by Kim Nash
I looked up at him.
‘Sorry. Erm, do you mind repeating it? I’m a bit all over the place today.’
‘I said, the company is going into liquidation. You’ll need to start looking for another job.’
Chapter Three
‘Shit! What the hell am I going to do now? Not only do I not have a boyfriend, now I don’t even have a job.’
Shivani and I had retired to the cosy corner in the Pig and Truffle, which was a stone’s throw from the office and a place where we were well known.
‘You need to eat something. That’s what you are going to do now.’ She was properly bossy when the mood took her.
I turned up my nose at the tuna melt sat on the grubby table in front of me and the accompanying chips were swimming in so much fat, it was congealing at the bottom of the bowl. A wave of nausea hit me but I wasn’t sure whether it was the situation with Callum, the news that had just been imparted to me and the worry about not having a job, or a hangover from that bottle of red wine I’d necked.
Shivani scrabbled about in her handbag and magically produced a notebook and a pen.
‘We need to make a list. Let’s be practical about this situation and recover what we can. So, what do you need to cancel?’
‘Well, there’s the hotel, but Miranda is going to handle all that. I’ll need to go see her, I suppose, and sort everything out face to face.’
‘Yes, probably easiest. What about the bridesmaids? You’ll have to let them know.’
‘Oh god yes. They’ll be so disappointed. Ruby was really looking forward to her big day in the limelight. Oh no. Poor Ruby. I adore her. I wonder if they’ll stay in touch with me now?’ Ruby was Callum’s niece; a gorgeous girl, bright and sailing through her first year of high school and, at twelve years old, wise beyond her years. And I loved his sister Sian. Such a lovely woman, the sister I never had. I would miss her so much along with his parents, who were also nice and had taken me under their wing and invited me warmly into their family unit. Maybe we’d stay in touch. Who knew what was the right thing to do in these circumstances?
‘You’ll have to speak to Callum, you know, and find out what he’s doing about telling people. There’s no point in you both doing stuff.’
Callum had a huge family and the guest list had been heavily weighted on his side. The thought of having to tell people was excruciating. How much more embarrassing can it possibly get than having to tell someone that your future husband has changed his mind and actually doesn’t want to marry you after all.
‘Plus, if they’re his family, then he needs to be the one telling them that he’s ballsed it all up,’ continued Shivani.
‘I think if we can make a list first, then perhaps I’ll get in touch with Callum and we can go through it and work out who does what. Maybe I’ll call him later. I wonder how he is today. Maybe he’s regretting what he’s done.’ My heart began to pound and a tiny bit of hope pierced my heart. ‘What if he’s having second thoughts?’
The thought of seeing him again, gave me a little flutter in my tummy. Perhaps we could sort all of this out after all. It was all too much. It felt a bit as if my head was going to explode.
Shivani harrumphed.
‘What?’
‘He’s never been good enough for you. He’s always seemed to live the life he wanted without considering you at all. Off on his action-packed weekends away with his – supposed – friends.’
‘What do you mean “supposed friends”?’
‘Well, do you really think that’s what he was doing? Remember that time when he told you he was going on a mountain-biking weekend with Phil and then I bumped into Phil in town and Callum told you that Phil had cancelled last minute, so he’d gone with Kev instead?’
‘Yes, but that was just unfortunate circumstances.’
‘Really?’ Her raised eyebrow said everything she had on her mind. Then she went back into business mode. ‘Flowers?’
‘Oh gosh, yes.’ I scribbled in the notepad.
‘Wedding dress, bridesmaid dresses.’
‘Oh my beautiful dress.’ A tear escaped my left eye and trickled down my cheek, swiftly followed by another from the other eye. I loved my wedding dress. It had taken weeks for me to find the right one. We’d traipsed around various shops until I’d found it, and the moment I stepped into it, I knew it was ‘the one’.
Shivani squeezed my hand and picked at a chip, wincing at the taste.
‘It’s just a dress, babes.’
