Chapter 19
‘Ella! Philip, everyone!’ Dylan called excitedly as he and Kerry swept across the office floor, Dara and Jake following behind carrying a couple of large boxes.
‘Come on! They’re here!’ Jake called.
Everyone dropped whatever they were doing and followed in their wake, hurrying towards the meeting room. No one had to ask what ‘they’ were. They’d been impatiently awaiting the first consignment of Heatsmart Neo jackets for days.
Ella followed the excited procession. In the meeting room, Jake and Dylan were already slicing open boxes.
Everyone stood around the large table watching as they pulled out plastic-wrapped packages.
Jake quickly opened a couple and slid the jackets across opposite sides of the table for everyone to pass around.
Then he, Dylan and the designers huddled together as they opened a couple more, beaming as they pored over the details, murmuring delightedly to each other as they checked out zips and seams.
Ella was shocked to find tears springing to her eyes. She knew how hard they’d worked for this, the months spent agonising over every detail, coping with factory delays, testing failures and production problems. Now it was finally here, and she felt so proud and happy for them.
Kerry slid a jacket along the table to her, and she picked it up, running her eyes over it.
She knew every detail so well already – she’d seen numerous drawings and photos on her computer screen.
But now it was a real tangible thing that she could hold in her hands.
She couldn’t quite fathom it, as she turned it over, putting her hands in the pockets, pulling the zipper up and down, running her fingers over the COTW label.
It was perfect. She was surprised how emotional she felt about it.
But she’d had a part in this, and she felt a shared sense of pride and ownership as she passed it along to the next person.
‘Okay, everyone, that’s a wrap! I think we can sign off on this one.
’ Jake pulled the top off a marker, then lay one of the jackets open on the table and signed his name on the lining with a flourish.
He handed the marker to Dylan who did the same before passing the jacket along to one of the designers.
Jake and Kerry were busying themselves taking bottles of champagne out of the fridge and organising glasses. Ella was surprised when Gordon, beside her, passed her the signed jacket along with the fabric marker.
‘Oh!’ She took it from him uncertainly. She saw that everyone along the table so far had signed it, including Gordon. But surely they didn’t mean for her to sign it?
‘Ella?’
She looked up to see Jake watching her.
‘Problem?’ He frowned.
‘No, I just… I don’t think I’m supposed to be doing this?’ She waved the marker.
‘Everyone around this table did this,’ he said, nodding to the jacket. ‘We all sign.’
‘It’ll go into a display case in reception,’ Gordon told her.
‘Oh, okay.’ It would be there like a trophy or a work of art, and her name would be on it, a lasting reminder that she’d been part of this. She bent and wrote her name.
Jake and Dylan popped the corks on bottles of champagne, and Kerry helped pour it out into glasses and pass them around.
‘Well done, all of you!’ Jake and Dylan raised their glasses when everyone had champagne.
Then Jake went around the table and toasted each one of them individually by name, and when he got to the last person and finished with ‘We did it!’ everyone cheered and clapped, and she wasn’t the only one wiping tears from her eyes surreptitiously.
* * *
They finished work early after the champagne celebration.
Ella decided to use the extra time to make a special dinner.
She was on a high and wanted to share the moment with Roly.
On the way home she splurged on fresh salmon, tiny new potatoes with papery skins, and bundles of fresh herbs.
She’d make salsa verde, and they could have a treat dinner without feeling they were completely blowing their diet.
When she got home, she set the table with candles and some flowers she’d picked from the garden and put in small glasses. She was in the kitchen, listening to music as she chopped herbs when she heard Roly come in.
‘Are you having someone over?’ he asked, appearing in the doorway. ‘Looks fancy.’ He nodded at the table.
She smiled. ‘No, I’m just making dinner for us. I’m celebrating. The new jackets came in today at work, and we had champagne, so I was feeling a bit giddy. I thought we could have a treat.’
‘Oh.’ His face fell. ‘I can’t.’ He grimaced apologetically. ‘Sorry. If I’d known… I’m going over to Phoenix’s. We’ve been working on some songs.’
‘Phoenix? You mean – The Phoenix?’
‘No. Phoenix O’Reilly from school.’ He smiled, rolling his eyes. ‘Yes, the Phoenix.’
‘You know him?’ Phoenix was the lead singer of Walking Wounded, one of the biggest rock bands in the world.
‘Yeah, he’s a mate.’ He frowned. ‘Haven’t I told you?’
‘No. I’m sure I’d remember if you’d told me that.’
