Always Remember

remember how that ended?”
    “No. Wanna remind me?”
    “Later, at your flat, please,” Si calls in.
    I laugh. “Yes, boss.”

Chapter Seventeen

JEN

    I hover around the back of the store, watching the clock for when I can get out of here, climb into Lexy’s car, go home, and chill in front of the television. I aimlessly sort through clothes, putting them back in style and size order on autopilot.
    “Guess what?”
    I jump, Saph’s voice in my ear scaring the living crap out of me. “Holy freaking hell, Saph!” I gasp. “Was that necessary? Really? Give a girl some warning!”
    She grins, flicking her red hair over her shoulder. “Where would the fun in that be?”
    I glare at her. “Where indeed?”
    “When do you finish?”
    A quick glance around tells me I’m alone in the kids section, so I pull my phone from my bra and check the time. “Five minutes,” I tell her, tucking my phone back away. “Why?”
    Her grin widens, her eyes crinkling in the corners. “Meet me and Lexy outside. I have news.” She winks and turns away, scooting between the aisles of clothing.
    “Oh, come on!” I yell after her, throwing my hands in the air. “You can’t just leave me hanging like that! I’m not a fur coat in your wardrobe!”
    Saph disappears around the corner, her laughter ringing out, and I move some clothes in annoyance. Damn that red headed bimbo.
    The next few minutes drag more than a chain smoker, and I ’m getting restless. What news could she have that she can’t tell me right here?
    I check my phone again. Five p.m. Time to leave.
    My mind is mulling over what Saph could possibly have to tell me as I grab my bag and head down the staff stairs to the back of the store where they’ll be waiting. Maybe she’s finally given Mitch some lover-lovin’? That’s definitely something I wanna hear about.
    Oh my god.
    “You better not be bloody pregnant!” I cry, pulling the car door open. “I swear to god, Sapphire, if you’re pregnant…”
    Lexy shrieks out a laugh, pulling away, and Saph turns in her seat. Her mouth is wide open.
    “I ’m not pregnant!” she cries, her voice an octave higher than usual. “Oh my god! How can you think that?”
    “You know,” I muse, glancing at her still open mouth. “…I have no idea with the size of your gob.”
    She reaches behind her seat and slaps my thigh. I grin, and Lexy laughs.
    “This is why you and Sam are perfect for each other,” Saph mutters, sitting back round. “Both of your minds are in the gutter.”
    “If his sister wasn ’t in the car, I’d tell you exactly how far in the gutter my mind is where Samuel is concerned.”
    “Yep, let ’s not go there,” Lexy begs. “I have no desire to know anything about their sex life.”
    I giggle to myself, and she pulls up outside Saph’s favourite wine bar. “If this involves wine, it’s serious,” I muse, climbing from the car.
    Saph smiles conspiratorially at me, her eyes twinkling. I glance at Lexy and she shrugs.
    “Don ’t ask me,” she says. “I have no idea what she wants. For once, she’s kept quiet.”
    “I ’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Saph murmurs as we take a seat at the bar. “Order drinks. You’ll need them.”
    “This sounds bad .” I sigh to myself, turning to the guy behind the bar and ordering a glass.
    “Not for you it ’s not.”
    “Then why do I need a drink?”
    “To celebrate.” Saph grins.
    Lexy frowns. “Wait, what are we celebrating? You ’re not pregnant. You clearly haven’t let Mitch into your knickers yet-”
    Saph coughs. “What is it with you guys and me and Mitch? Not gonna happen. He’s-”
    “Not your type, yada yada yada.” I open and close my hand in a talking motion. “I’m not going to listen to how Ms. Middle Class isn’t going for Mr. Working Class, so you might as well tell me why, exactly, you’ve hauled my hot ass down here in my damn work uniform.” I take a drink.
    “Heidi ’s leaving London.”
    I spit my drink over the bar. “What?”
    Lexy covers her mouth with her hand, and I shrug.
    “Sorry,” I say. “I ’m not sorry. She could have let me swallow!”
    “Oh the responses to that sentence,” Saph muses. “But yes, you heard me right. Heidi is leaving London.”
    “Why is she leaving?” Lexy asks. “I didn ’t think she was done with my brother.”
    My face hardens.
    “She doesn’t have much of a choice,” Saph twists the stem of her glass between her fingers. “She lost