“Ah crap,” Paul grumbled.

Gina looked at the defeated expression on his face, the “I Can’t Cook, But I’m a Great Kisser” apron he was wearing that was covered in god knows what, and the wooden spoon he was waving about, and began to giggle.

“What are you attempting to do?” she mused as she wandered into the kitchen to get a closer look at the mess.

“Well, it was supposed to be a romantic dinner, but it’s kinda all gone to shit,” Paul sighed.

“Who for?” Gina asked, reaching for a damp cloth.

“I thought I might surprise Brad, you know. Fine wine, good food, candles, soft music,” Paul chided. “Are you really that stupid?” He struggled with the apron a moment and chucked it into the sink.

Gina stopped trying to clean the stove and looked at him a moment. “You came all this way for me?”

“You sound so horrified,” Paul gasped.

“Sorry, it’s just I wouldn’t have thought you’d want anything to do with me,” Gina sighed and turned back to the stove.

“You are that stupid,” Paul teased as he grabbed the cloth from her.

“Well I haven’t exactly been the best wife. I’ve cheated, lied, taken you for granted…Hey, that makes you the stupid one.”

Paul leaned against the fridge. “Christ, I must be insane.”

“If you’re insane, I must be heading toward my very own padded cell and a selection of the word’s best tranquillizers,” Gina perked, leaning against the breakfast bar.

They looked up at the same time. Paul raised an eyebrow and Gina crossed her arms.

“Want me to try and salvage dinner?” she asked and stepped forward to grab the wooden spoon from him.

“I think that might be an idea. I’ll try and fix the destruction,” Paul mused and held the spoon out to her.

Gina grabbed it, but Paul didn’t let go and used it to pull her to him. He chucked the spoon in the sink and pulled her into a tight hug. Gina wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him back. For the first time in weeks she felt something was right, this was how it was supposed to be. Sure, she still didn’t have any money and there was the whole Greg thing. But she could deal with them tomorrow. Right now she would let the fuzzy feeling in her stomach take over her body. Paul pulled back a little so he could look at her, and then gently brushed his lips against hers. She went to kiss him but he teasingly pulled away again.

“Look me in the eye and say you love me,” he whispered.

Gina lifted her head and focussed on him. She looked deep into his hazel eyes and smiled slightly.

“I love you,” she breathed.

Paul studied her for a moment and then brought his lips to hers, kissing her deeply and passionately. Gina felt weak at the knees: they hadn’t kissed like that since the first kisses they’d shared, but this time was more special. He hadn’t been sucking down vodka shots all evening.

Fenny had lost all enthusiasm for the bedroom backdrop. It was nearly finished, but she’d spent the last hour painting the same shadow on the faked-up wallpaper. All Fenny could think about was Brad and how happy he’d looked with the perky blonde and Lilly. Why hadn’t she noticed the resemblance the other day? The child had looked very little like her mother. All the signs had led to her to the truth and she’d chosen to ignore them. Still, he should have told her. How could he propose marriage when he’d fathered another woman’s child? What type of man did that make him?

“FENNY!”

Fenny dropped her paintbrush and looked up into the face of the director. “Yes,” she peeped.

“It’s beautiful,” he perked. “It’s totally perfect.”

“What is?” Fenny asked. The director look at her like she was mad. “Oh yeah, the bedroom,” she muttered, shaking her head.

“Everything is exactly how I imagined it,” the director cooed. “The wallpaper is fabulous.”

Fenny allowed herself to smile as she realised he hadn’t noticed the large flowery penis in front of him. “Thank you.”

“Yes, we should be able to use that tomorrow,” the director cooed, ignoring Fenny completely

“Well it’s not quite finished yet, there’s still a few little bits to do,” Fenny pointed out.

“We will be able to use it sometime tomorrow won’t we?” the director said, slightly miffed.

“Yeah, course,” Fenny nodded, not really in the mood for an argument.

“Good,” the director breathed, letting his eyes run over the backdrop again. “Go home Fenny,” he breathed.

“But I…”

“You’ve worked hard, go,” he insisted.

Home was the last place Fenny wanted to go, as she packed up her brushes and cleared the paints away. She had promised Paul that he and Gina would have time alone and she didn’t have the strength to face Brad just yet.

