Title is a work in progress!

Here is the first 3000 words of my new book.

It is just the first draft and there is a lot more to come but I would love to get your opinion. Thanks :)

Prologue

I logged into Facebook dreading the pictures from the summer ball; an un-tagging spree was inevitable. Five notifications popped up.

Cora Jeffries has tagged you in 29 photos.

Bethanie Stevens has tagged you in 58 photos.

Jack Lightman wants to be your friend!

Cora Jeffries posted a link on your wall.

Steve Carts has poked you!

Urgh, why can’t creepy Steve leave me alone?

I scrolled down my news feed seeing hundreds of summer ball photos. Everyone had looked so beautiful, whereas I had looked like a slapper. Why hadn’t anyone told me that maxi-dresses were in? Every girl I had seen was wearing a long, flowing dress looking dignified and pretty. I had a short dress on that made me look like one of those sausages wrapped in bacon you get at Christmas time. The colour of my dress did nothing to detract attention from my fashion faux pas. It was bright pink. Cora, my oldest friend had come to the summer ball with me as she had chosen working full time as a make-up artist over university so was eager to get a glimpse of university life as often as she could. Why hadn’t she told me how awful I looked before we had gone out?

I scrolled past the horrendous photos and caught up with all my friends back at home. I loved seeing their university pictures and all the crazy things they were up too. Although, most were clever so spent more time studying physics, pharmacology and psychology than partying, just how it should be! I laughed at the photos of one of my friends Chris dressed up as a teenage mutant ninja turtle and ‘liked’ a photo of Lucy downing a pint of beer.

I kept scrolling before deciding that there was nothing else interesting to look at and realising I should probably get on with my assignments.

I went to close the internet but something caught my eye. My body froze and my heart sunk. I blinked trying to ensure I hadn’t just imagined it. Nope it was still there…

Tim, kissing another girl.

Tim, my boyfriend.

He was standing in the middle of a nightclub with his arms around a petite blonde. His right hand was cupping her bum and his left held her neck whilst he kissed her. His friend had captioned the picture, ‘Tim gets lucky!’ and two of his university mates had commented saying ‘get in there son!’ and another saying, ‘I owe you a pint mate, you did well’.

WHAT THE HELL. He told me he couldn’t come to my summer ball because he was studying for his exam on Monday, yet here he was in the middle of a club with his tongue down another girl’s throat. What a bastard!

Feeling like I had just been punched in the stomach, I picked up my phone and sent him a text.

Hey, how are you? How’s revision going? Summer ball was awesome last night, wish you could have come :( I guess you were just too busy snogging other girls. Hope you had a good night. Did you get into her pants? I bet she was disappointed with how small you are. Don’t ever speak to me again.

I sent the text and lay on my bed before bursting into tears. Why did this always happen to me?

Chapter One

August 2013

‘Come on Darce, you know how much this means to me. We visited your family last weekend so now it’s only fair we visit mine.’ Ollie started to pack his bag with more force, piling in his boxers and socks followed by Hugo Boss shirts and Levi jeans.

‘I know, it’s just your family is so much bigger than mine and for ages I’ve felt like they don’t want you to marry me. They always make it sound as though you should re-consider. The last time we saw your mum she said to you, right in front of my face, that it wasn’t too late to change your mind and there were so many other girls in the world to marry.’ I stopped sorting out my toiletries to look at Ollie whilst I was talking. He sat down on the bed and zipped his weekend bag up.

‘Oh, she was just joking! She knows I love you and want to marry you; she’s just scared that her little boy is all grown up and is trying to make herself feel better by making jokes about it. Don’t worry about her, just ignore comments like that.’

I sighed and continued with my packing. Ollie was definitely lying; Viviane wanted her son to find someone other than me. Ever since we met, she had made it clear that she believed I was with Ollie for his money, which is totally not true. Ollie and I met at university when he was still a student and I knew nothing about his background until we had been dating for fifteen months. The whole time I’ve been with him, I’ve loved him for who he is and not how much he’s worth.

I twirled my Tiffany engagement ring around my finger, completely taken aback by the thought of becoming Ollie’s wife. It was all I’d ever wanted and I had been waiting for it to become a reality. However the way I’d envisaged the wedding planning was rather different from how everything was actually turning out.

‘I’ll meet you downstairs when you’ve finished packing. I’m going to put my stuff in the car and sort out the tyres. Don’t be too long, I want to get on the road by nine.’ Ollie heaved his bag off of our bed and left the bedroom, whistling to himself as he walked down the stairs.

