MADE IN ESSEX Read online

  ‘You’ll love her,’ the woman said, with a twinkling smile. ‘They’re such good company; all they want is to be fed, watered and loved. My three sit on my lap all day.’

  Lisa was so happy she’d found her perfect Chihuahua. She was long haired and chocolate coloured and literally the smallest dog she’d ever held. There were two to choose from; a boy and a girl. The girl was smaller and had seemed to take a shine to her, so there was no doubt she was choosing the right one. She had also bought lots of pink things for when the dog arrived, so she didn’t really have much choice anyway.

  She had been ecstatic when her parents had finally agreed to let her get one. Since she’d split up with her fiancé, Jake, eight months ago, she hadn’t been herself. The guilt of cheating on Jake on holiday had been too much to bear and eventually she had admitted it to him. Ever since the day she had confessed to him, she hadn’t heard a word. One of his friends had texted her, asking to meet so he could give her some clothes she’d left at Jake’s and get some of his bits from her, but apart from that, there was nothing. Lisa had tried to send him messages at the beginning, but he’d just ignored her. Who could blame him? She was surprised she hadn’t seen him around and could never go out without searching the bar or club for his familiar face. She knew her parents just wanted to see her happy again, and if a dog was the very thing to do that, then so be it.

  Lisa had decided to get Jade and Kelly to look after the dog in the daytime when she was at work. Seeing as their business, Vajazzle My Bikini, was home-based, it wouldn’t be any trouble for them to dog-sit. They would be so excited about her new puppy, she just knew it. Kelly’s mum had a Chihuahua, Lord McButterpants, and they all adored him; now Jade and Kelly had their very own gorgeous puppy as their mascot. Lisa thought they were so lucky working together and their business was such a good idea. She couldn’t wait until they started making the swimwear so she could get some for her next holiday.

  ‘What are you going to call her?’ the lady questioned.

  ‘I think I’m going to call her Cupcake,’ Lisa said, her heart melting as she stared into the dog’s little coal-coloured eyes.

  ‘I can tell she’s going to be spoilt rotten,’ the woman said with an easy smile.

  ‘Most definitely.’

  Lisa could tell that the lady found it difficult letting the puppy go. She could see why though. Who wouldn’t get attached to this cute little thing? She placed her in the new pink dog bag she’d purchased, on the soft white blanket, and put the dog on the floor on the passenger side of her car. Cupcake sniffed around inquisitively, and Lisa felt guilty as the dog began to shake and cry when she pulled away.

  ‘There, there,’ Lisa soothed in soft tones, ‘now stop that crying. You’re going to be just fine, I promise. I love you lots already.’

  She couldn’t stop looking at her new pet the whole journey back. She even got beeped by another car because the traffic lights turned green and she hadn’t noticed, being too engrossed with Cupcake. Just looking at her and stroking her silky fur made her smile. She was the most beautiful dog in the world and she couldn’t wait for Jade and Kelly to meet her. They’d be so happy that they’d get to look after her every day! How lucky they were, Lisa thought.

  Her parents had agreed to dog-sit tonight because Lisa had a date. Now she’d found her perfect pet though, she actually felt like cancelling and spending the night with Cupcake. It’s too late to drop out now, she told herself, she’d agreed to this date and she’d have to go. If only she could remember exactly what he looked like? She’d met Alex in London after work one night, but had been quite tipsy when they’d exchanged numbers. Hopefully he’s as nice as I remember, she thought. Lisa had lost count of the amount of times she’d given her number to men and agreed to meet them – only to be greeted by someone she didn’t find one bit attractive. She was learning that alcohol, dark bars and clubs were definitely not a good mixture when it came to dating. It was so much fun though, and getting to meet new people all the time was exciting. She had no one else to worry about apart from herself. It was a weird feeling at first, but one she was really enjoying. She couldn’t believe she had really thought at one point in her life that Jake was the one. She’d have missed out on so much!

  She was so happy since her friend, Nicola, had joined the television company she worked for. She, too, was single and lived in Essex and they had hit it off straight away, often having to work together on projects and new TV shows. They were always out after work meeting new men and Nicola had just asked her earlier that day to move into her new flat. After picturing how much fun they would have together, Lisa had known she couldn’t say no and she was planning on telling Nicola her answer on Monday morning.

  She dialled Jade on her car phone. She wanted to show off Cupcake as soon as possible. Getting the dog had been a slight spur of the moment thing after her parents had finally agreed, and she’d seen the advert online only yesterday. The girls had no idea about it.

