Posy’s alarm blared obnoxiously from where her phone lay under her bed.
“Fuuuccckkk,” she breathed as loudly as her hangover would allow her. Eyes still closed, she swiped an arm frantically, cursing again as her wrist slammed painfully into her bedside table.
“Posy!” her father’s voice bellowed from downstairs.
“Just a minute!” Silencing her phone, Posy rolled onto her back and clutched her throbbing wrist. Ruing the multiple absinthe cocktails of the night before, she slid out of her sumptuous emperor-size bed, lowering her brightly manicured feet onto the plush rug. Padding over to the powder-pink dressing table, she rifled through the drawers, certain there were painkillers in one of them. As she fumbled, she knocked over several perfume bottles and the resulting clatter made her grip her head in agony. “Shitshitshit!” Then she caught a glimpse of her reflection and groaned. Her hair resembled a straw bush and there was mascara smeared all down her face. Plus, it felt like something had crawled into her mouth and died a violent, stinky death. With a belch, Posy wondered if it was time to accept that the party days of her early twenties where she could drink her own bodyweight in booze and emerge unscathed were rapidly diminishing. She sagged against the dressing table to fight a wave of nausea.
From the silken pile of her bedsheets, Henry’s muscular arm emerged to pull the bedcover off his face.
“Babe. So much noise,” he growled.
“Sorry darling,” she hissed, resuming her interrogation of the drawers. “Where are they?” She shuffled into the en suite, skidding on sudsy water left over from her and Henry’s sensual 3am shower. Despite the raging calamity of her hangover, Posy couldn’t stop the smile that took over her face at the memory of Henry’s trick with the showerhead. Opening the cabinet, she sighed with relief at the sight of a packet of Anadin and knocked a couple of tablets back with tap water cupped in her hand.
Henry appeared in the doorway behind her, stark naked bar his Rolex. “Your dad likes to shout in the morning.”
Posy grabbed his wrist to check the time and grimaced. “It’s lunchtime. That’ll be why he’s shouting.”
“Last night was insane.” Henry raked a tanned hand through his thick crop of wheat-blond hair. “Is Tara awake? I haven’t heard the jaws of hell creaking open yet.” When Posy elbowed him defensively, he shook his head. “Just kidding!”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll go and check on her.” Posy’s best friend had taken the spare room next to Posy’s. “And go easy on Tar – the divorce almost finished her off.”
“I was joking.” Henry lifted his hands in innocence. “She was the one giving me the third-, fourth- and fifth-degree last night.”
“That’s my Tar.” Posy had known Tara Sastri her entire life. Their mothers had been best friends, raising their families on the same street. Tara hadn’t attended Arundel however; her super-traditional, super-rich grandparents had insisted on Swiss boarding school, much to a young Posy’s dismay.
“How about you check on her then? I need to wash and head out.” Henry leaned past her to grab a towel off the rail and Posy resisted running her tongue down his rock-hard abs, knowing she’d have to drag him back to bed if she did. She had to make do with merely revelling in his woody, salty scent. But then his words hit.
“You’re not staying for brunch?” Posy jutted out her bottom lip. “You could finally meet everyone.” She’d been dating Henry for four months now and although she was happy with taking things slow, her family had begun to question whether her boyfriend actually existed.
“The mood your dad is in?” Henry said. “Not likely. I’ll creep out the back door when you go down. Next time, promise.” He tapped her bottom to usher her out. “You’d best get Tara up, hey?”
“Fine.” Wrapping a tropical kaftan around her body, Posy trudged to the room next to hers and tapped on the door. “Tar? You awake?”
A faint whimper was emitted from behind the door and Posy took that as her cue to walk in. Amongst the mass of bedding she could see an unruly wedge of dark hair, crimson lipstick smeared across the white pillows.
“Rise and shine!” Posy bounced onto the bed next to her friend. She instantly regretted it as her head spun.
“Ugh.” Tara dragged her scarlet nails through her hair and licked her lips. “Why do I let you take me on these nights out?”
“Oh, you loved it,” Posy said. “How are you doing? I feel like my blood is ninety per cent absinthe at the moment.”
“I’m too old for this—” Tara froze, eyes snapping to her Cartier watch. “Is that the time? Is that really the time? Fuck! Ben’s dropping the kids off in three hours!”
