“In the end, you have to choose whether or not to trust someone.”
“Some things are best left a blur. Births and Visa Bills.”
“It's a GIRL.
It's a little girl, with scrunched-up petal lips and a tuft of dark hair and hands in tiny fits, up by her ears. All that time, that's who was in there. And it's weird, but the minute I saw her I just thought: IT'S YOU. Of course it is.”
“I had a craving for pineapple and a pink cardigan”
“You panicked". Venetia's voice is suddenly throbbing, as though she can't control a long-buried anger. "You panicked, Luke, and we lost the best relationship that we had. Everyone was jealous of us at Cambridge, everyone. We were perfect together."
We weren't perfect!" He looks at her incredulously. "And I didn't panic---"
You did! You couldn't cope with the commitment! It frightened you!"
It did not frighten me!" Luke shouts, exasperated. "It made me realize you weren't the person I wanted to have children with. Or spend the rest of my life with. Ever. And that's why I ended it!”
“Everyone knows the first rule of business is "Look good during confrontations." Or if it isn't, it should be.”
“Everyone keeps saying I’ll pick it up. But what if I don’t? I did algebra for three
years, and I never picked that up.”
“Why can't parents dance? Is it some universal law of physics or something?”
“We both gaze down at my swollen tummy for a while. I still can't quite get my head round the fact that there's a baby inside my body. Which has got to come out... somehow.
OK, let's not go there. There's still time for them to invent something.”
“Yes, contractions can be intense,' Noura continues. 'But your bodies are designed to handle it. And what you must remember is, it's a positive pain. I'm sure you'll both agree?' She looks over at Mum and Janice.
POSITIVE?' Janice looks up, horrified. 'Ooh, no, dear. Mine was agony. 24 hours in the cruel summer heat. I wouldn't wish it on any of you poor girls.'
But there are natural methods you can use,' Noura puts in quickly. 'I'm sure you found that rocking and changing position helped with the contractions.
I wouldn't have said so,' Mum says kindly.
Or a warm bath?' Noura suggets, smile tightening.
A bath? Dear, when you're gripped by agony and wanting to die, a bath doesn't really help!'
As I glance around the room I can see that all the girls' faces have frozen. Most of the mens' too.”
“In the end, you have to choose whether or not to trust someone. And i do choose to trust him. I do.”
“No wife wants to hear that her husband is less than perfect.”
“If you look good, you feel good”
“Make-up artists should hereby get the Nobel prize for adding to human happiness. And so should hairdressers. And so should Luke.”
“Becky! Love!" Mum has pushed her way through her dancing guests to reach me. "What's wrong? Has labor started?"
Honestly. My family has no idea about contemporary urban street dance trends.”
“Luke!...We have to be able to do cool dancing so we don't embarrass our child!"
"I'm a very cool dancer," replies Luke. "Very cool indeed,"
"No you're not!"
"I had dance lessons in my teens, you know," he retorts. "I can waltz like Fred Astire."
"Waltz?" I echo derisively. "That's not cool! We need to know all the street moves. Watch me."
I do a couple funky head-wriggle body-pop maneuvers, like they do on rap videos. When I look up, Luke is gaping at me.
"Sweetheart," he says. "What are you doing?"
"It's hip-hop!" I say. "It's street!"
"Becky! Love!" Mum has pushed her way through her dancing guests to reach me. "What's wrong? Has labour started?"
Honestly. My family has no idea about contemporary urban steet dance trends.”
“I thought marriage was for ever. I really did. I thought Luke and I would grow old and grey together. Or at least, old. (I'm not intending to go grey, ever...)”
“This is the last time I ever get a private detective off the internet.”
“These corners are getting a bit bulky." Mum looks consideringly at the catalog. "Maybe we should fold down if we're not interested in the page.”
“Love is all that counts in this crazy, mixed-up world...”
“Is you look good, you feel good!”
“Do you respond to every e-mail you get, Becky?” Luke turns, incredulous. “Do you have a fine selection of Viagra substitutes too?”
“Space and silence are two aspects of the same thing. The same no-thing. They are externalization of inner space and inner silence, which is stillness: the infinitely creative womb of all existence.”
“Well, I can admire stubbornness in a man. There is little to a man who's too easily biddable.”
“Jumping from boulder to boulder and never falling, with a heavy pack, is easier than it sounds; you just can't fall when you get into the rhythm of the dance.”
“He couldn't live without being a draki, and I couldn't live without him.”
“They lived in fearful perplexity and passed it off as imagination”
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