by Jenny Oliver
Chapter Thirty
An hour and a half later, they left the Noirmoutier house laden down. Billy had been up on the van roof like a little chimpanzee tying on chairs and a small wardrobe with intricate knots and binds. Charlie helped him from the ground, sweat beading on his forehead, while Julia crammed as much as she could into the Fiat 500. Amber’s van was so full they had to bungee the back doors together. She’d bought practically everything she could lay her hands on, much to the old French couple’s delight. Pandora had bought for herself a vintage satin nightdress and was wafting about in it, smelling a bit musty.
With both vehicles bursting at the seams it was time to go. They left to much kissing and gesticulating with the old couple and then they were off. Charlie, Julia and the swan in the Fiat. Amber, Billy and Pandora in the van.
Halfway out the gates, the van in front, Julia suddenly shouted out the window of the Fiat. ‘Amber! You’re not allowed to drive.’
‘Shit.’ Amber braked hard. Behind her, Charlie had to do an emergency stop, the swan head tipping forward between them from the back seat. Billy and Amber changed places.
Julia presumed with Billy at the wheel, they’d all be travelling at a more sedate pace but as soon as they pulled out onto the quiet tree-lined avenue the van shot off.
‘Bloody hell!’ said Charlie. ‘He’s got half a house on the roof. He can’t drive that fast! Surely she’ll tell him to slow down.’
Julia shook her head. ‘I think we’re just going to have to speed up.’
‘Blimey,’ said Charlie, pressing tentatively on the accelerator – there would be no sixty-seven miles per hour cruise control today. ‘It really is an adventure.’
She reached forward and put the radio on. Loud French DJ chat blared out. Charlie winced. ‘Really?’
‘Really,’ she said.
And after a second or two, he started nodding to the music. ‘I used to like a bit of French rap.’
Julia rolled her head to look at him. ‘You did not.’
‘I did!’ he said. ‘You don’t know everything about me, Julia. I have very diverse music tastes.’
She snorted a laugh. ‘Since when?’
‘Since right this second,’ he said, slipping his sunglasses on, still nodding his head to the beat while cruising along in the fast lane, clearly really enjoying himself. ‘The light’s really different in France, isn’t it?’
‘What?’ Julia couldn’t believe what she was hearing. ‘When I said that years ago, you said that was rubbish.’
‘I never said that,’ said Charlie, shaking his head.
‘You did!’
He laughed. ‘Maybe I did. It sounds like something I’d say.’ He shrugged. ‘I’m clearly an idiot.’
Julia put her bare feet up on the dash. Smiling. She looked out the window at the sun pooling outwards on the horizon, the patchwork fields with brown cows, the looming big telephone pylons and thought how completely happy she was. How completely content with where she was right at that exact moment.
The French rap booming out of the speakers almost blocked out the fact that her phone was beeping with new WhatsApp messages.
She picked it up and had a look.
Lexi Warrington created group “Emerald House”
Lexi Warrington added Alicia
Lexi Warrington added Nicky
Lexi Warrington added You.
Lexi: Julia! How are you? Hope you weren’t too hungover after the party. God, wasn’t it crazy? Soz if things got a bit out of control #toomuchprosecco!! I’ve just heard from Harry next door you’re in France with AMBER. Random!? Didn’t realise you were so close. Can’t believe Harry knew and I didn’t! I’m offended, LOL xxx
Alicia: We saw you get in the van but had no idea you were going on holiday TOGETHER. So cool!!!
Nicky: Sounds really fun! France is fab this time of year.
Lexi: So do you think Amber can get you membership to Emerald House? Would love to come if you’re taking guests!!
Charlie turned down the radio and looking across at her asked, ‘Who is it?’
Julia looked up from the phone. ‘Lexi Warrington asking whether I can take her to Emerald House with me.’
‘No way?’ Charlie snorted a laugh. ‘She is unbelievable.’
Julia looked at the messages. She looked at the name of the group: Cedar Lane Friends.
This was all she’d ever wanted.
At the top of the screen it said Lexi is typing…
Julia realised, with a flutter of pleasure, that she had no interest in what Lexi was about to say.