“Do you know, you haven’t cooked for me since our second date,” Paul remarked as he lay his knife and fork across his plate.

“Really? Jesus what have I been doing?” Gina gasped.

“Well first there was Chris, then Greg…” Paul mused.

Gina threw her napkin at him. “Get stuffed.”

“Thanks for repairing my disaster,” Paul laughed as he pondered one of the candles.

“It was quite fun, apart from scraping the charred remains from the stove,” Gina perked.

“And trying to repair that spice jar.”

“And the destruction of the cook book.”

“I’m glad Fenny talked me in to coming,” he sighed and reached across the table to take one of Gina’s hands in his.

“So am I,” she smiled back, then her smile dropped.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“You just reminded me,” she breathed. “Did Fen tell you about Brad?”

“Yeah, by the sound of it he really does have a kid. I didn’t say that to her though.”

“He does. Her name is Lilly. We met her unknowingly while stalking Brad the other day. Then I followed him today and found the three of them enjoying a lovely afternoon in the park.”

“Fucking hell,” he breathed.

“I had to tell Fen. She didn’t believe me, so I took her to the park.”

“How did she take it?” he asked as she linked both her hands through his.

“I don’t know, she just clamed up. I’m sure she’s devastated. I know I would be.”

He let out a huge yawn and unlinked his hands to rub his face. “Sorry, that wasn’t very compassionate.”

“It’s ok, from what you’ve told me you’ve been on the go all day,” she soothed, getting to her feet.

“Yeah, I must be getting old. It never used to bother me,” Paul mused.

“Why don’t you go to bed then, I’ll clean up,” Gina offered as she stood behind his chair and massaged his shoulders.

“I can’t leave you to clean up,” he said wearily as he looked up at her.

“There’s not much to do, since we cleaned everything else up.”

“I suck at romance,” he declared as she got to his feet.

“The thought was there,” she smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips. “Go,” she added.

“Going,” he yawned.

Fenny had stopped off and bought herself a hot chocolate, hoping the sugar might soothe the pain. It didn’t, and she ended up only drinking half of it. She then headed home. Paul and Gina would probably be in bed. Well, with Gina’s track record it was a more likely scenario than coming home and finding them playing Scrabble.

She unlocked the apartment door and was caught by surprise by the smell of grilled chicken. It reminded her she hadn’t eaten. She wandered into the kitchen and opened the nearest cupboard to get a glass. She turned to the fridge and was greeted by a message from Gina:

Fenny was about to heat up her home cooked meal when she heard the front door open. She walked out of the kitchen with her arms crossed and stopped to look at Brad, who dropped his bag in an armchair.

“Hey sweetie,” he smiled

Fenny didn’t smile. she stared blankly at him.

“What?” he asked confused.

“How’s Lilly?” she asked, walking toward him.

Brad’s eyes went wide, and he looked flustered. “Lilly?” he swallowed.

“Yes, Lilly. Your child. And don’t act like she doesn’t exist, because I saw you in the fucking park,” Fenny spat, and tried to swallow back her tears and frustration.

“She’s over her cold,” he said bluntly.

“When were you going to tell me?” she snapped. “After we got married?”

“Fen, let me explain…” he said seriously, any sign of his usual goofy persona gone.

“That’s what I’ve been waiting for, Brad, for the last four, five months, for you to fucking explain,” she hissed. “I’ve tried to be supportive, let you do whatever you’ve been doing, I never interfered…”

“I had a one night stand, before Ritza’s son was born. It meant nothing, I’d had a bit too much to drink, I was lonely…” he cut in.

“Oh well, I suppose it’s ok then,” she scorned.

“Will you shut up a minute,” Brad snapped. Fenny felt a tear escape and slide down her cheek. “Ella, that’s Lilly’s mother. She caught me after a taping and told me she was pregnant. She was pretty certain I was the father, we had a paternity test done before I came to Australia. That was part of the reason I came, but when it came to it, I just couldn’t tell you.”

“So did you ever plan to tell me?” she asked, her words coming as a sob.

“Of course, I just didn’t know how,” he breathed as he approached her.

“No,” she breathed and stepped back.

“Fen,” he begged.

“You should have told me. I mean you’ve already proved where you’d rather be, right?” she hissed and pulled the ring off her finger.

“Christ Fen, I love you…I want to be with you,” Brad retorted.

