The Sex Was Great But... by Tyne O’Connell Page B

Perfect Fantasy Life would disappear.
    The conversations between Nancy and Holly were clever and fast as they darted from topic to topic and reference to reference. I felt like a total idiot a lot of the time. I remember hearing some British actor on television once, going on about how Hollywood was full of airheads and conversation was a lost art there compared to London. I don’t know what kind of conversations he thought we were having on our council estate in Islington!
    I slugged back another shot of tequila and listened toHolly detail all the positions she’d ever made love in. Girls can be amazingly honest about their relationships with guys. After five slammers, I knew why Holly had dated all of her previous boyfriends—who, as far as I can tell, all treated her like shit. Especially Ted.
    â€œHe was good for me,” she explained, when I quizzed her about it. “Everyone said we looked amazing together.”
    Oh, well, that’s okay, then. “Didn’t you say he sold stories about you to some magazine?”
    She rolled her eyes at my ignorance, but I reckon most guys would have a problem working with her reasoning.
    The only troubling aspect of the evening was the way Nancy kept touching me—brushing her leg against me, that sort of thing. At one point she grabbed my jaw and asked Holly if she didn’t think I had kissable lips. The proximity of her lips to mine at the time made the compliment vaguely threatening, but because of who and where I was I didn’t think I could say anything. I was still sizing Nancy Catkin up.
    As the evening moved into dusk, and the lights of the buildings began to twinkle, the city looked like someone had spread a spray of fairy dust across the hills. I started to get hungry, but I didn’t want to be the one to end it all. I was still thinking that if I pinched myself I might wake up on the sofa beside Snore.
    Holly looked really hot. She’d gone out and come back with pashminas for her and Nancy, and when she wrapped one around her shoulders she looked adorable. It wasn’t cold outside, but the air-conditioning was on so high so it felt Arctic. Scrunched up on the big white sofa she looked like a child who might fall down between the cushions anddisappear forever. I was thinking how vulnerable she looked and how much I wanted to protect her when Nancy’s cell phone vibrated.
    â€œIt’s Larry,” she mouthed, checking the readout.
    â€œI don’t want to talk to him.” Holly put a cushion over her face.
    Nancy’s brow creased as she concentrated on listening. Every so often she made a short response, and I could see Holly listening in despite herself as she peeked out from under the cushion. Clueless as I was to the workings of their world, even I could tell that whatever this Larry geezer was saying wasn’t good.
    â€œI knew she’d gone to the Enquirer about how Holly manipulated her with her eating disorders as a child, but this takes stabbing in the back to new levels. She’s not human.”
    I was beyond confused.
    â€œAre you sure?” Nancy kept repeating—interspersed with, “Oh shoot!” and, “Oh, no!” Finally she said, “Larry, if this happens we’re finished.”
    Holly couldn’t take it any longer. “What?” she asked, making a grab for the phone.
    â€œJust a minute Larry.” She turned to Holly. “He’s been trying to get hold of you all day! It’s Catherine—your mother.”
    I saw a look of terror rush across Holly’s face before she asked what had happened.
    I was thinking of what I would do, as my mind threw up possibilities of what might have happened to her mother. Maybe she’d been killed in an air crash? Or maybe it was cancer? I envisioned myself rushing across to Holly and enveloping her in my arms.
    I’ll go with her to the hospital, I thought.
    I’ll talk to the doctors on her