Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
I nstead of the excited faces I had expected, my friends stare back at me blankly.
‘What does that actually mean , Emma?’ Sara asks.
I tell them about Lottie’s request, and this time, even Amber seems a touch moved by it.
‘That’s so sad,’ says a glassy-eyed Cat. ‘To think that she punished herself for so long. And for something that was completely beyond her control.’
‘It is,’ I say, my tone sombre. ‘So, of course, I agreed to it, on the basis that she would have input to what kind of fun I have – you know, so I could kind of do it for her – but she was very vague. She did give me something, though.’ I pick up my phone and read aloud from the notepad app. ‘She said she would do something relaxing, something fun, something indulgent, maybe something practical – as long as it was enjoyable – and something outlandish. I also tried to get her to join me for it, but she flat out refused. Says she hasn’t got the stamina.’
‘That’s a shame. It would have been nice to get her out and about, having some of the enjoyment she’s missed out on.’
‘My thoughts exactly, Cat, and I’m not letting her get away with it. That’s continuing the self-denying behaviour she says she regrets, so I’m going to line up a few surprises to make sure she’s involved.’
‘Come. On. ’ Amber’s patience finally depletes.
‘Sorry, sorry.’ I shoot her an apologetic look. ‘Basically, I’ve earmarked a sizeable figure to spend this coming week.’
Amber just about spits out her wine. ‘ Awesome! Can we go to a male strip club and shove tenners in their g-strings?’
‘Trust you to come out with something like that. Actually, the money is already allocated and my plans are in place.’
‘ What? You are kidding. This sounds like the most boring week ever.’
‘Amber, sweetie.’ Sara puts a hot pink taloned hand over hers. ‘Do us all a favour. Sit on yourself and let Emma speak. You’re acting like a toddler.’
‘Thank you, Sara.’ I give her a little wink to express my gratitude, while Amber slumps back in her chair, pretending she’s lost interest and isn’t listening.
‘What’s the plan then, Emma?’ Cat asks.
‘Well… it’s not quite a full week. More of a working week in that, officially, things will start on Monday and finish on Friday.’ I quickly pop a forkful of Thai fish cake in my mouth, chew and swallow it. ‘Most people have probably daydreamed about what they’d do if they won a huge sum of money, right?’
‘Yes, indeed.’ Sara looks dreamy. ‘I for one would live in Harvey Nics.’
‘Sounds about right.’ I smile at her. ‘Well, because Lottie didn’t give me much of a steer, I decided to take inspiration from my own well-worn, I’ve-just-come-into-a-huge-sum-of-money themed daydreams, which line up quite nicely with her rather ambiguous criteria. She certainly seemed happy enough with my plan when I called her to road-test it on Friday evening. So, from Monday I’ll be doing something different every day. And before you get too excited, I’m not going sky diving, bungee jumping, white water rafting or any of that—’
‘Now that I’d pay good money to see,’ Amber hoots, betraying her fabricated demeanour of non-participation.
‘So…’ I continue, ignoring her. ‘On Monday, I’ll be checking into a suite in the Charrington Grand Hotel for four nights.’
‘Oh, wow, that’s a five-star hotel.’ Cat’s eyes light up. ‘I’m so jealous.’
‘Cool, huh?’ I waggle my eyebrows at her. ‘I can’t wait. Monday also involves the three of you…’ I deliberately add an air of mystery.
‘Ooh, how?’ asks Cat.
‘Because I’m hoping you ladies will be able to finish work early… so we can go to Archer & Crombie, the luxury travel agency on George Street, and book an all-inclusive holiday to somewhere exotic—’
‘ Oof, yes! Now you’re talking! ’ Amber whoops.
‘I’m probably most excited about this bit.’ I rub my palms together in anticipation. ‘I’ve never been anywhere tropical before. Would be great if we could go as soon as possible – obviously depending on whether you can all get time off work at short notice.’
‘I’ve got next week off already,’ says Amber. ‘And I can extend it if needed. Rich and I were just using up some annual leave. Now it’s party time .’
