Chapter 45
TARA
Jed had had to miss March’s Bay Trade meeting as that was the week after Ingrid disappeared and he’d needed to take Aaron to his swimming club.
His mum hadn’t wanted him to miss another month so she’d offered to be the swimming club taxi for tonight and Jed and I had arranged to meet Michael and Nia for a drink first.
‘I’m so sorry it’s not a meal,’ I said as we settled downstairs in Minty’s with our drinks, ‘but I’m glad we’re finally able to say hello.’
‘Ah! It’s no bother at all,’ Nia said, her Irish accent warm and lilting. ‘We’ll eat when life’s a little less fraught.’
I asked Nia what she did and she told me that she worked with her sister, Clare, who owned a marketing and PR company.
In a small-world moment, I discovered that Clare was best friends with Sarah from Seaside Blooms, the pair of them having met at university.
One thing I’d picked up about life in a town the size of Whitsborough Bay was how many connections there were.
People talked about seven degrees of separation but, in Whitsborough Bay, it often felt more like four.
‘So, if there’s ever any marketing or PR work you need for your lovely café…’ Nia said.
I was about to say thank you and I’d let her know, but something flashed into my mind.
‘Actually, there is. The Chocolate Pot will be fifteen years old on 15 July and I want to celebrate it. It’s been at the back of my mind for ages and I keep pushing it away thinking I’ve got plenty of time but, considering how quickly this year is flying by, I haven’t.
It’s just one event and we’ve got limited space but is that something you’d be able to help with? ’
‘Clare won’t let me go anywhere without some of these.’ She passed me a business card across the table. ‘We work with all sorts of businesses, big and small. Give me a call this week and we’ll set something up.’
Jed smiled at me. ‘Something special to look forward to. Although didn’t you buy that business off an arrogant con-artist?’
I laughed as I playfully nudged him.
‘Now, that sounds like a story,’ Nia said, looking at us both expectantly.
‘It certainly is…’
I was sorry to have to say goodbye to Nia but the time came to head upstairs for the Bay Trade meeting.
We’d had such a laugh with her and Michael as we recounted how Jed and I had met and they shared their own first meeting at a photography class Nia was taking where Michael had been a guest speaker.
They were clearly completely besotted with each other and excited about spending more time together now that Michael had eased back on his travels.
I’d definitely get in touch with Nia over the next few days and see what she and her sister could come up with to celebrate The Chocolate Pot’s anniversary.
In the news section at the start of the meeting, I thanked everyone who’d displayed flyers for The Friendship Pod and did a shout out for volunteers to run future sessions.
‘We’ve had five meetings now and they’ve gone really well.
I’ve already enlisted many of you for Project Hercules and am ever so grateful for the work you continue to do to mentor and train students so I’m conscious it’s a bit cheeky to ask for more of your time.
The sessions don’t have to relate to your business – could be something you do as a hobby – but it’s about guiding the attendees through an activity that they can do while chatting and making friends.
They pay a small fee so we’ll pass that directly to you to cover materials and perhaps a bit of your time, but don’t consider it a big earner. ’
I smiled at them. ‘I don’t think I’m selling this well.
Probably need to work on my sales pitch but it’s not about the money – it’s about the satisfaction of helping make some connections for those who are lonely and I’ve personally got so much fulfilment from it.
Final thing to say is that, unlike Project Hercules, this isn’t an ongoing thing.
We’re just talking two hours one Wednesday. ’
There was a positive response to the idea and a little bit of interest in supporting but nothing firm.
A few members said they’d like to get involved but weren’t sure what they could run as an activity.
Even if nobody came forward to run a session, they knew more about what we were hoping to achieve and they might know somebody who’d benefit from attending so it had been worth a try.
After the formal part of the evening was finished, I had a few members approach me, eager to know more about what had prompted me to set up The Friendship Pod and what sort of sessions had run already.
It gave me a warm glow to talk about the successes so far but something was niggling me.
We’d made the first session free to attend and had handed out complimentary refreshments but, after that, we’d introduced a fee to cover materials and attendees had been asked to buy their own refreshments and it didn’t sit comfortably with me.
I didn’t want to be out of pocket but I equally didn’t want to be making a profit from this.
I explained my concerns to Carly, Ginny, Skye and Jed with whom I was sitting.
‘Do you think I should simplify the drinks?’ I asked. ‘Should I get some tea and coffee dispensers and let them help themselves free of charge? Or would that look wrong when they can see a big shiny coffee machine and full range of soft drinks?’
‘Has anybody complained about paying for drinks?’ Ginny asked.
‘No, but it doesn’t sit right with me. Maybe I’m making a fuss about nothing. We’re getting attendees and they seem to like it.’
‘If it’s not broke, don’t fix it,’ Skye said, and I nodded. It was still early days and we’d only met five times. There was no urgency to change anything.
Jed stayed behind for a final drink with Michael as they wanted to look at the weather app and compare diaries in the hope of fitting in their visit to the bluebell wood soon so I kissed him goodbye and walked back with Carly.
‘We’ve got a viewing on a house tomorrow night,’ she told me.
‘It’s near the Sea Rescue Sanctuary; it’s the favourite we’ve seen online so far and we’ve done a drive past to make sure there are no unexpected surprises like that pylon practically in the garden of the one we viewed next week. Fingers crossed.’
‘Sounds promising,’ I said. ‘You’ll have to send me the link so I can have a look.’
Carly and Liam had viewed a handful of properties so far but nothing had been right although she had, admittedly, had reservations about most of them before the viewing. Hopefully this one would be a positive outcome.
‘It’d be so good to find somewhere we love before the wedding and tick new house off the to-do list,’ she said.
‘I can’t believe it’s less than a month till you get married and your hen do’s this weekend. Busy lady.’
She gave me a playful nudge. ‘Says the busiest woman I’ve ever known.’
Yes, I was, but I could see the light at the end of the tunnel and if Nia and Clare could take the pressure off me by organising something special for The Chocolate Pot’s fifteenth birthday, that would help immensely.