I knew she was only trying to make me feel better but what she had said really hurt. It wasn’t just a dress, it was my perfect wedding dress which I was going to wear on the most perfect day of my life. The day I was going to marry the love of my life. My Callum. A huge sigh escaped my lips.
‘Why do we even come here when the food is so crap?’ Shivani threw the chip back in the bowl.
‘Well even that’s not something we’ll have to worry about after the end of the week, is it? We only come here because it’s over the road from work. God, this is officially the shittiest week ever. And it’s only Tuesday.’ I rested my head against the back of the armchair and closed my eyes, rubbing my temples in the hope that it might make my headache go away.
‘Let’s not go back to work this afternoon,’ said Shivani. ‘Let’s stay in the pub and get drunk. It’s not like Mr Rhodes can sack us, can he? We’re out of a job anyway!’ She grabbed the bottle of Pinot Grigio from the ice bucket on the table, and tutted when she saw it was nearly empty. ‘Come on, I’ll get us another bottle and we’ll get this list finished.’ She waved the bottle at Will, the barman, who had been working here for over a year. He was handsome in a scruffy way and Shivani really had the hots for him. They had a bit of a thing going on from time to time, but it wasn’t really a relationship.
He nodded and said he’d bring another one right over.
‘You could always sell stuff on eBay. You said last week that you’d bought your shoes and tiara when you went to town. At least it’s a way of getting some of your money back.’
‘Suppose so. And there’s all those lovely vases I bought for the table decorations and the fairy lights to go inside them, too. I suppose it will help.’
But there was a little bit of me hoping that once I spoke to Callum, and he’d had time to think and had realised what a mistake he’d made, that this would all just be a big blip and everything would be back on. I had to remember to speak to Miranda and tell her not to go ahead with the cancellations before I got chance to speak to Callum. I’d look such a fool if I had to ring again to tell her to put everything back together as it would all be going ahead after all. Whatever would people think?
I groaned as I then thought about the wonderful honeymoon in Barbados we should have been going to the lunchtime after the wedding. I was so looking forward to that and to us getting some quality time away with each other. Maybe we could stall the wedding and go on the honeymoon, spend that time together and see if we could get things back on track. I could make myself do some of those activities that exhilarated Callum so much. We’d already talked about going horse-riding on the beach, but I could really make the effort and be the type of person that he wanted me to be. I’d suggest this when we spoke. My heart lifted a little and a tiny bit of hope surfaced. I could change and be the person he wanted me to be.
Shivani continued on her quest. ‘It was the hen party that I was looking forward to the most. A weekend in a spa hotel, would have been just what we need right now to cheer us both up. In fact, that’s probably one thing you shouldn’t cancel. We’ll both deserve that once all this is dealt with.’
She wasn’t wrong. A break at a spa couldn’t come quick enough.
When the second bottle of Pinot had been emptied, and we couldn’t think of anything more to be added to the list – and, to be truthful, I wasn’t really that bothered to think of anything more because I was hoping that I could change Callum’s mind when we spoke – we decided to call a taxi to tak
e us home. Bugger the expense, I deserved it. Plus I didn’t trust myself to get home on a bus in the state I was in.
Shivani popped to the loo while we were waiting for the cab to arrive and I picked up my phone to see if anyone had called. The screen was blank. I glanced at the door to see if Shivani was on her way back and quickly fired off a text. I knew she’d be annoyed with me if she knew what I was doing. Drunk texting was never a good idea.
I miss you. Can we meet tomorrow? We need to talk xxx
I stared at the phone through bleary eyes for those three little dots that would say he was typing a message back, but they never came. The next time I glanced up, Shivani was leaning across the bar, flashing her cleavage at Will who was lapping up the attention and leaning in as close as he could to her across the bar. Shivani threw her head back with laughter and batted his arm, flirting outrageously. Most of our afternoons at the pub ended like this. Sometimes she went home with Will if it was the end of the night, and then regretted her behaviour the next day and swore that it would never happen again. It was times like that which made me realise how lucky I was to be in a stable, loving relationship. Well, that’s what I’d thought at the time.
