AFTER CHIPPING IN WITH a little vegetable peeling, I ducked outside alone and called Poppy. I confided about my relationship progress with Sean, then asked her if Peter had returned—he had, but left when Poppy threatened to call the police, for which I apologised profusely. She let slip the mobile phone and the blue underwear I sported had been gifts from Sean, before her parting words told me I really owed my sister a phone call.
The call to Jess took longer than necessary, mostly due to the amount of times she stopped me mid-sentence to tell me how she always knew Peter was an arsehole, and a d**k, and a whole other heap of colourful adjectives. Of course, she wanted to know exactly what I’d done since leaving. I told her everything, including Nathan’s history lesson with a solemn pledg
