CARBO FAN FICTION- CARLY'S DIARY PART 5

Part 5

Roman looked at his mother and at his sister, who  were sitting opposite him. Kayla’s face was expressionless while Caroline’s was a mixture of uneasiness, reproach and sadness; her eyes lowered. Roman already told them of Starr’s birth, Melanie’s visit and Frankie’s presence in town.

‘Sooner or later this day had to come. Melanie’s more aware of Carly’s past with Bo now. And I doubt Frankie will count himself as  a member of this family from now on after he hears what happened to his sister. His sister, Mum. How can we say we’re Frankie’s family after Carly was treated like an outsider by all of us? What sort of excuse are we going to give him? Or we’re just going to act all defensive and do to him what we did to his sister; his only blood relative? We accused her of coming to wreck Bo’s marriage. We didn't care to listen to her side of the story of Alamain’s murder. Like it or not, we’ve got a lot to answer for.’

‘I’m aware of that, Roman.’ Kayla said, her tone flat. She’d been away for a week attending a medical conference, thus didn't know about Carly’s illness until     Roman informed her and Caroline. ‘But what exactly can we do about this now? What’s done is done; Frankie can’t expect us to go down on our knees and start apologising.’

‘Do you hear yourself?’ Roman asked harshly. ‘Is this how we would’ve treated Carly years ago after Hope suddenly came back? Have Bo throw Carly and Melanie out of his life because of his history with Hope? Look at how we all swept Carly’s past with Bo, with this family, under the rug because we cared too much about Hope’s feelings! For god sake; Carly was one of us!’

‘Fine, she didn't come back here for the reasons we thought,’ Kayla snapped. ‘But all the same she shouldn’t have come back here; she was a complication Bo didn’t need...’

‘Don’t you ever call her that again!’ Kayla rose, backing away from her brother’s wrath, his fist pounding the kitchen table.

‘Roman, Kayla... please stop, just stop.’ Caroline demanded, her voice trembling. ‘I can’t watch you two arguing, please.’

Roman scowled at his sister, not heeding their mother. Kayla scowled back, trying not to be intimidated by him but felt her eyes lowering.

‘Is Carly going to be alright?’ Caroline asked slowly.

‘She’s still in  a coma; what she’s got is life threatening.’ Roman turned to her, replying with great effort as he was still simmering with anger.

‘And...’ Caroline swallowed, ‘the baby?’

‘She’s in the NICU right now.’

‘Oh my God...’ Caroline closed her eyes, bowing her head. ‘How angry is he... Frankie?’

‘From what Jennifer told me over the phone, I can only imagine how he’s feeling right now. I don’t know about you two but I’m going over to the hospital right now to see Carly and my niece; your granddaughter. Hope can say what she likes; I’m done shunning my brother’s ex because of her.’ 

Picking up his car keys, he left the house; slamming the door behind him.

Kayla sighed deeply, sitting down next to her sobbing mother and put her arms round her. ‘Mum, you’re going make yourself ill; please stop crying.’

‘How will I face Frankie? He will  never forgive us...’

‘Mum, stop it... it’s going to be alright...’ Kayla soothed.

‘How’s  it going to be alright? Frankie’s my son, your brother... what are you going to tell him?’ Caroline demanded. ‘Carly’s his sister, Kayla... one of the many things we conveniently forgot about!’

Kayla shook her head, refusing to give in to guilt. ‘That may be true Mum... but Carly shouldn’t have gotten involved with Bo. Whatever the circumstances, her relationship with Bo was wrong.’

Caroline pushed Kayla’s arm away from her shoulder. ‘after everything that’s been going on in this family over the years... Kayla; who are we to judge what’s right and what’s wrong?’ More tears rolled down her cheeks as memories flooded in. ‘ I cheated on your father... for selfish reasons. You got involved with your sister’s ex-husband.’

Kayla bit her lower lip. ‘Mum...’

 ‘What right did we have to judge Carly?’ Caroline shouted. ‘She came back to find her daughter... she endured years of abuse instead of contacting Bo to help her! That’s the extent of how much she loves him! Carly was like a daughter to me....  she was your friend. How will we explain our actions to Frankie... you tell me that!’