“So that’s why you’ve treated me like shit recently, huh? Because you love me,” Fenny sobbed and wiped the tears from her eyes with her hands.

“I know I’ve been crap, Fen, but I want to be part of Lilly’s life,” he declared.

“Well, I don’t want to keep you from that,” she scorned.

“What do you want me to say, Fen? It doesn’t matter how many tears or tantrums you have. I’m still having my daughter as a part of my life and if you want to be with me, you have to accept it,” he said seriously.

“What if I don’t accept it?” Fenny breathed.

“Then I’d think you were pretty damn selfish. Sorry Fen, but there’s more to life than you,” Brad hissed.

She couldn’t put another sentence together and descended into floods of tears. The situation seemed too surreal, and Brad was like another person. All she could think was that she was the second most important person in his life. What hurt even more was that she felt angry at Lilly, who was actually totally gorgeous, and Ella who was very sweet.

A few moments of silence passed as Fenny stood, her tears falling onto the carpet. She felt Brad’s hand on her arm, squeezing gently, reassuringly.

“I don’t want to lose you Fen,” he breathed.

“I think I’ve already lost you,” she mumbled and dropped her engagement ring on the carpet.

“No you haven’t,” he gushed and bent down to pick up the ring.

“Yes I have,” she said in a whisper, turned and headed toward the bedroom.

Brad looked at the ring in his fingers and slipped it into his pocket. He grabbed his bag from the armchair and walked out the door.

Gina poked her head out of her bedroom door. She’d gone to bed hoping Paul might still be awake, but he was sleeping like a baby and hadn’t stirred since. She had heard every word of Fenny and Brad’s argument and decided she had better check on her. Gina padded across to Fenny’s room and heard her sobs before she even opened the door. Fenny was curled up in the foetal position, hugging a large stuffed moose. Gina wandered over and crawled onto the bed. Fenny sat up and Gina wrapped her up in a hug.

“It’s all right, I heard every word,” she soothed.

“He loves that stupid baby more than me,” Fenny sniffed.

“He didn’t say that,” Gina said matter-of-factly.

“It’s what he meant,” Fenny grumbled, pulling out of the hug.

“Fen,” Gina breathed. “You got to give a little, otherwise you’re gonna lose him for good.”

“Give, all I’ve done is give and he didn’t have the balls to tell me. He had all the opportunity in the world to just tell me,” Fenny hissed.

“I imagine he was trying not to hurt you,” Gina huffed.

“Well he has,” Fenny spat. “I don’t even know how I feel anymore.”

“Welcome to my world,” Gina sighed.

Fenny looked at her blankly for a moment. “Things with Paul not go well?”

“Actually, they were brilliant. Even if I did end up cooking dinner,” Gina smiled.

“That’s great,” Fenny sniffed, grabbing a handful of tissues.

“Doesn’t help with the whole Greg thing, though, I’ve been fending off phone calls and text messages all day,” Gina sighed.

“Good, I’m proud of you,” Fenny nodded.

“You were right, I had been selfish. I actually looked Paul in the eyes tonight and told him I loved him,” Gina cooed.

“My god, that’s almost commitment,” Fenny jeered as she blew her nose.

“I know, my inner Peter Pan must have finally grown up,” Gina smiled. “Not that that’s a bad thing.”

“I’m actually surprised you’re out of bed,” Fenny declared.

“Paul couldn’t hold his head up let alone anything else, he was so tried,” Gina perked.

“Go back to bed, I’ll be fine,” Fenny sniffed, grabbing some more tissues.

“You sure?” Gina breathed.

Fenny nodded. “Go.”

Gina left the room, and closed the door as she heard Fenny descend into more tears. She padded back to her room and slipped back into bed.

“How is she?” Paul mumbled sleepily.

“Devastated,” Gina breathed as she snuggled up to him.

“What are we gonna do?” he queried.

“Nothing. We’re not getting involved.”

Paul opened one eye. “Like hell.”

“Ok, I might have a few words with Brad,” Gina mused.

“And I’ll try to stop Fen from breaking things,” Paul yawned.

She burst into giggles. “Listen to us, we’re giving people relationship advice and we have the most fucked up relationship in the world.”

“Yeah, but I don’t have any love children floating about,” he mused and opened his eyes. “I think.”