The Night That Changed Everything Read Online Free PDF

at my desk. I’ll be furious with myself.
    It’s not that Ben and I aren’t careful. I’d never leave this shit to chance. I’m on the pill, and that’s why I wasn’t too worried when my period didn’t come. But this morning I was sitting eating my cereal at the kitchen table, and a memory popped into my head of what we’d done right where my bowl of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes sat. A memory that made me smile and blush at the same time, and then I remembered that I’d been sick for a few days before that, throwing up everything that passed through my mouth. Including my pill?
    My desk phone rings, snapping me out of it. Christ, I think, blinking: I’m meant to be working on the most important project of my life – Jake has hinted that a promotion could be on the cards if it goes well – but I’ll be lucky to keep the job I already have unless I start to focus.
    â€˜Sugar?’ asks the new receptionist as soon as I pick up the phone.
    â€˜Pardon?’
    â€˜I’ve made you a tea,’ she explains. ‘Just wondered how you take it.’
    â€˜Oh, er . . . White, no sugar, please.’
    Or better still, with a spoonful of coffee and no teabag.
    â€˜On its way.’ She hangs up.
    Bit weird.
    I scrunch up the page I’m drawing on and lob it into the bin, then regret it. The blank page in front of me doesn’t scream busy and, as I feared, when the new receptionist brings my tea up, she hovers by my desk.
    â€˜Thanks, Emma,’ I tell her as she sets the mug down next to me.
    â€˜Jemma,’ she corrects me.
    â€˜God, sorry – Jemma. I’m terrible with names.’
    â€˜With a J.’
    â€˜Um . . . right.’
    â€˜Just in case you look me up on Facebook. Ooh, by the way,’ she squeals, ‘have you ever noticed how much Adam Larsson looks like Eric Northman? You know, from
True Blood
?’
    â€˜Nope – never seen it.’
    â€˜I recognized him from a copy of
Architecture Weekly
I was reading in reception before my interview. I was actually just looking at the pictures but I thought it might make a good impression. Anyway, it’s basically vampire porn.’
    â€˜
Architecture Weekly
?’
    â€˜No,
True Blood
. You should watch it.’
    I feel my shoulders tense as she plonks herself down in the chair opposite me. I don’t want to be a dick, especially on her first day, but if she’s looking for a gossip then she’s come to the wrong desk. I should introduce her to Eddie.
    â€˜This your other half?’ Jemma asks, picking up the framed photo next to my computer. It’s a snap of St Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow, the first building I ever fell in love with, taken with my old film camera on a holiday with my dad and brother when I was eleven.
    I laugh. ‘Just a building I like.’
    â€˜Do you have a boyfriend?’
    â€˜Yep.’
    â€˜How long have you been together?’
    â€˜Eleven months,’ I tell her.
    â€˜So it’s serious?’ Is
she
serious?
    â€˜Yes, you could say that.’
    â€˜You dinnae seem happy about it.’
    â€˜I am, I am, it’s just . . .’ It’s just I don’t feel comfortable with the intrusive questioning. I can’t say that, of course.
    â€˜He’s meeting my dad for the first time later,’ I say instead, hoping she’ll leave it there. ‘Just a bit nervous.’
    I’m not lying, I realize. I’ve been desperate for Ben to meet my dad, but have struggled to find a weekend all three of us could do. Now the day is finally here, I have butterflies. They’re the two most important people in my life: what if they don’t get on?
    â€˜I havenae had sex for months,’ Jemma says.
    â€˜Oh,’ I say. ‘That’s, um . . .’
    â€˜You’re lucky to have someone,’ she adds, swivelling herself in the chair so fast that eventually, when she lifts her legs