The Happy Hour

Epilogue

Epilogue

What about someone who remembers the name of everyone they ever met?

Nobody can do that. That’s genuine superpower territory, nothing subtle about it.

A person that can stop a toddler screaming just by smiling at them?

That’s a good one, but is it actually possible?

Just watched it happen, right now, on the boat.

But how do you know that person does it every time? Hang on – you’re still on the boat?

There was a delay at Canary Wharf. Five more minutes to Greenwich, then I’ll run, promise. I love you. x

I love you too. See you soon. xxxx

‘Felicity, where do you want the sausage rolls?’ Jess put her phone back in her pocket and picked up the plate of crispy savouries that she’d moved off the cooling rack before messaging Ash. The gleaming, sunshine-yellow crockery Felicity had bought complemented her redesigned cream and duck-egg-blue kitchen. The Russian dolls even had their own shelf, where they were displayed properly, next to one of Spade’s framed tour posters from the Eighties.

‘Just out here, on the occasional table.’ She appeared in the doorway, in jeans and a turquoise blouse, her hair elegantly styled. She’d softened since the clutter had gone from her life and Spade had come into it, and now the property close to the park was every bit as stunning as Jess had imagined it to be before she’d set foot inside it last summer.

‘I’ve got the sound system set up,’ Spade announced, ‘and the playlist good to go.’

‘Is it some of your old tracks?’ Roger asked, sipping from a glass of lemonade. ‘No set from the Market Misfits?’

‘I might have sneaked a couple on there.’ Spade flashed him a wink. ‘The Misfits are having a day off. We’ve got gigs three nights next week, and Friday in the theatre, so we need to rest our instruments.’

‘I need to look after my throat.’ Braden reached for a sausage roll, then paused when Felicity gave him a cool stare. He shoved his hand back into his sleeve.

‘That’s only because you talk so much. All the time.’ Lola rolled her eyes and Braden shook his head, mock-disappointed. ‘It’s OK, I love you really.’ She grinned, and the teenager returned it.

The success of the Misfits had spread beyond the online world, and the three of them were enjoying low-key but well-attended gigs, supporting acts in indie venues throughout south London. Jess often got calls from her best friend, breathless with the wonder that people knew her name, paid to watch her and her friends play, sought her out via social media to tell her how much they loved her. She was living her best life – chaotic, busy, full of new experiences – and the Misfits still performed regularly at the market, never forgetting where they’d started.

Right now, Lola was on the sofa, sandwiched between Malik and Terence, who had found a jar of chargrilled artichokes from somewhere, and was working his way through them with a spoon. Jess wondered if she should have left him at home, but it had felt sad not to invite him today, especially as it was their last day as roommates.

A gust of flower-scented breeze blew in from the open French doors, and Artemis raised his head, perturbed at the interruption, then went back to his snooze.

‘Hello, it’s me! I’ve brought cupcakes!’ Susie stepped into the hall.

‘And I have courgette cake,’ Olga added, following her in. ‘Less sugar and carb. Healthy veg.’

‘Less joy,’ Braden said in his loudest possible whisper.

‘Now now,’ Roger tutted, but the corners of his mouth lifted up under his moustache.

Jess glanced at her watch. Wendy was due here in twenty minutes, for the big birthday party that they’d secretly planned – Jess had started the ball rolling – and they needed her to be last, because otherwise the surprise would be ruined.

‘The cake’s here!’ Felicity called, and Jess hurried out into the hall to greet Kirsty, who was carrying a huge cardboard box, with Enzo, Carolina and Sofia behind her.

‘Kirsty’s here too,’ Kirsty said with a wry smile. ‘But I appreciate the cake is more important. Red velvet muffin with vanilla twirls, and – of course – the pièce de résistance.’

‘Out in the kitchen,’ Felicity said, leading the way. ‘And I’m terribly sorry, Kirsty, of course you’re more important than the cake.’

‘Am I, though?’ Kirsty laughed, then added, ‘Don’t worry, Felicity,’ when the other woman’s cheeks went red. ‘Here we go.’

She put the cake on the counter and everyone crowded in. Jess could smell Spade’s spicy aftershave, and Olga was breathing in her ear.

‘This is so lovely, isn’t it?’ Peggy said to her husband John, a quiet man with pale skin and dark hair, who occasionally came out with the most wicked jokes Jess had ever heard. ‘I love your yellow crockery, Felicity.’

‘Thank you, dear,’ Felicity said.

Jess and Ash had bumped into Peggy and John at the Trafalgar Tavern one Saturday night, and over the course of the evening – as they’d all got to know each other beyond the stark setting of Cherry Blossom Lodge – they’d discovered that Peggy and John lived on the next road over from Felicity. When Jess had told the older woman, she’d made it her business to knock on Peggy’s door and invite her for tea. Now the house was restored to all its glory, Felicity’s new favourite hobby was inviting people round for tea – and showing off the original pieces of Carolina and Sofia jewellery she’d bought.

