Laura Ziepe - MADE IN ESSEX

‘You’re joking? I’ve got hardly any make-up on and got ready in about two minutes! I’m as pale as a ghost!’

‘I like you looking natural, you know that,’ he said.

Jade smiled. Sam always said the right thing and made her feel good about herself. Thank goodness he was nothing like her awful ex-boyfriend, Tom, who not only used to constantly make jokes about her being from Essex, but also cheated on her. She was so happy with Sam; he meant everything to her.

‘Anyway, there are some good films on at the moment at the cinema. Fancy it tomorrow night?’

‘Yeah, that’ll be great,’ Jade said, her eyes bright. Then she remembered, and her face fell. ‘Oh no, I can’t tomorrow night, sorry. We have a meeting with Tony about the website design. I don’t know how long it’s going to go on for.’

She could tell Sam was trying to hide his disappointment. He lowered his voice and fiddled with his phone. ‘No worries.’

‘What about Saturday night though? We may be meeting Tony again in the afternoon but I can meet you in the evening?’ Jade suggested cheerily.

Sam nodded. ‘If I didn’t know better, I’d be worried about you and Tony.’

Jade’s jaw nearly hit the table.

‘Only joking,’ Sam added when he saw her shocked expression, ‘Saturday night sounds good to me.’

Jade hoped he was only joking. She couldn’t handle him starting to get jealous, especially about Tony. She thought of Tony and his dark hair and hazel eyes. She supposed he was quite good looking, in a rough round the edges kind of way, but she didn’t look at him like that. Tony was far too old for her too, Jade thought, she guessed he was in his mid-thirties. He was just Lisa’s cousin: their web developer. She didn’t want anyone else and wouldn’t dream of ever even looking at another man when she was with Sam. Why would she, when he was pretty much perfect?

‘Sam, I’m sorry I’ve been so busy lately. I promise you, it’s just work, nothing else.’

‘I know,’ he reassured her, ‘it’s fine.’

‘That’s definitely the one,’ Lisa said with tears in her eyes, as she was handed the tiny ball of fluff.

‘So you’re going to take her then?’ the woman asked, getting a little emotional herself.

‘How could I resist buying her with this gorgeous little face? She’s adorable,’ Lisa answered, stroking the puppy behind the ears, much to the dog’s delight.

‘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.