Long awkward silence.

:::::::::::::

‘I should go,’ Hope sat up, only to be pulled back down.

‘Stay, please.’

She sighed, resting her head against his shoulder; her body still tingling from his lovemaking. ‘I can’t stay the night, Ciara will be wondering where I am,’ she whispered, running her fingers over his chest longingly.

‘She’s your daughter, not your keeper. You can call and tell Kiriakis you’ll be out half the night, cop stuff.’

Hope  smiled faintly as she raised her head, pressing a kiss on his mouth. Since the day she’d met him at Ciara’s school she’d sensed the attraction for him and vice versa and fought hard against it; her love for Bo the main reason.  But the feelings she had for this man couldn’t be ignored anymore. He’d found her at the docks, upset over her fight with Jennifer and in the middle of comforting her, had kissed her. Dinner had led to him taking her back to his place; where they finally gave in to passion. It was different from her time with Patrick. She had been taken in by him true but it was mostly out of revenge towards Bo for his betrayal; an act of revenge she later found out to be futile. But now, she felt no guilt or remorse.

Aiden  Jennings kissed Hope back, wrapping his arms round her tightly.  

Pulling back a little, he stroked one eyebrow with the tip of his finger. ‘This isn’t a one night stand for me. I don’t want an affair; I want a relationship, a real relationship with you.’

‘Aiden...’ Hope sat up, clutching the sheet to her chest.

‘I mean it, Hope.’ Aiden’s strikingly handsome face was stern. ‘We’ve been keeping back how we feel for each other for a very long time. We can’t deny it any longer.’

‘Not after this we can’t,’ Hope reluctantly agreed.

‘What’s this about, then?’ Aiden cupped her chin. ‘Do you still nurse the hope that Bo will come back to you? Or... is this a way of getting back at him?’

‘No!’ Hope denied, stung by the question. ‘Of course not.’

‘Then we do we go from here, Hope? I know what I want but what about you?’

 ‘It’s  a little more complicated than you think.’

‘You’re afraid of what your family’s going to think about us, aren’t you?’

‘Well, yes.’ Hope admitted. ‘Technically, Bo and I aren’t married... but he’s still the father of my children and we’ve been together for years. We had our rough patches but we always got through them.’

‘If this was another rough patch, you wouldn’t be in bed with me right now.’

Hope couldn’t argue with that. Bo’s been away for months... No letter after the one she got through John; no phone call, not one word to let her know he was alright. All because of his “deep undercover” mission. Just thinking about it made her angry and resentful all over again. If Bo really loved his family, truly put them first; he wouldn’t be gone at all. She was the one who’s been raising their daughter alone; Ciara affected by her father’s absence. Lonely nights, wondering if Bo would come home anytime soon and they will be a family again.

Will they ever be a family even if he came back tomorrow? She just made love to another man... and she didn’t feel guilty, but she still loved Bo. She turned to look at Aiden and the tender expression on his face made her want to cry. She touched his cheek. ‘Give me time to think.’ She said softly. ‘Please... my feelings are just all over the place right now. Please?’

Aiden  looked at her for a few seconds then nodded, drawing her back into his arms.

:::::::

‘She’s beautiful, Mel.’ Roman said softly, peering down at Starr through the glass. ‘And it’s a beautiful name Carly picked out for her.’ He’d already seen Carly, very sad to see how pale and ill she looked under the oxygen mask.

Melanie shrugged. ‘Thanks for the flowers and the baby stuff.’

‘It’s the least I could do. Even before Jennifer called me, I thought about what you said the day you came to the station. And you’re right, Mel. We acted badly. And we should’ve told you more about your Mum, especially since you could’ve been Bo’s daughter. I’m really sorry.’

So you should be, Abby, who was standing beside Melanie, thought scathingly but said nothing.

‘Where’s Frankie?’

‘I sent him and Molly to Mum’s house; they needed the rest. You remember Molly?’

Roman  frowned. ‘Molly... Molly Brinker?’

‘She’s Scofield now.’

So she married Tanner, Roman thought. ‘I see. So you know Mel, if I really knew where Bo was, I would contact him in a heartbeat and get him to come home.’

