‘Oh yeah. Without us you’d have topped yourself, for sure,’ I said.
Bubblee elbowed me again and laughed. ‘You’d have coped without us too, Far.’
Farah shook her head. ‘No, I really don’t think I would have.’
Just then another car turned into the parking area and parked up – it was one I recognised. I grabbed Fatti’s wrist and squeezed it, hardly able to contain the excitement I felt.
‘What?’ she said.
‘Just remember not to kill me, okay?’ I said as I pointed towards the man who’d just got out of the car.
‘Isn’t that your driving instructor?’ said Farah.
Fatti froze. ‘Mae … what did you do?’ she whispered, but more as if she was going to turn around and run away rather than kill me.
‘Call me cupid,’ I said, doing a little curtsey to show my cupid prowess.
Farah and Bubblee both looked at me, then at Fatti, and then at Ash.
‘Go on, then,’ I said. ‘Go to him.’
‘Mae? What’s going on?’ asked Farah.
‘You guys need to open your eyes.’
‘My God,’ said Bubblee. ‘That’s the friend? Of course it is!’
‘Duh,’ I said.
Fatti was taking deep breaths as she watched him walk over to Jay – they shook hands, and just as Jay pointed towards us Fatti turned around so her back was to him.
Farah was smiling so widely, all her teeth were showing and even Bubblee cracked a smile, saying, ‘In all the chaos I forgot to ask.’
‘Well?’ said Farah, grabbing Fatti’s arm. ‘What are you waiting for?’
‘Nothing,’ replied Fatti, looking at all of us. She took another deep breath and turned around to face towards Ash. ‘I’m not waiting for anything any more.’
Acknowledgements
Writing is a passion I have had for such a long time but learning how to put together a whole entire book was something I had to learn quickly. This is the perfect opportunity to thank all the people who have helped me put this book together. So I will reel off a list of ludicrous amounts of thank yous like an intoxicated, overzealous surprised award winner. If I may…
A massive thank you to firstly my agent, Anne, for holding my hand all the time. Not a word of lie when I say she holds my hand metaphorically and literally. Thank you for taking me deeper and deeper into the realisation that I can do it even when I am afraid.
Thank you to the team. Thank you Lisa Milton, for being the first person, the first set of eyes and ears to believe that this was even a possibility.
Thank you Ayisha for helping me through my writing process. For honing in the story, the ideas and the madness that ensued. For helping me create a story that I am so very proud of.
Thanks to Anna Baggaley and Rhea Kurien. If I go back to the amount of food and white board markers we went through all I can think about is our waistlines and the squeak of the ink running out.
Thank you to Alison Lindsay, Louise McGrory, Sophie Calder, Nick Bates, Darren Shoffren, Taryn Sachs and all at Team HQ.
Thanks to my family giving me some valuable material. They are comedy gold and if they keep going as they are I can write till the end of time. The weirdest, most dysfunctional and funniest people I know. We like a bit of topsy turvy, that’s what makes everyone look at us sideways!
Thanks to my husband Abdal, my kids Musa, Dawud and Maryam, for quite simply putting up with me. For covering me when I fall asleep on the couch, for not waking me up at 4am and asking me if I’m asleep, for arguing with the door shut. Thanks for being considerate but still entirely my extraordinary family. Don’t change.
Copyright
An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
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First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2017
Copyright © Nadiya Hussain 2017
Nadiya Hussain asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Ebook Edition © December 2017 ISBN: 9780008192273
The Secret Lives of the Amir Sisters Page 26