Do You Remember the First Time?

not,’ I said, promptly switching it off. ‘He’s a doctor and a Persian king, you know. Good mix.’
    He smiled. ‘Well, beats an old charity worker like me.’
    ‘Who’s old?’ I said.
    I glanced behind us into the twilight. The entire wedding party, it seemed, were out looking for us. Tashy’s gown was catching the last rays of the light of the Indian summer evening. I could see Justin in the distance. He was chasing Kathleen, Tash’s little niece, obviously restored to bridesmaiding duties in the lovely empire dress, through a meadow. Their screams of laughter reached us. I smiled at him and suddenly felt peaceful. I’d spent all this time being torn in two, between two lives, between two worlds, between two sets of people, between family and friends.
    There were two of us here. But I didn’t feel torn at all.
    ‘Fancy a little bit of hide and seek?’ I winked at him.
    ‘Yes, miss!’
    So we hid behind the tree. And he took me in his arms and I didn’t object. And then I kissed him, and was kissed, properly. Like a grown-up. Without guidance and without restraint, just with sheer, perfect, fitting-together passion, without need for talking; without even a need to think. To paraphrase the Spice Girls, a band Stanzi didn’t even remember: two became one.
    Later, for sheer naughtiness, and because it’s what teenagers do, we carved our initials on the tree. So they’ll still be therethis year, when we go back. For a special occasion of our own. That I’m hoping is going to be just as special as Olly and Tashy’s but in a very, very, very different way.
    I think I’ll stick to profiteroles.

Acknowledgements
    Ali ‘the Top’ Gunn, Lynne Drew, Maxine Hitchcock, Fiona McIntosh, Jane Harris, Martin Palmer and everyone at HarperCollins, especially the reps; Nick Marston, Tally Garner, Camilla, Carol Jackson, Stephanie Thwaites and everyone at Curtis Brown; Rachel Hore, Deborah Schneider and Emma Draude.
    Katrina, Karen, Shappi, Salty Sandra, Danuta da Rhodes, the Writer’s Blockettes, without whom this wouldn’t be half as great a job as it is; Mueller and Roni; Alex (especially for the website); Kate Rusby and John ‘the piano’s my main instrument really’ McCusker; Robin, Dominic, Michael and Mary Colgan. No thanks to Darius Danesh Management … next time we are definitely sticking with Justin Timberlake …

About the Author
    DO YOU REMEMBER THE FIRST TIME?
    Jenny Colgan was born in 1972 in Ayrshire. After Edinburgh University, she worked for six years in the health service, moonlighting as a cartoonist and stand-up comic. She is the author of four previous bestselling novels: Amanda’s Wedding , Talking to Addison , Looking for Andrew McCarthy and Working Wonders , all of which are in development for film and TV. Jenny is married, lives in London and is working on her sixth novel.

Praise
    Acclaim for Working Wonders :
    ‘Funny, magical and moving, this is a rewarding read.’
    Time Out
    ‘We laughed a lot.’
    Heat
    ‘A delicious comedy. Will melt even the hardest of hearts.’
    Red
    ‘Colgan’s witty book perfectly captures the frustrations and petty vexations of office life.’
    She
    ‘Hugely entertaining and very funny.’
    Cosmopolitan
    ‘A funny, clever page-turner.’
    Closer
    ‘Fans of The Office will love this witty tale.’
    Woman’s Own
    ‘A quirky tale of love, work and the meaning of life.’
    Company
    ‘If you think David Brent causes mayhem in The Office wait till you see what town-planner Arthur and his team get up to in Jenny Colgan’s comic romp.’
    In Style
    Looking for Andrew McCarthy :
    ‘Colgan is on top form in this, her latest outrageous romp.’
    Cosmopolitan
    ‘Jenny Colgan is one of the leaders of the pack and this, her third novel, will delight her legions of admirers. Fast-paced, funny, poignant and well-observed it reads as a pastiche of the movies she loved … If a time capsule were buried to capture the world at the turn of the 21st century, this would be a candidate for inclusion: her sense of time and place are that authentic.’
    Daily Mail
    ‘ Looking for Andrew McCarthy will strike a chord with anyone who did their growing up in the 80s. Wonderful, warm and resonant for anyone who ever wondered what happened to teenage dreams.’
    Hello
    ‘ That’s Life meets This Life , with Once in a Lifetime thrown in, all talking heads, witty one-liners and angst-ridden relationships … Did I like this book? Well, d’uh! Do hedgehogs have