


Nell: I’d like a word with you, please.
Me: Oh dear. What have I done now?
Nell: It has come to my attention that you and Alice were at the Cottage Hotel yesterday.
Me: We went there for lunch with Charlotte.
Nell: Your sister?
Me: Yes.
Nell: Without me?
Me: You were booked in for massage and hydrotherapy with Chloe so you couldn’t have come with us.
Nell: Convenient.
Me: We had to go then, Nell, because Charlotte was free and Alice flies back to Germany tomorrow.
Nell: The Cottage Hotel is my favourite place.
Me: Your session was booked weeks ago and we couldn’t change it.
Nell: Excuses.
Me: On a positive note, Chloe says you’ve lost 700g and you didn’t just float in the hydrotherapy tank but did some actual walking.
Nell: Just float?
Me: We both know you’ve worked out the life jacket supports you, so you lift all four paws off the ground and float instead of walk.
Nell: I might rest my legs now and again.
Me: You fell asleep on the warming mat, too.
Nell: Can you blame me?
Me: Not at all.
Nell: At least I’m sensible. What were you doing climbing those cliffs?
Me: I have to get my steps in, Nell.
Nell: Not up the side of a cliff.
Me: It was Alice’s idea.
Nell: Don’t blame other people.
Me: I was proud when I got up there because the steps were quite high.
Nell: Madness. You could hardly move later.
Me: I know but the view was amazing and I had a sense of achievement.
Nell: It was a cliff walk not Mount Everest.
Me: I think I should get bonus steps for climbing upwards.
Nell: And I think you owe me lunch at the Cottage Hotel.
Me: Yes. Sorry.