“Ed!” Tess sounded surprised.

“Hi Tess, everyone this is Lucy, we met at a book signing in the city last month and we have been out quite a bit, she feels she is now ready to meet you mad bunch now.”

“You speak for yourself,” Jay gave him a huge grin, he knew how much Ed had longed for a girlfriend and his love for Tess had kept a restraint on him that was until he had blurted out how he felt.  Tess had fallen out with him for a while but couldn’t be angry with him for too long.

Lucy looked a little nervous, “Hello everyone nice to meet you all,”  Each one introduced themselves and the evening became a very good night and a very late night.

Frankie woke the next morning with a hangover from hell, she could hear Ali in the shower,  ” Morning grumpy,” Ali emerged out of the ensuite 5 minutes later, “how’s the head?”

“Awww shit what hit me last night?”  Frankie rolled over and stared bleary eyed at Ali.

“A Truck I think.”

“Fucking feels like it,” Frankie sat up and swung her legs over the bed, she saunted to the shower and stood under the hot water allowing it to revive her.

” I’m starving, what do you want for breakfast? I’m not having the hotel breakfast this morning it’s shit.  I know a great little place in the city centre.  The drive in will clear your head.

“Whatever you want I just feel like shit.”

Ali chatted as they drove, drink seemed to have very little effect on her at all.  “So Cat was the girl you ran away from all those years ago? nice girl, looks abit like me doesn’t she? Is that why you liked me Frankie because I remind you of Cat?” Ali glanced at her.

“No, no it wasn’t,” Frankie had her eyes shut.  Ali  could feel a seed of doubt inside her but pushed it away in the hope Frankie was telling the truth.

“So Ed has a woman at last,” Cat was grinning, “about time too, I kept telling him to forget Tess but he was convinced he could change her.”

“Seems a nice girl, shy but nice, Ed is happy so that’s all that matters,” Sam lay staring at the ceiling, she had seen the way Frankie had been looking at Cat over the course of the night and seen the amount Frankie had been drinking and the fuss she was making of Ali, all the time she was looking at Cat’s reaction.  Sam wasn’t sure if Cat had noticed and didn’t say anything to her about it when they got home.  Both had been fairly drunk but not as bad as Frankie had been.