It appeared that she wasn’t going to make that mistake this evening though – plus he was probably working for the rest of the night as it was only just before 7 p.m. – and when she came back over to me, we stumbled outside to wait for the taxi, which soon arrived to take us home. As I walked up the path to my front door, I thought about how much my life had changed in twenty-four hours. I fell on my bed, touching the big gap where Callum had been for the last three years. No fiancé and now no job. What a week this was turning out to be. And I was going to have another hangover from hell tomorrow morning.
I checked the phone one final time, in case I’d missed a vitally important text message from Callum declaring his undying love for me and admitting he’d made the biggest mistake ever. When I noticed nothing, I threw it across the room, where instead of it hitting the wall as I had intended it to, it landed on that pile of clean washing that I still hadn’t put away.
Still fully clothed, I curled up into the foetal position and cried myself to sleep.
Chapter Four
The tring of a text message coming through woke me and I scrambled across the room to retrieve my phone from the pile of washing it landed on the night before. It was perching precariously on the top of a stretchy pencil skirt, which I threw on the bed before rummaging through the rest of the pile to find a top that went with it. I looked down and realised I was still dressed in the clothes I’d gone to work in the day before and I didn’t smell my best. What a scutter.
The name Callum flashed up on my screen and my heart gave a little skip.
Happy to meet. I’ll be at Coffee Heaven in Little Ollington at 6 p.m. See you there.
No kisses at the end but perhaps he was embarrassed and didn’t know whether to add them or not.
I glanced at the time. It was 8.30 a.m. Crap! I’d obviously slept through the alarm and was going to be late to work. And I needed to make sure that I looked halfway decent to meet Callum on the way home. After the quickest shower in the world, I grabbed a can of dry shampoo, lifted my hair at the roots and sprayed them to disguise the fact that my hair needed attention, and then twisted it up and clipped it on top of my head. As I slipped my feet into my shoes, grabbed my bag and went to run out of the front door, I caught sight of the letter that had arrived yesterday from Cash and Sons. I shoved it in my open handbag and slammed the door behind me.
The bus stop was close to home and I only had to wait a minute for the next bus. Maybe things were going to be on my side today. First Callum texted me, then the bus turned up at the perfect time. They say things happen in threes. I wondered what the third thing could be.
A quick text to Mr Rhodes to say that I had to pop into the doctor’s on the way into the office to pick up a prescription, should buy me some time. He wasn’t one to delve any further after he once asked Shivani why she’d been off sick and she went into graphic details about her menstrual cycle and he literally turned green before escaping.
I felt more positive today and showed Shivani Callum’s message when I got to work.
‘Do you think he wants to get back with me?’ I asked hopefully.
Her raised eyebrow told me I was living in cloud cuckoo land.
‘I think you need to not build up your hopes and just see what he has to say.’ She held my hand.
‘I don’t mean to be cruel Nell, but I don’t want you to spend the rest of your day living in hope that he’s come to his senses and then have them completely crushed again later if he’s adamant the wedding is still off. Just try and get through the day and see what happens later, hey?’
I knew in my heart that what she was saying was right and that she was trying to protect me, but it was still hard to hear. The situation at work wasn’t helping either. How were we supposed to throw ourselves into our tasks, when we knew that in a few days the company wouldn’t even exist? It seemed so pointless. How could my life be like this when just days ago everything had been perfect?
But had it? I remembered thinking on the bus on the way home on Monday night that I hoped our meal and no wedding talk would cheer Callum up, because he hadn’t been himself lately. He’d been working more hours than ever before and had been away to a few conferences, so perhaps in my heart I knew that something wasn’t right. Had I been ignoring my intuition?
I popped my phone back in my handbag and my hand brushed the letter from the solicitors. I checked to see whether Mr Rhodes was around, but he seemed to be in discussions in the conference room, so I dialled the number on the top of the letterhead.
The woman who answered practically sung down the phone to me. ‘Good morning, thank you for calling Cash and Sons. How may I help you?’
‘Morning. My name is Ellen Wagstaff. I received a letter from you in the post, asking for me to contact you.’
‘Hold the line please, Miss Wagstaff.’
