The Leap Year Proposal

Chapter Twenty-eight

Anouska

Thursday 27 February

Anouska sat down heavily on the sofa and imagined for the millionth time what it would be like to be a single mother. It was hard enough to take on board in many ways the concept of being a parent, but being a single parent? Sure, Zach had said he would help with the baby and be in Bean’s life, even if he didn’t yet know if he wanted to be in hers, but without any family support network around her, how could she possibly look after a baby? She worked so much that she had little time for making new friendships. As a result, she had few real friends. It was all becoming a bit too much for her. She was feeling so stressed out and she knew that wasn’t good for the baby. She was trying meditation to help her relax but it wasn’t really working so far.

Gypsy purred next to her and Anouska gave a wan smile. Even she was missing Zach. Well, she was his cat after all. She wasn’t normally known for being affectionate, not with Anouska at least, but she appeared to sense Anouska needed her, needed the presence of another living being, if not another human being, close to her.

Anouska smiled when she thought of Zach and how close he and Gypsy were. He’d brought her home as a rescue just after his brother died, before she and Zach were together. He sometimes said the cat’s mannerisms reminded him of his brother. And when he’d had a few drinks, he’d been known to say it was his dead brother, come back as a cat.

Personally, Anouska didn’t believe in reincarnation, but if it brought Zach a modicum of comfort, then who was she to disabuse him of the notion of it being possible?

Anouska didn’t consider herself a cat person, although she did give a nod to the Nebelung’s foibles by providing her with her two favourite things– tomato soup and cheese, although not together. She’d tried that once, and it hadn’t gone down well.

Plus she always sided with the underdog, pun intended. When Zach had chosen Gypsy at the rescue centre, she’d been missing her tail. A pity, apparently, as Nebelungs are known for having fabulous tails. Unfortunately, Zach had no idea why Gypsy was tail-less, but whether she’d been in an accident or had been mistreated by someone, he’d made it his mission to ensure she had a safe and comfortable home with him. And now he wasn’t here.

Anouska thought she’d had a safe and comfortable home with Zach too, but now even that was up in the air. What if Zach decided they shouldn’t stay together? The flat was legally his, even though she’d contributed to it for years. She wasn’t concerned about the money; she had plenty of that, and she knew Zach would do the right thing financially by her, but there was the very real possibility she might have to move out of the home she’d lived in for the last two years.

Moving whilst pregnant wasn’t high on her wish list. It would be even more upheaval and uncertainty.

Zach still hadn’t told her where he was staying. They kept in touch by infrequent text messages. He had told her he had returned to Bean There as he couldn’t leave Todd on his own any longer, but what of leaving her on her own to cope? And their baby? Now she was close to being unable to forgive him. How could it have all gone so wrong? If she could turn the clock back, she would tell him straightaway and not tie herself in knots

about being able to tell him face to face. Who knows, maybe he would have picked her up and swung her round with joy. She tortured herself with this type of scenario, over and over. Her next scan was in eight days. He’d said he would go with her, but she wanted it to be a happy occasion. Her emotions were mixed about him being there if they weren’t together as a couple. She was so tired all the time, had so many decisions to make and was incapable of making any.

Leigh-Ann had been tremendous, as ever. After Zach left to do his thinking, and the next time Anouska ventured into the office, she had blurted out the whole sorry tale to her. Although her assistant had been saddened at Anouska feeling unable to confide in her earlier, she had been flabbergasted at Zach’s reaction, disappointed in him and had said men were stupid sometimes, even good ones like Zach, and that he’d come around. She’d then focused on Anouska and her wellbeing and made sure Anouska did the same. She’d also assured Anouska she would have her unwavering support, no matter what happened with Zach, and that she would also be there for her and the baby. She was a true friend indeed. Anouska had burst into tears at her kindness.

Leigh-Ann had tried to play things down, when Anouska repeatedly thanked her, telling Anouska she was simply delighted to be an auntie at last, even if it was an honorary one.

She took control, and Anouska let her as exhaustion threatened to overwhelm her. She rescheduled Anouska’s appointments for a few weeks to give her some space. So now the business side of things was running as best as could be expected but her personal life was still in tatters. She woke every day to discover Zach’s side of the bed empty, and it was as if she remembered it anew each time. She didn’t know how much more time she could give him.

On impulse, Anouska picked up her phone and sent a WhatsApp message to the ‘LYP’ group, the irony of that not lost on her. At the moment there may only be one leap-year proposal, as hers appeared to have stalled before it could even get off the ground and poor Ellie’s was history. That said, Ellie, from her messages, had bounced back with this new guy she had met. Spencer. Good on her.

Hi, girls, how are you? Is life still good with Spencer, Ellie? How about you, Jess? Flights on time?

Nothing. They were all busy with their own lives, of course. Although, they’d been each other’s rocks recently, right now they had their own messy lives to fix. Anouska sighed and decided it was time to sort out her mess of a life. Starting today. She grabbed the notebook Todd had given her for Christmas and began outlining a strategy. Time to get her man back…before she no longer wanted him back.

As Anouska scribbled away in her pad, her phone pinged. A message in the LYP group chat. Ellie.

