One?

by Jennifer L. Cahill

  ‘He loved him, the guy I live with, Charlie, is in a band…’ Zara began.

  ‘Oh my god is he famous?’ Katie shrieked.

  ‘Not yet, but…’ Zara continued.

  ‘Almost famous?!’ she shrieked again.

  ‘I don’t know actually, I don’t think so though.’ Zara realised that she didn’t actually know, but it was a bloody good question. There is no way they could cope with the paparazzi permanently camped out on Abbeville Road.

  ‘Oh, anyway… go on, so he liked him too…’ Katie was dying to hear the rest of the story.

  ‘Yeah this bloke, Gerry, is in a band too and …’

  ‘Oh my god, you are soooo lucky, I have never even met someone who is in a band in London and you are living with two of them! Some people have all the luck.’ Katie sounded a bit miffed.

  ‘If you think that’s good, wait ’til you hear this… he’s a semi-professional snow boarder, and Katie, you’d want to see the body…’ Zara knew she had said too much now, how could Katie share her joy about this, when she was stuck back at home.

  ‘What! Did you get him to strip or something?’ Katie couldn’t believe this.

  ‘Noooooo! But sometimes you can just tell, and Penelope thought exactly the same, so I know it wasn’t just me,’ Zara sighed dreamily.

  ‘I see! I wish I was you Zara, some people have all the luck… I’m stuck here in boring Bangor, where nothing ever changes.’ Katie sounded a bit put out.

  ‘Well you can come down for a visit any time you like. We can plan it when I’m back next weekend.’ Zara offered an immediate solution.

  ‘Right, I’ll start saving. I better go, I’ll email you when I get back into college on Monday, ok.’ Katie was already running late for her babysitting job that night.

  ‘Ok, bye.’ Zara was sorry that she had to go. The line went dead, and suddenly Zara was alone again.

  ‘It was really nice speaking to Katie. I know I’m not missing out on anything at home if she’s just babysitting. Next weekend is the big one, with Jeannie’s party. With all the stuff that’s been going on here, I’d completely forgotten about it. I don’t feel as miserable this weekend, thank god. I think I’ll have a nice bath and go to bed early.’ Zara felt a little better, now that she knew she would see them all next weekend.

  The next morning Zara was up nice and early, to her surprise so was Penelope.

  ‘Morning Penelope… off for a run?’ Zara asked.

  ‘Yep, going for a quick run around the common.’ Penelope was all ready to go in her trainers, with her iPod on full blast.

  ‘You are so good, I barely do any exercise, I’ll have to join a gym or something. Thanks for the hangover cure yesterday, I think you just might have saved my life, I’m totally back to normal now.’ Zara felt like hugging Penelope.

  ‘No problem, by the way I bumped into Charlie last night when I came in and Gerry is moving in today, lunch time-ish apparently.’ Penelope shouted back over her shoulder.

  ‘Oh my god, look at the state of me, I’ll have to go and tidy myself up a bit, no lounging around in my jammies.’ Zara jumped up.

  ‘I thought I should warn you! It’s going to be weird having another guy in the house, just when we had all gotten used to living here, just the three of us.’ Penelope stopped at the top of the stairs as she considered this.

  ‘I know what you mean, I really hope it works out with him,’ Zara agreed.

  ‘I’m sure it will, you know what guys are like, I’m sure we’ll probably barely ever see him,’ Penelope said reassuringly.

  ‘Yeah, I see what you mean, I barely even know Charlie, and any time I see him he’s got some blonde clinging onto him,’ Zara chuckled.

  ‘He’s terrible isn’t he? And he doesn’t even know half of their names.’ Penelope laughed.

  ‘I know, it’s hysterical. He is a nice guy though isn’t he?’ Zara wanted some reassurance from Penelope.

  ‘Oh yeah, I was really good friends with him in Uni, he is really nice as long as you are not 5ft4, with blonde hair and big boobs.’ Penelope tittered.

  ‘That’s great, I’m safe then.’ Zara was relieved.

  Later that day Charlie got a call from Gerry.

  ‘Hi mate, yeah, that’s cool, I’ll be here to let you in, just out of bed myself too. No worries.’ Charlie was still in bed.

  ‘Wicked, do you have a spare set of keys?’

