Chapter 21
I feel a little flat at work the next day. Jackson asks me if anything is wrong, but I brush him off, claiming to have a headache. I say the same thing to Mellie when I get home. I go for a lie-down, but she comes into my room after a while with a bowl of soup and crackers.
“Aw,” I say gratefully, sitting up in bed. “Thank you.”
“Are you going to tell me what’s really wrong?”
I shrug listlessly as I settle the tray on my lap. “I think I might have the holiday blues.”
“You’ve still got another two months left here,” she points out.
“I know,” I reply with a wan smile, picking up my spoon. “But I need to start my job search soon.”
“Have you heard much from your flatmates or your other friends back home?”
“Just the odd text here and there. Tasha and Ryan seem to be enjoying their trial run of living together on their own though, so I’m going to have to find new flatmates when I get back.”
“Or a new flat,” she says.
“That’s true. They might be wanting me to move out if they can afford the rent between the two of them. That makes me feel even worse.”
“Cross that bridge when you come to it,” Mellie says kindly. “How are things going with the project?”
I fill her in. We’ve yet to receive a mock-up design from Louis, but we’ve been researching bottles and etching methods this week, pressing ahead with the idea of pale blue glass. Jackson is in charge of operations—distribution and manufacturing—so unit cost for the bottles is his remit.
“Have you tried ringing Mum since I’ve been here?” I ask when I’ve finished my soup and am feeling a bit better after our gentle chitchat.
“No. Haven’t you?”
I shake my head. “You know I prefer to wait for her to call me.”
“And she hasn’t?”
“We’ve texted, but I don’t like ringing her in case she doesn’t pick up.”
“I didn’t realize you still fretted about that.”
“You know Mum, she has to be in the right mood to talk, otherwise it’s painful.”
She pats my leg and gets up. “I need to go and put on some washing.”
I frown after her. On a Friday night?
Two minutes later, she returns with her phone.
“It’s your mum,” she says, handing it over.
My insides expand as I stare at Mum’s face on the screen. “Hi!” I exclaim.
“Are you okay?” she asks. “Mellie says you’re not feeling great.”
“I had a headache, but I’m fine.” I pause. “We haven’t spoken in a while.”
“I’ve been really busy,” she replies resignedly. “It’s ten thirty here. I was just climbing into bed.”
She does look tired. The bags under her eyes seem more pronounced than usual and her blond hair hangs limply around her face, as though she hasn’t washed it in a few days. It’s the same length as mine, I realize now. I’ve had my hair cut in the exact same style as my absent mother’s.
“Sorry,” I say.
“It’s okay. It’s been a full-on day.”
“You sound like you need a holiday.”
“No chance of that,” she replies, tucking her hair behind her ears.
She’s wearing no makeup—she hardly ever does. Mellie has a photo album of her from her teenage years when she used to rock a smoky eye. I remember trying to copy her look once, but I wasn’t very successful. Her eyeliner made her eyes look so blue.
“You can’t take a break?” I ask.
“I’ve got a whole month booked off at Christmas.”
“That’s great!”
“Yeah. Try to persuade Mellie to come to us this year.”
“You wouldn’t come here?” I ask hopefully, knowing how Mellie hates leaving Rudie and Bennie.
“You know that when I’m home, I just want to be home. I travel enough for work.”
“Sure.” My chest feels tight.
“So…What else is going on?”
“I’ve been working with Jackson.”
“The love of your life.” She perks up a bit. “What was it like seeing him again for the first time?”
“It was actually pretty amazing.”
“Yeah?” She grins. “Do you think it’s definitely over with his wife?”
“One hundred percent. He told me all about their breakup. It sounded awful.”
“What happened?”
I get comfortable. The work Mum does is so full-on that she’s often too worn out to talk, but she does enjoy a bit of gossip. I’m happy to entertain her.
After about fifteen minutes, we finish up so she can get some sleep and I slip out of bed to go and find Mellie. I call her name once I’m in the corridor.
“In here,” she replies from the bathroom.
The door is open and when I reach it, I see that she’s cleaning her face.
“Everything okay?” she asks.
I nod. “All good.” I watch her reflection as she vigorously rubs at her cheeks. “You didn’t put the washing on, did you.”
“Nah.” She averts her gaze. “Figured it was a bit late.”
We both know that the laundry was just an excuse to leave the room and call Mum without me knowing. She would have kept it to herself if Mum hadn’t answered.
“Love you,” I murmur, the backs of my eyes stinging.
“Love you too. Night, night,” she replies with a smile.
The next day is Saturday and Jackson and I stick to the plan I suggested and set off fireworks from his balcony. They’re only little rockets that we picked up from the supermarket, but it does make us chuckle.
Later we find ourselves standing side by side, staring at the stars and the lights of the town. Our elbows are touching and I feel kind of skittish.
“Happy Fourth of July,” I say.
“Thanks.”
“Is it weird to now be the only American in your family?” I ask as I turn to face him.
“That’s not totally true,” he replies, mirroring me, his forearm still perched on the balustrade.
“Shit, sorry, I forgot about your dad.”
He looks amused. “It’s easier to forget someone you’ve never met.”
“I don’t like that I’ve never met your dad,” I say with a frown.
“I don’t like that I’ve never met your mum,” he replies with a smile.
“She’d love to meet you,” I say significantly.
“Yeah?”
“I’ve told her all about you.”
“What did you say?”
“That…we’re…friends,” I reply slowly.
“What else?” he asks with a laugh.
“That’s it. That we’re friends and that’s all we’ve ever been.”
He looks down at me. I can almost see the cogs whirring in his brain, and as I stare back at him, my jitters ramp right up. I have a funny feeling that whatever it is that he’s thinking about saying will change things between us.
“Do you ever—”
“Don’t we have sparklers?” I interrupt, looking around for the packet.
I don’t know why I just panicked, but as we both turn away to search our surroundings, it’s clear whatever that moment was has passed.