I double checked all my toiletries were packed and zipped them into a side pocket of my case. My clothes had been folded and were sitting on the floor, ready to be packed. I carefully arranged them to avoid creasing them anymore than they already were and zipped the body of the suitcase up before wheeling it to the bedroom door and picking up my Louboutins. I looked back into the vast bedroom wondering how I’d ever become so lucky to live in a place like this. I never once took the house for granted and often felt like I was living a dream. I pulled the door shut and made my way down the curved staircase bumping into Toby on the way.

‘Bye Tobes, mummy’s going to miss you when she’s gone,’ I paused to stroke Toby; he was a beautiful ragdoll cat that always looked like he’d just been electrocuted. His fur stuck out at funny angles and his little face always looked shocked. He ran past me into the spare bedroom where his favourite sleeping spot was.

‘Ollie, have you fed Toby yet?’ I asked as I made my way to the bottom of the stairs.

‘Yeah, just fed him now. I’ve left the food out for Gloria so she doesn’t have to rummage around to find it when she comes over.’

Gloria was our housekeeper who Ollie employed to take care of our huge house. She was a lovely woman and reminded me of my late grandmother Jean; they both shared a love of cooking and spent their time filling kitchens with sweet, spicy smells. I started to salivate at the thought of Gloria’s ginger cake but was shaken from my thoughts when Ollie interrupted.

‘Right, are you all packed up and ready to go?’

‘I think I’ve got everything.’ I smiled as I wheeled my case to the front door.

‘Have you finished the tyres?’

Ollie replied that he had and then hoisted my suitcase into the boot of his shiny black Range Rover. I locked the front door and climbed into the passenger seat, feeling anxious about what the next few days had in store.

Chapter Two

January 2012

‘Darcy, can you give me a hand in suite 4?’ Charlotte shouted across the reception desk.

‘Sure, I’m on my way.’ I put down my mug and quickly sanitised my hands before walking briskly along the labour suite corridor into room four. There was a young mum-to-be on all fours on the bed and her partner was sitting in the corner looking as white as a sheet. There were two other midwives in the room who were all trying to help the mum deliver her baby safely into the world.

‘This is Lucy and she’s doing so well but she’s in pain and her partner Ben is finding it hard to comfort her right now so I’ve told Lucy that you will help her deliver this baby.’ Charlotte said smiling at me.

‘Hi Lucy, I’m Darcy. You’re doing so well, let’s get this baby out!’ I calmly said to Lucy as she screamed in pain. I held her left hand and told her to slow her breathing down and use the gas and air to help the pain. She screamed some more and decided she wanted to change position. I helped Lucy into a standing position and massaged the bottom of her back whilst Charlotte and the other midwife guided Lucy on how to deliver her baby. I encouraged Lucy by telling her how well she was doing and kept supporting her back whilst she brought a new life into the world.

Lucy managed to deliver her baby girl and I congratulated her before leaving the room to allow Lucy and Ben to meet their new addition without three midwives crowding round them. As I walked back along the corridor I realised how much I loved my job. It was hugely stressful at times and was often a challenge but there was nothing better than welcoming new life into the world every single day. I had seen everything in my time at Shaldon Labour Suite, single mums, surrogate mums, young mums, old mums and everything in between. When I had been studying midwifery at university I had never imagined that I would work in a place with so many friendly and helpful colleagues. From the moment I started two and a half years ago, I had felt so relaxed and this place felt like home to me.

Ollie had been going on for ages about moving to London so he could expand his dad’s business but I had been stubborn and told him I didn’t want to move and if he wanted to move then I wouldn’t go with him. He had gotten angry asking why I didn’t support him and I had reassured him that I was fully behind everything he wanted to do but that I was doing my dream job and nothing would get in the way of that. Ollie had softened when I told him that Devon was a much better place to raise a child than London. Mentioning children would automatically turn Ollie into a softy; he was desperate to be a father. I was adamant that we could only consider children once we were married so I was waiting for him to pop the question and I was suspicious that tonight was going to be the night. He had booked a dinner for two at my favourite restaurant and had left me a bunch of flowers on the pillow when he had gone to work. He hadn’t been this spontaneous in months!

My shift ended at six o’clock so I had plenty of time to get home, have a shower and put my best dress on before he picked me up to go to La Vita. I was going to wear my silver dress by Alice Temperley. Ollie had bought it for me for Christmas and I was yet to wear it, tonight would be the perfect occasion.