  ‘Yep, extra keys all ready for you. Do you have much stuff?’ Charlie struggled out of bed.

  ‘Nah, I travel light, got my guitar and amp and stuff, but usually keep that stuff in my mate’s house… it’s where we rehearse. What are the two birds like to live with?’ Gerry wanted to scope out the scene before he moved in.

  ‘No problem, barely ever see them, they work during the day, friends with Penelope since Uni, and Zara, didn’t know her before, but seems pretty cool, keeps herself to herself and doesn’t hog the bathroom.’ Charlie yawned as he filled Gerry in.

  ‘Cool, didn’t want to be moving in with a pair of drama queens or whatever.’ Gerry sounded relieved.

  ‘Nah, nuthin’ like that, they’re sound. See you at about three?’ Charlie asked.

  ‘Yeah, that’s cool.’ Gerry agreed.

  ‘I’m in anyway, so whenever is cool, just give me a call when you are on your way.’

  ‘Right mate, later. Cheers.’ And Gerry was gone.

  ‘Charlie, was that him?’ Zara had caught the tail end of the conversation.

  ‘Who? Gerry?’ Charlie wasn’t expecting to see her as he headed into the kitchen.

  ‘Yeah.’ Zara tried not to look too keen.

  ‘Yep, should be here at about three, don’t worry though, I’m going to let him in and all that.’ Charlie was rooting around in the cupboard for the cereal.

  ‘Ok, cool.’ Zara had mastered a nonchalant tone of voice.

  ‘Yay! I can’t wait for this guy to move in. He’s yum. It’s a bit of excitement having a new housemate.’ Zara was so pleased about the new housemate.

  ‘Is he here yet?’ Later that day Penelope was pacing up and down in the kitchen as Zara sat at the kitchen table.

  ‘No, Charlie said about three-ish, no sign of him yet… oh hello, this might be…’ Zara suggested as the doorbell rang.

  ‘Oh my god, he is gorgeous… oh no! He’s got a girl with him…’ Penelope sighed as she peeped out the living room window.

  ‘Maybe it’s his sister…’ Zara offered.

  ‘I don’t think so… look!’ The two girls peeped out of through the living room curtains.

  ‘Oh, I see what you mean, oh well, the best ones are always taken…’ Zara sighed.

  ‘Not always… come on, let’s make ourselves scarce, want to go for coffee?’

  ‘Good idea, can you show me where the video shop is too? I’ve been meaning to join.’ Zara was keen to get out and about.

  ‘No problem.’

  ‘Where are you two off to?’ Charlie arrived down just as the two girls were leaving and Gerry was arriving in.

  ‘Hi Gerry, sorry Charlie we had arranged to meet friends for coffee… going to be late. We’ll be back later.’ The two girls gave him and his girlfriend a big smile.

  ‘Right so, I’ll help Gerry move in and this is?’ Charlie noticed the blonde girl with him.

  ‘Sorry, everyone this is my girlfriend, Sarah.’ Gerry introduced his girlfriend.

  ‘Nice to meet you all.’ The girl smiled suspiciously at Penelope and Zara.

  As soon as they were out of earshot the two girls started to analyse the situation.

  ‘It was probably better to make ourselves scarce while he moves in,’ Penelope said.

  ‘You are right, it’d probably be a bit awkward,’ Zara hissed back at her.

  ‘Completely, what with our jaws hitting the floor every time he strides up the stairs,’ Penelope chuckled.

  ‘He looks like a model doesn’t he?’ Zara had a faraway dreamy look in her eyes as she said this.

/>   ‘I bet he does a bit on the side, but didn’t want to say…’ Penelope sounded like she had the inside track.

  ‘Come on let’s go, before his girlfriend comes back down and gives us the third degree.’ The girls moved on down Abbeville Road to try to find a seat outside BonBon. They were lucky, there was one in the sun, and the two girls settled down for a good old chat over a couple of cappuccinos.

  Later that evening Penelope had no distractions and her mind was on one thing, she tossed and turned in bed, struggling to get to sleep.