  ‘Hi Lisa,’ Jade answered in her friendly voice.

  ‘Hi babe. Where are you at the moment? At home?’

  ‘Yeah. Me and Kelly are just doing a bit of work before our meeting in an hour. Why?’

  ‘Just wanted to check you were in. I have a surprise for you both.’

  ‘Really?’ Jade replied excitedly and Lisa could tell she was smiling.

  ‘Yep. Will see you in five.’

  Not long after, Lisa was standing on Jade’s front doorstep with Cupcake safely in the bag, which was half zipped up so the girls couldn’t see straight away.

  ‘Hi, come in,’ Jade said as she answered the door, not noticing the bag.

  Lisa followed her upstairs to the office where Kelly was sitting.

  ‘You alright, hun?’ Kelly smiled fondly when she walked in.

  Lisa looked around the office and couldn’t believe the transformation. ‘Wow. Love what you’ve done in here, girls.’

  ‘It was Kelly,’ Jade nodded in her direction.

  ‘I’d never have guessed,’ Lisa smiled warmly.

  ‘Come on then, what’s the surprise?’ Kelly beamed.

  No sooner had she asked, Cupcake started to cry, unfamiliar with her new surroundings.

  ‘Oh my God. What’s that in your bag?’ Kelly asked eagerly, standing up.

  ‘Girls,’ Lisa pulled the puppy out of her bag, ‘meet Cupcake.’

  ‘Oh she’s gorgeous!’ Jade said in shock, her voice high pitched as she moved nearer to stroke the dog.

  ‘Oh. My. God. Shut up! I’m in love! Where did you get her? Please say she’s yours? She is beauts!’ Kelly practically grabbed her out of Lisa’s hands.

  ‘My mum and dad finally agreed to let me get a dog!’ Lisa said happily, ‘which is quite strange actually, because I’ve just decided to move in with Nicola.’

  ‘What? Where to? It better not be anywhere far away?’ Jade asked quickly, slightly worried.

  ‘It’s not. Nicola has bought a flat in Chigwell and it has a spare room I’m going to rent.’

  ‘Hello, gorgeous little girl,’ Kelly was saying in a squeaky baby voice as she stroked the dog lovingly.

  ‘She’s so cute!’ Jade said, tickling her behind her ears, ‘let me have a hold.’

  ‘So when are you moving?’ Kelly said, passing the dog reluctantly to Jade.

  ‘Well I think Nicola is moving in straight away. So I suppose I can go as soon as I want. I haven’t even told my parents yet, but I’m sure they’ll be fine about it. She only asked me today and I’ve decided to definitely do it.’

  ‘What’s the flat like?’ Jade enquired, her eyes remaining firmly on the puppy.

  ‘I don’t even know yet. I think it’s meant to be quite big though. Nic’s bought it and I’ll be paying her rent each month.’

  ‘That’s great,’ Kelly said before she turned back to look at the dog, ‘you can have a moving-in party. Jade, let me hold Cupcake again please.’

  ‘You two won’t need to fight over her, don’
t worry,’ Lisa grinned wryly. ‘I thought you two could dog-sit during the day when I’m at work, seeing as you’ll both be working from home. What do you think?’

  Jade and Kelly looked at each other.

  ‘I think yes!’ Kelly almost screamed. ‘You don’t understand how much I’m going to spoil her. There is this amazing dog’s boutique down Queens Road in Buckhurst Hill. We can get her some gorgeous little Juicy Couture outfits and diamanté collars.’ She looked at the dog and put on her baby voice again, ‘You’re going to make all the other dogs jell, aren’t you, Cupcake? In fact, I’m going to call her Princess Cupcake. She’s far too important to just have one name.’

  ‘Will she be okay here all day do you think?’ Jade asked, slightly concerned. ‘Won’t she get bored?’

  Lisa waved her hand casually. ‘She’ll be fine. All they do is sleep and sit on your lap the lady said. Apparently they’re really easy to house train too, so she’ll be clean in no time. Oh, I’m so glad you’ll have her. I didn’t know what to do otherwise!’

  Kelly hugged the dog to her chest. ‘Babe, we’re going to love having her all day, aren’t we Jade? I’ll dog-sit anytime! Can’t believe how amazing she is!’

  ‘Thanks. I can’t stay long,’ Lisa explained, ‘I have a date tonight.’

  ‘With the same bloke you went out with the other night? James?’ Jade asked.