‘Well, he is. He helped me a lot when I came out of rehab. Anyway, we’ve been working on some stuff together, and he wants me to sing with him when they play here on their next tour.’
‘Wow! You mean… on stage? With Walking Wounded?’
‘Yeah. At the Aviva, in September. I’ll just be doing this one song with them, as a surprise guest kind of thing.’
‘That’s fantastic!’
He nodded, his whole face lighting up. ‘I know.’
‘What song?’
‘That’s the best part – it’s this new song we’re working on together.’
‘Oh wow, that’s huge!’
‘Yeah. Sorry about dinner, though.’
‘It’s fine, no biggie.’ She painted on a smile, trying to hide her disappointment. But now they had even more to celebrate and she wished he was staying. ‘I shouldn’t have assumed—’
‘It’s a pity. It looks great.’
‘Well, I haven’t cooked anything yet. We could put it off until tomorrow?’
‘You’ve gone to all this trouble. Why don’t you invite someone over? You could ask Andrew.’
‘Yeah, maybe I’ll do that.’
‘Anyway, I’ve got to go. I just came home first to pick this up.’ He lifted his guitar, which was leaning against the wall by the door. ‘Sorry! See you later.’ And then he was gone again, bounding out the door, guitar in hand.
Ella sat down at the kitchen table, not sure what to do.
Maybe she should ask Andrew if he could come over – or Hazel.
Or she could just enjoy a quiet night in by herself.
There was no reason to feel so deflated.
What was she doing anyway, cooking dinner for Roly like some 1950s wifey waiting for her husband to come home from work.
They weren’t a couple. Roly didn’t have to answer to her, or keep her informed of his plans, and she shouldn’t assume they’d spend all their evenings together. They were just friends, housemates.
She’d fallen into a routine with him, and had got into a bad habit of fitting her life around him.
She should make an effort to spend more time with other people, nurture other friendships, make a life separate from Roly.
Then she wouldn’t end up feeling like such a sad sack when Roly had somewhere else to be, other people to see.
After all, they were supposed to be getting their lives back on track.
He was out there getting on with it, and she should do the same.
Yes! She slapped the table decisively and stood, grabbing her phone from the worktop.
She’d open a bottle of wine and ask Andrew over.
It was short notice, and he may not be able to come anyway, but at least she could feel she’d tried.
* * *
‘Sorry about the short notice,’ she said later as she opened the door to Andrew. ‘I’m glad you were able to make it.’
‘Lucky for you I have a pretty dull social life at the moment. I’m practically a nun!’
Ella laughed as she took his jacket. ‘Well, come in, Sister.’ She led him down the hall to the kitchen.
‘Nice place,’ he said, looking around. ‘I love these old period houses. If this is where selling your soul gets you, I might be tempted.’ He laughed, trying to pass it off as a joke, but it did nothing to hide the bitterness of his words.
‘I couldn’t normally afford to rent here on my salary. But Roly’s giving me mate’s rates, so I lucked out.’
‘He owns it?’
‘Yeah.’
‘And it’s just the two of you here?’
She heard the implied criticism and tried not to let it rile her. ‘Yep, just us.’ What did he think? That they should be sharing with a family of refugees? That Roly should be taking in students?
‘Must be nice to have so much space.’
‘Yeah, it’s lovely,’ she said disingenuously.
For God’s sake! It wasn’t as if the house was flash or anything.
Granted, it was a lot more than most people their age could afford, but it was actually a pretty modest house for a world-famous pop star.
She was beginning to regret inviting Andrew over instead of chilling out by herself for the night with a quiet dinner and a book.
‘Well, sit down.’ She waved to the table. He took a seat, and Ella lifted the bottle of wine from the cooler to pour him a glass. She’d already downed one herself while she waited for him to arrive.
‘Oh, not for me, thanks,’ Andrew said, holding up a hand to stop her.
‘Oh? Really?’ He’d always been fond of white wine in the past, but it had been a long time. ‘Would you prefer red? We’re having salmon.’
‘No, no wine for me at all. I’m fine with water.’ He nodded at the bottle of sparkling water on the table. ‘I’m eight months sober today,’ he announced with a proud smile.
‘Oh!’ Ella sank onto a chair opposite him. Wow, it really had been a long time. She’d had no idea.
‘Don’t look so shocked!’ He gave a little laugh.
‘No, that’s… great. Well done! I’m just surprised, that’s all. I didn’t know, or I wouldn’t have…’ She waved at the bottle.
‘It’s fine. You didn’t know. Though didn’t you notice I wasn’t drinking the other night?’