Read Online Being Shirley by Michelle Vernal - Free Book Online Page A

bangles wrapped around their necks that elongated them. It did not look a very comfortable way of carrying on , Annie thought and rubbed her own neck as their twin bowls of aromatic Pad Thai had arrived in record-breaking time.
    She had been lost in thought about her and Tony’s kayak outing that she had finally managed to talk him round to this coming Sunday as she savoured the pungent rice dish. Outside, the streetlights had come on and office workers, huddled into their coats, strode past in a hurry to get home. “Sorry, I was miles away. What did you say?”
    “I asked if you’ve told Tones what we’re up to tonight.” At the expression on her face, Carl answered for her, “I can take that as a no then.”
    “I didn’t see the point. I mean, I don’t even know if I’ll like the dress until I actually try it on.”
    “If you say so.” Carl speared a piece of chicken with his fork. “Mmm, this is delish.”
    “It is. You will never guess what Tony and I are doing tomorrow?” She scooped up a forkful of fluffy, savoury rice.
    Carl raised a questioning eyebrow. “Do I want to know?”
    She put her fork down, leaned over the table and thumped him playfully. “Don’t be rude. We’re going kayaking.”
    Carl snorted. “Pardon?”
    “Don’t look so surprised! I can be outdoorsy from time to time, you know.”
    “The last time you did anything remotely outdoorsy was that team building bush walk your firm organised and”—he giggled—“when you dropped your drawers to go for a behind the bush wee, a bee stung you on your bum and it swelled up like a dinner plate. Ha-ha!” The giggle turned into a guffaw; the demure Thai waitress who was taking an order at the next table glanced over in alarm. Carl wasn’t in the least perturbed as he carried on. “You said Tony kept calling you his girlfriend with three cheeks for days after!”
    Annie wriggled on her seat at the uncomfortable memory he had just conjured. It was not her most dignified moment, having to present her swollen left cheek to her doctor for inspection, who desperately tried to keep a straight face as she relayed her tale of woe. “It wasn’t funny—it was horrific and trust you to bring it up. What if I’d been allergic and gone into anaphylactic shock? Carl, stop laughing!” Once she was satisfied he had his breathing under control again, she said, “No, I’ve decided Tony and I need to find something we can do together and I’ve always wanted to try kayaking so—”
    “I don’t remember you ever having expressed a desire to kayak before.”
    She hadn’t but Annie wasn’t about to admit it. “Well, I have always wanted to and now finally I will get the chance.”
    Carl wasn’t convinced and he raised a sceptical eyebrow. “Yes, well, I’ll wait by the phone with bated breath to hear how it goes. Sorry, that was really snarky!” He patted her hand apologetically. “It’s this business with David; it’s upset my natural balance. So come on then, tell me more about this kayaking trip of yours.”
    Annie filled him in on how she’d managed to persuade Tony—only after threatening to show up down at the clubrooms after his next game in her leopard skin Onezee and matching slippers—that they should head out to Pegasus Town. There was a man-made lake at the subdivision there where they could hire a kayak for an hour or two’s bonding as they bobbed about together on the water. Given her reluctance to wear anything else at home during the cooler months than the Onezee, Tony was easily convinced that she would indeed carry out her threat and so had acquiesced fairly quickly on the kayak front.
    She ignored Carl’s raucous laughter as she finished her explanation. She glanced at her watch, surprised to see it was already six fifteen. “Hey, we better eat up. I was hoping to get some dessert in.”
    “No dessert for you, young lady.” Carl waggled his fork at her. “Not when you have a Julianne Tigre waiting for you to