  Lisa looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully and then finally answered ‘James? Oh no, not him. I’ve gone off him since he turned up to the date bright orange.’

  ‘What?’ Jade cried.

  ‘He’d clearly had a spray tan,’ Lisa shook her head remembering it, ‘and not a very good one either.’

  ‘Lisa, there’s nothing wrong with a man having a healthy-looking glow with the help of fake tan,’ Kelly chipped in. ‘Do you have his number? I’ll text him to come to me next time.’

  ‘Trust me. He was the colour of a tangerine and he was wearing a white shirt that made it look even worse!’ Lisa exclaimed, closing her eyes as if trying to block out the memory.

  They laughed.

  Lisa continued. ‘I’m going on a date with this guy called Alex, and for once he’s not from Essex. He lives in Hertfordshire and I met him in London.’

  ‘What’s he like?’ Jade enquired.

  Lisa exhaled. ‘That’s the problem. I’m not too sure. He’s got dark hair and blue eyes … or were they brown?’

  ‘Well, good luck with him,’ Kelly said kindly. ‘What are you doing tomorrow?’

  ‘Nothing,’ Lisa replied, ‘why?’

  Kelly’s eyes gleamed with excitement. ‘We’ve a hundred per cent got to go shopping for Princess Cupcake.’

  ‘We’ve got a meeting with Tony tomorrow, remember?’ Jade reminded Kelly.

  Kelly scrunched up her nose. ‘Oh yeah. What time?’

  Jade looked through her red notebook. ‘Five o’clock. I suppose we have plenty of time then to go shopping and for lunch. Deffo count me in.’

  ‘Ah thanks girls! This is going to be so much fun,’ Lisa smiled. ‘Right, I’d better go then.’

  ‘Good luck with Alex,’ Jade said.

  ‘Thanks.’ Lisa opened the dog bag and turned to Kelly. ‘Okay Kelly, hand Cupcake back now.’

  Kelly didn’t move or even acknowledge she’d heard.

  Lisa repeated herself, her voice louder. ‘Kelly, hand me back the dog please.’

  There was still no response.

  Lisa took a deep breath. ‘Kelly! You can see her tomorrow. Give her back!’

  Kelly handed her back with a sulky pout. ‘Okay, okay, fine.’ Then she looked thoughtful for a minute. ‘It’s lucky you got a girl actually. I remember Lord McButterpants used to hump everything in sight until we had him circumcised, especially my cream Ugg boots.’

  Jade and Lisa burst into laughter.

  ‘Kelly, do you mean castrated? It’s only people that get circumcised, silly! Not animals!’

  Kelly grinned, before laughing with them. ‘Oh come on, you know what I mean.’

  *

  The following day, the girls were walking down Queens Road, with Cupcake securely in the pink bag over Kelly’s shoulder.

  ‘Make sure you don’t trip over and drop her in those shoes,’ Lisa said, concerned by Kelly’s four-inch black Jimmy Choo heels, which she was wearing with shiny black skinny jeans and a black peplum top with a diamanté collar.

  ‘Stop worrying. I would never fall over,’ Kelly said confidently, jutting her chin skywards. ‘I’ve been wearing heels since I was about seven.’

  ‘I doubt it,’ Jade frowned.

  Kelly turned to her sharply, appalled that it was being questioned. ‘Yes I have, actually. I had black patent Kickers remember? They were big thick heels. We were in Mrs Horne’s class, so we were seven.’

  ‘Oh my God, so you were,’ Jade remembered, shaking her head in disbelief.

  ‘I might get a blow dry while we’re down here too,’ Kelly announced, as they passed a blow dry bar.

  ‘Going somewhere tonight?’ Lisa asked.

  ‘Me and Bill are going to go for a nice meal somewhere. I always like to look nice for him. I’ve had a spray tan as well,’ Kelly explained as she looked down at her bronzed arms.

  Jade glanced at Kelly, who looked tanned, as she always did. Jade didn’t even know Kelly’s natural colour at all anymore; she never went out without a bit of fake tan and though Jade hated to admit it, neither did she nowadays. At Jade’s uni, in Bath, it had been a different story. Jade wasn’t even sure if she had owned any fake tan for the three years she was there.

  ‘What about you, Jade?’ Lisa asked.

  ‘Just going to the cinema with Sam. How did your date with Alex go, by the way?’