‘Emma, hold on…’ Cat appears uncomfortable. ‘That’s to o much. It’ll cost you a fortune. Remember what the woman from the lottery said. Maybe you should take some more time to think about it.’
‘I’ve already thought it through.’ I give her a sincere look. ‘Very carefully. I want to do it—’
‘But, honey, you’re still on a high. This only just happened. You need time to come back down to earth and think about what you really—’
‘ Shut up , Cat,’ Amber, who’s been watching this exchange like a tennis spectator, suddenly interjects. ‘Are you seriously trying to talk Emma out of this? This is exactly what she needs. She gets to kick off her new life with a bang, and we get to be there with her.’
Cat starts to protest again, but I shut her down. ‘Cat, I love you and as I said, I appreciate your concern, but this is not negotiable. You guys are my best friends. You’ve propped me up through every crisis and drama in my life for as long as you’ve known me. Am I right?’
‘Well yes, but—’
‘No buts. It’s settled. All you need to do is sort out some time off work, turn up on Monday and I’ll see to the rest.’
Cat still looks uncomfortable, but she gives in. ‘I guess I am due some time off, and I can get one of my team members to deputise for me, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Thanks so much for this, honey. You’re such an amazing person, sharing this with us. It really is more than—’
‘Quit the gushing.’ Amber playfully bats her on the back of the head. ‘But Emma, she’s right. This is awesome, you totally rock. One question though: why do you want to go to an actual travel agency when we could book the trip online? It would be easier and probably cheaper too.’
‘I thought you might ask that,’ I say. ‘Lottie also talked about how us “youngsters” miss out on life through being glued to our phones. She suggested that I make sure I live every moment of this experience, which is why we’re going to a bricks and mortar shop. The holiday idea has been floating in my mind since my win was confirmed and I noticed there was a nice-looking travel agency on George Street when I went to the bank on Thursday.’
‘OK, fair enough.’ She seems to respect this, which I’m relieved about. Amber may be intolerant, but she’s not inhumane, and I know she has a softer, more reasonable side in there somewhere.
There’s a momentary silence during which something dawns on me. Sara hasn’t said a word. Cat and Amber must come to this realisation at the same time, because our three pairs of eyes simultaneously land on her. Sara smiles her stunning, not a care in the world smile, but at the time, shifts in her seat.
‘Sara, are you OK?’ I ask.
‘Yes, fine, sweetie.’ Her tone is dismissive. ‘It’s… well… it’s a fantastic offer, thank you, but there’s no way I can take a holiday any time soon. My boss is in the middle of the biggest strategic negotiation the company has ever been involved in, and the demands on my time are huge.’
‘ Oh no , Sara. That’s so rubbish.’ I feel really vexed for her. No wonder she didn’t get excited like the other two.
‘It’s fine, honestly.’ She inspects her nails, her lack of eye contact making it obvious that she’s disappointed. ‘These things happen. You girls go ahead.’
‘How about we delay it?’ I suggest. ‘We don’t have to go so soon. We could plan it for two, maybe three months from now.’
‘Yeah, we can totally do that,’ says Cat.
‘No way.’ Sara holds her hands up to halt any further discussion. ‘We all know that the time for this holiday is now. Anyway, I’ve been told to forget any extensive annual leave for the next six months until the project is completed.’
‘ What? ’ Cat’s face brims with shock and concern. ‘That’s nonsense. You’ll burn out.’
‘Tell them where to go,’ says Amber.
‘Ladies, relax, please.’ Sara sits back in her seat. ‘It’s no biggie. Yes, it’s disappointing that I’ll miss out, but I’m getting loads of overtime pay, and I’ll also get a bonus for my extra effort.’
Cat, Amber and I collectively sag. It seems that we’re the ones feeling the pain she claims not to.
‘Please, let it go.’ She laughs, taking in our faces one at a time. ‘I’m absolutely fine with it.’ She blows us air kisses as if to reinforce her message.
