line for this shop I work for in London? Or even just one exclusive piece.”
“Oh,” he says, and I can hear him opening a can. “Sure. When?”
Ha! I knew he’d say yes.
“Well…soon?” I cross my fingers. “In the next few weeks? You could come to London for a visit. We’d have a blast!”
“Becky, I don’t know….” He pauses to slurp at his drink, and I imagine him in some trendy SoHo office, lounging on an office chair, in those ancient jeans he always used to wear. “I have this Far East trip lined up….”
“I saw Jude Law in the street the other day,” I add casually. “He lives quite close to us.”
There’s silence.
“Or I guess I could swing by,” Danny says at last. “London’s on the way to Thailand, right?”
Yes! I have total R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
For the rest of the day Jasmine barely says a word, just keeps shooting me awed looks. And Eric was totally impressed to hear that I’d made some “proactive advancement on the project,” as he put it.
If only we had some customers, this job wouldn’t be too bad after all. And on the plus side, the fact that we don’t have anything to do has given me time to read my new issue of Pregnancy magazine.
“Hey, your phone’s ringing in your bag,” says Jasmine as she comes from the reception area. “It’s been ringing all day, actually.”
“Thanks for telling me!” I say sarcastically. I hurry to my desk, grab the phone, and click it on.
“Becky!” comes Mum’s excited voice. “At last! So, darling. How was the famous celebrity obstetrician? We’re all longing to know! Janice has been in and out all day!”
“Oh right. Let me just…” I close the door and sit down on my desk chair, marshaling my thoughts. “Well…it was amazing! Guess what, I met a Bond girl in the waiting room!”
“A Bond girl!” Mum draws in breath. “Janice, did you hear that? Becky met a Bond girl in the waiting room!”
“And the place is lovely, and I’m going to have a holistic water birth, and they gave me this lovely welcome pack all full of spa vouchers….”
“How wonderful!” says Mum. “And she’s a nice lady, is she? The doctor?”
“Very nice.” I pause for a moment, then add casually, “She’s Luke’s ex-girlfriend. Isn’t that a coincidence?”
“Ex-girlfriend?” Mum’s voice sharpens a little. “What do you mean, ex-girlfriend?”
“You know! Just someone he went out with ages ago. At Cambridge.”
There’s silence down the phone.
“Is she attractive?” says Mum.
Honestly.
“She’s quite attractive. But I don’t see what that has to do with anything.”
“Of course not, darling.” There’s a scuffly sort of pause, and I’m positive I can hear Mum whispering something to Janice. “Do you know why she and Luke split up?” she suddenly asks.
“No. I don’t.”
“Haven’t you asked him about it?”
“Mum,” I say, trying to keep my patience. “Luke and I have a very secure, trusting marriage. I’m not going to quiz him, OK?”
What does she think I should do, issue Luke a questionnaire? I mean, I know Dad turned out to have had a slightly more colorful past than anyone might have suspected (affair with train stewardess; secret love child; handlebar mustache). But Luke’s not like that — I know he’s not.
“And anyway, it was all ages ago,” I add, sounding more defiant than I mean to. “And she’s got a boyfriend.”
“I don’t know, Becky love.” Mum exhales sharply. “Are you sure this is a good idea? Pregnancy can be a… tricky time for a man. What about going back to that nice gentleman doctor?”
I’m starting to feel a bit insulted here. What does Mum think, that I can’t hold on to my husband?
“We’re with Venetia Carter now,” I say obstinately. “It’s all signed and sealed.”
“Oh well, darling. If you’re sure. What’s that, Janice?” There’s another scuffling at the other end. “Janice says, was it Halle Berry you met?”
“No, it was the new one. The blond Rollerblade champion. Mum, I’d better go. I’ve got a call waiting. Give my love to everyone. Bye!” I switch off the phone, and a second later it rings again.
“Bex! I’ve been trying you all day! How was it?” Suze’s excited voice peals down the line. “Tell me everything. Are you having the Thai water birth?”
“Maybe!” I can’t help beaming. “Oh, Suze, it was fab! You get massage, and reflexology, and I met a Bond girl, and there were paparazzi waiting outside and we got photographed together! We’ll be in Hello!”
“That’s so cool!” Suze’s voice rises to a squeak. “God, I’m so jealous. I want another baby now, and have it there.”
“You don’t actually have it at the center,” I explain. “You have all the appointments there, but she’s linked to the Cavendish Hospital.”
“The Cavendish? The one with all the double beds and wine lists?”
“Yes.” I can’t help a smirk.
“You’re so lucky, Bex! And what’s Venetia Carter like?”
“She’s fab! She’s really young, and cool, and she has all these really interesting ideas about childbirth, and”—I hesitate—“and she’s Luke’s ex-girlfriend. Isn’t that amazing?”
“She’s…what?” Suze sounds like she can’t believe her ears.
“She’s Luke’s ex. They went out at Cambridge together.”
“You’re having your baby delivered by Luke’s ex-girlfriend?”
First Mum, then Suze. What’s wrong with everyone?
“Yes!” I say defensively. “Why not? It was years ago and it only lasted about five minutes. And she’s attached to someone else now. What’s the problem?”
“It just seems a bit…weird, don’t you think?”
“It’s not weird! Suze, we’re all grown-ups. We’re all mature, professional people. I think we can get past some old, meaningless fling, don’t you?”
“But I mean, she’ll be…you know! Poking about.”
This thought had crossed my mind. But then, is it any worse than Dr. Braine poking about? To be honest, I’m in denial about this whole birth business happening at all. I’m half hoping they’ll invent some new labor-substitute device by the time I reach my due date.
“I’d be paranoid!” Suze is saying. “I once met this ex of Tarkie’s—”
“Tarquin has an ex?” I say in astonishment, before I realize how this sounds.
“Flissy Menkin. Of the Somerset Menkins?”
“Of course,” I say, as though I have a clue what the Somerset Menkins might be. They sound like china pots. Or some kind of galloping disease.
“I knew she was going to be at this wedding last year, and I practically spent the whole week getting ready. And that was with clothes on!”
“Well, I’ll get a really good bikini wax,” I say airily. “And maybe I’ll have a cesarean. And the point is, she’s the top baby-deliverer in the country! She should be used to it by now, don’t you think?”
“I s’pose.” Suze still sounds doubtful. “But still. Bex, if I were you, I’d steer clear. Go back to your other doctor.”
“I don’t want to steer clear.” I feel like stamping my foot. “And I totally trust Luke,” I add as an afterthought.
“Of course!” says Suze hastily. “Of course you do. So…did he chuck her, or the other way around?”
“I don’t know,” I admit.
“Hasn’t he told you?”
