Wilde Women

by Louise Pentland

  ‘How do you do that?’ I say, incredulous.

  ‘Do what?’

  ‘Just solve everything so easily.’

  ‘Aha! Years of mistakes I’ve learnt from. I know what’s important in life, and how to master that juggle. You need your family. That sabbatical last year taught me that. Time spent together is the most priceless of all things. We need to get this job secured, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still be badass wives and girlfriends and amazing mothers. We’re Natalie and Robin. We’re smashing it!’

  ‘We’ve MADE IT!’ I say jubilantly.

  We both fall about laughing. I don’t think it’s cheesy enough to warrant full hysteria, but I think the notion of a huge trip to New York in only a couple of weeks is all a bit much and we have to laugh like hyenas to get it out of our systems.

  Once we’ve calmed down (which takes Natalie about four seconds because she’s the kind of woman who can take immediate control over her emotions, whereas I’m a total mess most the time and feel almost sick once we’ve stopped laughing), talk things through a bit and tick off a couple of tasks I need to power through this afternoon, I go back to my desk and text Edward excitedly: Really can’t wait for dinner now! I’ve got something to tell you, too! xx At least whatever he has to say, I have some news of my own.

  FOURTEEN

  DRIVING HOME THAT NIGHT, I hadn’t really expected to be feeling so emotional. It’s as though all the things I’ve had on my shoulders that I felt like I was managing really well, have all become rather heavy and I want to take some of it off.

  It’s such a relief to pull onto the drive and see not only Edward’s car but also Kath’s parked up, too. Edward is my strong, handsome hero, but Kath, she’s my forever hero, and on a heavy day, I want her the most.

  ‘Oo-ooo, I’m home!’ I call as I step in the door and push my shoes off.

  ‘Oo-ooo,’ Kath sings back. ‘We’re in here, all at work!’ she calls.

  I pad through to the kitchen and there, at my great big oak table, are my three most favourite people (don’t tell Lacey – she and Willow make the top five!) in all the world.

  ‘Well, this is the best thing I’ve seen all day!’ I say to Kath, Lyla and Edward, who are all sitting round the table gluing lavender sprigs, sparkly stars and scraps of lace into phone cases.

  ‘We’re helping make things for Kath’s shop!’ Lyla calls.

  ‘Whether we like it or not!’ Edward jokes.

  ‘I love it! I want to sit and join you,’ I say excitedly.

  ‘Well, my gorgeous girlfriend, you can’t. There’s a date night with your name on it, and I want to whisk you away to talk of many things!’ Edward coos.

  ‘Same to you too! I have things to tell as well,’ I say mysteriously as I shimmy out of the room, giggling.

  ‘You two lovebirds,’ I hear Kath say. ‘I love to see my girls happy.’

  ‘SO, I’VE GOT NEWS,’ Edward begins as I push my fork into a tiny but delicious pork dumpling. We’ve come to a new Asian fusion restaurant that opened in town last week. Normally I’d be really excited to be out having a meal at a place that doesn’t serve a packet of crayons with the menu, but tonight, knowing Edward has something to talk about with me, I feel like there’s a hard knot in my tummy again. Not ideal, now that I’ve seen the rather appealing food offerings.

  I nod nervously. ‘OK … I’m just glad you’re speaking your truth,’ I say, reaching my hands across the table and resting them on his, which are, awkwardly, still holding cutlery.

  ‘I appreciate that you’re taking this seriously and I certainly will “speak my truth”,’ he says with a wry smile.

  ‘Sorry. I’ve been with Skye all day. Picking up the lingo is an occupational hazard. Whatever it is, though, I’m ready.’ I smile while mentally bracing myself for whatever it is, and kind of hoping it’s not a proposal because a) I don’t think I’m ready for that yet, and b) my nails are a bit scraggly, so I wouldn’t be able to get a good Insta shot of the ring tonight.

  ‘You know the London store?’ he begins.

  ‘Well, no, I’ve not been there, but yes, I know you’re opening next month,’ I say.

  ‘Right, well, now it’s not opening next month. It’s been delayed. The staffing fell through in New York and they need someone experienced to look after it, tide them over and help hire a new manager,’ he blurts out in a rush while nodding as though I’m very slow.

