan of action, “so, your first job dad, is to make some espresso, I only need a tiny amount, so you get to drink the rest. For the peppermint, strawberry, orange flavours I’ve got those little bottles of flavouring, again we only need a few drops of each, so I’ll have fun thinking of new ways to use the rest of the bottles later.”

“What about the blueberry and mango flavours?” I asked, showing I’d been paying attention earlier.

“I was looking around online, because I love blueberry flavour stuff, and they said the best thing to use is blueberry syrup, and there’s still some in the bottle in the fridge. And for mango flavour, weirdly the recipes say use mango baby food, which is why there’s a jar of baby food on the counter.”

“Ahh, that’s what that jar’s for,” Poppy replied, “I was wondering if you’d picked it up by mistake.”

“No mistakes, that jar is pureed mango, I only need a teaspoonful, I will eat the rest and pretend to be a baby.”

“Just so long as you don’t poo in your pants straight after,” Poppy said as she cleared the table, giving her sister a quick kiss on the top of her head.

“No mum, I’m potty trained now, remember.”

“You’re a very clever girl.”

I put Guy Garvey’s 6 music show on the radio as Belle started to mix the fondant mixture.

“Ermm, I just want egg white, how do I get the yoke out?” she asked, scratching her head.

Feeling a little sense of pride because I knew something my 14-year-old daughter didn’t, I showed her how to separate an egg by pouring the egg from one side of the shell to the other.

“Oh, that’s cool, if a bit messy.”

“The really messy way is to crack the egg into your palm and let the white run through your fingers,” I replied.

“Urgh, I won’t be doing that.”

With the egg white poured into the icing sugar she quickly whisked the mixture.

“My mum was a good cook,” she told us as she whisked, “I think that’s why I like cooking. I used to sit on the table and watch her make dinner. She’d sing along to the radio whilst she worked, it was nice.”

“Nikki could cook, when she wasn’t fucked up on drugs. She made me a birthday cake once, it didn’t look so nice, but I remember it tasted really good.”

“My dad did a lot of the cooking,” I joined in, “mum always did Sunday lunch, but dad would often cook dinner when he was home.”

“Who did the cooking when you were, you know, when Tammy was here?” Belle asked.

“Mostly me, Tammy wasn’t one for getting her hands dirty doing any kind of work. She had great plans for the garden, but they all involved me doing the work.”

Poppy shook her head, “I really can’t understand, she seems totally unlike you, and Jenny, it’s like you were brain washed or something.”

“We’ve seen pictures though,” Belle told her, “she was really pretty, that’s why, he wasn’t thinking with his head.”

“Thanks for talking about me while I’m in the room,” I said, smiling so she knew I wasn’t bothered, “yes, she was beautiful, and for a while we were happy together, but she wanted more. More money, more fame, more nice clothes. I wasn’t successful enough for her I think.”

“But you are famous, we’ve seen pictures of you online at fancy galas.”

“Not famous enough for Tammy, she wanted a-list coverage.”

“What’s your ex-friend, Ethan was it?”

“Ellory,” I corrected.

“What’s Ellory do?” Belle asked.

“He’s a lawyer, so he’s not famous, and probably not as well off as me.”

“So why?”

“I have honestly no idea.”

“Is he, err, special in any way?”

“You mean does he have a big cock? I don’t know.”

“But, you’re so good in bed, and you’re rich, and you’ve got an amazing house. I can’t see what’s wrong with you that would drive someone away.” Poppy puzzled.

“Do you want me to be totally honest?” I asked.

“Yes!” they both replied, “we want to know what happened,” Poppy continued, “we just can’t see why anyone wouldn’t love you.”

“I think it was me, I think I was bored with Tammy and just stopped caring about her, and about what she did.”

“In what way?” Belle asked.

“Well, she’d suggest a weekend away to Rome or Milan. I knew I’d hate every minute, because she’d be shopping when I’d want to be in a gallery or museum, so I’d suggest she go on her own, or take a friend.”

“And the friend was Ellory,” Poppy said.

“That would appear to be the case.”

“So, what was Ellory like?”

“Well, I thought he was my friend. We were at university together, we played rugby together...”