She sounded most efficient, I’m sure people didn’t get that when they called our company. And they certainly wouldn’t be now that Mary on reception only had a job till Friday. She was probably telling everyone to bugger off.
A deep male voice was the next thing I heard.
‘Good morning, Miss Wagstaff, thank you so much for calling. My name is Dominic Cash. I have some news which I must share with you and I’m sorry to say that it’s not all good.’
I had no idea what he was going to come out with. I didn’t have a car, so I knew I couldn’t have been caught speeding, and I was quite law abiding, so had no idea why I was talking to a solicitor. Even though I knew I’d done nothing wrong, I was feeling particularly wobbly, although that could have been the after effects from necking three bottles of Pinot with my bestie the day before.
‘Are you still there, Miss Wagstaff? You’ve gone awfully quiet.’
‘I’m here. What is it?’
‘I regret to inform you Miss Wagstaff, that your aunt, Lilian Parsons, passed away recently. I’m sorry to give you this sad news.’
I sat down abruptly. Aunty Lil. I hadn’t heard that name for years. Not since Mum had told me that they’d broken all contact when she split up from my dad.
‘Oh, Aunty Lil.’ A memory of us sitting on the bottom of Aunty Lil’s bed in her lovely cosy bedroom came flooding back and I remember dunking Rich Tea biscuits in a cup of tea which was in a china cup and saucer. She always insisted that tea tasted better from china. I racked my brain to see if I could remember how old she would have been. I swallowed a gulp. ‘How sad. How?’
‘Peacefully, in her sleep. Her dog walker let herself into the house and when she shouted to the dog as she always does, and there was no response, she had a feeling that something was wrong. The doctor said that she’d not been gone for long before she’d been found. The dog was curled up at her feet and she still had a book in her hands, so she’d obviously been reading just bef
ore, well, you know…’
I supposed that was some comfort. It must be awful to die alone and in pain. I suppose if you’re going to go, in your sleep is as good a way as any. What I couldn’t understand, though, was why he was telling me this.
‘You’re probably wondering why we got in touch with you Miss Wagstaff.’
‘No shit, Sherlock!’
‘The name is Cash, Miss Wagstaff, not Sherlock.’
Bugger, did I say that out loud? I really needed to think before I opened my mouth. Something else that Callum used to moan at me about. Thinking about it, Callum used to moan at me quite a lot. He also used to moan at me about—
‘Miss Wagstaff.’ Mr Cash’s short sharp tone brought me back to the present. ‘You’ve been named as the sole beneficiary of Lilian Parsons’ estate.’
‘Oh. Right. Her estate. OK. Thank you for telling me.’
‘Can we make an appointment for you to come in and see me as soon as possible please? We’ll need to make arrangements to get everything sorted out.’
‘Come and see you? But you’re in Dorset.’
He sighed and I heard him mutter under his breath, ‘No shit, Sherlock!’
Despite the situation, I giggled.
‘Forgive me. Did I say that out loud?’ he replied, and the way he said it made me think he was smiling. His voice softened. ‘Miss Wagstaff. If you could ring the office when you know when you’ll be able to get down here and arrange to come in and see me as soon as you arrive in Dorset we can go through all the official paperwork and get everything sorted out. Don’t worry about booking accommodation. When we get your dates, we will sort out everything on your behalf. One less thing for you to worry about. So for now, goodbye, Miss Wagstaff. I look forward to seeing you soon.’ The phone went dead.
Good grief, what a shock. Poor Aunty Lil. When I was a young girl I used to spend the whole of the summer holidays with her. She’d lived in a gorgeous house on the coast road in Muddleford in Dorset. It was so different from our two up two down terraced miner’s cottage. The two bedrooms on the front of the house had balconies that overlooked the beach and I absolutely loved them. I’d felt like a princess flouncing around in her castle. Mum and Dad came along sometimes, but when they had to work they left me there with Aunty Lil, and I used to spend hours in her perfectly manicured square garden pretending I was an Olympic gymnast, doing cartwheels and ribbon work on the pretend mat.