  ‘Mmm … he was okay,’ Lisa said thoughtfully. ‘I haven’t fallen head over heels for him or anything. He’s nice, but I really wasn’t keen on his shoes.’

  Jade and Kelly laughed heartily.

  ‘You can’t not like someone because of their shoes!’ Jade exclaimed. Lisa was so fussy, she thought, but as she glanced at her, with her beautiful shiny long dark hair, slender legs and striking coffee-coloured eyes, Jade realised she could afford to be.

  ‘Well I didn’t really like his shirt either. It was far too baggy and didn’t do him any justice,’ Lisa told them before stopping. ‘Right girls, here it is up here on the right. Puppy Kit Pet Couture.’

  ‘Oh my God. Is that an actual four-poster bed for a dog in the window?’ Jade asked, completely astounded by what she was seeing. How had she never spotted this shop before? It was madness! As they walked in, Jade was mesmerised. There were dog coats, jackets, t-shirts, dresses, skirts, fancy dress costumes. There was even dog perfume! They were surrounded by everything you could ever need for your pet and more.

  ‘Hi girls,’ the lady that worked there greeted them, ‘awww … let me have a look at her,’ she said as she approached them and spotted Cupcake poking her tiny head out of the bag.

  As the lady chatted to Kelly and Lisa, Jade walked around the shop, amazed at some of the things she was seeing. She picked up a gorgeous Swarovski collar and bracelet set, thinking Cupcake would look adorable in it, and then reeled in shock at the £150 price tag. This one is better, she thought, picking up a little white one with pink crystals, which was only £17.95. As Jade browsed through the adorable little dresses, picking up some as she went, she froze. She could hear a girl talking loudly behind her to the lady at the till. How did she know that voice?

  ‘Jade?’ the husky voice said, sending shivers down her spine.

  She turned around, to be confronted with her worst nightmare. It was Adele. Memories of Marbella last year came flooding back to her. Not only had Adele, who was Sam’s ex-girlfriend, tried to keep them apart by telling lies about Jade and snogging Sam right in front of her face, but she had also stolen their bag of sequins and jewels from the market and put them on her own bikini! She’d denied it of course, but Jade and Kelly knew the truth. She
was just a complete bitch and Jade had hoped she’d never see her again. She had spotted her once since Marbella down Loughton High Street, but she had hid in a shop until she had gone. There was nowhere to escape in here.

  ‘Oh, hi Adele,’ she said, about to turn back round to the shelves of clothing. The last thing she wanted was to actually have a conversation with her.

  To Jade’s surprise, Adele practically jumped on her, kissing her cheek. ‘Oh my God, I haven’t seen you for ages! How are you, hun? Who are you with? Oh my God, shut up! It’s Kelly. Kelly!’ she shouted, flapping up and down and interrupting Kelly’s conversation with Lisa and the shop assistant.

  Kelly’s face dropped and she waved unenthusiastically, looking like she’d seen a ghost.

  ‘Come over here, babe!’ Adele signalled, a huge grin plastered on her face.

  Kelly said something to Lisa, who looked over, and they made their way to where Jade and Adele were standing.

  Adele grabbed Kelly as soon as she was within reach, hugging her tightly. Jade had to stifle a laugh as she watched Kelly’s terrified face.

  ‘Hi Adele,’ she said, trying to pull back from her forceful embrace.

  ‘How are you, babe? Can’t believe how long it’s been! I’ve been hoping to bump into you two for ages.’

  ‘I’m good thanks,’ Kelly replied, taking another step back. ‘This is Lisa by the way; I don’t think you met her in Marbella?’

  ‘No,’ Adele shook her head, ‘I do recognise you from Marbs though. I saw you with Jade and Kelly a few times. Hi, hun.’

  ‘Hi,’ Lisa nodded, looking bored. She knew all about Adele and how much of a cow she was.

  ‘Oh my God! Your dog is amazing!’ Adele roughly put her hand through the opening of the bag to stroke Cupcake, who cowered and hid further into the safety of the blanket. ‘What a lovely Chihuahua.’

  ‘Thanks,’ Lisa replied, looking at her watch.

  ‘I’m buying a miniature Yorkshire Terrier, so just getting some little bits for him now. He’s completely adorable. Costing my dad a fortune because he’s like, from the best breeders ever. Think his dad was a winner at Crufts and everything. Over one and a half grand he is. Oh well, it’s worth it, isn’t it babe?’ she said to Lisa, as though they understood each other because they both had dogs. ‘What’s she called?’