Page 44 of One Day at a Time

Kyle leaned towards her, kissed her cheek. ‘Have a great night, honey.’

‘Wait, you’re leaving?’ she asked, confused, just as Yvie reached her.

‘Of course he is – it’s girls’ night. Welcome to your baby shower!’

And as all her friends cheered again for her, all Orla could think about was how grateful she was to have wonderful pals. How glad she was that she’d made an effort to look nice. And how strange it was that Kyle had got all dressed up when he now had nowhere to go.

Or did he?

NOVEMBER

22

SHEENA

Sheena put her mug of tea and bowl of cereal on her bedside table, then climbed back under the duvet, enjoying the indulgent feeling of a blissful morning in bed. She lifted her laptop over from her bedside table to the pillow that she’d strategically placed to her right on the bed, and the screen burst into life as she opened it. The first thing that popped up was a notification that she had twenty-nine new emails. They could all wait until Monday. The wind was blowing a gale outside, the rain was slamming against the window, and she wanted to savour every moment of solitude on this Sunday morning on her own.

She was about to summon up an old nineties romcom, when another email notification popped up on the screen. One new message from Cassandra Sinclair. Intrigued, Sheena couldn’t resist opening it.

Dear Sheena,

I just wanted to thank you for everything and to say that, sadly, I won’t be requiring your services anymore. Jeremy has finally agreed to a divorce and our lawyers are working on asettlement agreeable to us both – helped, of course, by your suggestion that financial equality would be necessary for both parties to agree to keep the reasons for the divorce private. I’m not sure whether Jeremy is more embarrassed that he got caught in an affair, or that I have moved on with someone twenty years younger. Either way, he’s looking rather altered at the moment and our joint account appears to have a transaction for a hospital in Turkey that specialises in hair transplants, liposuction and dental veneers. If I knew how to insert the ‘wink’ emoji here, I certainly would.

Anyway, as per my stipulated request, he has left the children and me in our home, and when the children are with him, Fabio and I continue to explore our romance. I learned so much from you about healthy relationships, and I’m enjoying implementing those techniques with a man who is deserving of them.

Take care and wishing you much happiness in the future,

Cassandra

Sheena felt a little glow of satisfaction. Score one for the good guys. As far as her skills as a relationship counsellor went, this hadn’t been a win, as she hadn’t managed to keep them together and happy, but that didn’t matter right now. What mattered was that Cassandra deserved every single moment of love and passion that she’d found in Fabio. It would have been so easy for her to settle. To accept something less than her best life. Sheena was proud of Cassandra for taking the leap. And she was suddenly a bit less proud of herself.

She hadn’t told him yet, but she was leaning towards going back to Gregor. Would she be settling for less than her best life? Or was she simply making a choice that would be right for them given the change in their circumstances?

The notion for a romcom was off her now, so she got up again and took her mug of tea through to the bathroom, turned on the bath taps and sat on the edge of the old Victorian tub as it began to fill, lost in her thoughts.

She ran her mind back to Thursday night, to their fourth antenatal class. Or was it the fifth? The hormonal brain fog was definitely real. Gregor had come to the class with her as he always did, and they’d taken the same spots as always, up at the back of the class, next to Orla and Maddie. The two young women seemed to have struck up a lovely friendship over the weeks, and they’d invited Sheena along for coffee a couple of times, but she’d yet to take them up on it.

‘Right, we want to know why you’re being antisocial,’ Martha had demanded at dinner last week, when she’d admitted that she’d rebuffed all of Maddie and Orla’s invitations so far. She’d put it down to work commitments, which was true, as they seemed to meet mostly during the day, to suit Orla’s shifts. However, the full reason was more complicated than that.

‘I don’t know. I think I just feel a bit… out of place. A bit ridiculous. There they are in all their yoga pants glowing glory and six months ago I was positive that I was in the grips of the menopause.’

‘But that’s ridiculous. They’d enjoy your company. You’re a good time.’

Chanel sucked in a breath through her flawless veneers. ‘Erm, not so much since she gave up the wine.’

Martha responded with a solemn nod. ‘You’re right. I think it’s the elasticated waists and the comfortable shoes too. And she does talk about her pelvic floor a lot these days. Not to mention that she took down the Tinder profile I made for her.’

‘I’m not rising to either of you.’ Sheena had rolled her eyes,even though the corners of her mouth were twitching. ‘Okay, okay, the next time they ask me, I’ll say yes.’

‘Nope, not good enough. You have to make the first move. You’ve already knocked them back more than once, so the antisocial ball is in your court.’

Sheena had taken that on board, so when she’d seen them at the class on Thursday, she’d decided to get over herself. ‘Listen, I know I’ve not managed to meet up with you before now. It’s just… och, work, pregnant, all the things.’

‘Don’t worry, we completely understand,’ Orla had said. There was something about her that Sheena just found so captivating, but she recognised that it was probably the same kinship she felt every time she met another redhead that was prone to wild curls and a touch of frizz. Although, for the last few weeks, Orla’s hair had been glossy and styled in long, flowing waves. She’d made a mental note to ask her what products she was using.

‘Thank you,’ Sheena had responded. ‘But I really would like to meet up. It would be nice to share this with others in the same situation. All my friends are… well, they’re at a different stage in life.’

She didn’t want to say that Martha was about to celebrate her oldest son’s twenty-first, because it just reminded her that she had no business doing this.