Melanie and Abby exchanged glances, they’d agreed not to tell any of the Bradys or the Hortons of their plan to locate Bo.

Roman continued, ‘I told Sami about Carly and Starr, she promised to come by with Marlena in the morning. And... I sure hope you’ll go easy on Jennifer from now on.’

‘Please don’t mention her.’ Melanie turned to Abby. ‘Sorry.’

Abby shook her head reassuringly.

Roman patted Melanie’s shoulder. ‘There’s going to be amends being made, Mel. Try and be generous; okay? I’m going to say the same thing to Frankie. I’ll see you girls tomorrow.’

‘Good night and thanks.’ Melanie waited for him to leave before turning  back to Abby. ‘I’d like to see just what Caroline, Kayla and Victor will explain to Frankie. Speaking of Victor...’ she noticed Abby looking over her shoulder and turned.

‘Melanie.’

‘Nick! You’re here finally, thank God!’ Melanie rushed to her brother. Abby stared at Nicholas as he enveloped Melanie in his arms.

He’s here, the man who’s been haunting her dreams. 

CARBO FAN FICTION- CARLY'S DIARY PART 4

Part 4

‘I know what you must think of me... of us all.’

Frankie’s soulful bluish black eyes, which once gave Jennifer butterflies in her stomach, were hard and cold. ‘Since you know that quite well, you should also know I have nothing to say to you.'

‘Frankie, please... let’s not do this. I know I wasn’t a good friend to Carly but she’s still my friend and I’m hers. You have to understand...’

‘What exactly do you want me to understand, huh? Hope made her choice yet everybody just decided to hug and comfort her and shun my sister like she was the one who wrecked her marriage in the first place; including you.’

Jennifer swallowed. ‘Don’t you accuse me of that. It’s true I didn't approve of her and Bo but that’s only because I knew Hope was still in love with Bo; I felt he should give her another chance, because they belonged together.’  

‘But my sister was in the way,’ Frankie bit out. ‘Was the love they had years ago suddenly a crime? Or something dirty and disgusting just because Hope suddenly decided to end her marriage? My sister’s return reminded them of what she and Bo had years ago; it reminded you. Bo loved my sister very much and Hope’s been making him unhappy- you lot added two and two together and hated the inevitable- so Carly suddenly became the enemy and Hope the victim!’

Before Jennifer could speak, Frankie continued, his voice rising. ‘How dare you stand in front of me and call yourself Carly’s friend? What stopped you from doing the right thing? Why didn't you stick up for her and remind Hope of the choice she made by herself and have her take responsibility? Did you comfort Carly at all when she was hurting over Bo? Did you?! Did you care at all of how much Carly  was suffering or were you too busy popping the champagne with the rest of the family?’

Jennifer shook her head, tears falling down her cheeks. To be accused by Melanie of being a bad friend was bad enough but from Carly’s brother and former love... she couldn’t bear it.

‘Carly shut me out... she wouldn’t let me comfort her.’ Adrienne had been the one to do it.

Frankie gave a rude, contemptuous snort. ‘Not allow a woman who obviously  sided with Hope to comfort her, how shocking.’

‘You have every reason to be angry, Frankie. I don’t know what we can do or say to make up for everything Carly went through.’ Jennifer’s voice shook. ‘I don’t expect you to forgive us that easy...’

‘You got that right,’ Frankie interrupted. ‘No way am I going to ever forget this, never. Not you, not them and especially not that bastard Bo deserve to ask me for anything!’ 

‘Come on, Frankie- lay off her...’ Daniel, overhearing the exchange, came forward to intervene, taking Jennifer’s arm. ‘We all treated Carly badly, including me. We made our mistakes; people make mistakes. Don’t  be so hard.’

Frankie merely scowled at Daniel then at Jennifer before walking away from them.

Jennifer stood in silence, biting her lower lip as Daniel hugged her tightly. A few yards away, Molly watched.

