19. Audrey
They say you don’t truly know someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes. I happened to think I knew Lucy quite well before Theo gave her the job offer and she started her late nights, drafting meals that included a guest list of over 500, with food that would be available in the middle of frosty December. The weather was one thing we didn’t account for; Lucy had only experienced petty Australian winters so far, so her regular produce familiarity for Australia was a bit different to what was available here in London, and her menus had to reflect that. With the extra workload on Lucy’s plate, pun intended, it didn’t take long for me to realise how much she actually took on, and how I’ve underestimated her all this time.
Since Theo was closer to the children, he helped out with Charlotte and Aggie’s school runs, a responsibility I had no clue Lucy had in her job description—or maybe it was to appease Will, all the same. Will also tried to do what he could here and there, to make him need us as little as possible, but since he worked as a lead developer for a global eCommerce business, when there was a bug on the platform, he had no choice but to drop everything and go save the day. It explained the pale skin; he certainly wasn’t an outdoorsy type. I, on the other hand, was Lucy’s gopher. I’d buy her groceries for each experiment—on the company card, obviously—clean up every dish as soon as she was done using it, and I’d somehow still manage to visit the office enough to appease Ava in the interim.
“I’m just glad we get to eat your test meals for dinner,” I said, taking one of Lucy’s pans and soaking it in the sink to scrub later. “I honestly don’t know how you keep up with being you.”
“I can’t say I’ve noticed it too much,” Lucy said, taking a pencil from behind her ear and making a note in a leather-bound journal. It was exciting, being able to live with the very kitchen where the gala’s menu was coming to life. I couldn’t help but think that her idol Mary Mitchell would be proud of her, and all that she’d done to help us rescue the night’s dinner plans. Then, I wondered if she might come to know about Lucy’s designer menu, seeing as we’d be publicising the event all across London.
“That’s because you can never actually stop to look around you,” I commented, moving to clean up the next plate. Soap bubbles drifted in the air above the sink, and while I loved this pastel townhouse, I cursed it for not having an actual dishwasher.
Lucy scoffed. “Are you trying to say I shouldn’t have agreed to this job? You’re being awfully lippy for someone who asked me for the favour.” I took my soapy hands from the sink and snuck behind her, wiping the foam on her apron to break the tension. Her harumph disappeared, and she let out a joyful squeal instead.
“I’m eternally grateful to you, Luce.” I squeezed her waist. “You know this.”
She sighed, turning around and putting her back to the kitchen cabinet, the ultimate stance for avoiding unexpected attacks in the future. “I’m still really excited that you pitched my work.” Her smile was meek and meaningful. “Thanks for taking a chance on me, even if it was just for a last-minute fix.”
“Are you kidding me?” My mouth dropped at how lowly she thought of herself. “A last minute fix? You’re Lucy Smith. Your name deserves recognition all across London, let alone the world for how well you modernise a meal. I don’t think Will’s just keeping you around for the kisses.”
“Kisses?” Lucy shook her head with confusion.
“You haven’t kissed yet?” I tapped my foot, not knowing if I’d opened up a completely inappropriate can of worms. I thought back to the night where Theo and I saw them dancing together, after she’d gotten all dressed up. That surely wasn’t nothing, was it?
“What are you talking about?” She avoided my eye contact, and I realised it wasn’t that they weren’t an item of sorts… but more that they weren’t there yet. I thought to myself for a moment, wondering if I should pry, and while my instincts fought against me, I couldn’t help myself. I’ve waited for weeks, and I was only going to be here a few weeks longer. The clock was ticking, and I needed to know where my best friend stood, especially if my plan was to rip her away from it once my contract ended.
“You do realise we saw you dancing together after that dinner at Will’s?” I drew on. “I haven’t seen you look at someone like that for a while, you know.”
Lucy paused, trying to look in any other direction. “It’s that obvious?”
“For him, too.” I nodded. “If you were unsure before, I definitely think he’s into you. But what can I say, I don’t know him that well.”
“Hmm.” Lucy dropped the pencil on the counter, then picked it up to drop it back down again. It was like she enjoyed the sound, giving her space to think about what we were really discussing, and how it could impact her work if things went bitter. “I haven’t made my mind up yet,” she spoke honestly.
“Good thing you don’t have to.” I smiled. “But if there are kisses to be enjoyed, I approve.”
“Why does this feel out of character?” Lucy’s eyes narrowed. “Half the reason I didn’t tell you about this was because you’d turned into such a love-hating wench. What have I missed?”
“Wench?” I feigned hurt to buy myself some time. My heart raced, knowing I wasn’t able to hide my own kiss from Lucy for much longer. She was like a bloodhound, and once she knew I was hiding something, she wouldn’t stop until she sniffed it out. I frowned, playing coy. “Huh?”
“You’ve kissed someone, haven’t you?” She pointed the pencil at me, a wild sense of victory giving her a newfound energy. No wonder she had time for her workload, Lucy’s feral interest in gossip recharged an extra nine hours’ worth of energy every time she heard something juicy. “That’s why you’re suddenly discussing kisses. You’ve always been someone who needs to project your own feelings onto others!”
“I’m pretty sure that’s what you’re doing right now.” I put my hands on my hips.
Then her smirk grew. “It was Theo, wasn’t it?” She shook her head, as if she wasn’t really asking. “Of course, it was Theo. The second he came back into your life, I knew this was going to happen, one way or another. But let me see… did you kiss him? Or did he kiss you?”
My shoulders slumped, and I knew I might as well reveal it all. “He started it, obviously.”
“Started it?” Lucy repeated, clinging onto a word I knew I’d regret. “But you didn’t pull away.”
“I told him it wasn’t going to happen again,” I excused, shaking my head.
She didn’t seem judgemental; not like I’d first worried she’d be if the word ever got out. Still, somehow, I thought she’d take it a lot worse than Ava did, even though it was on work premises. As my best friend, Lucy was in charge of guarding my heart, when all’s said and done. “We’ll see.” Lucy’s grin turned wicked, as if she’d learnt something powerful that she was going to leverage. And somehow, I knew it wasn’t to go against me. She’d spent an awful amount of time with Theo since he was at Will’s house, and something made me think she’d torment him for it instead.
“Go easy on him!” I blurted. “If you don’t need to figure things out yet, then neither do we. Besides, any awkward pressure on Theo is only going to come back at me tenfold, so control yourself, capiche?”
“Capiche,” she replied with amusement. “Now, get out of my kitchen, I’ve got work to do.”
I laughed as she pushed me out past the kitchen hutch. “You don’t have to ask me twice.”