Ice and a Slice Read Online Free Page A

though she would be easily deflected.
    “You’re a rubbish liar, SJ. Come on, I’m your best friend. Tell me what’s up. I might be able to help. And even if I can’t – well…” She spread her hands apart. Her fingernails were painted white with little red crosses – in honour of the England football team who were playing someone or other on Saturday.
    Another contrast, SJ thought uneasily, glancing at her own chewed nails and hiding them in her lap. Not that she’d have painted her nails with red crosses even if she’d had any to paint. Most of the black cabs sported flags sticking out at right angles. She was surprised there was no big screen in here – you couldn’t usually get away from the football when England were playing.
    “Something’s obviously wrong,” Tanya continued. “You look like you need a hug. You’re not having problems with Tom, are you?”
    SJ shook her head and put her glass back on the table – it was empty, she realised with a small shock.
    Tanya followed her gaze. “You needed that, didn’t you? You little alky…” Many a true word spoken in jest. “…Want another?”
    “NO!” SJ knew the ‘no’ had come out as a yelp. “I can’t, I’m working later. Tanya – do you think I drink too much?”
    “Sometimes maybe, but no more than anyone else I know. Why? Are you worried?”
    SJ took a deep breath. Tanya was bound to worm it out of her sooner or later and to her surprise she had a strong urge to confess. This morning’s honesty, even though she’d lied about her name, had been quite cathartic. “I’ve just been to an alcohol advisory place. I was a bit worried, that’s why I went. To put my mind at rest.”
    Tanya rested her chin on her hands and looked interested and concerned simultaneously. “And did they put your mind at rest?”
    “No, they seemed to think I was right. I am drinking too much.”
    “So what did they suggest?”
    “That I cut down.” SJ stared at her empty glass and wished she didn’t want a refill quite so badly.
    “That’s going well then.” Tanya gave her a wry smile. “Do you want to cut down?”
    “Not at this particular moment, no. What I really want to do is get absolutely blotto. I think it’s the stress. It was a shock finding out that I might have – you know – a problem.”
    “Why did you go there in the first place?”
    “Because over the weekend when Tom was away I got a bit drunk – well actually I got very drunk. And then I couldn’t remember what happened. It was awful.”
    “Oh, you poor darling.” Tanya’s voice was all concern, which made it worse. “We’ve all been there, you know. It’s the kind of thing that happens at parties. You get carried away and don’t realise how much you’ve drunk. It doesn’t mean you’re an alcoholic.”
    “I wasn’t at a party.” SJ could feel her face heating up, but now she’d started she wanted Tanya to know the whole story – well, nearly the whole story. “I was at home watching a movie. It was just a normal Sunday night.”
    “You mean you were on your own?”
    “Mmm. Are you shocked?”
    “No,” Tanya said quietly. “Of course I’m not shocked. Well, maybe a bit surprised. I knew you drank, but I didn’t know it had got out of hand. Were you upset about anything?”
    “No, I don’t think so. I just opened this bottle of wine and it was going down well, so when I finished it I opened another one. I drank most of that. I mean, I felt fine, I didn’t even feel particularly drunk until I got up to let Ash out – I’d locked him in the kitchen by mistake, poor love, and he was barking.”
    “Then what happened?”
    “I think I went to the loo and then I finished the wine – well, maybe not all of it. There was about a glass left.” She hadn’t told Kit that little snippet, she thought with a stab of guilt. That had certainly been more than a fourteen-unit night. Mind you, she’d felt too ill to drink much the following day – which