And with a touch of the screen, Julia left the group.
She put her phone back in her bag and as she did, saw that the little fluffy pompom that hung from the strap had fallen off. But she didn’t bother to look for it. Instead she went back to looking at the landscape. The towering trees, the arched bridges, the sun radiant on the hot tarmac.
Pandora called to tell them that, clearly under Amber’s instruction, she had managed to get them all booked onto a Eurotunnel that cut timing to the wire.
Charlie glanced at the satnav, the blue line marking the long journey ahead of them. ‘There’s no chance we’ll get that.’
Julia grinned. ‘You wanna bet?’
Chapter Thirty-One
They arrived at the new Emerald House flagship hotel just off Russell Square at twenty past three. A giant turreted red-brick building with stained-glass windows and rows of flag poles all sporting flags with the Emerald House crest. Amber swung the van into the deliveries entrance and Charlie followed suit with the Fiat. It was sweltering hot. The air smelt heavily of London traffic.
Lovejoy’s van was already parked.
Amber pulled up on the other side of the lot, Charlie drew up next to her, and they all piled out.
‘I’m going to find Olga,’ Amber said, ‘let her know we’re here. This is the room plan,’ she handed Julia the drawing she’d done in the van in her notebook.
‘This is great,’ said Julia.
Amber made a face like of course it was.
Julia stifled a smile.
‘If you could get these pieces out first and have them ready, we’ll start taking them through to the room when I get back. OK?’
They nodded in unison.
Amber gave them all a quick nod then she went off towards the door with a sign that read ‘Office’ and an arrow pointing forward. She paused for a second, glanced over her shoulder at them all standing there, watching, and said, ‘Thanks, you know, for all this.’
They smiled back. It felt nice to have them all behind her, all part of her team.
Amber headed down the corridor, luxurious with its dark green linen wallpaper and big gold lights.
The door to Olga Lupé’s office was open. Olga was on the phone, her back to the door, she was looking out the window. Her hair hung loose down her back almost to her bum. She was dressed in her trademark wide-legged trouser suit, this time it was lilac. When she turned around and saw Amber standing in the doorway she did a smile that resembled a wince. Amber had always thought Olga had a funny face, she should have been stunning but all her features were just slightly askew. Her slim nose was a bit too pointy, her cheekbones too razor sharp.
‘I have to go,’ Olga said to whoever was on the phone and hung up. ‘Amber,’ she said, still wincing, organising some papers on her desk as she spoke, not willing to give Amber her full attention.
‘Olga.’
‘Lovejoy’s already here,’ she said, glancing up from her paper shuffling.
‘I know,’ Amber said.
Olga nodded. ‘For a minute I thought maybe you weren’t coming. You’re so hard to pin down.’ She pursed her lips. ‘I always appreciate it if someone rings to let me know they’re on their way.’
Amber had to force herself to nod. ‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘In the past Henri has always trusted me to get the job done.’
Olga winced again. ‘Well,’ she said, matter-of-fact, closing
the file of papers, ‘Different styles.’ Then she sat down in her white leather chair. ‘Lovejoy’s room is looking fab. You should take a peek,’ she said, then as if remembering she should make some effort, added all saccharine, ‘I can’t wait to see what you’ve come up with. Exciting stuff!’
Amber forced herself to smile in agreement.
But Olga’s attention was elsewhere now, her phone was beeping with notifications. ‘You know where the room is, don’t you? Don’t let me keep you,’ she said, without looking up from the screen.
Amber had to physically bite her tongue as she walked away. She stomped back down to the deliveries entrance, fuming.
The others had started unloading furniture out of the van. Charlie, Julia and Billy were lifting and dragging the huge, speckled-mirrored armoire off the roof. Pandora was struggling with a knot of French wingback chairs and a crystal chandelier.
Just as Amber walked in, from a different door came Lovejoy and Martin, looking sweaty and exhausted.
Lovejoy stopped up short when he saw them. Martin looked immediately guilty and couldn’t meet Amber’s eye.
‘Afternoon,’ said Lovejoy.