Bo is  at Mrs. Horton’s funeral right now; with the rest of the family. It breaks my heart that I can’t join them in saying goodbye to her, I loved her as much as they did. I saw the grief on Bo's face the day Hope came to tell him Alice's health was failing. She had a long, happy life but the idea of her gone forever is still so hard to swallow. I’d seen her only once since I got back- the day after Mickey was buried and even in the midst of her grief over her son, she smiled and hugged me the way she used to whenever I was worried or sad back in the day. She was a woman of strength and wisdom and she’ll be  really missed by all of us. At least I wasn’t treated like an outsider by her, she was always loving and warm and I wish I had taken more time off to visit her before she died. I wanted to go with Bo to see her at the house when I heard she was ill but even I knew I wouldn’t be welcomed there. And even though she was glad to see me again, deep down I was so afraid of how she would react about my resumed relationship with her granddaughter’s husband... years ago she did all she could to bring Bo and me together, but that was then.

Bo’s words gave me my answer and it gave me a great deal of comfort.

" I know how much you loved Mrs. Horton... I feel like I should see her, say something to her, share in your grief." I told Bo.

He stroked my cheek, tears in his eyes, “Mrs. H knows me better than I know myself. She never judged, especially when it came to my feelings for you.”

Oh Alice... Alice! What will we all do without you now? 

As for Chloe, she's very lucky the elevator crash didn’t kill her... the elevator crash I now know was meant for me. Why else did she try all she could to stop me from getting on it... and ended up falling into her own trap? And she’s confessed already.

I have more than enough reason to denounce her. She tried to kill me, because of my ultimatum to her, tell Daniel about your affair or I will. Since I heard her arguing with Nathan about it, I suspected he was the man in question but she swears it’s not him. And she’s begging me not to expose her to Daniel, or to Bo for attempted murder. Because Bo will definitely arrest her... especially after he finds out Chloe set it up with Vivian’s help. The stupid fool actually went to Vivian Alamain of all people to get rid of me; she obviously didn't know Vivian enough to realise she would let her take the fall and deny any involvement. Victor must have told Vivian about the elevator crash he planned years ago, how else would she have thought of such a plan and sold it to Chloe.

But what good will it do? It would be Vivian’s word against Chloe’s. Chloe did drag me away at the last minute and got her punishment. And now this development, she’s pregnant. No matter who the father is, can I send a pregnant woman to jail? And Vivian’s always been good at manipulation.

Chloe’s very distraught and on edge, she has no idea who the father is and she can’t marry Daniel with a clear conscience until she finds out. Her fate’s in my hands, she will lose Daniel and her freedom, all I have to do is say the word.

Which is what I have no intention of doing. Chloe got herself into a huge mess but an innocent child’s involved now. Instead, she will tell Daniel about her affair, only if the baby turns out not to be his. She’s going to have to take a DNA test, which I can arrange for her at St. Mary’s.

 Why, oh why hadn’t she allowed Carly to explain? No matter what Frankie, Brady, Molly and Daniel said, Melanie would never feel free from her guilt. And now she just found out another terrible secret... Chloe had conspired with Vivian to kill Carly, no wonder she became so chummy and humble around her! Melanie was aghast and furious... how could Carly let that bitch get away with attempted murder, baby or not? She felt tears welling up in her eyes as she stared down at her mother’s face, taking her hand. In spite of what Chloe tried to do to her, Carly had made that deal but Caroline’s interference had made them all heap blame on Carly instead. Daniel must know about this, immediately.

‘Why did it all have to happen to you?’ she whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks. ‘You... who never hurt anybody.’ She let go of Carly’s hand to touch her cheek. ‘Please wake up soon, Mum. Please... I got so much to say to you.’

‘Melanie? Can I come in?’ Abby said, hovering the door.

 Melanie stared at her and nodded, closing the diary on her lap and wiping her cheeks. Abby had a vase of flowers in her hands. ‘I brought these for her.’

‘Thanks Abby, put them over there.’

Abby put the vase down, turning to look down at Carly. ‘How is she doing?’

‘Dr. Long keeps saying she’ll come out of the coma eventually. She’s just not sure when. With Eclampsia...’ she shrugged.

Abby shifted her foot. ‘Mel, I want to talk you about something. Can we go outside?’