  ‘Oh, I can’t sleep. He hasn’t texted me back yet. Maybe he didn’t get it, no, no, I’m sure I got a receipt. What if he has changed his mind… and then I can’t stop thinking about what George said about Richard. Maybe he does fancy me, I don’t know how I feel about that… Oh, it’s too late to ring George now, it’s nearly midnight, and it’s a school night. I have to be up at 6 am. I am now going to try to not think about him, it’s really hard, he keeps coming into my head, stop it, stop it, stop it… this is not working. Ok, reading… nothing good to read, this is a disaster’. Penelope got up and rummaged around on her bookshelf ‘… Aha…yoga, that never fails’ Penelope caught sight of her yoga mat out of the corner of her eye, and she knew exactly what to do ‘… ohhhhmmm.’

  Within half an hour Penelope was fast asleep.

  Chapter 11

  Home?

  This Monday morning wasn’t quite as much of a struggle for Zara as previous ones had been. She lay in bed trying to muster the energy to haul herself out of it.

  ‘What a nice weekend, I actually feel at home here now… I was dying to go home, but with all the activity with the housemate interviews and the hangover from Friday, I wouldn’t have been able to go. I hope I don’t bump into the new guy looking like this. I had a really nice chat with Penelope when we went for coffee. We had a right laugh about the two boys. She is nothing like any of my other friends, and I’m probably not the type of person she normally makes friends with. She is so posh, and even her name is posh. I was so intimidated when I first met her. I bet all her other friends are called Tizzy, Poppy and Harriet. George is really nice and she is really posh, meeting the two of them has really opened my mind. I would normally just avoid people like that. I just can’t get out of bed today, it’s a lovely morning… I think I’ll just stay in here for a few more minutes…ahh… cuddly bed.’

  Penelope had the same feeling, but for an entirely different reason… Alyx was playing on her mind.

  ‘No, no sign of a text… ok, well it was unlikely that he’d text in the middle of the night… I slept like a baby after a tiny bit of yoga, I must remember that if I ever can’t sleep again. I didn’t get as much sleep as I normally do, but I don’t feel tired… I do not want to get out of this bed…’

  Penelope reluctantly slipped out of bed and sauntered into her en suite bathroom.

  Zara arrived into work nice and early, she was becoming very good at getting the Tube. She managed it on her own this morning, all on her own, she was very proud of herself.

  ‘Morning sleepy-head.’ Rob said as soon as he saw her.

  ‘Morning Rob, is it that obvious?’ Zara gave him a big yawn as she said this.

  ‘You look like you are still in bed!’ Rob sounded so dramatic.

  ‘I just couldn’t get out of the bed this morning… I was so relaxed.’ Zara yawned again.

  ‘I know the feeling. Anyway… how are you?’ Rob started the ball rolling.

  ‘Luscious… you?’ Zara woke up and rose to the occasion.

  ‘Lovely… you?’ Rob swept out from behind his desk.

  ‘Fabulous… you?’ Zara slid over towards him.

  ‘Fantastic… you?’ Rob placed the back of his hand on his forehead in a dramatic gesture.

  ‘Smitten… you?’ Zara clasped her hands together next to her right cheek.

  ‘… Actually… lucky to be alive… How many drinks did we have on Friday? I was in recovery all of Saturday, and we had half of London in for the interviews.’ Zara decided to stop their morning dance as she could see Victoria out of the corner of her eye.

  ‘Oh that’s right, did you find one in the end?’ Rob was dying to hear about all of the weirdos that they may have seen. Finding a housemate in London was such a lottery.

  ‘Yes, you would be so proud, he is gorgeous. We practically chose him on looks alone, semi-professional snow boarder, can you imagine… the body!’ Zara started staring into space again.

  ‘Good girl! How did you convince the others?’ Rob was bursting with pride.

  ‘No need, Charlie loved him… for different reasons of course, and Penelope agreed with me.’ Zara glowed with pride.

  ‘So I presume he is gay?’ Rob was very sure of himself.

  ‘No, worse… he’s got a, a… girlfriend!’ Zara sighed.

  ‘NO!’ Rob shrieked.

  ‘I know, the cheek of him, bursting into our lives like that, giving us hope… and then having a girlfriend! She arrived with him when he moved in, she actually seems really nice though. She is gorgeous too.’ Zara started up her computer.

  ‘Oh well, not to worry… there’s plenty more fish etc. etc. etc.’ Rob went back to his seat, and started to boot up his PC.

  ‘Where! Where are these mythical fish Rob!?’ Zara needed answers!