‘Hi,’ said Amber curtly, stalking over to the Fiat 500 to try and manoeuvre the taxidermy swan out the back.
When Lovejoy saw it he said, ‘What are you doing with that?’ clearly recognising the swan. Then suddenly clocking the other gems from the house, he strode over, frowning. ‘How did you get all this?’
Amber folded her arms across her chest. ‘The owners turned up, sold us anything we wanted.’
Lovejoy paled.
‘You should have stuck around a bit longer,’ she said, brow raised. Then she laughed, ‘Oh yeah, I forgot, that’s not your style.’
Lovejoy swallowed, pretending to ignore the sarcasm. Then he shook his head. ‘I can’t believe you got all this,’ he said, hand trailing over one of the French chairs.
Amber tilted her head in a satisfied grin. ‘Bit less confident now, are you?’
He ran his hand through his hair. He exchanged a look with Martin, who shrugged as if in defeat. Martin looked like all he wanted to do was swap sides and have a natter about what had happened after they’d left.
But Lovejoy wouldn’t give Amber the satisfaction. He walked past her to unlock his van and said, ‘I’m actually very confident. The room’s had the seal of Olga’s approval and we’re not even finished.’
Amber rolled her eyes. ‘Whatever.’
Amber, Julia, Charlie, Billy and Pandora worked on the room till the sun started to fade out the window and daytime noises turned to sounds of evening commuters and clinking glasses in sprawling pubs. They had hauled various pieces of furniture into lifts and up staircases, climbed ladders, banged fingers with nails. They were sweaty, exhausted, dirty and calloused by the time Amber said, ‘It’s done.’
Everyone stood back to admire. It was a feast for the eyes. The cream curtains draped in luxurious folds as they had in Noirmoutier and the chandelier glass sparkled where it hung temporarily on a hook in the ceiling, waiting for the electrician. All the little touches came together – the fox in the hallway by the coat peg, the china dog from the fair peeking out from under a vintage writing desk above which hung one of the many mirrors they’d taken from the old house. In the corner was Julia’s silver drinks trolley, dressed with etched French champagne flutes and the glass-domed songbirds, and next to it, majestic in its new home, was the swan.
‘It looks amazing,’ said Julia. ‘So completely amazing.’
Amber took it all in, pride thumping in her chest. ‘It does,’ she exhaled, relieved, reaching up to straighten a piece of chandelier glass. ‘I wonder what Lovejoy’s looks like.’
Pandora nudged Billy and said, ‘Shall we go and have a look?’
‘No, no,’ said Amber. ‘He’ll see you.’
‘I’m very subtle,’ said Pandora, and she dragged Billy off without waiting for a reply.
Amber paced the room, restless. Julia and Charlie sat in the French chairs.
Pandora and Billy came back a few minutes later and Amber hated how much she wanted to know what they had to say.
Billy came to stand next to her in the centre of the room. ‘It’s good,’ he said. ‘More clean lines than this, but that’s his style. But it’s just nowhere near as good as this, Mum. Like, nowhere near.’ He gave her a squeeze round the shoulders.
Pandora nodded, then said, all thin gesticulating arms, ‘You know, it’s like at the end of Bake-Off and one is really good but the other is just like, oh my God, outstanding.’ She gave Amber big wide-eyes. ‘Well, it’s like that,’ she said, emphatic. ‘You’ve got it in the bag.’
‘Thanks.’ Amber laughed. She could feel her nerves. She caught a glimpse of herself in the speckled armoire mirror. ‘Oh God, look at me, I can’t see Olga looking like this,’ she said. ‘I look a wreck.’ She was madly trying to flatten out her hair when she felt the others stiffen in the doorway.
Olga’s voice said, ‘Oh look what you’ve done in here,’ as she sashayed into the room, all swishing lilac trousers and a cloud of bespoke perfume. ‘How cute,’ she scrunched up her nose at the swan. It was an expression that didn’t suit her.
Amber tried to stand as calm and friendly as she could. Julia beckoned for the others to leave the room.
