‘No, no it’s not,’ Emily said, bracing herself for her big pitch.
‘It’s about sponsorship, isn’t it?’ Julie asked. ‘That’s what my assistant told me.’
‘Yes, it is, actually. If it’s not too cheeky of me. It is for a very good cause, though. That much I can promise you.’
‘Then let’s hear what you have to say. I’m all ears.’
Francesca
‘You’re sure it’s not too much blusher?’
‘Stupid question,’ Emily replied. ‘You can never have too much blusher.’
‘And I look . . . you know . . . passable? Not too scary? Professional?’
‘Oh, come on!’ Emily said, as Francesca pulled the car into the underground car park at one of the spaces reserved for her office. Arriving punctual to the dot, thanks to a convenient app that told them there was a nine-minute tailback on the M50. ‘You’re utterly glorious,’ Emily said. ‘If I could look a fraction as good as you on my way to work in the morning, I’d be one very happy lady.’
‘I’m nervous,’ Francesca said, with every right to be. It was her first day at the office as Francesca and she knew, without even trying, that she’d be the sole focus of the day and the main topic of discussion among her co-workers.
Emily had offered to come as far as the door to Creative Solutions with her, and Francesca was bloody glad that she had. Somehow Emily’s reassurance and cheerleading had got them both this far. Just another few steps and Francesca would have made it to the office lift, and just another few steps after that and it would all be over, bar the shouting.
‘Not a single thing to be nervous about,’ Emily said confidently, taking Francesca by the hand as they both stepped out of the car. ‘Are you ready, then?’
‘Ready as I’ll ever be.’
‘You’re sure you don’t want me to come in there with you?’
‘Certain, thanks,’ said Francesca, exhaling nervously. ‘You’re an angel to come this far, but from here on, I’m better going in alone.’
‘Then give them merry hell, babes. Call me if you need me and remember I’m only a phone call away from you at all times.’
Emily walked Francesca right to the door of the lift, giving her a quick, tight hug before she slipped off to start her own day’s work at Flynn’s Stores’ HQ.
Left alone, Francesca focused on taking nice, deep, soothing breaths before stepping out of the lift at the third floor. Then, the very minute she appeared at the glass office door, Hannah from HR bounded over, twitchy and edgy and seemingly desperate to say and do exactly the right thing.
‘Good morning, Francesca,’ she said, stressing the name and shaking hands, as every head in the office swivelled around to have a good, proper ogle.
Good, Francesca thought. Let them. Let’s get it over and done with. Let them talk all they like and then let it all blow over for the nine-day wonder that it is.
‘I just want to say welcome to the office today . . .’ Hannah went on.
‘But I was only here yesterday,’ Francesca said. ‘I worked till almost ten p.m. You were here – you saw me. I even gave you a lift to your bus stop last night.’
‘Yes,’ Hannah fumbled nervously, ‘but that’s when you were still Frank. Today you’ve come to work as Francesca and I just wanted to say that here at Creative Solutions, we pride ourselves on being completely inclusive and gender blind.’
‘I’m the same person, you know,’ Francesca said. ‘I just look a little different, that’s all. But I’m still me.’
‘And that’s wonderful,’ Hannah said, by far the most nervous person of the two and tripping over herself with political correctness. ‘I want you to know how happy we are that you’ve chosen to express yourself this way. And by the way? If you wanted to tweet about how supportive we’ve been at Creative Solutions, that would be terrific.’
‘Hashtag: freakshow,’ Jake muttered loudly enough for a few people in the office to hear.
But Francesca heard him too.
Ah, Jake, the office bully boy. How do you solve a problem like Jake? she wondered. In her old life, Frank would have blushed and cowered and crawled quietly away to his desk, where he’d keep his head down and bury himself in work for the rest of day.
But not Francesca.
She strode over to Jake’s desk, towering over him with her hands on her hips, looking fierce and glorious and magnificent all at the same time.
‘What did you just say, Jake?’ Francesca demanded. ‘Because if you’ve something to say to me, you might at least have the good grace to say it to my face.’
