Ice and a Slice Read Online Free

corners, with a landlord called Brian who was a bit grumpy but let her have the room out the back dirt cheap on the proviso she encouraged her students to drink as many pints as possible without falling over.
    Maybe she didn’t like All Bar One because she was too old, SJ thought with a pang. The place was staffed by pimply lads who didn’t look old enough to be serving and bored-looking teenage girls who made her feel about a hundred. She went to the bar, dry-mouthed and tense, and heard herself ordering two dry white wines. “Yes, that’s standard ones, please.” How had that happened? She’d meant to order Diet Coke.
    She fumbled for her purse – that damn Tampax had escaped again. Her rummaging caused it to spring to the top of her bag and poke out like some proud paper erection. Shoving it back down and ignoring the barman’s smirk, she extracted a fiver and a couple of pound coins. Thinking about it, she’d save a fortune if she only drank what she’d agreed this week. If she gave up smoking too, she’d be a millionaire. There was always a bright side, wasn’t there?
    Not that she paid for much of the wine she drank at home. Tom ordered it by the case and refilled the fridge every time it was empty. He never complained she drank too much. He only complained if she opened one of the reds he was saving for a special occasion. Expensive reds weren’t for midweek drinking. Not that she ever did drink red; she didn’t like it so much – unless she ran out of white.
    “That was good timing,” Tanya said from behind her. “Thanks – shall we find a table? Are we eating? Shall I grab a menu?”
    Handing them leather-bound menus, the ten-year-old barman stared at Tanya’s legs. Oblivious to his gaze, Tanya sashayed across the room like a catwalk model. SJ wished she had legs like Tanya’s – the women were about the same height, but while Tanya had legs to die for, hers were too thick – and hairy if she didn’t shave them constantly. The downside of having nearly black hair and olive skin – SJ wished she was red haired and glamorous like Tanya.
    High maintenance legs, like hers, were best kept covered up with jeans or leggings – although perhaps slightly less floral overload would have worked better. Nevertheless, no one should be subjected to her legs without a government health warning.
    “So what’s new?” Tanya asked, pulling out two stools at a table near a window. “You sounded a bit weird on the phone.”
    “Did I?” SJ stared at her drink. The pale liquid glowed enticingly in reflected sunlight. Never had it looked so much like nectar but, inexplicably, she was scared to take a sip.
    “Yes, you did. Are you all right? Come on. Give. What have you been up to? Is it work?”
    SJ looked into Tanya’s concerned green eyes and frowned. She thought she’d hidden her feelings better than that. She had no intention of telling Tanya where she’d just been. Already, the shame of her appointment was sliding into the past. She’d just go there for a few more sessions, get some tips on how to cut down and then, with luck, she’d be sorted and there’d be no need to tell anybody – ever. She took a sip of her drink and glanced around. There was no one at any of the nearby tables. Perhaps people didn’t go out for lunch on Tuesday lunchtimes. And this place was huge anyway. Even if they’d been busy, you could have a perfectly private conversation without anyone overhearing.
    “I’m fine, work’s fine. Only another couple of weeks and the summer is mine – well, apart from ‘Poetry and a Pint’ of course, but that’s a walk in the park compared to Macbeth and Wuthering Heights. Everything’s cool.”
    She stretched her hands above her head to demonstrate just how utterly cool everything was and narrowly avoided falling off her stool, which was designed for perching on and looking good, but not relaxing.
    But Tanya, who was one of the most perceptive people she knew, didn’t look as