Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
T he Vine was busy, but once her eyes had adjusted to the semi-darkness, Chrissie spotted Philippa across the room. She’d snagged a table by the window, and the moment she saw Chrissie she popped up and waved.
Chrissie mouthed “Hi” and walked over.
It was the lunch break at school. She’d been relieved that playground duty prevented Nisha from joining her for this conversation. Since the day of the soup, things had once again turned frosty between the pair.
“I’m so pleased you got in touch,” said Philippa once they were settled with drinks. Philippa had a double espresso, while Chrissie had a chai latte. “So, what do you need. Time? Money?” She wasn’t messing around.
“Well, um, all of the above, really,” said Chrissie, slightly taken aback by how forward Philippa was. The woman was dressed in an expensive navy blue skirt suit with heels. The kind of outfit Chrissie would never wear.
“Marvellous. Well, I can sort out the cash, I think. We – I mean the partners – have a community education fund we use every year in the city to support youngsters in Birmingham. We haven’t done anything in Kings Heath in a few years, and funding a once-in-a-lifetime educational trip like this would fit the bill.”
“I see,” said Chrissie. It seemed she barely needed to do any of the talking in this meeting. “So what do you need from us?”
“Well,” said Philippa, “how about you and Ms Rajan get some ballpark costs together and send them over? I’ll present them to the partners and we’ll go from there. How does the end of tomorrow sound to you?”
Chrissie raised her eyebrows. Philippa knew what she wanted, and she knew how to get it. “Er yes, of course.”
“Now, of course, I cannot allow the company to pay for Dottie’s place. That would be a conflict of interest. So I will pay personally for her,” added Philippa.
“That makes sense,” said Chrissie. She was beginning to see why Dottie was the way she was, and to her surprise, she was starting to warm to the woman. Perhaps there was more to her than being a helicopter parent.
“And because I do family law, I’ve got all the appropriate clearances. I could come on the trip too, if an extra pair of hands would be of use.” Philippa drained her coffee cup. “You’ve got my email address. Sorry to have to dash, but I have a client in half an hour, so I’d better get going. Thanks for your time.”
“No,” said Chrissie, “thank you!”
And with that, Philippa was gone. Chrissie half expected a puff of smoke. She slowly raised the drink she had yet to start to her lips and began to work mentally through her next steps for the school trip. She needed to talk to Nisha and Dan about it so they could provide Philippa with some costs as soon as possible.
She frowned, thinking back to their previous conversation.
“It’s what I do,” Nisha had said. “I run.”
“What do you mean?” Chrissie had replied.
“I mean, that’s what I do,” Nisha told her. “I ran out on you, and I ran out on Jake and London. I’m not proud of it. But it’s just part of my DNA.”
“But you said you and Jake drifted apart?”
“Yeah, we did, but I couldn’t face sorting out the separation and staying in London. So I left.” Chrissie had noticed a defensive note in Nisha’s voice.
“But you have control over your actions, right?” she’d asked.
“Yes, I guess. But I also know what I’m like. I’m not the paragon of virtue you seem to have become,” said Nisha with a sniff.
“That’s not fair,” Chrissie told her. “And it still doesn’t explain why you ran away from me.”
“I don’t know,” Nisha had said, with a sigh. “Look, I’m not sure it’s helpful to talk about this stuff. It’s ancient history. You say it was a mistake to kiss me, and I feel like shit. I think you should go so I can have a nap.”
Chrissie hadn’t needed telling twice. It was obvious there was more to this than Nisha was letting on, but somehow they’d gone from having an honest conversation to trading barbs. She got up, put their soup bowls in the kitchen and left, closing the front door gently behind her.
In the days that followed, Nisha had been quite frosty with her, only making eye contact when she had to, and keeping chat to a minimum. Chrissie’s journal was full of prose about her colleague and old friend. But was she a friend now? Chrissie wasn’t sure. They seemed to flip-flop between being close and acting like strangers. She didn’t understand why everything was so hard, but if it did nothing else, it reinforced her rule. Definitely don’t fall in love.