To the Moon and Back by Jill Mansell

then deciding that today wasn’t a happening kind of day, musically, and going down the pub instead.
    â€˜No, it’s more to do with finding out that my boyfriend is married.’
    â€˜Niall?’ Oh Lord, and she was crazy about him. Shocked, Ellie said, ‘Are you sure?’
    Roo was spinning her silver bracelets round her thin wrist. ‘Pretty sure, yes. Seeing as he’s the one who told me.’
    â€˜You mean they’re separated? Getting a divorce?’ That was OK, wasn’t it?
    â€˜Nope.’ She shook her head. ‘They’re still together.’ Spin, spin, went the bracelets Niall had bought her only last week.
    â€˜Oh no, what a bastard.’ Ellie’s heart went out to her. ‘That happened to Sally from work a couple of years ago, except she only found out when the wife turned up one night on her doorstep. She was devastated. It was horrible. Why do men think they can get away with it?’
    â€˜Because they’re men.’ Roo took another hefty slug of wine.
    â€˜Well, it’s his loss. And you’re better off without him,’ Ellie said consolingly. ‘You don’t need crap like that. Trust me, you’ll find someone a million times nicer. What a slimy git. Good riddance.’
    Roo flinched. ‘Don’t say that.’
    â€˜I bloody well will say it! He’s a sleazebag and you’re well out of it.’
    â€˜You haven’t met him, though.’
    â€˜I’m glad I didn’t! Oh, come on.’ Ellie leaned across the table and gave her arm a squeeze. ‘You’ll be OK. There are loads of fantastic men out there, just waiting for you to meet them. Lovely men, men who don’t lie, men who aren’t married… ooh, I know, you liked the look of Zack McLaren, didn’t you? When I start there next week I’ll find out if he’s single, then maybe—’
    â€˜ Sshh .’ Roo jumped as her mobile started to ring. Snatching it up from the table, she pressed it to her ear and whispered, ‘Yes? Yes. No. No, I know. Yes, me too. OK. Right. Yes. Bye.’
    The furtive look on her face told Ellie who’d been on the other end of the phone. ‘That was Niall, wasn’t it?’
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜And?’
    â€˜Nothing.’
    â€˜What did he want?’
    â€˜Just… seeing how I am.’ Furtiveness was now mixed with defiance.
    â€˜Is that all?’
    â€˜Pretty much.’ Furtiveness and defiance combined with guilt. Roo drank some more wine and paid close attention to the glass.
    â€˜You’re still talking to him, then.’ Was this how it felt to be a barrister, cross-examining in court?
    â€˜Looks like it.’
    â€˜Still seeing him too?’
    â€˜Maybe.’ Pause. ‘Yes.’
    â€˜Oh God.’ Ellie shook her head. ‘ Why? ’
    â€˜Don’t look at me like that,’ Roo wailed. ‘I love him!’
    So this was why Roo hadn’t liked her calling Niall a slimy git. Marveling at the power he had over her, Ellie said, ‘But he’s married .’
    â€˜Not happily, though!’
    â€˜Still married.’
    â€˜But it’s not his fault.’ Roo leapt to his defense. ‘She trapped him.’
    Ellie gave her a long look. ‘You mean, like in a big metal man-trap?’
    â€˜Worse than that.’
    â€˜So you’re telling me they have children.’
    Two bright spots of color appeared in Roo’s cheeks. ‘One child. Only one. Look, he’s not a bad person,’ she pleaded. ‘He’s just trying to do the right thing. He was about to finish with her when she told him she was pregnant. He could have walked away, but he didn’t. He stayed for the sake of the baby. But she’s just been a complete nightmare. She’s made his life a misery—’
    â€˜The baby?’
    â€˜No! The wife! Yasmin.’ Roo’s lip curled. ‘That’s her name.