Laura Ziepe - MADE IN ESSEX

‘You two make such a sweet couple,’ Kelly grinned. ‘I’m so glad that Sam’s become good friends with Billy too. I love going out just us four.’

Jade nodded. She had to agree it was great that they all got on together so well. If only Lisa had a boyfriend too though, she thought, remembering her other single best friend. Not that Lisa minded being single one bit. Ever since she’d split up with Jake, her long-term boyfriend, the year before, she’d been having the time of her life. It was difficult for her and Kelly to even get a minute of her time because she was always going out. She had been in a relationship since she was sixteen though, Jade reminded herself – Lisa was simply making up for lost time. She was constantly on dates with different guys and it was impossible to keep up! Jade didn’t blame her though, and she was happy if Lisa was; that was the most important thing. She had really thought that Lisa would have married Jake a year ago and they’d even been engaged, but after Lisa cheated on him with Billy’s friend, Jonny, in Marbella, Lisa had realised she hadn’t really been as happy as she’d always believed. Thank goodness Lisa finished it, Jade thought, otherwise she would have been divorced in her early twenties!

Kelly interrupted her thoughts. ‘So what are the categories going to be on the website?’

Jade opened her red notebook. ‘We decided on the places where all the best pool parties are, didn’t we? So we have the “Essex” section, which is going to be our most over the top, blinged-up swimwear, the “No Carbs before Marbs” section, the “What Happens in Vegas” section, the “Romantic Getaway” section, which will be a bit more toned down for when you go away with your boyfriend or husband, and the “Ibiza Zoo Project” section, which will be all animal print.’

‘Love it,’ Kelly beamed, running her fingers through her thick blonde hair, ‘it’s going to be so much fun naming all the bikinis. I just love this job already!’

Jade felt the same. ‘Me too. We need to meet with Tony tomorrow at six o’clock to go over the web designs, so make sure you’re free. I’ll meet you straight from work.’

Kelly nodded and there was a long pause. ‘I so need a diary.’

‘You need one of these,’ Jade said waving her red notebook in front of her, ‘diary and notebook in one.’

Kelly poked her tongue out cheekily, ‘Alright, Miss Organised!’ She took a package out of her bag ebulliently. ‘I forgot to show you some of the sequins and beads that got delivered to my house this morning. They’re gorge.’

‘Wow, they’re great,’ Jade agreed, as she watched Kelly pull out various colours of sparkling sequins and pretty beads from the package. She couldn’t believe how good they looked when they were so cheap to buy. It filled her even more with excitement, and ideas for new bikini designs were flying around in her head.

‘I know,’ Kelly sighed, ‘although I’m going to have to call the company up we bought them from and complain about something.’

‘What?’

‘Well, look here at the receipt,’ Kelly pulled out a piece of paper received in the package, ‘it says flat shipping rate, £3.99.’

Jade squinted as she read it. ‘So?’ she asked, bemused.

Kelly looked at her with a surprised expression, as though Jade had missed something. ‘I don’t live in a flat, so why should I have to pay that? The package was delivered to my house!’

Jade laughed. She was going to have to get used to hearing these silly comments all the time working alongside Kelly every day. ‘Kelly, flat shipping rate doesn’t mean they’ve charged you because they think you live in a flat. That just means standard shipping rate, you dope!’

‘Oh,’ Kelly said sheepishly, packing the sequins away again, ‘well they shouldn’t call it that then, it’s confusing. Anyway, I must dash as I have a client coming at seven for a spray.’

‘Why? What’s the time?’ Jade asked in a panicky voice.

‘Quarter to seven,’ Kelly replied, glancing at her watch.

‘Oh shit!’ Jade said slapping her hand on her forehead, ‘Sam is going to kill me! I was meant to meet him at six-thirty for dinner!’

Kelly pulled a face. ‘Oh dear. You did the same thing last week, didn’t you? Just call him, babe, don’t worry.’

Kelly kissed her goodbye and left.

Jade sighed, biting her bottom lip. The problem was she couldn’t just call him and let him know that once again, his girlfriend had simply been too busy working and forgotten she was meeting him. What could she say? She looked at her appearance in the mirror and quickly added some MAC lip gloss and kohl eyeliner. She quickly brushed her long highlighted hair and tied it back in a ponytail. Jade threw on the first pair of skinny jeans she found, texted Sam she was on her way and ran out of the front door.

‘Come on,’ Jade said to herself moments later as she was sitting in traffic, feeling stressed. Why were all the cars in front of her going so bloody slow tonight? She could hear her phone ringing in her bag and the fact that she knew it would be Sam, wondering where she was, made her even more anxious. She needed to make something up. She had been extremely preoccupied with the website recently and forgetting about Sam was becoming a regular occurrence, much to his frustration.

Ten minutes later she was almost running through the doors of The Bluebell restaurant in Chigwell. She saw Sam’s unimpressed expression as soon as she walked in. As Jade made her way over to the table she asked herself, yet again, how she’d managed to get with someone so drop-dead gorgeous. He was looking smart in a tight white shirt and light pink tie, which emphasised his natural olive-coloured skin and penetrating green eyes. His fair hair was brushed over to the side and Jade felt the urge to run her fingers through it.

‘Hi, babe,’ she said, and kissed him hard on the lips, hoping to ease his annoyance at her being over forty minutes late.

‘Where have you been? Why are you so late?’ Sam asked petulantly.

‘I’m so sorry,’ Jade said as she sat down, ‘it’s just we had some issues with the new website and I had to sort them out with Tony.’

Sam nodded and the look on his face told her he’d heard it all before. ‘You could have called earlier to tell me, you know, so I didn’t come here and have to sit alone for over half an hour. You did the same thing last week too.’ He looked offended as he sipped his glass of water.

‘I’m sorry,’ Jade said, gazing into his eyes to show she truly meant it, ‘please don’t be annoyed with me. Let’s have a nice evening, yeah?’ She grabbed his hand and held it across the table.

Jade noticed his expression soften and felt relieved.

‘So, how’s it all going anyway with the website?’ he asked a few moments later, genuinely interested. She knew he found it attractive that she was taking a risk and running her own company with Kelly. He was proud of her.

‘It’s all coming together now,’ Jade grinned. ‘Kelly put on the first bikini in our collection today and it looked amazing. We know exactly what we want on the website, which is nearly done, and then we just need to make the rest of the swimwear, have a photo shoot so it all looks professional and then the website can go live. I can show you some of the categories we’re putting the various bikinis in,’ she said, getting her notebook out of her bag and passing it across the table to Sam.

‘That’s great,’ Sam said browsing through the pages. He laughed, ‘You take this red notebook everywhere.’

‘It’s in case I think of new ideas,’ Jade told him, smiling warmly. ‘I write everything down.’

He looked at her lovingly. ‘You look nice tonight by the way.’