Hi, Anouska. Yes, all going well with Spencer. How are you? Are you and the baby OK?

Without even knowing Ellie that well– although they had shared something that brought them closer together than many best friends– she could read the subtext in the message: Has Zach been in touch? Or maybe she was imagining things now. She had reached that point of having difficulty differentiating between fiction and reality.

We’re good, thanks. Scan next week. Keeping in touch with Zach by text. I’ve decided I’m going to give him one more– and only one more– chance. I can’t be in this constant state of limbo. I get that what I did was wrong, but I feel that the punishment doesn’t fit the crime, and there’s more at stake here. I just need to figure out how to get his attention since he appears to have no intention of seeing me.

Deciding to give Ellie time to compose her reply, Anouska went to put the kettle on. Simply Red’s ‘If You Don’t Know Me By Now’ was playing on the radio, in the background. Everywhere she turned, she felt as if she were being kicked in the teeth. Why did songs have so much more significance when you were going through a break-up?

She sat down with her tea and saw that she had two WhatsApp messages, one from Ellie, the other from Jess.

Jess: Hi. Just at the airport now. Sorry to hear Zach hasn’t seen sense yet. He will. For the record, I think it’s right to give him one final chance. You can’t stay like this forever. You must be shattered. Have you any thoughts yet on how to get his attention?

Ellie: I agree. The punishment doesn’t fit the crime. Everybody makes mistakes, nobody’s perfect, and your mum guessed, you didn’t tell her. It’s time for Zach to step up. Let me get my thinking head on– I am a marketing guru, you know!

Anouska: Thanks, girls. Sadly, nothing yet, Jess x

When no further messages seemed forthcoming, Anouska decided to put her feet up with a book. It had been a while since she’d had so much free time. She only wished it was under different circumstances.

About an hour later, her phone rang. Ellie.

‘Hi, Anouska. I hope you don’t mind me calling instead of messaging, but I had some ideas I wanted to run past you– some might seem cheesy, but I have one that I think is a winner. Obviously I don’t know Zach, but at this stage I think you need to think outside of your comfort zone.’

‘I’m listening.’

Ellie ran through a whole host of options, many of which Anouska discounted as either being too out there or too ordinary. She needed something with oomph but that wasn’t too radical. Zach hated fuss.

‘Hang on, hang on, what did you say there?’

‘How about proposing to him on the radio? Do you know what station he listens to in the bistro?’

‘Yes, I do, but Zach’s a very private person. I’m not sure if that’s such a good idea, and it’s not really me either.’

‘But don’t you think desperate times require desperate measures?’

Anouska considered this for a moment. ‘Agreed, but we can’t guarantee he’ll be listening when the broadcast goes out.’

‘No, we can’t,’ said Ellie, ‘but don’t you think it’s worth a shot? You’ve tried what you’ve expected to work. How about trying the unexpected?’

‘Hmm.’ Anouska tapped a finger against her lips. ‘I suppose we could figure out a time, and I could ensure Todd knows that Zach needs to be near a radio then. He listens to Northsound 1. Let me work out what I want to say and then I’ll contact them.’

‘Excellent. Don’t forget to tell me how you get on. Good luck.’

Anouska pulled up Northsound 1’s contact details and fired off an email asking for a special favour. She explained that she and her boyfriend were having some difficulties, and to please not air that, but she would be so grateful if they could have her on Saturday morning’s live show so she could propose to him as per the age-old twenty-ninth of February leap-year tradition.

She pressed send. Now all she could do was wait.

An hour later, her mobile rang.

‘Hello, is that Anouska?’

‘Speaking.’

‘Hi, Anouska. This is Calvin Claridge from Northsound 1. I’m one of the producers here. We’re very excited about your proposal. Here’s what we’re thinking.’ Calvin then outlined in detail what would happen on the twenty-ninth. ‘How does that sound for you?’

‘That sounds perfect.’

‘Fantastic. I’ll send you some details over then we’ll be good to go. Good luck!’

Anouska punched the air when she came off the phone. ‘Yes!’ She was taking back control of her life. This was make-or-break stuff, but at least at the end of it all, she’d know where she and Zach stood.

She immediately called Ellie, who was delighted. ‘I’ll be tuning in on Saturday at ten.’

Anouska had reckoned the busiest period for breakfast at Bean There would have passed by ten, so chose then as she thought it most likely Zach would be there and not off at a supplier, which he tended to leave until the afternoon. She hoped he didn’t go to the cash and carry. He usually avoided going at the weekend, but sometimes he made an unscheduled visit to meet demand. She prayed the gods were with her on this one. She really could use all the luck she could get.

She messaged the LYP group chat, thus bringing Jess up to speed with recent events. She joked. I might be proposing before you, or indeed at the same time as you. If you have any tips, we should trade. She was aiming for light-hearted, but inside she felt wrung out. When had life become so complicated? She placed her hand over her non-existent bump and said, ‘Let’s hope Daddy wants to marry Mummy, Bean. But whatever happens, we both love you very, very much.’ Then she kissed her fingertips and pressed them to where she reckoned Bean was.