Coco Pinchard's Big Fat Tipsy Wedding: A Funny Feel-Good Romantic Comedy Read Free Page A

had a bottle of whisky open.
    ‘Since when do you like Enya and Johnny Walker?’ I shouted sitting opposite him.
    ‘Since I need to relax,’ he shouted back.
    ‘Well, can you turn Sail Away off?’ I yelled reaching for the remote. I flicked it off and the silence descended.
    ‘It’s called Orinoco Flow , actually,’ he snapped. I noticed sweat was beading on his forehead, even though the flat was chilly.
    ‘Are you alright?’ I said.
    ‘Yes, yes… Just work stuff.’
    ‘Are you sure? You seem shaken up.’
    ‘I’m fine. Tell me about your day,’ he said.
    ‘Well, if you’d read any of my messages, you’d know all about it.’
    ‘Um… I was busy.’ I told him all about the meeting with Angie and the award. He seemed to relax a little, until I said we had been invited to go to New York on Thursday.
    ‘I can’t go,’ he said instantly.
    ‘Why not?’
    ‘I’d love to, but I can’t. I can’t take time off work.’
    ‘You took last Friday off to come to the garden centre with me,’ I said.
    ‘Exactly.’
    ‘What do you mean exactly? You’re the boss of the department you can take a day and half off,’ there was a pause.
    ‘No, I can’t, I really can’t,’ he said. I got up, sat beside him, and began to massage his shoulders.
      ‘It’s a free weekend in New York. First class flights, five star hotel, big double bed… Stop being silly and get your passport.’
    ‘Why do you want my passport?’ he said shaking me off.
    ‘How else can Angie book the flights? She needs the passport numbers.’
    ‘Look Coco… Why don’t you go home and I’ll take a shower and come over in an hour or so.’
    ‘Are you sure everything is okay?’ I said.
    ‘It’s just work… they’ve announced redundancies today.’  
    ‘Oh my god. Are you?’
    ‘No! Not me, but I have to make people redundant this week, people with mortgages, families. It’s got me in a state. Look go home and I’ll be over in a bit.’
    I agreed and came home, troubled.  
    A couple of hours later I was dozing off in front of the television when a hand felt its way under my t-shirt. I almost had kittens.
    ‘Hel-lo,’ whispered Adam drunkenly in my ear. He was crouched beside the sofa stark naked, and fumbling with a condom wrapper.  
    ‘What are you doing?’ I gulped, trying to get my breath back.
    ‘Ravishing you,’ he grinned leaning in for a kiss. He’d showered but his breath still smelt of booze.
      ‘I thought you were a murderer!’
    ‘How about a rapist !’ he joked, hooking his thumb under my pyjama trousers.
    ‘Not funny!’ I said pushing him away.
    ‘Jeez Coco. I'm trying to lighten the mood.’
    ‘Scaring the hell out of me, then cracking a rape joke?’ I said. He was still fumbling with the condom wrapper. ‘Adam. Do I look like I'm in the mood?’  
    ‘Coco I'm being myself,’ he slurred.
    ‘No. You’re being weird.’
    ‘I am a bit weird,’ he said earnestly. ‘I am… Do you love me?’ His beautiful caramel eyes searched my face, he looked so, vulnerable.
    ‘Of course I love you,’ I said. I pulled a rug over us and he snuggled up with his head on my shoulder, and closed his eyes.
    ‘I just need to know you love me for who I am,’ he said.
    ‘I love you more than you know,’ I said. ‘I think this trip to New York could be the perfect antidote to horrible work stuff.’
    ‘Jeez Coco,’ he said jumping up and pulling on a pair of trackies.
    ‘What now?’ I said. ‘You're sending mixed messages!’  
    ‘Am I?’ he said pulling on a t-shirt. ‘Well, here's a message. I'm going home.’ He stalked off through the kitchen and out of the back door, locking it behind him. I listened for a long time to the silence, the creaks of the house. He didn't come back.
      When I went upstairs to bed, I passed Rosencrantz's empty bedroom. I stopped in the doorway, the moonlight shining a bright oblong on the dark carpet.
    What do you think it is with Adam? Is he getting cold feet? He