With Carolina’s arthritis being managed, and Sofia working on pieces alongside her sister, Enzo was busier than ever running their stall, and had even asked Jess for advice on how to set up an Etsy shop. Over the last few months he’d paid her and Wendy back the money they’d given him – even though both of them had put up a united protest – and Carolina and Sofia had made them both, and Lola, Spade and Braden, unique pieces as thank-you gifts. Jess only took off her kite-shaped pendant in the shower. It was her favourite item of jewellery.

‘Ready for this?’ Kirsty lifted the lid off the cake box, and there were coos and aaaahs and applause, and Jess felt suddenly sick.

‘Oh my God,’ she said. ‘Seriously?’

‘They’re made out of icing,’ Kirsty announced. ‘I worked really hard to capture all their expressions. It’s my most intricate creation ever.’

‘The hares?’Jess couldn’t keep the horror out of her voice. ‘You didn’t think there were enough of them in the shop – and Wendy keeps ordering more like she’s fully possessed, by the way – you had to recreate them for her birthday cake?’

Kirsty’s eyes widened in alarm. ‘She loves them though, right?’

‘She really does.’ Felicity sounded amused. ‘But I don’t think Jess shares that sentiment.’

‘They’re secretly witches,’ Jess blurted out. ‘I’m sure of it. And this – this is them, getting inside your head. They want to spread, take over the world, and—’

‘Who wants to take over the world? Hey, guys. Enzo, Carolina. How are you?’

‘We are very well, Ash, thank you.’

Jess pushed through her friends and flung herself at him, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, pressed his lips against her neck. ‘You’re here,’ she said.

‘Of course I’m here,’ he laughed. He was slightly breathless, as if he’d had to run from the jetty. ‘You knew I was coming, we messaged on the boat and – oh fuck. Are they the hares?’

‘What do you two have against the hares?’ Susie asked. ‘I think they’re sweet.’

‘Right, out of the kitchen, all of you!’ Felicity clapped. ‘We have ten minutes until Wendy gets here, and I have some bits to finish. Go, find drinks in the living room.’

‘What can I do?’ Jess asked.

‘Take your man into the garden for a few minutes,’ Felicity said. ‘You’ve been here since the crack of dawn.’

‘But I—’

‘Come on, Jess.’ Ash took her hand and dragged her out into the garden, where the water feature was burbling happily and a long-tailed tit peeped noisily from the laburnum tree. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. ‘I missed you.’

‘I missed you, too. You’re staying tonight though, right?’

‘Yeah, the flat’s packed up, ready for the movers tomorrow, so I haven’t got anything to do until the morning.’

Jess bounced up and down. ‘And my room’s packed, apart from the bed and the yeti cushions.’

‘Oh, of course.’ Ash gazed down at her. ‘We need a final night in your room, to say goodbye to it properly.’

‘Then, our own place,’ Jess whispered, and still, she couldn’t quite believe it. Almost a year together, and being with Ash had never felt like wasted time, because with each new dawn and sunset, kiss and dinner and movie on the sofa, even with each new fight, she fell more in love with him. She had proved she was strong enough to help him through the messed-up grief of losing his dad, and he had shown her how good it was to be loved completely, to be taken care of and stood up for, without being scared that it would all disappear.

And now they were moving in together, into a ground-floor flat fifteen minutes’ walk from the market, that had more space than Jess had ever expected to get, but needed a whole lot of work before it could be considered even remotely homely. She couldn’t wait to get started, and knew her discount at No Vase Like Home would help when they were ready for the finishing touches, along with the extra money she’d saved from being one of Wendy’s most valued suppliers. Her new line of Subtle Superpower art prints was proving particularly popular, and she signed each one with the moniker JessAsh Designs, seeing as he came up with at least half of them.

Ash, too, was excited about the move, sending her endless links for paint colours, and photos of ambitious layouts that involved knocking down interior walls and were probably against the flat’s leasehold terms. He was still working for the bank, but had two interviews closer to Greenwich. The role at the museum service, overseeing company practicesand managing staff wellbeing, looked particularly promising,

and Jess wondered if – hopefully when he was successful – he would resurrect the grey trilby and run film and ghost tours as a side hustle.

‘I thought, after the party, we could go to our bench,’ he said now.

‘In the park?’ They had revisited it more times than she could count since getting back together, so she no longer thought of it as the place where she’d lost Ash. Instead, they found a little bit more of each other every time they went – and they often bumped into Diamanté the demon dog, too.

He nodded. ‘If you’d like to?’

‘Want me all to yourself, do you?’ she teased.

‘Always. But we have to celebrate Wendy’s birthday first. Obviously. I mean, that’s why we’re here.’ He laughed, glancing away from her to the back of Felicity’s garden.