‘This is just great,’ Olga drawled, circling the floor space. Amber knew it was, she could feel it fizzing through her body, she’d never done anything better. ‘Oh, and look at that chandelier, I might nab that for my house,’ Olga laughed, as if she and Amber were great gal pals.
Amber tried to smile. ‘Take it if you want.’
‘I wouldn’t dare, Amber,’ Olga replied, all faux-wide-eyed, running a hand along the cream curtains, straightening the folds.
‘Is Henri coming?’ Amber asked, presuming he’d be along any minute to give a second opinion.
Olga glanced over her shoulder. ‘Not today.’
Amber nodded. She wanted to pick the phone up and order Henri here. But she stood, silent, hating that she was waiting for Olga’s approval.
Olga looked some more, she picked things up and put them down, she knelt to pat the china dog under the desk, then she did another circuit of the room, face expressionless.
In the end, Amber couldn’t stand it any longer. ‘So what do you think?’ she asked.
Olga paused by the bed. ‘I think it’s fabulous,’ she said.
Amber felt her whole body relax. ‘Yeah?’ she couldn’t hide the smile.
‘Of course.’ Olga smiled, sitting down, giving the mattress a quick test as a side-thought, her long legs crossed, arms resting languid over her knees. ‘But the thing is, for me, Amber, taking everything into account, it’s just not quite right.’
‘What?’ Amber frowned, unsure she’d heard correctly.
‘There are other factors to consider as well as just good room design,’ said Olga, removing a speck of lint from the bedspread.
‘What more could you want than good room design?’ Amber asked, confused, feeling her hand start to tremble.
Olga tilted her head. ‘I have to look for a partnership that works for me, Amber. And, while the room is fabulous, and thank you for all your hard work, this isn’t the partnership for me.’ She was clearly trying to make her eyes look sad as she said, ‘I’m sorry. I think your time with Emerald House has come to an end.’
Chapter Thirty-Two
Amber stepped out into the corridor, the trademark dark emerald linen wallpaper so familiar to her. The doors to each room were black lacquered and low white globe lights hung at regular intervals illuminating her steps, it felt like heading into an endless passage. At the far end the others were waiting nervously. Amber could barely look at their hopeful smiles.
‘We have to leave,’ she said, voice catching as she marched past them.
‘Mum?’ Billy jogged to catch up with her. ‘What happened?’
‘They fired me.’
‘
What?’ Julia stopped, horrified. ‘Why?’
Amber pressed the button for the elevator, bashing it over and over trying to get it to come quicker. ‘Because she hates me. Because she doesn’t think we can work together. Because she just wants someone at her beck and call.’ The lift wasn’t coming. Amber stopped pressing the button and just stood, she let her shoulders sag. ‘I had a feeling it would happen,’ she said. ‘You can’t change people’s opinions of you, can you? I just hoped that the work would speak for itself. That I’d done enough—’
‘You did enough, Mum,’ said Billy. ‘You’ve always done enough.’
Julia was standing hands on hips, staring down the corridor they’d just come from. ‘What a complete bitch.’
Caught off guard, Amber laughed.
‘She’s a cow-bag,’ Pandora added with glee.
The gold doors of the lift pinged open.
‘That’s it then,’ said Amber.
Just as they were sloping in, Charlie paused, holding the doors open, and said, ‘Amber, have they paid you for the goods you’ve delivered to the room?’
Amber frowned. ‘No,’ she said, ‘not till I invoice them. Why?’
The lift doors tried to shut but Charlie held them back. ‘Well if they’ve fired you,’ he said, a sly grin starting to spread on his face, ‘why leave them with all your best stuff?’
Amber suddenly understood what he was driving at. ‘Oh Charlie,’ she said, striding out of the lift. ‘You’re a genius.’ She cupped his face with her hand. ‘I’m so pleased we’ve dragged you out of your man cave!’
Charlie flushed beetroot.
Julia gave him a wink.
And then they all walked as fast as they could back to the room.
‘Billy you take the fox,’ said Amber. ‘Pandora, that mirror next to the bed and if you can carry it get the other one as well. Julia—’
But Julia was already wheeling the drinks trolley out of the room complete with vintage champagne flutes and glass-domed songbirds.