Met with the combined presence of Francesca and Hannah from HR, Jake backed down. ‘Nothing,’ he hissed under his breath.
‘Glad to hear it,’ Francesca said. ‘One more word out of you, mate, and you’ll end up as the hashtag. Hashtag: dole office.’
‘I’d like to apologise profusely for any upset that comment may have caused you,’ Hannah stumbled over herself to say, with a furious glare in Jake’s direction. ‘Jake, please come to my office at ten a.m. sharp.’
‘Hey, I’m a big girl,’ Francesca said, feeling a surge of pride like she hadn’t done in years. ‘And I can tell you, the Jakes of this world are a piece of cake to me.’
There was a ripple of applause as she glided to her desk, which grew steadily louder and louder. A few of her co-workers waved and mouthed words of encouragement.
‘You look fabulous!’
‘You’re amazing!’
And that’s when she knew.
In that single moment, that’s when Francesca knew absolutely everything would be OK.
Emily
It took another few weeks of grafting and incredible hard work on Emily’s part, throughout all of which Francesca, Jayne and even Violet herself offered nothing but encouragement. Every single step and every single setback of the way.
‘You’re doing a fine thing, you know,’ Violet graciously said to Emily, as the two stood together in the hallway, before Emily left Primrose Square for the evening ahead. Leon had very kindly offered her a lift before he started his night shift, and the last thing she wanted to do was be late for him.
‘I’m a big bag of nerves,’ Emily said to her. ‘Wish me luck, will you?’
‘She’ll be proud of you,’ Violet said. ‘How could she fail to be?’
‘Who do you mean?’
‘Your mother, of course. Isn’t all this for her benefit?’
We’ll see, Emily thought.
‘You’re sure I can’t persuade you to join us, Violet?’ She chanced her arm, already halfway out the hall door.
But Violet just shook her head.
‘Not tonight, dear. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be thinking of you. Now go. Shine. Enjoy. And I’ll be waiting up for you to hear all the news.’
Emily gave her a spontaneous little hug, marvelling at the distance she and Violet had come back from the days when they were at each other’s throats. Now there was a genuine fondness between the two women. And more importantly, there was trust.
Leon drove her, but when Emily tried to twist his arm and get him to come inside with her, he batted it away.
‘Gotta start my shift, you know yourself,’ he said. ‘But have a great night, won’t you?’
‘I’ll do more than that,’ Emily said as she clambered out of the car. ‘I’ll even buy you breakfast tomorrow morning, so I can tell you all about it. At the greasy spoon café of your choice. How about that?’
Leon wasn’t a great one for outward shows of emotion, she knew well by now, but still. She could have sworn he smiled as she said it.
You’ve been a real pal, she thought fondly as she waved him off in his taxi. At a time when friends were thin on the ground for her, Leon had been there, and she’d never forget him for it.
*
So now, here she was, ready to go. Showtime, as Francesca would say.
Emily had done her prep work thoroughly and had taken care to issu
e handwritten invitations to each and every one of the residents at Ambrosia Independent Living. She’d given them loads of notice and had written out the start time in giant block capitals, so no one could blame their cataracts for missing out on all the fun.
The staff at Ambrosia had been wonderful too.
‘We never have treats like this,’ said one young, smiling nurse from Manila. ‘Never!’
‘And it kicks off at half seven on a Saturday night,’ said Norma, utterly delighted. ‘Unlike boring crappy old flower-arranging classes and prayer meetings, which all seem to start at three in the afternoon. I always say, nothing good in this life ever began in the afternoon, trust me. You did good, kid,’ she added with a little side wink in Emily’s direction.
Emily grinned back. ‘I had a lot of help. The good folks at Flynn’s Stores sponsored all this, right down to the barbeque food, so I can’t take any credit for it.’
‘You worked in event management once, didn’t you?’ Norma asked.
‘How did you know?’
‘Just a lucky guess,’ Norma twinkled, before drifting off to grab a hot dog and a seat with a view.