  ‘Oh dear,’ I say, nodding back, probably looking even more slow.

  ‘So, I’m that person,’ he says bluntly.

  ‘OK,’ I respond, not really seeing what the Big Announcement is here.

  ‘So I’m going to be heading back out to the States for at least a month. In two weeks’ time. I won’t be here with you for four weeks,’ he says, putting his cutlery down now and looking me squarely in the eyes.

  ‘This. Is. Amazing!’ I exclaim, almost looking around for the waiter to order some champagne to celebrate.

  ‘Robin, are you all right? You were sad when I went away for the weekend last month. This means I’ll be going away in two weeks – to New York.’ Edward’s usually steady face is completely baffled.

  ‘Guess what, my most gorgeous boyfriend?’ I say, swirling my chopsticks (that I have no intention of using but feel I look cool gesturing with) at him in little circles.

  ‘What? You’ve gone mad?’

  ‘Nope! I’m going to be in New York next month, too!’ I say with utter glee at how well this has worked out.

  We spend the rest of our starters with me explaining the situation with MADE IT and how I’m taking Lyla out too (though I realise I still have to get this squared with school. I can imagine it will set the PSMs’ tongues wagging). By the time the mains have arrived, we’ve decided that when Natalie and Martin head home, me, Kath and Lyla will keep the house on for an extra fortnight (providing we can afford it and Natalie lets me have the annual leave – but I think she will because I haven’t had a holiday in about forever), and we’ll all have the most magical time together.

  ‘I’ll have time to show you everywhere. I’ll take you to shows and bars and every shop you could ever want to spend far too much time in. I’ll take you and Lyla to Coney Island, I’ll buy her cotton candy that you won’t approve of and I’ll find Kath shells on the beach to add to her collection, and then I’ll whisk you back to my place – thank God I have the lease till autumn – and absolutely ravage you, and show you how much I—’

  ‘I can’t believe how amazingly this has all turned out! What are the actual odds of two people going to the same city, at the same time, for totally different reasons? You always see these things in films, and I never think they can happen to someone like me, but they are!’ I gush.

  ‘It is going to be amazing … Because you are amazing,’ Edward says quietly, smiling at me with his eyes all soft and crinkly in that way that makes my tummy flip. I smile back at him and breathe in deeply. Wow, I’m relieved this is working out so well.

  We spend dessert talking about how fun it will be to have Kath in New York, the parks and museums Lyla will love and the bars we could meet up with Piper in. Piper, Lacey’s little sister, lives out in New York and, after all, it’s thanks to her that I have Edward. She’s the one who dared me to go over and talk to him on a night out. It’ll be like old times again, except with Lyla and Kath in tow. I can’t wait!

  AS SOON AS WE get in, I feel like I might explode if I don’t blurt everything out to Kath. We find her in the kitchen, clearing her supplies into the little acrylic boxes I bought and labelled for her.

  ‘Did you have a nice time?’ she says, not looking up from her work.

  ‘We did! Was Lyla good for you?’ I ask politely, even though I’m desperate to jump on a chair à la Ms Wilde Junior and dance around. Maybe she feels this great all the time, and that’s why she’s always skipping about. That’s a nice thought.

  ‘She was good as gold. Read me a lovely story and went off to sleep, no problems at a
ll.’ Kath looks up and smiles.

  ‘Oh, good!’ I say, beaming.

  ‘You look very happy. What’s happened? He’s not proposed, has he?!’ Kath starts excitedly, standing up straight.

  ‘No, he hasn’t.’ Edward, with his perfect timing, comes into the room smiling after taking his shoes off.

  ‘What is it then?’ she says, fully picking up on the vibe.

  ‘How would you feel about coming to New York with us for three weeks next month?’ I ask, clasping my hands together and standing right up on my tiptoes.

  ‘What?!’ Kath squeals.

  ‘I need to be out there with MADE IT. We’ll rent a big house – don’t worry about the cost, we’ve got it, you’d just need to cover flights – Natalie and I have to work for a week so I need some help with Lyla, and Edward has to be out there for work too, so I figured we could stay on a bit when Natalie’s gone home, have a bit of a family adventure!’ I almost shriek at the end.

