Sophie Kinsella

The streak of bleach in my hair is as obvious as ever. Am I really going out in public like this? I push my hair backward and forward a few times - but I can't hide it. Maybe I could walk along with my hand carelessly positioned at my head, as if I'm thinking hard. I attempt a few casual, pensive poses in the mirror."Is your head all right?"I swivel round in shock to see Nathaniel at the open door, wearing a plaid shirt and jeans."Er...fine," I say, my hand still glued to my head. "I was just..."Oh, there's no point. I bring my hand down from my hair and Nathaniel regards the streak for a moment."It looks nice," he says. "Like a badger.""A badger?" I say, affronted. "I don't look like a badger.""Badgers are beautiful creatures," says Nathaniel with a shrug. "I'd rather look like a badger than a stoat.

They were even talking about buying a bodyguard, can you believe it? I mean, what on earth would I look like, turning up with a bodyguard? Actually, I'd look pretty cool and mysterious, wouldn't I? That might have been quite a good idea.

You can want and want and want, but if he doesn't want you back ... you might as well wish the sky were red.

...you may be able to sway people's heads. But you can't sway their hearts.

It__ the way he had a cup of tea waiting for me when I woke up. It__ the way he turned on his laptop especially for me to look up all my Internet horoscopes and helped me choose the best one. He knows all the crappy, embarrassing bits about me that I normally try to hide from any man for as long as possible_ and he loves me anyway.

The thing with giving up is you never know. You never know whether you could have done the job. And I'm sick of not knowing about my life.

Everyone should keep a dream journal, did you know that?

In business, if you want to make money, you have to spend money. If you want to have a result, you have to make an investment.

There's no luck in business. There's only drive, determination, and more drive.

This is what happens. You tell your friends your most personal secrets, and they use them against you.

My friend lost his mother when we were at college. I spent a lot of nights talking with him. Lot of nights." He pauses. "I know what it's like. You don't just get over it. And it doesn't make any difference if you're supposedly a "grown-up". And it never goes away,

You don't just get over it. And it doesn't make any difference if you're supposedly a grown-up. It never goes away.

A real relationship is two-way.

A relationship is a game of chess.

Relationships should be built on trust and truth.

I'd laugh, only my stupid lizard brain has disabled the laugh button for now. I'm too frozen up with tension.I am owed so much laughter. Sometimes I hope I'm building up a stockpile of missing laughs, and when I've recovered, they'll all come exploding out in one gigantic fit that last twenty-four hours.

It's not enough to believe! Don't you see that, you stupid girl? You could spend your whole life hoping and believing! If a love affair is one-sided, then it's only ever a question, never an answer. You can't live your life waiting for an answer.

Love is all that counts in this crazy, mixed-up world...