Chasing Daisy

either, for that matter,’ he adds as a taxi pulls up.
    ‘No, I know you don’t.’ I look at him and smile. ‘You’d give me just as much grief if I was a goddamn princess.’
    ‘Probably more,’ he replies and I laugh as he opens the door for me. I climb in as he tells the driver where to take me and hands him some money.
    ‘You don’t have to do that,’ I call through to the front window at Luis.
    ‘ Va se lixar ,’ he shouts back with a grin. The driver puts up the window and pulls away.
    Holly’s face is red and puffy when I get back to the hotel. She looks like she’s been sobbing her heart out into her pillow and there’s a pile of snotty tissues next to her to prove it.
    ‘What’s wrong?’ I ask with alarm, rushing to her side. She sits up on the bed and draws me in for a hug as she cries into my hair. I let her carry on for a while before I gently pull away. ‘Tell me what’s wrong?’
    ‘He said they didn’t sleep together anymore.’
    ‘Who? Simon?’
    ‘And. . . that witchy bitch!’
    I take it she’s talking about Catalina.
    ‘And do they?’ I ask, tentatively.
    ‘SHE’S PREGNANT!’ Holly starts to wail.
    ‘Oh, Jesus,’ I murmur, although I’m not surprised something like this has happened. I put my arms around her and hug her tightly, half as a comforting gesture, half-hoping to muffle the sound of her sobs. It may be a pricey hotel, but the walls are so thin I heard our neighbours sneeze earlier.
    ‘I swear she did it on purpose. She must’ve suspected something was up,’ she says fervently. ‘She’s trying to trick him into staying with her, I’m sure of it.’
    ‘Does he even want children?’ I ask.
    ‘I don’t know! We’ve never talked about it. I kind of got the impression he was past all that, although I’m sure I could have persuaded him if I’d wanted to.’
    A wave of compassion passes through me. The fact that she was even thinking that she might one day be in a position to have children with Simon . . . Well, she’s more deluded than I thought, and I don’t mean that in a nasty way.
    ‘What are you going to do?’ I ask. ‘Has he called it off with you?’
    ‘No.’ She shakes her head.
    ‘Have you called it off with him?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘But you will, right?’ I frown at her.
    ‘I don’t know! Daisy, don’t look at me like that! I don’t know what I’m doing yet!’
    I back right off. It was bad enough when he was married, but now his wife is pregnant . . .
    His witchy, bitchy wife for that matter. But no, I still don’t approve. Yet Holly is my friend, and I need to be there for her.
    ‘So that’s why Catalina wouldn’t eat any of Simon’s prawn starter. You’re not allowed to eat shellfish when you’re pregnant, are you?’
    ‘What are you going on about?’ Holly looks confused.
    ‘Oh . . .’ I forgot she didn’t know I’d been out with them. I explain. ‘Luis took me for lunch with the sponsors and Catalina was there. Ooh, she was such a bitch!’
    ‘Was she?’ Holly perks up.
    ‘Yes.’ I tell her what she said to me and then hesitate before remembering Luis’s words about my lack of honesty. ‘Actually, Holly, there’s something else I haven’t told you.’
    ‘Oh, really?’ She looks intrigued.
    ‘It’s about my family.’
    ‘Right. . .’
    I sigh and spill the beans. Several ‘Oh my Gods’ and ‘Holy shits’ later, I finally get to the story about my dad being a shareholder in Norm’s company. Holly claps her hand over her mouth at the start, but is squealing with hilarity by the end. Surely it’s only a matter of time before the people in the next room complain.
    ‘How did Luis know about your family?’ she asks when she’s finally calmed down.
    Do I really have the energy for all of this today? No, but what the hell . . . I take a deep breath and tell her about Johnny. Nothing that would break the terms of my confidentially agreement, just the bare basics, that I worked for him and, yes, that I fell in love with him. I know my secret is safe with her.
    She’s dumbfounded by the end of my story. She shakes her head at me with awe. ‘God, you really are full of surprises. How did you keep all that to yourself?’
    ‘With difficulty.’
    She pulls a face. ‘And Luis knows everything?’
    I nod.
    ‘And he didn’t say anything to anyone?’
    ‘No. I’m telling you, he’s not a gossip. I trust him.’
    ‘You’ve said that to me before. And why is it you don’t want to get into his