  ‘Yaahooo!’ Kath cries. ‘An adventure! With my girls! Yaahooo!!’

  ‘So that’s a yes, then, I think,’ Edward says, going over to give Kath a hug. I love how good he is with my family.

  ‘I always say yes to adventure, Edward! My Derek and I travelled the world. Adventure is in my blood!’ She cheers as I open the fridge and pop the cork on a bottle of Prosecco to celebrate.

  WHAT A DIFFERENCE A day makes. Yesterday I was driving to work feeling anxious and overthinking whether I’d mucked something up badly enough to warrant a Proper Chat with Natalie, and now I’m driving to work almost speeding to get there so I can tell her I’m fully on board with what’s shaping up to be a month-long trip to America, pretty much. And, by the way, my amazing boyfriend will be there too!

  I’m not even feeling anxious over requesting an extra two weeks off after Natalie’s empowering speech yesterday about family being the most important thing in life.

  I pull into the car park and almost skip into work.

  ‘Well done on not ruining the planet today, bae,’ Skye comments as I walk in happily, this time with a canvas tote instead of my slouchy leather cross-body.

  ‘Thanks, Skye. I took your advice and decided I will only ever use sustainable bags until the day I die.’ I smile back at her.

  Skye is sitting on Alice’s desk (who hasn’t arrived yet) chatting to Stuart, and looks gobsmacked. Luckily she senses my tone isn’t malicious.

  ‘You’re so weird. Do you want me to hot-desk out here today? Alice is away, and I want to respect your space,’ she says, offering what I can only assume is an olive branch.

  ‘Ahh, thanks, Skye. You’re very welcome to sit in the back office with me, but I don’t mind if you want to keep Stuart company. I think I’ll be with Natalie most of the morning, so it’s up to you,’ I say, offering an olive branch in return by calling it the ‘back office’ and not ‘my office’. We have our scraps, but Skye’s all right really.

  ‘OK, cool. I’ll float,’ she says, plopping delicately down into Alice’s seat and taking things out of her trendy backpack. I wonder if I could rock a backpack?

  I dump my bits in the ‘back office’ and head straight to Natalie’s.

  ‘Yoo-hoo, only me.’

  ‘Hi. So, tell me, how did Edward take it? Is Kath up for it? Can Lyla even contain her excitement?’ Natalie asks, more animated than I’ve seen her in a long time.

  ‘Edward is more on board than we could have anticipated, Kath screamed with joy and I haven’t told Lyla yet because I just need to check something with you,’ I venture.

  TWO HOURS LATER, AND everything is done, dusted, signed and delivered! With Stuart’s administrative support (that man is absolutely incredible – he’s sourced a three-bedroom town house in the West Village, a car for Natalie and Martin, who want to have a couple of weekends exploring the state, and flights for all of us in less time than most people take to find their passport). Natalie has OK’d the extended trip (I’ll be covering the last fortnight, rent-wise) and she’s been in touch with the film company about offering our services and spending some time with them.

  I sit in my office taking some deep breaths before giving Mrs Barnstorm at Hesgrove a call to discuss taking Lyla out of school a week early. I thought she’d be reluctant, but she’s much gentler with me than she usually is (I think it was thanks to last year’s PaGS spa night), and has said that they don’t get much work done in the last week of the year. She’s said the trip sounds like a ‘wonderful experience of culture and adventure for Lyla’. Fabulous, then!

  So: Natalie’s fine with the extra leave, the school have given me permission to take Lyla out, and I do need to chat to Gloria about our second WWW meeting, but I’m too fizzy right now to worry about that because this all just feels so amazing. I can’t wait to tell Lyla – she’ll be so excited. I can’t wait to show her the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Coney Island – oh, who am I kidding? I’m the one who’s excited!

  New York, are you ready for us?

  FIFTEEN

  SETTING UP FOR THE second WWW meeting feels just as exciting as the first. Once again, the diligent caretakers have grouped the seats around coffee tables, and again, each one has a small vase, this time with a yellow rose in it – we’ve gone up in the world, I muse to myself.