Melanie raised her eyebrows but stood up. ‘Sure.’

Abby waited until Melanie closed the door behind them. ‘So, what’s on your mind?’

‘Listen, I realise our last conversation about Carly and Bo didn't go well. But I want you to know, I really feel bad about how she was treated. I’m on her side, Mel.’

Melanie stared hard at her, seeing the sincerity on her face. ‘Thanks, that’s good to know.’

‘And there’s something else you need to know. Bo came by to see her one day. He brought what turned out to be junk mail to her but I feel he used it as an excuse.’ She narrated what she’d overheard between them.

‘You think... Bo’s still in love with Mum?’ Melanie said at last. ‘No Abby, I don’t think so. You just don’t hurt someone you love like that.’

‘I keep going over that day in my mind Mel, and I can’t shake the feeling that he still does. And he has to know about Starr and Carly’s condition too.’

‘Abby, this is a long shot. Even if we find a way of contacting Bo, suppose things are still the same with him?’

‘Carly will at least get some closure.’ Abby replied. ‘With that and having a part of Bo Hope can never take from her, she’ll finally be able to move on with her life. Don’t you see?’

Melanie reluctantly saw that Abby had a point. 'Okay. She either gets him back or gets closure; which would help a great deal. But how will we find Bo? We don’t even know where to start.’

‘Your brother can help. He’s a very important man, isn’t he?’ Abby said, praying she wouldn’t blush at the thought of Melanie’s handsome brother. Carly introduced him to her and Jennifer after they made peace and Abby had found herself immediately taken in by Nicholas Alamain. ‘He’s bound to have a lot of connections.’

Melanie nodded thoughtfully, ‘ I guess he could do that. I’ll talk to him about it when he gets here. But don’t mention this to my uncle, he’s mad at the family right now.’

‘Can’t say that I blame him. But we do need to find Bo all the same. The sooner he gets here the better.’

Melanie suddenly found herself more willing to find Bo.  Maybe Brady could help too.

::::::::::::::::::::::::

Jennifer stared down at little Starr Manning through the NICU’s glass window; wishing over and over she told Bo about Carly’s pregnancy when she had the chance. The baby looked so tiny and helpless.... and so beautiful. She was doing well so far but supposing an unexpected complication came up? What about Carly, who was still in a coma and whom she was not allowed to see? How will she ever live with herself or face Bo?

She turned as someone came up to her, her eyes widening on recognising her. ‘My God... Molly.’

She reached for her but her arms dropped on realising immediately Molly made no move towards her, her expression unsmiling. ‘You know, huh?’

‘I know.’ Molly replied quietly.

Jennifer turned away. ‘Molly... Frankie’s already chewed me out, please don’t start too.’

Molly shrugged. ‘I don’t have to, Frankie said it all. And it’s not like he said anything that wasn't true.’

‘Bo never meant to hurt her, neither did I.’ Jennifer turned back  to look at  Molly. ‘As for the others... I won’t speak for their behaviour. I don’t know what else I can say except I wish it never happened; what Carly went through.

‘But it did, it did happen.’ Molly said, her voice still quiet but her usually gentle eyes hard. ‘I keep going back to the night I overheard you and Julie planning Carly’s wedding shower. Back then, I thought  Carly was so lucky to have friends who cared so much about her. But now I see that alliances can change. I cannot even begin to tell you... how disappointed I am with all of you, especially you. You’re supposed to be her friend, but like Bo you let her down. How can you ever live with yourself, Jen? How?’

I did nothing wrong! Jennifer wanted shout, staring after Molly’s retreating back. I warned Carly Bo and Hope will always be connected; I didn't want her to get hurt!

But was that the right reason? Did I warn her for her own well being or for my cousin’s?

What stopped you from doing the right thing? Why didn't you stick up for her and remind Hope of the choice she made by herself and have her take responsibility? Frankie had accused.

 He’s right, so right! Jennifer bit her trembling lip. Deep down she knew that, the reason for her fight with Hope- she’d pretty much said the same thing to her. No more sheltering and protecting her though. No more unfairness, no more pretence.

