Don't Tell the Groom Read Online Free PDF

prisoners.
    â€˜Well, what financial problems are you in then, if not debt?’
    â€˜I’ve lost ten thousand pounds.’
    â€˜Ten thousand of your pounds?’
    â€˜Yes. Well, I had joint access to it.’
    â€˜Hmm, yours and … ?’
    â€˜My fiancé,’ I say, doing my obligatory diamond-waving dance, then instantly regretting it.
    â€˜Right,’ says the woman as if I’m completely nuts. ‘So you said you lost ten thousand pounds. How did you lose it?’
    â€˜Bingo.’
    â€˜You lost ten thousand pounds playing
bingo
?’
    It really does sound bad when you say it out loud like that. I can’t bring myself to say anything, that’s how embarrassed I am right now. My eyes are firmly fixed on the old brown carpet and I just nod my head.
    â€˜I see. Well, that isn’t very good, is it? Right, so you have a gambling addiction.’
    â€˜I’m not an addict.’
    I’d like everyone to know I’m not an addict. It isn’t like I couldn’t give up the bingo. I’m sure I’d be able to give it up just fine.
    â€˜You lost ten thousand pounds at bingo. I take it not in one go?’
    I shake my head.
    â€˜I’m afraid to tell you this, but I do think you are probably addicted to it. When was the last time you gambled?’
    â€˜A couple of nights ago.’
    Don’t hate me, I just needed to play once more before I quit. Just in case I could somehow win back all my money and then there wouldn’t be a problem.
    â€˜So what was the ten thousand pounds? You said you weren’t in debt, so was it ten thousand pounds of savings or from your current account?’
    â€˜Savings.’
    â€˜OK, so what do you need advice about?’
    All those questions and she still can’t tell me what I need to know.
    â€˜I want to know how I can recover the money. My fiancé and his nan want us to get married in May, and I want to know how I can make five thousand pounds suddenly pay for a twenty-thousand-pound wedding.’
    â€˜I’m afraid I can’t help you with that. Would you like to know about support groups and Gamblers Anonymous?’
    â€˜I’m not a gambler.’
    â€˜Look, you seem like a nice girl.’
    I sit up a bit straighter at that compliment.
    â€˜But you have to realise that you have obviously got a problem. Whether you’ve got it under control or not, it is a pretty big deal. Now, I suggest that you go to a counselloror Gamblers Anonymous. Or at the very least a support group.’
    I wince at the fact that she keeps calling me a gambler. Gamblers are people with actual problems. Like last year when a guy in our office gambled so much that he had his house repossessed. It was awful. I had to help him arrange temporary accommodation and help with the paperwork as he filed for bankruptcy.
    The advisor reaches down into a drawer and gives me an A5 flyer for a local gamblers’ support group. I take it to be polite – I can always throw it away as soon as I get out of the office.
    â€˜Can’t you help me?’ I ask, pleading. The bank manager sent me here and now she’s going all slopey shoulders on me, too. What is it with these people?
    â€˜I’m afraid I’m not a counsellor. I’m just here to give you advice. Like seek help.’
    â€˜Great,’ I say sarcastically. I hadn’t meant it to come out that way.
    â€˜I’m sorry, but I’m doing the best I can for you.’
    Now she is making me feel guilty.
    â€˜No, I get that, I do. I’m sorry, it’s just all coming as a bit of a shock to me. You see, this isn’t very me. I don’t usually do things like this.’
    The woman is nodding her head as if she’s heard it a million times before.
    â€˜No, I mean it. It isn’t like me at all. We were saving for our wedding and we were being sensible. It all started when Mark was studying for his accountancy