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“It was so long ago, I don’t really remember,” I said.

“The sleep deprivation must have fried your memory! You had a terrible time with Ryan. You said it was the reason you never had any more children after him. Turned you off for good.”

Hmm, his overactive adrenalin must have started young then. Probably bungy jumped down the birth canal. “I guess I just shut out the trauma of it all.” I faked a sniff. “Anyway, I’m sure Diora will cope fine, she’s a strong woman.”

I barely knew Diora but somehow I knew that to be true and not only because I’d overheard her giving attitude to the baby store representative, but because I could sense it. She exuded confidence, commanded respect and most likely got her way quite a lot. I smiled to myself as an unfamiliar sense of pride appeared.

More snores sounded from Diora’s gaping mouth, despite Karina continuing her treatment. It must have been catching, because I yawned a big stretchy yawn and my mouth didn’t seem to go back where it was supposed to. My skin elasticity, or lack thereof, really sucked.

Beep!

“Oh, Kelli, you really should mute your e-pad while you’re in here,” Elaine scolded.

“Yes, yes, sorry. In a sec.” Not that I knew how to do that. I lifted my wrist to look at my e-pad. It was a message from William:

Ryan said the bungy jump went well. I’m so proud of you!

I replied with a quick thanks, then pretended to mute the e-pad.

Beep!

Crap.

Speaking of bungy jumping, it’s given me some creative ideas for the bedroom *wink-wink* Looking fwd to trying them out tonight ;) ~ W

Double crap. Stunned, horrified and trapped in several other awkward states of emotion, I flung my arm back down, ignoring the message.

Beep!

“Kelli!”

“Sorry!” I squinted at the e-pad:

Did you get my message just now? I said I’m looking fwd to trying out my bungy-inspired-bedroom-ideas tonight, after the guests have gone. xx

Arghh! He didn’t have to say it again! My finger shook as I typed a reply:

Yes, got your message loud & clear. Sorry, can’t chat, having facial right now. ~ K

Beep!

Of course, sorry sweets. Talk later. Mwah! ~ W

Geez, he even tried to kiss me through text message.

I placed my arm back down, hoping no one else would send a message. Then I wondered why my dad hadn’t sent a happy birthday message yet. Oh well, it was still early.

Warmth spread across my face. “Time for the special YouthMagic regenerating mask,” Barb said. “This will penetrate deep to target wrinkles at their core and work with the skin’s own healing system to encourage collagen formation. In other words; reducing fine lines and adding firmness and radiance.”

“Do you think you could put that on my whole body?” I asked.

Barb laughed. “We do have a YouthMagic body wrap, but that will have to be for another day,” she said.

It didn’t matter, I swore I could feel myself getting younger with each stroke of her hands, like she wiped away the old and revealed the young me. Warm blood circulated through my skin, as though I was lying on a Caribbean island, soaking up the sun. Whatever was in this mask must be doing the trick. In fact, it seemed to be spreading throughout my whole body. My gown suddenly seemed too hot, like I’d been lying in the sun a bit too long. Maybe that was how this mask worked, giving the skin a rush of heat to eliminate the evidence of age. Only now I felt like I was lying in the sun and someone had rubbed chilli on my face and then put me into an oven.

My heart raced and I squirmed on the bed. “What’s in this stuff? I’m on fire!”

“Kelli, are you all right?” Barb removed her hands from my face and I sat upright, fanning my face with my hands, but they too were hot.