Bringing out her phone, she dialled Roman’s number. ‘Roman, it’s me. Listen, pass this round to the family. Carly’s had her baby.’

THE SERIAL ‘PRANKSTER’ STRIKES YET AGAIN

justjared.com

Seriously... this man needs to be locked up! One would think that he learned his lesson after the Brad Pitt incident but apparently he just can’t stop himself from upsetting celebs. This time it was Kim Kardashian of Keeping up with the Kardashians and wife of rapper Kanye West; during Fashion Week in Paris recently. The crazy fool actually lunged at Kim in an attempt to hug her which almost sent her falling to the ground. Can’t this man simply see that nobody’s laughing at his ‘pranks’; the one I found really distasteful of all was when he crept under America Ferrera’s dress at the Cannes’ Festival; disgusting!

Why he’s still keeping up with this ridiculous behavior I don’t know and I wonder if the authorities have figured out why so far. Does Vitalii Seduik really want to retain his notorious reputation as the ‘celebrity prankster’ or it’s his way to randomly grab his fifteen minutes of fame. I don’t care nor believe in his insistent denial, ‘I’m not crazy, I just think differently’; he is a stalker and a nuisanceand he needed to be properly pinned down this time and made to stop his disturbing antics. He could end up injuring somebody- deliberately or accidently- next time so he must not be allowed a ‘next time’. Seduik was just very lucky Kanye West didn’t get a chance to give him a much deserved beating for tackling his wife like that; he may not be so lucky if he tries such a stunt again.

Enough’s enough already.

More of Becky "The Shopaholic" 's misadventures in THE SHOPAHOLIC ABROAD

By a stroke of luck I was able to get hold of and eagerly read part 2 of  "The Shopaholic" series; which is THE SHOPAHOLIC ABROAD a.k.a THE SHOPAHOLIC TAKES MANHATTAN. Once I saw the title, I wondered if Becky will behave herself and curb her shopping addiction. The setting is NEW YORK; a shopper's paradise and after the events in CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC, you would think she's learned her lesson, considering the guy at her bank was a lot kinder to her than she deserved. So now, she's in New York... at the request her boyfriend who is moving his business there and wants her with him. Has Becky turned a new leaf?  HELL NO!

Part 2 is even more  hilarious as Part 1 because being in a new city only made Becky's shopaholism far worse and why not... when several shops and NOT JUST boutiques were offering 50% off sales and stocking various items she simply MUST HAVE? Even before she arrived in New York, she was already taking advantage of another overdraft she was granted (are the people in the bank nuts???) and spending, spending, spending... aside from clothes and shoes, who on earth spends  a 100 pounds on a pack of handmade greeting cards?! Suze made her promise to spend less and the kindly chap from the bank Derek Smeath informed her he was retiring and his successor would not be as accommodating as him, so she must be very careful. Needless to say, Becky did not listen to the well meaning advice and the bills slowly started to pile up... AGAIN. Plus, Becky gets into more scrapes because not only she spends without thinking, she talks without thinking, which only makes it an even more  interesting read.

To make matters worse, Becky's addiction is exposed in the worse possible way (which nearly happened in the previous book but luckily for her, Derek gave her a break) and not only did she lose her own credibility (which made her lose her existing as well as a prospective T.V host job)  but also her boyfriend's- she made him look like a fool in front of his investors. I felt sorrier for him than for her- she was WARNED about her shopping addiction but she turned a deaf ear so basically, she had it coming! But instead of accepting her stupidity she lashes out at him (talks without thinking, remember?) about how he's been so wrapped up in his work and hitting him below the belt.  Well ...  excuse your long suffering boyfriend for trying to be a successful businessman instead of going out to buy a whole lot of new suits!

I loved this book but Becky was really annoying, silly and more irresponsible than in the previous book. To her, her problem was just 'a bit of shopping'; to others it was shopping bags piled up to the ceiling and an overstuffed wardrobe and cluttered bedroom, FULL of her stuff and piles of unpaid bills. Needless to say, after her "public disgrace", things at the bank were even worse for her and she got a much deserved scolding from Derek's successor, John Gavin:

" This is Becky Bloomwood who has had her overdraft limit extended six times in the last year... And who each time has failed to keep within those limits. This is Becky Bloomwood who has constantly lied, who has constantly avoided meetings, who has treated bank staff with little or no respect and who seems to think we're all here solely to fund her appetite for shoes!"  