“Ah, you’ll be fine.” Posy hiccupped then flinched at the smell. “Let’s do breakfast and you’ll be right as rain.”
“POSY!” Her father’s holler echoed around the house and Tara’s bloodshot eyes widened.
“Yeah right, there’s no way I’m breaking bread with your dad right now.” Tara inelegantly rolled off the bed, wincing as her feet thudded against the floor. “Besides, you need to bring up the photography festival with him. Isn’t the admission deadline soon?”
“Oh don’t.” Posy sagged against the headboard. “I’m too hungover for that.”
“Well, you do need your dad’s money for it.” Tara found her bag and pulled out some gum. “Don’t you dare waste this opportunity because you were too busy partying.”
“I know, I’ll ask him for the money today.” Posy had blasted through her allowance quickly this month. “I’m so excited about this thing though, Tar. It could be the best thing to ever happen to me.”
“As you should be.” Tara chewed loudly. “You’re, like, the best photographer ever. Jesper pays for everything, doesn’t he? I’m sure he’ll help with something as important as this.”
“I’m sure he will.” Posy flapped a hand confidently. Her pops always invested in her.
“Henry still here?”
“Yeah, he’s going to try and sneak out though, I think.”
“Don’t blame him,” Tara muttered as she cast her eyes about for her shoes.
Posy studied her friend’s face closely. “So, what do you think of Henry?” she asked. Last night had been Tara and Henry’s first meeting, totally impromptu on Posy’s part, but it seemed like the only way to get Henry to meet the people that mattered to her was to spring it on him. He was always so busy.
“I didn’t get much chance to speak to him.” Tara’s voice was muffled as she looked under the bed. “Kinda loud in that last place.”
“He’s hot though, right?”
“Oh, yeah. He’s got that whole Adonis thing really working out for him,” Tara said. “Where’s my other shoe?”
Posy noticed Tara was avoiding her gaze. “You like him though, right?”
“Sure, he seems fine. Aha!” Tara emerged with a battered Weitzman pump.
“Just… fine?”
“Yes. Fine.” Tara jammed her foot into the shoe and reached for her bag. “Darling, we can do a full debrief when next we meet but I have to get the fuck out of here and sober up before Ben returns the kids.”
“Okay.” Posy knew when to give up. Tara’s relationship with her ex was finally almost becoming amicable and taking receipt of her kids whilst stinking of booze would not help matters. “Brunch soon?”
“Absolutely,” Tara replied, her mobile already at her ear. “Hi, can I get a cab? Ten minutes, yeah, okay, if that’s the best you can do. 15 Clifton Mews.” She hung up and belched wetly. “Christ.”
“Come on, at least grab a coffee,” Posy said encouragingly. “Get home and shower. By the time Ben drops the kids off, you’ll be fine.” With a reluctant nod, Tara allowed Posy to lead her out. At the same time Henry emerged from Posy’s room, his blond mane darkened from the shower.
“I’m going to nip off.” He indicated the rear stairway that led directly out to the back garden. “Sounds like the gang are all in the kitchen so they won’t see me.”
“Are you sure you want to sneak out?” Posy pleaded. Henry and Tara would serve as armour against the audible wrath of her father. “I know Pops sounds annoyed but seriously, he’ll be delighted to finally meet you.”
“I really have to go,” Henry said tightly. “Need to head back down to Norfolk, see my folks.”
“One of these days you’ll have to take me with you,” Posy grumbled as Henry leaned in for a farewell kiss. His family home sounded sublime, even if his elderly parents were still in residence. As much as she loved the luxurious flat he kept for work in nearby Leeds, with its minimal and masculine design, the Norfolk property was apparently the last word in taste. He was frequently back and forth between the two locations and it wasn’t uncommon for him to be away for well over a week or two at a time.
“Perhaps,” Henry murmured into her mouth. He cupped her face and stared deeply into her eyes. Posy’s breath quickened. There was very little Henry needed to do to make her body react this way.
“Well, bye then,” Tara said bluntly, shouldering her way past.
“Oh, right.” Posy stepped back from Henry. The last thing poor divorced Tara needed to see was Posy swooning all over her hot boyfriend.
“I’ll call you!” Henry whispered and he darted o...
