Chapter 1 #2
‘I’m entertaining, babes,’ he replied through a mouthful of ham and cheese sandwich as he headed back out to the yard. ‘Have we got any more ice?’
Rolling her eyes, Hannah left her mom needlessly rearranging things she had already placed on the kitchen table and headed to the garage.
The door was already open and she could hear Sofia and Jay talking inside.
‘Soph, come on. It’s a kids’ party. There’re a million better places to be. You used to be fun.’
She leaned against the wall and listened, instantly rattled by Jay. Since he and Sofia had been together, he’d slowly changed her. From convincing her to change her signature edgy haircut, to stopping her from seeing her friends. Jay was manipulative and sly. Increasingly so, Hannah thought.
‘Jay, I’m godmother. My dad is here. Plus, I told Hannah I’d help out.’
‘Are you telling me you’d rather cook pizzas and listen to kids screaming than be with me, huh?’ Then his tone changed and Hannah could imagine him schmoozing up to Sofia, the way he did.
Whatever happened next, Sofia started to giggle. ‘Stop it. Not here. Let me help sort the food, then we’ll leave.’
Hannah heard the freezer door shut.
‘Whatever, Soph. Go cook your pizzas.’
Hannah tiptoed a few feet away from the door, making a mental note to share the latest of Jay’s shitty behaviour with Andrea, then called out… ‘Soph? Would you be able to bring some ice, too, please?’
‘Sure, will do!’ Sofia called back.
In the kitchen, Hannah looked up from the quiche she was cutting and watched Jay sulkily traipse outside. Sofia planted a fake smile on her face and set the pizzas and ice down on the counter.
‘Listen, Hannah, I’m really sorry but Jay isn’t feeling too good. We might have to take off earlier than I wanted to.’ She gave Hannah an apologetic look and added quickly, ‘Not yet, though, not for a while.’
‘Really? It’s so great to have you here, though.’
‘I know.’ Sofia looked glum.
Like Hannah had told Andrea countless times, it was up to Sofia to finally see the truth about Jay, in her own time. Hannah putting guilt on her from both sides wouldn’t do anyone any good.
She turned her lips into a smile. ‘But there’s nothing you can do if Jay isn’t well.’
She busied herself with the quiche rather than seeing Sofia’s sadness because it broke her heart. The sooner Sofia saw through Jay’s act, the better.
Who knew, maybe it was everyone else who had it wrong. Hannah would willingly be proven wrong if it meant Sofia was happy.
When she stepped outside, Hannah saw Rosalie holding on to her latest boyfriend’s shoulder as she leant down and fiddled with the heel of her stiletto shoes.
‘Shoe trouble, Ros?’ she asked.
‘Oh, no, Dior doesn’t cause shoe trouble.’ Rosalie wafted a hand dismissively as she spoke without a trace of irony. ‘I’m just clipping on these protectors.’ She held up a translucent plastic thingy in demonstration. ‘You clip these on to the heels and they stop you sinking into the lawn, you see?’
‘Genius,’ Hannah said, chuckling. Only Rosalie would come to someone’s house prepared with anti-sinking heel protectors.
Rosalie was aspirationally glamorous. In fact, Rosalie’s glamour was essentially what had brought her into the lives of Hannah and Andrea.
Back when Andrea had been running her family’s indie music label, Hannah had been her assistant and Rosalie had been making headlines as a socialite.
She’d been dating one of Andrea’s clients, a frontman of a rock band that had since won multiple awards and had numerous platinum albums.
Rosalie, being somewhere between unemployed and self-employed – also known as living off a trust fund and charitably working if she felt like it – used to tag along to the band’s recording sessions.
She would always bring coffees or food, and she’d sit in the sound booth with Andrea, Hannah and latterly Sofia, as the band laid down their music.
Beneath all the clothes and bags, Rosalie was a genuinely kind and funny woman.
Her life was unreal. The money, the cliquey, gold-digging friends, the electronically revolving wardrobe.
And the fact she seemed destined to forever search for but never find the Prince Charming to her princess.
Knowing Rosalie was like having a free subscription to a television series the others just could not get enough of.
Hannah strongly suspected that for their part, Hannah and Andrea brought a sense of realism to Rosalie’s otherwise surreal world.
* * *
Hours later, almost everyone had left Hannah’s place.
Luke had gone to a friend’s house to stay over, having had enough of ‘kids’ – his words.
Jackson had crashed from a sugar high and gone to bed earlier than usual.
TJ had taken a full bottle of milk and was currently sleeping.
Hannah, Rod, Andrea, Rosalie and her boyfriend, George, were sitting around a firepit in the yard as the last of the wood burned.
Christmas lights, which Rosalie had incorporated into the decorations for the day, cast a low glow around the lawn.
‘Let’s go and do something, George,’ Rosalie said. ‘The night is young. We could go for cocktails when we get back to the city, or?—’
‘Rosalie, some of us have to work tomorrow.’