“So you must have seen him naked...” Belle broke in.

“As strange as it may seem, men can get changed and not look at each other’s bodies.”

“Aww, that’s a shame, girls do it all the time, we compare boobs, and tummies, and we see if girls have innie or outie nipples and pussy lips. Sometimes it’s nice, sometimes girls can be bitchy, especially if one girl has big boobs and they don’t.”

“How are the girls with you,” Poppy asked, “are they OK in the changing rooms?”

“I’ve only done PE once, and they were fine. I wanted to see what Maisie looks like without her big jumper on, but she’s excused from PE.”

“Aww, I wonder why? Anyway, we were discussing Ellory.”

“Yes, we were,” Belle added as she started to transfer the fondant into the six little dishes, “can you add 3 drops of peppermint into the first one please, 4 drops of orange into the second, the same for strawberry. How’s the coffee dad?”

“It’s very tasty.”

“That’s not the answer I wanted.”

“It’s ready,” I laughed.

“Super, add a teaspoon to dish four please, then continue your report about Ellory. We want dirt, because we don’t want to like him.”

“Or do we want to like him because he took Tammy away, leaving dad young, free and single and able to wait patiently for five years for us to show up?”

Belle thought for a moment, “mmm, no, I don’t think we like him, because Tammy is obviously evil, and he’s shacked up with her, so he can’t be nice.”

I poured teaspoon of coffee into the fourth dish whilst I waited for the girls to decide on Ellory’s status.

“Yes, he’s evil,” Poppy declared, “please continue.”

“So yeah, we were at university together and didn’t look at each other’s genitals. He always had a girl, usually blonde, usually not too bright.”

“What about you? Did you have plenty of girlfriends at university?” Belle asked brightly.

“Actually, no.”

“Aww, why not?”

“I had one steady girl at Uni, I was with her for the first two years until she graduated.”

“What was she like?”

“She was called Charlotte, a very nice girl.”

“What happened to her? Why did you split when she left?”

“She got a place in Sydney to study for her masters, she stayed in Australia when she graduated, she’s a professor now.”

“Wow!” Poppy gasped, “that’s amazing.”

“So you had no girl in your last year, why didn’t you ask Ellory to find you one?”

“Because that never occurred to me, and to be honest, I didn’t really like any of the girls he went with. This is going to sound awful, but none of them were that good looking...”

“You mean it was like he was at the back of the queue when he was picking a girl,” Poppy asked.

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“And this was always the case? He wasn’t good looking or studly enough to pick the best-looking girls. Even after you left Uni and started work.”

“Yep.”

“But he still pulled Tammy, interesting,” Poppy said as she helped Belle open the tub of cacoa butter, “I wonder, where did you meet Tammy?”

“We met at a function, I was there with my publishers, she was there with the company she worked for, we got chatting and found we had a couple of mutual friends, and it went from there.”

“And this was when?”

I thought for a moment, “about 11 years ago.”

“And you’d been out of university for how long?”

“About 6 months, I got my publishing contract before I graduated.”

Poppy raised her eyebrows, “impressive. So, the big question, what was Ellory doing at this time, and question number 2, what university did Tammy attend.”

“Ok, I see where you’re going, Ellory was in his first year at a law firm in the City, I don’t believe there was a link between Ellory and Tammy at this time.”

“What university was she at?”

“Oxford Brookes...”

“And, if your Wikipedia bio is correct, you were at Merton College, also in Oxford.”

“I was, and are you suggesting Ellory knew Tammy back then?”

“That’s the way my mind is working.”

“Mmmm, I don’t know, it would be a huge coincidence, but they do happen. Anyway, it’s more likely they just got together when he was over here one day. He used to get drunk and sleep over instead of going home. Who knows what they got up to whilst I was out, I used to do a lot of my writing down at the library back then.”

“Ahh well,” Poppy sighed, “we tried make it all a conspiracy. I do want to know more about Charlotte though, was she pretty, or was she someone Ellory found for you.”

“Haha, she was very pretty,” I pulled my phone out.

“You’ve got a photo of her on your phone after all these years, that’s romantic.”

“Well, not exactly, but I do have Google, which will help me find a photo of her.”