Shadow Girl Read Free Page B

to tell me, I know you’ve flipped your lid if you’re giving Paris a miss.’
    â€˜Ha ha, funny,’ replies Sandra, without a trace of mirth on her face. ‘My mind is keen as ever, thanks for your concern. No, Tou-louse. That’s the name of a city in the south.’
    â€˜I knew that. Do you think I’ve never ventured south of the river Seine? You are looking at a well-travelled, spirited young lover of les arts , my friend, don’t you forget it. I’ve been to every single corner of the Old World. Everywhere artists poked in their dripping brushes.’
    â€˜I’m in no danger of forgetting that.’
    â€˜One day I’ll manage to convince you there’s more to life than business.’
    Sandra gives an audible sigh.
    â€˜Remind me again how on earth we became friends?’
    â€˜That’s an easy one. That’s because I saved you from that tiger snake on the Norman Lindsay estate, way back. And rescued you from those hordes of half-baked male students who were drooling all over you at uni. Don’t even ask me what I had to do in the campus showers to keep them off your scent — though it was far from unpleasant.’
    â€˜I don’t want to hear about it, thanks.’
    A smirk alights on Jenny’s lips.
    â€˜I know you, Sandra. Better than you think. I know you’re really looking for something else.’
    Sandra rolls her eyes to the sky.
    â€˜Yes, deep down, if you break past the hard shell of your discipline, past the armoured layers of your work ethic, there is a bit of you that is fascinated by my bohemian ways, my spontaneity, my love of the bizarre and the unexpected. And my outrageously sexy demeanour.’ Jenny tosses her ample head of dark hair to one side of her face in a mock seductive move. ‘Admit it!’
    â€˜Mm . . . We were talking about Toulouse, I think.’
    â€˜See? Evasive action again. That’s typical of a deeply held and deeply repressed desire for the opposite of what you think you are.’
    â€˜That does not make any sense at all.’
    â€˜Oh but it does. You need to loosen up, Sandra. You need more yin in your life.’
    â€˜More yin?’
    â€˜Yes. Forgive me for being blunt, but you’ve got too much yang. Look, I don’t want to sound like a bloody relationship expert, which I’m not — my love life is far too messy for that . . .’
    â€˜It is, Ms. Flutter-my-lashes-at-the-first-sight-of-a-manly-chin.’
    â€˜Hey, I’m not that desperate you know. But I’ll let that pass because luckily for you, I have your welfare at heart. As I was about to say, you’re not going to get anywhere on the emotional front unless you find someone a bit more . . . substantial.’
    â€˜Substantial?’
    â€˜Yes. More meaty. More assertive. With more yang.’
    â€˜And can I deduce from that shining piece of advice that you do not think Mark and I are well suited?’
    Jenny’s eyes fill with pity.
    â€˜Don’t get me wrong, Sandra. Mark’s a nice guy.’
    â€˜He is.’
    â€˜And you’ve been together a while, so you’ve got some history.’
    â€˜We have.’
    â€˜But do you feel fulfilled? Truly content?’
    Sandra stares at the gull that has landed on the potted shrub next to their table. She is looking hard at its beak, as if the answer was written on an invisible post-it note stuck to its tip.
    â€˜He is very . . . comfortable.’
    â€˜Comfortable! Come on, Sandra! You’re no older than twenty-five if we believe that test, and you look much younger without your make-up. You cannot seriously be settling for comfortable. You’ve got your whole exciting life ahead of you!’
    â€˜The affairs of the heart take time. They’ve got this way of sucking up most of your energy. And your thinking time. I can see how it works for you.’
    â€˜For me? That’s a bit