It was early autumn by then, and Emily had billed this as an end-of-summer outdoor party, with a firework display to round the evening off. Her previous life working in party planning had indeed helped her, as she’d called in every favour imaginable to pull together an evening like this for all the residents.
They’d been blessed with the weather too; it was dusky and just getting dark, yet it was still mild enough that guests could drift about without freezing their arses off. The grounds were filling up fast, and everywhere you looked, people were setting out garden chairs or else laying thick blankets on the ground to plonk down on. The staff had decked the park with trestle tables for the food, and already residents were nabbing seats or gently being guided in wheelchairs to wherever they’d get the best view. Grandkids were running excitedly all over the place, loving the candyfloss that Jayne’s son Jason was serving from his ice cream van, which was parked right at the side of the main reception area.
The invitations had stressed that families were of course welcome too, and they turned out in force. Although there was really only one family that Emily had her eyes peeled out for.
No sooner had she thought the thought, when she felt a warm, supportive arm slip around her shoulders. It was Francesca, looking as breathtaking as ever, even wearing a neatly tied apron and laden down with trays, where she’d been serving freshly barbequed food for all and sundry.
‘Any sign?’ she said, correctly reading Emily’s concerned expression.
‘Not so far, I’m afraid.’
But then they just had to come. They couldn’t not turn up, could they? After all her weeks of preparation, after all this hard work?
‘Stay strong,’ Francesca said. ‘Here, have a cheeseburger. That’s bound to cheer you up.’
Emily couldn’t face food, though; she was still too nervous.
‘Hey, we’re not all like you, you know!’ she said jokingly. ‘You eat what you want and you never gain a single gram – unlike the rest of us.’
‘I’ll have you know,’ Francesca said so primly that Emily had to smile, ‘that my figure is all down to a particularly tortuous pair of Spanx knickers that are killing me right about now.’
Emily was about to come back with a smart remark – except that’s when she spotted him.
Jamie, her little nephew. Patiently queuing up at the ice cream van for a 99. When he saw Emily, he instantly abandoned his place in the queue and ran squealing over to her.
‘Auntie Emily!’ he said, throwing his pudgy arms tightly around her legs and almost making her fall over. ‘This is so cool! I normally hate coming to see Granny here because it’s boring and it smells of wee, but tonight is amazing!’
‘Hey, big guy!’ she laughed, bending down to brush the hair out of his eyes and have a good look at him. How tall he’d got. Had it really been so long since she’d seen him? ‘It’s so good to see you!’
‘It’s good to see you too, Aunt Emily. I miss you lots. Like Jelly Tots.’
Emily smiled. ‘This is a family night, pet,’ she said, ‘so you just make sure you have a great time. OK?’
‘I’m already having, like, the best time ever!’ He giggled happily, with an adorable smile that showed about five teeth missing. ‘I love firework displays – especially if they’re really loud and noisy!’
‘Oh, and I almost forgot,’ Emily said, reaching into her back pocket and fumbling about for her wallet. ‘This is for you, pet,’ she added, handing over two crisp fifty-euro notes.
‘What’s this for?’ Jamie asked, looking back up at her in bewilderment.
‘It’s the money I owe you,’ she told him. ‘Remember back to when I was very naughty and I stole from your piggy bank? Well, it’s all there for you now. Every single cent of it.’
Jamie looked back at her in shock.
‘But this is way more than you borrowed!’ he said, stunned. ‘Waaay more!’
‘Consider it an interest payment,’ she smiled. ‘And just don’t spend it all on candy floss. Or if you do, don’t tell your mother.’
‘Don’t tell your mother what?’ Emily heard a voice say from behind her. She whipped around to see Sadie standing there, wearing jeans and a big Puffa jacket, and smiling. Wow. Sadie never smiled at Emily, ever. The last time her sister smiled at her was on her wedding day.
‘You came then,’ Emily said, unsure whether to hug her or not, and deciding not to, in case it just ended up being embarrassing.
‘Try keeping us away,’ Sadie said, and this time, there was no mistaking it – there was most definitely a smile.