  ‘Oh don’t ask me, I met my Mikey in Manchester remember, but look there are loads of young people living near where you live, you’ll have a nice man in not time… no time at all…’ Rob assured Zara.

  ‘I hope you are right.’ She really did.

  ‘I’m always right! Now, down to business… I don’t want to alarm you but, look… she’s got the door shut again…’ Rob had his finger on the pulse as far as Organicom was concerned. He knew all the signs.

  ‘Oh no, do you think… maybe… more announcements?’ Zara was startled by this.

  ‘More than likely, don’t worry about things until they happen though… that’s my motto. Let’s wait until she comes out to go and get coffee… wouldn’t want to miss anything exciting…’ Rob sounded like a sage.

  ‘Totally, we can go at about eleven instead… she can’t stay in there like that for hours, and she’s bound to know that we know something is up because the door is closed… it’s code for “serious news from HQ” isn’t it?’ Zara was beginning to pick up how things really worked at Organicom very quickly.

  ‘Exactly. I better go and log in, I’m so glad I’m in early today, we’re the only two in now, apart from the boss.’ Rob tried to reassure Zara.

  ‘Shiiiiiiiit! I had just forgotten about the work thing… I was so distracted by the whole new housemate carry on, and being hungover. I wonder what’s going to happen. I’ll read a few emails from the girls, that’ll take my mind off it. Don’t worry about things until they happen, that’s what Rob said… he seems to know what he’s talking about when it comes to things like this. …’ Zara was getting really worried now, having such an active weekend had totally taken her mind off the potential redundancies at work.

  In EC1 Penelope was already steeped in work

  ‘Penelope, good weekend?’ Jack popped his head into her office.

  ‘Yes, thanks, actually we had to find a new housemate and…’ Penelope began…

  ‘A new what? Housemate? What on earth for? Oh I keep forgetting you are not married…’ Jack retorted.

  ‘No, I’m far too young to be married… I live with friends and we had a spare bedroom… so we are renting it out.’ Penelope explained, sick of the box that she was supposed to already be in.

  ‘Ah, I see… didn’t catch the rugby then?’ Jack wasn’t listening to a word she was saying.

  ‘No, no, missed it again!’ Penelope feigned regret.

  ‘Beautiful game, you missed a corker, deciding try in extra time, beautiful, beautiful.’ Jack made a rugby ball passing gesture.

  ‘Oh, I think I can hear my phone vibrating… better dash…’ Penelope lunged for her handbag.

&nb
sp; ‘Oh, yes, right, quite right…’ And Jack was gone.

  ‘I am so sick of small talk, bloody rugby… who cares, well it could have been worse, could have been golf talk! I just don’t have anything in common with these people. Emails, emails, emails. Oh no, I have to meet my new mentor this week. Luckily no sales pitches this week, just lots of entertaining… that’s not so bad… I won’t be in too late. I wish Alyx would text or something, maybe he’s forgotten about it. I can’t stop thinking about him. Right focus Penelope, a whole day of work to get through… oh my god!’ The thought of a whole day of work without reassurance from Alyx!

  Over in WC2, Zara was silently freaking out.

  ‘She still hasn’t opened the door yet, she must at least need to pee or something by now, it’s gone ten! Everyone is looking really serious, and the usual jokes aren’t flying around… which is very strange after our work drinks on Friday night… oh, oh, here she comes… help!’ Zara’s foot was tapping furiously under her desk, she was so nervous but was trying her best to hide it.

  Victoria stood just outside her office at the front of the room. All the employees stood around in front of her, looking solemn.

  ‘Good morning everyone… I’m afraid I have a bit of bad news. I have been on the phone to the Manchester office all morning, and the time has come for me to announce the changes that will be taking place, effective immediately… I’m sure you are all aware that our sales targets were very optimistic… and things are not looking good for the London office. As we are so centrally located, the cost of keeping this office active far outweighs the potential benefits, in terms of increasing sales. We need to focus our attention on increasing sales around the country, as there is quite a high demand for our product lines here, although admittedly, not as high as we had forecast. Manchester don’t see the need to have a presence in London, as long as we continue to put money into advertising… I am sure you all must be thinking “How does this affect me?” Well, we have set up individual meetings with HR, they are arriving this afternoon, and they will go through your options with you…’