Tricia had done her proud, Kelly reflected several hours later. Platters of scones, cakes, pastries, tray bakes and more littered Nell and Daniel's kitchen surfaces. Nell was busy trying to plate them all up.
She had gasped appreciatively when she had opened the door to Kelly, admiring her hair and nails, and the outfit she was wearing. In celebration of the unexpected weight loss, Kelly had decided to splurge on a new outfit. She eventually settled on a black jumpsuit that she had topped with a cropped, cashmere cardigan and paired with her favourite heels, a pair of scarlet-soled Louboutins she had splashed out on some years earlier.
"Is Tricia here?" Kelly thumbed in the direction of the living room. She wasn't in the kitchen anyway.
Nell shook her head. "No, she had to dump the stuff and run. She needed to pick up a couple of people to take them to that meeting."
Kelly picked up one of the eclairs about to take a bite. They were topped with a caramel icing glaze and oozed with just the right amount of cream. She would have said that they came from a patisserie shop if she didn't know better.
"Step away from the éclair," a deep voice barked. "You'll ruin your lipstick."
Leon stood at the kitchen door, laughing at her look of outrage. He held up a hand. "Just saving you from yourself, sweetie."
He came forward, pulling her into a hug and kissing her Continental style, once on each cheek. He smelled of the Chanel cologne he always wore – Egoiste, naturally – and washing powder. Like Kelly, he never wore anything more than once before relegating it to the washing basket. Behind him was Martin, his welcome more guarded. He was carrying his decks.
"Shall I set these up now?" he asked Nell, who suggested he do it later once the afternoon tea element of the day was over.
"Can we do anything to help?" Leon asked, and Nell and Kelly both shook their heads.
"We're fine in here, but you could talk to my mum. She's in the living room," Kelly said, ignoring the look he shot her. Rose wasn't a natural conversationalist, and her talk consisted largely of moans – the weather, her health, her loneliness, the expenses of living in Glasgow and the idiocy of those who ran the country. With any luck, her mother would revert to type later, staying long enough to eat her fill of food and then leaving, complaining as she did so of indigestion and tiredness. Perhaps it was fortunate that Tricia hadn't stayed after all. Hearing someone bitch about digestion discomfort after they'd eaten your food might be galling.
Louise and her husband were there too, but Kelly knew she wouldn't stay more than a couple of hours, and neither would her youngest sister Samantha.
Leon and Martin made their way through to the living room, exchanging hellos with Nell's husband Daniel who'd appeared in the kitchen.
He opened his arms and Kelly took the opportunity to indulge in a long hug. Mark was a poor, poor substitute for his oldest brother. Kelly had fallen in love with Daniel years ago, when Nell first introduced them to each other. She'd talked about him beforehand, of course, although thankfully she wasn't one of those women who spoke about their partners incessantly. She hadn't done him justice though. He was amazing.
He wasn't classically good looking. His eyes were slightly too close together, for a start, and his nose big with a bump in the middle. But he was tall – it was dreadful of her to fall for that stereotype of the tall man, but at five foot eight herself, Kelly loved a tall man – and he was assured, confident but not cocky.
Kelly 's feelings toward him had been cemented when she had caught a private moment between him and Nell in a kitchen long ago. Nell and Daniel hadn't been living together at the time, and the kitchen was a small, untidy room in the flat Nell shared with two others back in their Glasgow City Council days. They'd all gone out for the evening – Nell, Daniel, Kelly, Joe a guy who worked with Daniel, and two Glasgow City Council colleagues. They all returned to Nell's flat when their money ran out, and Nell and Daniel had gone through to the kitchen to get everyone drinks while the rest of them sat in the living room passing a joint among themselves and laughing uproariously at Eurotrash.
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High Heels and Pink Glitter (18+) COMPLETE, FREE TO READ CHICK LIT
ChickLit"The characters were very real and i guess that's what kept me glued to it.so cheers to everyone is not perfect and u should accept the people for what they really are" "A great read - can't wait to see it in paperback!" "This is so good 🥺" High...