*

‘Please could we have a bottle of your finest champagne and the oysters to start? Thank you very much.’ Ollie had dressed up tonight wearing his best suit and tie. The order of champagne confirmed that this was going to be the night where I would become a fiancée! The oysters also alluded to what he was going to be expecting from me later…

‘This is amazing Ollie!’ I gushed, sipping the table water waiting for the champagne to arrive at our table.

‘Only the best for you, sweetheart,’ he replied reaching for my hand.

I shivered at his touch and was reminded why he was the man I wanted to marry. Ever since the moment our eyes met, there had been some kind of charge between us, electricity that had never fizzled out. The waiter carried our bucket of champagne to the table and proceeded to pour us both a generous glass.

As I watched the waiter sashay away, I felt movement behind me. I turned round and saw Ollie on one knee. I was gobsmacked by the sight of a tiffany box! I was hopeful it was a small, sweet band so I could wear it to work instead of having to take it off every day. He opened the lid of the box and my jaw dropped. It was a stunning white gold band covered in diamonds which sparkled in the dim light of the restaurant. Sod it, diamonds will do nicely!

‘Darcy, since the night we met, you have been a huge part of my life and I cannot imagine spending the rest of it without you by my side. Will you do me the great honour of being my beautiful, beautiful wife?’ He asked, eyes fixed on mine the whole time.

‘Arghhh! Yes, of course I will!’ I screamed.

He removed the ring from the box and placed it on my finger. It was so heavy! It was stunning, I couldn’t wait to tell my friends that he had proposed with a Tiffany ring, the one thing every girl wants. He smiled, kissed me on the lips and then told me I had just made him the happiest guy alive.

For the rest of the meal I kept glancing down at the ring, still thinking I was dreaming. I slid out of my seat after the main course to go to the bathroom to call Cora, she would be so happy. I made my way into the bathroom and stood by the sink as I dialled her number. She picked up after the fourth ring.

‘Hey babe, how are you?’

‘Cora, he proposed! He finally proposed to me and it was with a TIFFANY ring!!’ I declared rather loudly startling the elderly lady that had just entered the toilet.

‘SHUT UP! Are you kidding me? That’s fucking amazing!’ came Cora’s reply.

‘No, I’m telling the truth! It was the most romantic thing ever; I can’t believe I’m getting married! Will you be a bridesmaid?’

‘Ahhhh! Yes, I’d love to be a bridesmaid!

‘I’m so bloody excited Cor! I’m going to have to go back to dinner now but I’ll call you tomorrow!’

‘Ok hun, speak tomorrow and congrats on the engagement, I’m so jealous!’ Cora laughed as she hung the phone up.

I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

Chapter Three

August 2013

Ollie drove along the winding country lanes at a fast speed causing me to catch my breath multiple times.

‘Ollie, slow down!’ I shouted as he took a sharp bend faster than a racing driver.

‘I’m not going that fast!’ he replied, slowing down slightly to please me.

‘That’s better. Thank you,’ I looked across at him and he had a small smile on his face.

‘Yes Miss,’ he joked using his left hand to make an army salute.

‘Shut up!’ I hissed as I playfully hit him on the arm.

We were on our way to Frogminster, a tiny Cornish village, where Ollie’s mum and dad lived. I had only visited once before and I had felt so out of place that I was dreading visiting again. They lived in a huge house that was probably large enough to house three families. They had twelve bedrooms, nine bathrooms, four living rooms, two dining rooms, a games room, a basement filled with fine wines, a huge kitchen and acres of land at the back of their house. Ollie’s dad, John, had been a chief executive of a huge firm that had seen its business multiply over the last thirty years which catapulted John into a small goldmine and he was now living off of the benefits. Ollie had taken over his father’s job so earned a nice income too which helped to pay for our six bedroom, three bathroom house and my Tiffany engagement ring. I needn’t have worked, however since I was young I’d always wanted to be able to say that I earned money rather than being unemployed and using my husband’s money to fuel my expensive taste.

Ollie was the middle child. He had an older sister called Amy and a younger brother called Nick. Both Amy and Nick lived abroad and had made new lives for themselves in Australia and America. They had come back this weekend to celebrate John’s 60th birthday and Ollie and I had been invited. The party was taking place tonight but Viviane insisted that Ollie and I stayed for the duration of the weekend so we could discuss wedding plans which was something I really didn’t want to have to do.

*