High Heels and Pink Glitter (18+) COMPLETE, FREE TO READ CHICK LIT

Ghosting: What to Expect From 21st Century Dating

"What's happening with you and Matt?"

About to shovel in a generous forkful of saag paneer, Kelly grimaced, putting the fork down. "Ah. Didn't work out."

"Oh!" Nell jumped to her feet, making her way around the table to give Kelly a clumsy hug. Kelly leaned her head briefly against her, and then returned purposefully to the saag paneer.

"Ach, Nelly-welly. I never learn." She slugged back a mouthful of beer. "You'd think I would know by now."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"There's not much to say. We went out a few times – dates on a Tuesday, dates on a Sunday. I thought we were having a good time, but they felt like occasions where he was at a loose end so he contacted me. Anyway, I sent a message one day suggesting we meet up at the weekend. I didn't hear anything from him. I was ghosted."

In modern dating parlance, ghosting was when your date suddenly blocked you from his social media accounts, and stopped answering messages. Matt vanished.

Kelly had allowed optimism to take over. Even though Matt conformed to a type she had fallen for repeatedly over the years – and never had any success with – she had talked herself round.

He took her card, he said how much he enjoyed talking to me, he contacted me so soon after that first evening, he sent me jokey messages... To her embarrassment, she had told several people she thought he might be The One – a phrase she ought to have grown out of years ago.

Matt's friend Jamie – now, he might have been the better bet. When they had talked that first night, he had asked both Kelly and Nell plenty of questions. He also asked their opinions, and did not attempt to impose his own upon them, a trait Kelly found rare in a man. However, it was clear that he was smitten with Nell, married woman or not.

Same old, same old.

Anyway, the problem paled into insignificance next to what was going on in Nell's life – and why she was currently living with her friend, or rather a pale, thin and permanently tear-stained version of that friend Nell.

Nothing had happened between her and Jamie, but those marital problems had escalated – moving from three to ten on the relationship crisis scale. Daniel had left her after two long ago secrets had surfaced, and Daniel had found out. One, that Nell had an abortion very early on in their relationship that she'd never told him about. They'd just recovered from the revelation of that secret, when he found out she'd also had a one night stand with a work colleague years ago. The one-night stand had left her pregnant, though this time she miscarried. Daniel had known nothing of it at the time.

He had walked out of their home and all attempts Nell had made to contact him had been rebuffed. It was beginning to looked as if their marriage might not survive.

Kelly had been shaken by Daniel's disappearance almost as much as Nell. Their marriage was her child's Santa Claus belief. As it crumbled, she felt weepy and scared. If this could happen to a marriage as seemingly solid as Nell and Daniel, what hope was there for her, the single 40-something who'd never lived with anyone, who'd never...

She cut that thought off abruptly, tearing off a generous portion of naan bread and using it to scoop up the remains of her curry. Once it was finished, she persuaded Nell to go to bed.

Nell protested. She hadn't eaten much for several days and the beers and wine they'd drank had gone to her head. She wanted to talk.

"C'mon Nelly-welly," Kelly wheedled. She was the only person Nell allowed to call her by the old, childish nickname. "You need sleep. And you need to work tomorrow."