Five Go Glamping Read Free Page A

eyes. ‘It’s supposed to make you feel calm. I told her the only bells that actually makes you feel calm is the whisky. But wine is much nicer. Cheers. Hey, you know what? Stroking cats is supposed to make you calm and happy.’
    ‘Well, Doris at work isn’t calm and happy. Quite the opposite in fact. She’s always miserable. She only has three so she’s not full mad cat lady. It’s definitely four for that. And I have four on my mug and Doris only has three on hers and I barely see Connor so I might as well be single.’
    ‘It’s not that bad, is it? Have you two been arguing again?’ said Steph with her eyebrows raised, looking concerned.
    ‘Oh I don’t know, Steph. I haven’t really seen him to have an argument with him!’ I said and slumped down. ‘It all seems like such hard work, you know?’
    ‘I know,’ said Steph. ‘Maybe it’s time to change your plan then?’
    Even though I had considered it earlier, I now bristled at the thought of it.
    ‘Hmm,’ I said ‘I’m not sure.’ I had spent so long saving, and all those Saturdays at work would be for nothing. I didn’t want to give up on my dreams now. I’d only have to do Doris’s job for a few years. I could still leave long before I became a cat lady.
    Steph rolled her eyes. ‘What’s the point in having a plan if it doesn’t make you happy? And what’s the point of a boyfriend you never see? Honestly Fi, he ought to be making a bit of an effort.’
    ‘He said he won’t be so busy once summer is over. There won’t be so many festivals and events and I’ll see him more.’ This was one of things I was hanging onto; once the festivals and the summer parties were over, he’d be back to working less brutal hours, and things would be back to normal. This is what I hoped for anyway.
    ‘It kind of is the end of summer,’ said Steph, delivering a crushing blow as I realised it was almost September and I had spent barely any time with Connor. No summer picnics, no strolls in the park, no weekends away, holidays or days out on the beach. No time to stop all the planning and to just
be
for a little while.
    ‘I feel like I’ve missed it,’ I said.
    ‘I know what you mean, I am so tired. I could do with a holiday,’ said Steph, sighing. Steph had not taken any holiday since Christmas, she’d been working so hard trying to win accounts which would get her a promotion. She worked ten-hour days but at least she was doing what she wanted and was successful. But it was taking its toll on her – she looked a little dark around the eyes, as though she’d not slept for weeks.
    With both of us now feeling really miserable, we did the only thing to do in this situations; we checked in with Facebook, tagged each other and uploaded smiling selfies of ourselves ‘feeling happy’ while we waited for Sinead to arrive.
    ‘Seriously though, Fi, are you happy?’
    I thought about her question for a moment, and was relieved when Sinead arrived so I didn’t have to answer.
    Steph sniffed her to check for patchouli in case she’d gone full hippy.
    ‘Good, no patchouli, you may still be my friend,’ she teased while pouring her a glass of wine.
    ‘Clear off, Steph.’ Sinead gave her a gentle shove. ‘What’s going on?’
    ‘Connor let Fiona down again last night and now Fiona is getting a cat. Four cats, actually.’
    ‘Oh, no, again? Very calming, and pets are also good for moving the energy around. Very good feng shui,’ said Sinead. ‘Plus, nice company, you know, if you’re lonely?’
    ‘I’m not getting a sodding cat! And I am not lonely. I don’t think.’ I winced.
    Sinead had managed to hit a nerve while simultaneously hitting the nail on the head.
    ‘She doesn’t need her feng shui sorting out,’ Steph started to laugh. ‘What she needs is to
be
sorted out. What she needs is a good sh-’
    ‘Steph!’ Sinead and I shouted at her.
    ‘What? I was going to say Chardonnay! Ha. Christ knows I do. I haven’t been on a date in