‘Would you like me to get you a good seat for the fireworks?’ Emily stammered, nervous in spite of herself. After all, she’d done all of this for her family, and for one person in particular, and now here they were, in front of her. Actually here, being civil to her for the first time that she could remember.
‘Me and Jamie have the best seats in the house right here,’ Sadie said, pointing to some garden chairs with blankets draped over them to keep out the chill. ‘But you know what?’ she added.
‘What?’
‘There’s someone over there, who I think would very much like to be shown to a good seat.’
Emily followed Sadie’s eyeline all the way over towards the row of apartments where her mother lived. And there she was, neat as a pin in her ‘good’ M&S suit, with her comfy flat brogues, just standing there with a curious look on her face. Still on her walking stick, but looking robust and healthy in spite of it.
Her mother. The one person who Emily had gone all out to please, more than anyone else. The one person who she’d done all this for.
‘Go on,’ Sadie said encouragingly. ‘Go over to her. I’m pretty certain she wants to talk to you.’
Emily did as she was told, glad it was dark so you couldn’t really tell how flushed and red in the face she was with nerves.
‘Hello, Mum,’ she said tentatively, now that they were standing beside each other, for the first time in God knows how long.
‘Well, well, well,’ her mother nodded, drinking in Emily from head to foot, as if she were really seeing her properly for the first time in years. ‘Isn’t this just marvellous?’
‘It’s about to begin,’ Emily said. ‘The fireworks, I mean. So if you’d like, I could help you to a good seat? Maybe beside Norma and some of the ladies she’s with?’
Her mum thought for a moment before answering. ‘That’s very kind of you,’ she said, ‘but if it’s all the same, I’d prefer to sit with my family.’
‘Of course,’ Emily said. ‘I’ll get a seat beside Sadie and Jamie for you, so the three of you can be together.’
‘I meant you too, Emily. We’re not a proper family without you.’
Emily looked back at her, stunned into silence.
‘You’ve done terribly well, you know,’ her mum said, t
aking a step forward and linking Emily’s arm as they both walked towards the main park area, where the fireworks were about to begin. ‘The residents have all been so excited about tonight. Everyone is greatly looking forward to it.’
Emily blushed. ‘That’s . . . that’s really great to hear. Thank you.’
‘Sadie tells me you’ve got a good job now,’ her mum went on, ‘and that you’ve found somewhere nice to live too.’
‘Well, yeah,’ Emily smiled. ‘I mean, I’m doing OK. I’m in a good place, Mum. Finally. I’m gaining on happiness and I actually think I might just be getting there.’
‘That’s all I ever wanted for you, you know,’ her mother said. ‘You have so many gifts and talents, Emily. It broke my heart to see you wasting them for so many years, and now it’s wonderful to see you put them all to good use.’
‘Thanks, Mum,’ Emily said, deeply touched. ‘All this is . . . tonight, I mean, is just . . . well . . . to say sorry to you, really. I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself for what I put you through, and I can’t undo the past, but I can at least show you that I’m trying to be a better person.’
‘I know you are,’ her mum said softly.
‘I’ve got a long journey ahead of me, Mum,’ Emily said. ‘But it’ll be so much easier knowing that you and me are at peace.’
The sound of fireworks swelled in the background as her mother smiled, her cornflower blue eyes catching the light.
‘Do you know something, Emily?’ she said lightly, as if mother and daughter chatted like this every day of the week.
‘What’s that?’
‘I was thinking I might have a little family dinner next weekend. Would you care to join us? Say yes, love. It really wouldn’t be the same without you.’
The first fireworks of the night sparkled off into the sky as Emily smiled and said yes. And, for the first time in over a decade, she sat down with her mother and nephew and sister.
A family again.
Six months later
‘Come on, old woman!’ Emily yelled up the stairs of number eighty-one Primrose Square. The newly redecorated stairs, as it happened – given that, between them, she and Violet had finally begun to declutter and redecorate the house.
The Women of Primrose Square Page 32
