Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

K iera woke up in her crumpled bed, trying to place the sound that had disturbed her sleep at such an early hour. She raised an eyelid and checked her phone. 5.39am. She rapidly closed her eye again. Too early.

Then she remembered the night before. She turned her head to see a space where Clodagh had fallen asleep.

Had she left? But that sound…

Immediately, Kiera put it together. Clodagh was in the shower. Kiera smiled. There was a woman in her shower. This was categorically a good thing . She wriggled under her duvet and remembered the events of the previous night. Maybe this dating thing wasn’t so bad after all.

“I used one of your towels, hope that’s ok,” said Clodagh. Her slender legs appeared beside Kiera’s head by the bed.

“Um, yes,” said Kiera, momentarily distracted by the proximity of the curvy woman.

“Sorry it’s so early. I have to get going for work – I’ve got an early clinic. You look very warm and cosy in there. It’s tempting to get back in with you.”

“So do,” said Kiera, ignoring the dull pain in her head that the wine had left behind. Clodagh bent down and kissed Kiera.

“Sorry, babe, I’d never get to work if I did that,” she said, her face millimetres from Kiera’s. She smiled and then straightened. “But how about lunch tomorrow? We need to make the most of both of us working at the hospital!”

Kiera felt sure people would know what she’d been doing the night before when she walked into her office. She knew she was sleep deprived, but that didn’t prevent her from smiling to herself.

She sat down at her desk and looked at her phone to find a message from Lou: “So??? Did you get some? Or are you dead in a ditch??”

Kiera giggled to herself.

“Not dead in a ditch.” She added a winky emoji and felt her cheeks go red.

“Coffee after work at the Vine. I need all the details,” Lou texted back almost immediately.

Kiera confirmed and then started work. The rather intense flashbacks of her time with Clodagh were doing nothing for her productivity. She was relieved it was Charlie’s day off. He’d have been able to read her mind, she just knew it.

Early that evening, Kiera found Lou sitting at a small table in the window of the café bar on Kings Heath High Street with two coffees ready and waiting. She handed one to Kiera as she sat down beside her and said, “Spill. ”

Kiera blushed immediately, and then took a long sip of her coffee. “Oh, I see,” said Lou, “sleep deprived. Mmmhmm. Tick. Was it worth it?”

“Um, yes. It was.” Kiera took another sip. “She was, er, nice.”

“Nice? Nice? You’ve got to give me more than that!” said Lou, the pitch of her voice rising.

“Ok, more than nice. She was very hot. I had exceptionally good weeknight sex.” Kiera smiled. “And let me tell you, it’s been some time since I had that.”

“You and me both!” said Lou with a giggle. “I’m usually asleep by half eight.”

They both laughed. It was fun talking about someone else, rather than talking about what ridiculous thing Chrissie had done now, or how heartbroken she had been. Kiera had bored herself with how miserable and angry she had been over the breakdown of her marriage. It was a blessed relief to have something and someone new to discuss. They talked about what Kiera should wear for her lunch with Clodagh the following day. Kiera, as always, had just planned to wear her usual work clothes, but Lou pointed out that this was basically a date, so she’d need to make more of an effort.

“What about that lovely yellow top you wore to my birthday drinks?”

“Oh, er, I guess. Which trousers, though?” asked Kiera, struggling to remember what she’d worn the day before, let alone six months earlier.

“Your black skinny jeans,” said Lou, “and ignore all the fashion magazines, skinny jeans are still good. All that nonsense about how they’re only for mums is tosh.”

“You wear skinny jeans and you’re a mum,” said Kiera, prodding Lou in the side .

“And so do you, and you are not. QED. Anyway, it suits you.”

“Skinny jeans?”

“No, sex. Look at those pink little cheeks. You’re definitely a happier woman than I’ve seen of late. Have I made you blush? Soz...” said Lou, with no hint of real apology.

“Oh, be quiet. I’m sorry I’ve been such a miserable git all this time.” Kiera clasped her hands tightly together, feeling bad.

“You don’t need to be sorry. I’d have been bloody miserable if Dan had moved in Achilles or whoever it is that cow is sleeping with now.”

“Um, Athena, I think,” said Kiera, unsure as to why she was correcting Lou on this detail. “Although who knows now? Chrissie’s been gone for months.”

“Yeah, well, she can stay away as far as I am concerned. She hurt my best friend, and that is never ok.” Lou’s face clouded over. Kiera found it touching how angry her friend could become on her behalf. In the early days she hadn’t had enough energy for genuine anger, and it was somehow cathartic that Lou did it for her. “Anyway, enough about her. Tell me more about this woman.”

The conversation flowed freely until Lou had to get home and Kiera started thinking about her tea.