Wow... harsh BUT true! One would want to feel a little sorry for Becky and surprisingly she still had some people loyal and sympathetic enough to offer to lend her money. But while I applauded her pride (she flatly refused), I couldn't sympathize all that much because she was WARNED and her boyfriend ran into a big problem because of her. She must have THIS,  she must have THAT... isn't is a veiled case of materialism, this need to simply surround yourself with possessions and spending more than you earn? I'm glad the writer, Sophie Kinsella, wrote the dramatic scenes, Becky truly needed to see how her addiction could affect people close to her and take a long hard look at herself. She however accepted her disgrace with dignity and bailed herself out with dignity- at the same time secretly redeeming herself by secretly fixing her boyfriend's crisis. What then is next for Becky?

Like I said earlier, an interesting and hilarious read and gives us a lesson- BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR MONEY!

Quote from book: 

" I know I brought it on myself..."

"That's right! You did! Becky, no one forced you to go out and spend all that money! I mean, I know you like shopping, But for Christ sake. To spend like this... It's bloody irresponsible. Couldn't you have stopped yourself?'" 

The antics of Becky "The Shopaholic" in THE SECRET DREAMWORLD OF A SHOPAHOLIC

Like Lucy Talk  and Bridget Jones Diary, THE SECRET DREAMWORLD OF A SHOPAHOLIC" a.k.a  "CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC" by Sophie Kinsella falls under the genre known as 'chicklit' (a name I'm not really fond of) and candidly told in the point of view of the heroine- this time it's a young lady named Rebecca Bloomwood. She works as a journalist in Successful Savings (a financial magazine) and shares a flat with her best friend Suze in a trendy neighbourhood in London. And she has a problem... she has a shopping addiction. If it's a new pair of shoes, a lovely looking skirt, a silk blouse or a pair of designer jeans, or anything charming, beautiful or interesting...  she MUST HAVE IT, even though she can barely afford it. Worse still, as the story begins- it turns out she is yet to pay her outstanding Credit Card bill and her overdraft. For the most of the story, she gets letters of reminders from Visa and her bank but what does she do; she fends them off with lies, then ignores the letters completely- wondering how on earth she'll be able to pay her debts. Yet she's unable to curb her addiction for shopping and tries to "cut back" but Suze- on hearing her problem- pointed out the best way to go about it was "Make More Money." But that failed- on her first day of her 'Saturday job', her shopaholic problem reared its ugly head and she gets fired. Don't sympathise, she really acted stupidly so she deserved it! And all through the story, Luke Brandon- a wealthy entrepreneur- pops in and out of Becky's life, keeping the readers guessing if he will be her dream man or not.

Some would see Becky as irresponsible, not to mention a liar and  a hypocrite- she knows very well she has debts to pay yet keeps spending, she lies to the bank and the credit card company and she actually gives financial advice when she can't handle her own finances. The word 'FOOL' kept popping in my mind whenever she spends even more and I kept shaking my head, wondering JUST HOW she would clear up  the mess she heaped herself in. But on the other hand, Becky had a few redeeming qualities; she refused to let any one bail her out by writing out a check to her- she never even told her parents she was in debt- and went out of her way to help a couple whose financial crisis was far worse than hers. Then she reaches a point where she stumbles on her moment of reckoning but will she be given the chance to change or be punished?

This is actually the first part of Becky the Shopaholic's adventures and while you would shake your head with exasperation at Becky and see her as a joke, still... you would not help but like her and hope she would curb her 'shopaholic' addiction eventually!

Quote from book: 

For years now I've kind of operated under an informal shopping cycle. A bit like a farmer's crop rotation system. Except, instead of wheat, maize, barley, and fallow, mine pretty much goes clothes, makeup shoes, and clothes (I don't bother with fallow). Shopping is actually very similar to farming a field. You can't keep buying the same thing, you have to have a bit of variety. Otherwise you get bored and stop enjoying yourself.