Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
EVIE
Both Esther and Jamie were at work when I walked into the empty flat at ten in the morning on the third of January, fresh from landing at Heathrow.
I’d spent the last week alternating between card games with Mrs Evans, taking Monty for long walks on the endless beach at Amagansett and furiously typing away on my laptop.
I’d made a lot of progress in those blissful days.
I was immediately hit by that stale, eau de bin-needs-emptying scent when I opened the front door. Funny how quickly you get used to your surroundings, and for a moment I longed for the distinct fragrance of my room at The Plaza or the scent of lavender at Mrs Evans’s house.
Dumping my case in the hall, I followed the less than fresh aroma into our kitchen. Because our landlord maximised the rental income, there was no lounge, that was Jamie’s bedroom. Our only communal area was the kitchen.
As always it needed a good clean. There were a few plates waiting by the sink to be washed up, and an overflowing bag of rubbish beside the already overflowing bin, along with a fine collection of empty wine and beer bottles.
I considered the room with fresh eyes, I’d been away for a long time and coming back felt like stepping into a much smaller, darker world.
The kitchen, like the rest of the flat, looked as tired as I felt, but also as if it had given up, or rather, we had given up.
I straightened my spine. Change started here.
Despite the pall of jetlag hanging over me, I set to, ferrying the rubbish down to the ground floor and the big refuse bins outside the front door.
By ten past six, when Esther walked into the flat, I was absolutely knackered.
‘You’re back,’ she squealed and threw her arms around me. ‘Why didn’t you tell us you were coming home. Did you have an amazing time?’
I nodded, surprised by the warmth of her welcome. We’d barely been speaking when I left.
‘And what’s that amazing smell?’
‘I cooked dinner,’ I said, still a little astounded. My plan had been to woo them with food and wine so that I could apologise properly.
‘Oooh, yummy.’
Before she could say anything else, footsteps thudded up the stairs.
‘Jamie! Evie’s back.’
He burst into the hallway. ‘Welcome home, matey. How was the trip?’
‘Good,’ I said, still bemused. ‘I’ve … I’ve cooked dinner and I bought some wine. Would you like a glass?’
‘Hell yeah,’ said Jamie and shucked off his heavy winter coat. ‘It’s brass monkeys out there, although I guess it was colder in the States. Did you have snow?’ he stopped dead as he walked past me and Esther and into the kitchen.
‘Whoa! What happened in here?’
‘Flipping heck,’ said Esther as they both stared around the room.
I’d cleaned every last inch of it.
Jamie poked my arm.
‘What?’ I asked at the sharp prod.
‘I’m just checking it’s really you.’
‘Very funny,’ I said. ‘Why don’t you both sit down, and I’ll pour the wine.’
‘Good stuff, as well,’ said Esther watching me take the bottle out of the fridge.
They both took their seats while I poured the wine and handed them each a glass.
‘Have you got something to tell us?’ asked Jamie suspiciously. ‘Are you moving out?’
‘No, but I have got something to say, that I should have said before. I’m really, really sorry that I stole the money.
’ I held my hand up to fend off their quick interruptions.
‘No. What I did was wrong. And don’t try and be nice about it, because it was wrong, and I should have apologised properly at the time instead of making excuses.
You had every right to be furious with me and I’m really, really sorry that I let you both down. ’
Jamie started to say something. ‘No, let me finish.’
‘I’ve had a lot of time to think and…’ I screwed up my face. ‘I need to change. Start looking forward and stop being so laid-back and laissez-faire about everything. I’ve been crap.’
‘Enough,’ roared Jamie. ‘You were fucking stupid, and we were mad as hell at you. And yeah, you can pay the interest on my overdraft. But seriously, Evie, we were shits, too. Putting that reel up of you. That was mean.’
‘Yes, Evie,’ Esther burst out. ‘I’m sorry. I was so angry with you. I didn’t think about it properly. It was a seriously crappy thing to do to a friend.’ Tears were running down her face.
‘But I stole from you.’
Esther jumped up and put an arm around me as I started to cry. ‘Borrowed. You were always going to pay it back… Stealing is when you have no intention of doing that.’
We were both crying and hugging now. Jamie stood up. ‘Oh, for fuck’s sake.’ He pushed his chair back and put his arms around both of us. ‘Group hug.’
‘You’re forgiven,’ said Esther sniffing. ‘If you forgive us.’
We settled a little and sat back down at the table, the emotional outburst making me a little woozy. I was starting to run on empty and feel light-headed. Jetlag is a funny thing.
‘We talked about it,’ said Esther. ‘To be honest, it was such a typically Evie thing to do. You never think ahead and jump in … but that’s part of your charm, too.’
‘Though you can be irritating, as well,’ chipped in Jamie.
‘I know,’ I said. ‘But I’m going to try to do better.
’ I glanced around the kitchen. ‘Cleaning up this place made me realise that we pay a lot for this shithole. We deserve better. You might not want to carry on living with me, but I think it’s time we moved on and looked for a new place.
We’ve been here for a whole year, and we’ve done nothing to make it homely. ’
‘You know I’ve been thinking the same,’ said Esther.
Jamie hunched in his seat as we both looked at him.
He waved one hand. ‘I’m a guy, but it would be nice to have a sofa to stretch out on instead of having to watch TV in my room all the time, or you two taking up all the space on my bed when we’re playing PS5.’
‘And we’ve got a confession to make,’ said Jamie, catching Esther’s eye.
‘Yeah, we have.’ She winced. ‘That video. Of you.’
‘I deserved it.’
‘No!’ howled Esther. ‘You didn’t. You really didn’t. It was really mean and … I was horrible. Thing is, it made us stupid money. I posted it on my TikTok shop, where I sell my crocheted animals.’ She put her head in her hands. ‘That video was seen over two million times.’
She told me the amount, and I almost fell off the chair.