‘Hey.’ Jess touched his chin, forcing him to look at her again. ‘You OK?’

Ash hesitated, his grey eyes widening. ‘Of course! Why would you ask that? I’m fine. Great.’

Jess laughed. ‘OK, now you’re being really weird. What’s going on?’

He squeezed her waist. ‘Can a guy not have an hour with his girlfriend, just before they move into a new place together, one of them potentially starts a new job and everything gets crazy? I just want...’ He huffed. ‘I want to have this time with you, OK?’

‘OK.’ Jess smiled at him, her insides dancing like butterflies waiting to get at a buddleia. The Sunday before, they’d gone for dinner at her mum and dad’s house, and Ash and Graeme had disappeared into his studio for ages. She wouldn’t have thought much of it, except that when they’d emerged, Ash had smelled of the expensive whisky Graeme kept for special occasions, and her dad’s eyes had been red around the edges. It was why Jess had worn her favourite dress today, postbox red with white hearts printed on it and a low-cut neckline, a floaty skirt that fell just below the knee. Not just to celebrate Wendy’s birthday, but because of what might come after.

And, if it didn’t, that was OK too, because she had planned her own elaborate, romantic setup that, even if Ash got there first, she would still put into motion. It involved the Queen’s House and a very friendly security guard, and being allowed to stay for an hour after the other visitors had gone home for the night (as long as they promised not to do anything that would upset the memory of the much revered Henrietta Maria). But, as she kissed her boyfriend in Felicity’s back garden, and the party started inside before Wendy had even arrived, one of House of Cards’ old songs thumping through the speakers, Jess thought Ash’s plan might be the better one: more traditionally romantic.

She kissed him harder, squeezed him tighter, then pulled back and smiled up at him. ‘I thought of another subtle superpower.’

‘Oh?’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘I think I’ve already won today: the guy on the boat who smiled at the toddler and got her to stop crying.’

‘He could have been her uncle.’

‘I don’t think he was.’

‘Perhaps he was secretly Ronald McDonald.’

‘Ronald McDonald is creepy as fuck. He’d have made her cry harder.’

‘Not if he wasn’t in his costume, but she might have recognised him anyway, and—’

‘You’re getting a bit far-fetched now, Jess,’ Ash said affectionately. ‘What’ve you got?’

She stretched up and kissed his chin. ‘What if someone had a subtle superpower that meant they could absolutely, one 100per cent sense when a person was going to propose to their soul mate?’

Ash went completely still. Jess grinned, but he recovered quickly. ‘Who does that help?’ he asked. ‘What does that do, other than spoil a surprise?’

‘I don’t know,’ she admitted. ‘I just thought – it’s a bit like that woman you met at Borough Market, who said she could sense when complete strangers needed a nugget of advice. A gut feeling.’ She shrugged. ‘But perhaps it isn’t one at all.’

‘Certainly not a great one,’ he agreed. ‘Not as good as the toddler whisperer.’ He caught her hand as she turned away from him, and pulled her against him, so her back was pressed to his front.

‘No, the toddler whisperer definitely wins,’ she said. ‘Even if the guy did dress up as Santa Claus at the Christmas party she went to the year before, and she recognised him despite him not having the beard.’

‘Totally ridiculous,’ he murmured against her neck. Then she felt him take a deep breath, and he said, ‘If someone didhave that superpower, where they could sense a person was going to propose, what do you think they’d do with it?’ There was no mistaking his anxiety, and Jess smiled to herself before turning round in his arms.

‘I think,’ she said, meeting his gaze, feeling the deep flutter inside her that had only strengthened with time, the certainty that being with him made her more alive than anything else, ‘that mostly, they would just be quiet about it, hold on to that subtle superpower knowledge, and watch the whole thing play out.’

‘You’re sure that’s what they’d do?’ He searched her face.

‘Oh, definitely. They wouldn’t want to spoil anything.’

‘Right. And if they were... if they didn’t just know about the imminent proposal, but were in the position to have a say in the outcome, what do you think their answer would be?’

Jess opened her mouth to speak, and found that her throat was clogged up. She swallowed, took a second to listen to the trickle of the water feature and her friends laughing and talking through the open French doors, the bird singing in the tree. She felt the strength of Ash’s arms around her, holding her tightly.

‘Jess?’ he prompted quietly. ‘What do you think she would say?’

Jess smiled up at him, the warning prickle of tears in the corners of her eyes. ‘I think she’d be sensible enough to say yes. What do you think?’

‘I think saying yes would be the best superpower of all,’ Ash told her. ‘But I guess we’ll have to wait another few hours to find out for sure.’ He pulled her close and kissed her in a way that showed Jess he wasn’t unsure about anything, and that, no matter how much time passed before he finally got to ask her the question, they both already knew the answer.