  ‘All set?’ asks Gloria, striding over, looking magnificent as usual. It’s a warm evening and Gloria has dressed for the weather in beige tailored knee-length shorts, a floaty silk shirt with pearl buttons and light brown wedges. With her hair in a high pony with soft blonde tendrils bouncing around her face and the glowiest make-up you’ve ever seen, she looks like an assertive goddess.

  ‘Yep! Going to smash it!’ I say, much more convincingly than I thought I would.

  ‘That’s what he said.’ Gloria gives a laugh. Then, placing her hand on my arm, she says, ‘Just gotta keep it from the heart and you’ll do fine!’ The door opens and we shift our attention to it. People have started to come in and, remembering the system from last time, are heading over to the welcome desk for their name label.

  Gloria walks over to greet them and I, somewhat nervously, go to the front of the room to make sure everything is as it should be.

  Old wooden podium Mr Ravelle uses for assemblies? Check. Chair for model? Check. Trolley with all my kit? Check. Tripod, camera and live screen all hooked up? Check.

  I can do this. I’ve done so much already this year, I can easily do this, I repeat in my head, wiping my palms down my skirt. I too have a bit of a spring in my step from the hot weather and joy-inducing sunshine, so I’ve gone for a mustard-yellow jersey maxi skirt and then, because today’s session is all about confidence and I’m trying to really get on board with that, I’ve worn a denim shirt with the sleeves rolled up but instead of tucking it in, I’ve undone a few of the bottom buttons and tied it up in a little knot. It’s not Skye crop-top level, since you can’t actually see any tummy skin, but it’s a nod to it, and that’s confidence in my book!

  Tonight I’m opening the meeting with a brief word or two, handing over to Gloria, who’s going to be sharing her top three tips for confidence, and then I’m going to demonstrate (with confidence) a few make-up techniques that we can use to help build us up a bit and feel our best. And what’s more, it’s going to be filmed, so people not only see in close-up what I’m doing, but they can go back over what they see tonight. I’m super-excited to be doing a bit of what I love with the make-up, but I’ve never had a camera trained on me – I’m much more comfortable the other side of one. Still, it’ll be amazing practice for my live tutorials project with MADE IT, and after the whirlwind of a fortnight I’ve had prepping for New York, I haven’t really had a chance to get nervous.

  I stand at the podium and watch everyone file in and take their seats around the tables. The hall feels a lot more full than last time – word must be spreading. I feel a little tingle of what might be pride. Gillian and Finola take the same table (it’s much like the foyer mentality, where once you h
ave a space, that’s it until you die), and they give me a little wave. Well, Finola gives a stony nod and Gillian gives a big smile and a thumbs up. In each of their languages they’ve basically said, ‘Good luck, babe!’

  I keep an eager eye out for Kath, who said she was coming, and just as I think we’re going to start, I hear, ‘Oo-eee, sorry I’m late! I was talking to Moira, who’s been having a hell of a time with her joints.’ Kath has started talking to Gloria, who’s trying to guide her to a table but having no luck, because once Kath starts, it’s hard for her to stop. Ever the small-time hero, Gillian jumps up, heads over and says hello, having seen Kath at the school gates a few times with me, and takes her over to their table. Storie is nowhere to be seen, and I can’t say I’m too disappointed.

  With a nod and a massive smile from Gloria from the back of the room, it’s my moment.

  I lean into the mic. ‘Hel-hello everyone, tonight!’ Hmm, OK, weird start but not too bad.

  There’s a very faint murmur of hellos from around the room and I lock eyes with Gloria, who is opening her arms, lifting her chest high and smiling, like one of those mums who stand at the back of child beauty pageants, encouraging her over-tanned four-year-old to smile and win the tiara. I take it and throw myself in. From the heart. Here we go.

  ‘Thank you for coming to our second meeting of Women Who Win. For those of you I’ve not yet met, I’m Robin. I know that coming to things like this can be difficult, not just with logistics and childcare, but it can also be an emotional hurdle.’ I notice a few people look up from their clipboards as if agreeing.

  ‘When my daughter first started here, at the school, I didn’t know anybody and I was in a bit of a bleak place. I found it really hard to make small talk in the foyer, let alone have the confidence to form relationships or share goals and ideas with any of you lovely ladies,’ I continue, gesturing around the room.