Chapter 24
24
I t was the next day, and Fleur felt as if she was in the same scene twenty-four hours later, only the roly-poly woman had been replaced by another woman with unwashed hair which jutted out in odd shapes all over the place, deep rings under her eyes, and smelling of two-day-old smoke. Fleur took a couple of steps away from the woman and flicked her eyes up at Cassy, who was rummaging through her huge work folder, looking for the backup handouts they always kept in case the laptop didn’t work. Which, today, it wasn’t. The woman with the unwashed hair called over, ‘Why don’t you go and get a coffee, and I’ll see if I can call Martin from the office to see if he can sort it out?’
Fleur smiled and muttered under her breath to Cassy that she didn’t think Martin from the office would be able to do anything since the day before, he had been more than useless. The coffee sounded nice, though. Following the woman’s instructions, they walked out of the function room and made their way down a narrow corridor to the same bar they’d been in the night before, which had now been repurposed as a place where people sat with laptops, drinking coffee. After ordering, they sat down by the windows, looking out over the shipping containers.
‘So, any more thoughts on what we discussed last night?’ Cassy asked, raising her eyebrows. ‘Or was that just because we were a few margaritas in and were looking out over the pits of the earth so you thought you’d throw something mind-blowing into the mix?’
‘I haven’t changed my mind, nope. I don’t know how I’m going to ask him, though, and I need to get a wriggle on. What do you think?’
Cassy narrowed her eyes and made a wincing face. ‘I really don’t know. I don’t think I’m the right person to ask about how you’re going to ask your partner to marry you.’
‘Maybe I’ll just do it casually. I mean, it’s not like I’m going to get down on one knee or anything like that, am I?’
‘Well, you could either go one way or the other, as far as I see it. You could go full proposal, or you could just serve him up a round of beans on toast and suggest it.’
‘I don’t know if I like the sound of either of those.’ Fleur giggled. ‘Beans on toast is not quite what I had in mind.’
‘How about you do it over dinner or something?’ Cassy took another sip of her coffee and glanced out at the grey-tinted windows overlooking the shipping containers. ‘Honestly, this has to be one of the worst views I’ve ever had while drinking coffee.’
Fleur smirked. ‘It’s a real aesthetic choice, isn’t it? Whoever thought about putting the windows on this side. At least there are some trees on the other side. Industrial chic meets post-apocalyptic wasteland.’
Cassy chuckled, shaking her head. ‘Anyway, back to you. What about Lucy?’
‘What about Lucy?’
‘Last night you said I was the only one you’ve told. Are you going to tell her first or wait until it’s done?’
Fleur stared at the uneven foam on top of her coffee. ‘I don’t know. Part of me thinks I should run it past her. Like, get her thoughts on it, however, another part of me feels like it’s my life, my decision . I don’t need permission. Then there are the funny spells to consider.’
Cassy nodded. ‘I get that, but she is your daughter, and you and Patrick getting married, well, it does change things.’
Fleur twisted her lips. ‘Yeah. It does. But I don’t want her to feel like I’m looking for approval. It’s not that.’
‘No, I know, but she might appreciate the heads-up before it happens. Or at least before she finds out second-hand.’
‘I suppose. But what if she doesn’t like the idea?’
Cassy raised an eyebrow. ‘Then what? Are you not going to do it?’
‘No, I am. I don’t want her to feel weird about it. It’s always been the two of us, more or less, and she’s grown up now, I know, but I don’t want her to think that things will change too much.’
‘I think she’ll be fine, Fleur. She likes Patrick. More than that, she trusts him. I don’t think she’d be against it. If anything, she’d probably just want to make sure you’re sure.’
‘That sounds about right.’
Cassy took another sip of coffee. ‘So? What’s the plan? Talk to her first or tell her after?’
Fleur swirled the last bit of liquid in her cup and watched it settle. ‘Maybe I’ll just feel it out. If the right moment comes up before, I’ll tell her. If not, I’ll tell her after I’ve spoken to Patrick.’
‘What’s happened about the fainting episodes?’
‘Nothing. She’s been fine since.’
‘Right.’
‘It’s all very strange. What more can we do when the tests are clear?’
Cassy glanced out at the containers again and shook her head. ‘No, nothing, I suppose.’
‘It’s another reason I want to propose and do it.’
‘I still can’t believe you had this epiphany in a car on a motorway in England.’
Fleur laughed. ‘Not quite; it was while I was in the study, but yeah. Romantic, isn’t it?’
Cassy smirked. ‘Deeply. Almost as romantic as this depressing coffee shop and our view of rusty metal boxes.’
‘Well, it’s a moment to remember, one way or another.’
Cassy shook her head. ‘I can’t argue with that.’