Read Online Do You Remember? by Mandy Baggot - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Mandy Baggot
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replied.
Chapter Twelve
Present Day
‘So, let me get this straight. He definitely isn’t Dominic’s father.’
Ally had sat with her mouth hanging open since Emma started talking. It had started out being parted perhaps only an inch, then it had widened with every sentence until it was full-on agape.
‘I said so, didn’t I?’ Emma snapped, taking a sip of her drink. It was cold.
‘I know you said so, but you’ve just described this teenage boy, who’s now all grown up and hotness personified, as the love of your life and yet I’m supposed to believe someone else is Dominic’s father,’ Ally exclaimed at great volume.
‘Keep your voice down, Ally, please,’ Emma begged. She looked toward the group of mothers nearest to them, worried they were listening.
‘You know he’s taken, don’t you? A French supermodel no less,’ Ally continued.
Yes, she knew. She’d seen the coral dress and the Botoxed face and Guy’s arm around striking Madeleine Courtier.
‘Yes I know and I don’t care. I’m not pursuing him. I’m with Chris,’ she answered.
She couldn’t have made the statement sound any more forced. It was like a recorded message.
‘So what do you want? What’s the real problem here because I’m not seeing it,’ Ally remarked in a tone slightly below jackhammer.
Emma looked out over the sports hall as Guy began to demonstrate weaving the ball between cones. Her whole body contracted from looking at him, just like it had all those years ago. The feelings of resentment and fury were fast being diluted by the rush of passion that zipped through her every time she saw him.
‘Who
is
Dominic’s father? Are you actually going to tell me at all? Because it isn’t like I’ve spent the last eight years asking, is it?’ Ally said, snorting air.
Ah, there it was -
that
question. She’d never answered before. She’d always changed the subject, closed her eyes and pretended not to hear. But having told Ally about Guy, she had to give her friend something. There was no way she would let it go until she had some information.
‘I have no idea,’ Emma answered. She’d accompanied the statement with a shrug.
‘What?’
‘I don’t know who his father is. You remember what I was like when my mum died. Dad took me off to France to stop me drinking the contents of his wine collection. I slept with three boys in the space of a week before we left … at least I think it was three. I can’t really remember.’
‘What? No. No, you didn’t. You couldn’t have. I went with you to every party. I was the one who lost my virginity first…to Freddie Green, at Tamara Davies’ sixteenth birthday,’ Ally said. Her mouth opened wider and her eyes narrowed with suspicion.
‘Sorry, I think I might have beaten you to it. Not with Freddie though. I never really fancied Freddie. But then he might have been one of them. I had had a lot of cider,’ Emma said. She took another sip of her cold coffee.
‘I don’t believe you. You would have told me if you’d done it before me. We told each other everything. We still tell each other everything, don’t we?’ Ally asked.
Poor Ally looked wounded. She didn’t want to lie, but Dominic came first. Just like he always had.
‘I would have remembered three boys within a week and Em, that isn’t you. It might have been me back then, well, maybe not three, but two possibly,’ Ally continued.
‘It was a bad time, I did a lot of stupid things,’ Emma replied.
The list of inappropriate things she’d done after her mother’s death was vast, but she didn’t consider all of them stupid. Some had even been well thought out. Not all had been successful and she had to live with those consequences.
‘So, Guy thinks he was your first and you … ’ Ally started.
‘Had done it at least three times before we met,’ Emma admitted with a nod.
‘Well, you just need to shatter his illusions. Tell him he isn’t the father and move on. Has
Chapter Twelve
Present Day
‘So, let me get this straight. He definitely isn’t Dominic’s father.’
Ally had sat with her mouth hanging open since Emma started talking. It had started out being parted perhaps only an inch, then it had widened with every sentence until it was full-on agape.
‘I said so, didn’t I?’ Emma snapped, taking a sip of her drink. It was cold.
‘I know you said so, but you’ve just described this teenage boy, who’s now all grown up and hotness personified, as the love of your life and yet I’m supposed to believe someone else is Dominic’s father,’ Ally exclaimed at great volume.
‘Keep your voice down, Ally, please,’ Emma begged. She looked toward the group of mothers nearest to them, worried they were listening.
‘You know he’s taken, don’t you? A French supermodel no less,’ Ally continued.
Yes, she knew. She’d seen the coral dress and the Botoxed face and Guy’s arm around striking Madeleine Courtier.
‘Yes I know and I don’t care. I’m not pursuing him. I’m with Chris,’ she answered.
She couldn’t have made the statement sound any more forced. It was like a recorded message.
‘So what do you want? What’s the real problem here because I’m not seeing it,’ Ally remarked in a tone slightly below jackhammer.
Emma looked out over the sports hall as Guy began to demonstrate weaving the ball between cones. Her whole body contracted from looking at him, just like it had all those years ago. The feelings of resentment and fury were fast being diluted by the rush of passion that zipped through her every time she saw him.
‘Who
is
Dominic’s father? Are you actually going to tell me at all? Because it isn’t like I’ve spent the last eight years asking, is it?’ Ally said, snorting air.
Ah, there it was -
that
question. She’d never answered before. She’d always changed the subject, closed her eyes and pretended not to hear. But having told Ally about Guy, she had to give her friend something. There was no way she would let it go until she had some information.
‘I have no idea,’ Emma answered. She’d accompanied the statement with a shrug.
‘What?’
‘I don’t know who his father is. You remember what I was like when my mum died. Dad took me off to France to stop me drinking the contents of his wine collection. I slept with three boys in the space of a week before we left … at least I think it was three. I can’t really remember.’
‘What? No. No, you didn’t. You couldn’t have. I went with you to every party. I was the one who lost my virginity first…to Freddie Green, at Tamara Davies’ sixteenth birthday,’ Ally said. Her mouth opened wider and her eyes narrowed with suspicion.
‘Sorry, I think I might have beaten you to it. Not with Freddie though. I never really fancied Freddie. But then he might have been one of them. I had had a lot of cider,’ Emma said. She took another sip of her cold coffee.
‘I don’t believe you. You would have told me if you’d done it before me. We told each other everything. We still tell each other everything, don’t we?’ Ally asked.
Poor Ally looked wounded. She didn’t want to lie, but Dominic came first. Just like he always had.
‘I would have remembered three boys within a week and Em, that isn’t you. It might have been me back then, well, maybe not three, but two possibly,’ Ally continued.
‘It was a bad time, I did a lot of stupid things,’ Emma replied.
The list of inappropriate things she’d done after her mother’s death was vast, but she didn’t consider all of them stupid. Some had even been well thought out. Not all had been successful and she had to live with those consequences.
‘So, Guy thinks he was your first and you … ’ Ally started.
‘Had done it at least three times before we met,’ Emma admitted with a nod.
‘Well, you just need to shatter his illusions. Tell him he isn’t the father and move on. Has
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