‘OK, sure. Sorry, Sara,’ I say when it’s clear we’re making things worse. ‘We’ll say no more about it, except that we’ll miss having you with us. How about we all do something together when you eventually get some leave?’
‘That would be fabulous.’
Although we’ve accepted Sara’s situation, it’s thrown the conversation off. There’s a short silence, during which the waiter appears to clear away our starters, and when he walks away with our plates, Amber, who’s become distracted by something on her phone, suddenly looks up.
‘Hey, that was only Monday. What happens the rest of the week?’
Relieved by the opportunity to lift the mood, my smile returns. ‘I’m glad you asked. On Tuesday, I’m going to buy myself some wheels.’
‘ Ooh, exciting ,’ Cat claps her hands together. ‘What are you going to get?’
‘To be honest, I have no idea. I’ve never had my own car. Couldn’t afford one when I was living in flat shares, and when I moved in with Dave, he drove us everywhere. But it makes sense to have one now – especially for visiting Lottie. It takes ages to get to Ratho on the bus. I’ll have a look online tomorrow and arrange some test drives. It won’t be a supercar or anything, but I’m hoping with my budget, I can get something compact and top of the range.’
‘Small cars are boring,’ says Amber. ‘You should get a four by four. They’re much more stylish.’
‘Thanks for the advice. But have you seen me parallel park? It would end up being a rather obscene ornament.’
Cat and Sara laugh, clearly understanding my issue, while Amber simply shakes her head in disapproval.
‘Anyway, moving on… For Wednesday, I’ve booked the spa day to end all spa days at the hotel: a full day of treatments – manicure, pedicure, body wrap, everything I can have massaged, massaged, facial, you name it…’
‘That sounds incredible.’ Cat sighs and angles her face upwards as if imagining how it would feel.
‘It so does,’ Sara follows suit.
While we’re contemplating my day of Zen, our main courses arrive – a seemingly endless spread of colour, textures and yet more tantalising smells. Within seconds, we’re happily digging into mountainous platefuls, comparing and commenting on the different dishes.
‘Thursday?’ Amber prompts me, her patience eroding once more from all the distractions.
‘Yup.’ I quickly chew and swallow a mouthful of food. ‘Thursday is shopping day – and again, in bricks and mortar stores, not online, so I get the full experience as Lottie requested. I’m going to completely reinvent my image – and shed the “trophy wife” clothes and accessories that Dave bought me. Emma 2.0 is going to be stylish and understated.’
Amber snorts at this .
I narrow my eyes at her and continue. ‘Then on Friday… This one’s a bit daft, but it’s something I’ve seen in films and always loved the idea of. And it definitely ticks Lottie’s “outlandish” box. The best way to end my big week is with a celebratory night out, right?’
‘Definitely,’ says Sara, while all three of them nod enthusiastically.
‘So, I want to go to one of our favourite bars – it needs to be a small one – and buy Champagne for everyone.’
There’s another stunned silence.
‘When you say everyone, do you mean everyone in the bar?’ asks Cat.
‘Exactly that.’
‘Oh, now that is good.’ Sara seems impressed.
Amber, however, doesn’t share her enthusiasm. ‘Why do you want to buy expensive booze for strangers? Sod everyone else. Just buy us Champagne. It’ll cost you less.’
‘I was planning to do that anyway. Though, as you’re such a lightweight, I can afford to buy it for everyone else too.’ I give her a cheeky wink and she extends her middle finger at me. ‘So, that’s it. That’s my plan.’
‘It all sounds amazing,’ says Cat. ‘Which bits are you going to get Lottie involved in?’
‘I haven’t quite sorted that yet. But I’m thinking – because of what she said – it needs to be things that won’t require too much energy. I’ll figure it out. Roll on next week! ’
We clink our glasses together excitedly and the rest of the evening is taken up with lots of excited chatter about the week to come. The night ends on a real high and I find myself thinking that right now, this is the happiest I’ve ever been. As long as I can keep thoughts of Dave from my mind.