Your Roots Are Showing by Elise Chidley Page B

courage to talk to you about your weight for, hmm, at least three years. So, I’m thinking that the, erm, well, the weight gain may also have affected things in the bedroom. Made you feel less — you know, interested.”
    Lizzie simply stared at Tessa, speechless.
    “Say something, Lizzie. You’re making me feel weird, just gaping at me like that.”
    “That’s because you are weird. What kind of person goes around making up stories like that about their friends?”
    “I’m not making up stories. Am I? Isn’t it all true?”
    “Well, for your information, I have
not
put on two stone. One and a half, that’s all. Well, maybe one and three quarters. And it’s just my pregnancy weight, that’s all. Everyone knows it’s really hard to get rid of pregnancy weight. Plus, I had
twins
.”
    “Okay, so I got a few details wrong. But I’m right, on the whole . . . aren’t I?”
    Lizzie knew she was spot-on, but she couldn’t help feeling betrayed.
    “You’ve never had a baby, Tessa. You have absolutely no clue what you’re talking about. So just shut up about it, okay?”
    “Ouch. That was below the belt. No, I haven’t had a baby, but that’s not through want of trying, as you ruddy well know. I’ll forgive you because I know you’re just lashing out without thinking.”
    “I’m lashing out?
I’m
lashing out?”
    “Yes, you are, and no, I’m not. As I said, I’ve been thinking about all this stuff a lot, and I just think someone has to talk to you and, sort of, set you back on the right path.”
    “And you’re the one qualified to do that? You, the Boyfriend Snatcher of Ealing Broadway?”
    “Angus wasn’t even your boyfriend and you didn’t even want him. Don’t throw that in my face at this stage.”
    All of a sudden, Tessa was starting to look vulnerable, even tearful. Lizzie knew she’d been wrong to mention Tessa’s fertility problems. She knew it was a sensitive issue. But then, Tessa ought to have known that Lizzie’s weight was a
super
sensitive issue.
    Still, she felt herself weakening.
    “Okay, so what if you’re right? What if I am fat and depressed and that’s why my marriage failed? What then?”
    Tessa wiped her eyes with the back of her hands and then gave a deep sigh. “Good girl,” she breathed, “good girl. Now that you’re not in denial anymore I can show you some stuff I’ve brought for you.”
    Lizzie gave a snort of incredulous laughter. “Denial?
Denial?
”
    “Oh, Christ, Liz, don’t start all that again. All the righteous huffing and puffing and whatnot. Just hold on a moment, I have to run out and get something from the car.”
    While Tessa was out, Lizzie took the opportunity to wolf down another couple of biscuits. She was brushing crumbs off the sides of her mouth surreptitiously when Tessa came back lugging a bulging black hold-all.
    “That Bruno chap is gone,” Tessa remarked, setting the heavy bag down on the floor beside the coffee table.
    Lizzie sat up in her chair, eyeing the bag. This was beginning to get interesting. She wondered if Tessa had brought in some control panties or even corsets to rein in Lizzie’s superfluity of flesh.
    But no, Tessa began to unpack bottles and jars of what looked like vitamins or food supplements. Was it possible she had access to some experimental dieting drugs that would cause Lizzie’s excess weight to melt away miraculously?
    Tessa spent some time lining up her bottles. Then she sat back and, assuming the earnest expression of a Tupperware party hostess, began what sounded like a rehearsed speech.
    “Now Lizzie, I know you’ve never really had that much faith in alternative medicine, but I hope you’ll have a little faith in my judgment, since drugs are my business. What I’ve got here is a lineup of all the alternative stuff that is supposed to have some effect on mood. So I’ve got SAM-E, that’s for depression, St. John’s Wort, ditto, DHEA, that’s for vim and vigor, ginseng, that’s for energy,