It was clear to Hannah that Rosalie wanted to take the huff with George, but then she must have thought better of it. For now, at least. To Rosalie, Sunday night was no different to Friday, Saturday or any other day of the week.
When Rosalie and George left, Rod announced he was going to take a shower. He kissed Hannah on the head where she sat in a garden chair and asked Andrea, ‘Will you still be here when I’m done?’
Andrea checked her watch. ‘I should be getting back to the city. I’ll babysit Hannah whilst you’re upstairs, then leave you guys to it.’
‘All right,’ Rod said, resting a hand on Andrea’s shoulder and patting her once. ‘See you when I see you. Let’s not make it too soon.’
Andrea looked to the sky but amusement teased the half-moons on the sides of her mouth. ‘Sweet dreams, pumpkin,’ she called after Rod, whose laugh they heard from inside the house.
The nice thing about Andrea and Rod was that, as much as they bickered about Rod’s constant tales of when he was very briefly a pro-footballer, and Andrea always thinking she had better taste in music than everyone , Hannah knew they would do anything for each other.
And the nicest thing was that they would do anything for each other because they both loved Hannah.
For her sins, Hannah just didn’t exist without Rod and Andrea in her life.
Hannah leaned into her garden chair and reclined as far as it would go, closing her eyes. Andrea did the same, so that they were both lying back, staring at the stars.
‘How are you feeling about coming back to work next week?’ Andrea asked.
Hannah was still Andrea’s personal assistant, which sounded like it shouldn’t work but for the most part, it did.
Hannah had always worked with (or technically for ) Andrea.
When she’d been a new mom and Rod was on the cusp of turning pro but not yet earning any real money, Andrea had given Hannah a job at Sanfia Records.
She had allowed Hannah to work flexible hours and bring Luke into the studio whenever she’d needed to.
Seventeen years on, Hannah had never left Andrea. When Andrea moved on from Sanfia Records, it seemed a given that Hannah would go with her. Of course, neither of them had planned for Hannah having TJ and being off work for the last four months.
‘Mixed,’ she confessed. ‘I’m so ready for adult company and I’ve missed the water-cooler chat.
But I don’t know how I’m going to work out the logistics of travelling to Brooklyn every day and putting TJ in nursery.
I was a lot younger the last two times around.
Now, the sleepless nights are extra painful. ’
‘You’re only thirty-eight, Han.’
‘Believe me, when it comes to screaming babies, there’s a big difference between twenty-one and thirty-eight.’
They fell into companionable silence.
‘I’m glad you’re coming back,’ Andrea said in a rare display of affection.
Hannah had the sense there was more to come and remained silent, waiting.
‘I’ve missed you,’ Andrea continued, turning to look at Hannah. ‘You kind of keep my life together. Don’t ever repeat this, but you stop me from… making bad decisions.’
Hannah felt her eyes narrow and her brow furrow. ‘Have you been making bad decisions recently?’
Andrea stared at her and Hannah could almost see the thoughts whirring behind her eyes. But in true Andrea fashion, she turned back to looking at the heavens without saying another word. The brief moment of openness was gone.
Andrea pushed her legs down, forcing her garden chair upright. ‘I should get going. I have a meeting tomorrow about the CEO position.’
She was on the cusp of a significant promotion.
If she got it, it would be an incredible achievement, but she had a long list of successes in her career history as a music producer and she deserved the position.
Still, thirty-eight years old was young to attain a role like CEO of a label at a music industry giant and Andrea was female, which meant the promotion, if she got it, would be a huge deal.
They both stood, Hannah making the first move to hug her friend. ‘You’ll smash it.’
As the women separated, Andrea’s cell phone started to ring. She rifled through her purse to find the phone and cancelled the call.
‘It’s late for a call on a Sunday night,’ Hannah said, her voice betraying her intrigue. ‘Are you seeing someone?’ She was almost singing the question, desperate for some adult gossip.
But Andrea wasn’t in the mood to play, apparently. Scowling, she put the phone back in her purse and hoisted the bag onto her shoulder. ‘I’m a little busy to be seeing anyone right now.’
In Andrea-speak, that was a blatant yes , but there was no need for Hannah to call her out on it just yet. The fun could start when she got back to work next week.
Andrea was subtly promiscuous. She quite often had a man on the go but, with the exception of Hannah, most people didn’t know that.
Hannah wondered who it was this time. The chances were, she wouldn’t know them anyway. The only person Andrea tended to go back to was ‘rock god’ Tommy Dawson, and it had been a while since their last fling.
Once Andrea left, Hannah brought the last of the glasses and plates inside and started to tidy the kitchen. As she began filling the sink with soapy water, two strong arms wrapped around her waist. Rod smelled of soap and manly deodorant. She breathed him in as he kissed her neck with his big lips.
‘This can wait, let’s go to bed,’ he mumbled against her skin.
What he really meant by that was Let’s leave it for you to do on your own tomorrow. But it’d been a long day and the thought of curling up on Rod’s chest was too tempting to resist. Hannah turned out the lights, leaving the messy kitchen in darkness, and let Rod lead her upstairs to bed.