Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
I reach the gate for our flight as boarding is about to begin. Cat and Amber are already in a short queue, so I join them.
‘Get everything sorted?’ Amber asks with a knowing look before I have a chance to say anything.
‘Yes, much more than I expected . ’ I affectionately cuff her on the back of the head. ‘I was going to give you hell, but as I just had the best kiss of my life, I’ll let you off. This once.’
‘And… mission accomplished .’ She rubs her hands together with a self-satisfied smile.
‘Tell me everything. ’ Cat grabs my hands excitedly.
‘Seems I’ll have to fill you in on board.’ I gesture towards the airport staff member who’s beckoning us forward.
He scans our boarding passes and we make our way along the skybridge onto the plane.
‘Business class?’ I gape at my two friends on locating our seats.
‘Oh yeah,’ says Amber. ‘Did I forget to mention that? As well as the fee for the flight change, I used my rewards account to upgrade us – just on this short leg of the journey. There weren’t enough seats left in economy.’
‘But… that must have wiped out all your points.’
‘So?’ She shrugs. ‘I had a boatload of them from my work travel. More than I knew what to do with. It’s my way of treating us, and it’s the least I can do, given you’re paying for the whole trip.’
‘Is that you starting to go soft, Amber?’ Cat teases her.
‘ Shut it, Cat. ’
A flight attendant passes, giving Amber a look.
‘I’m not sure they would have let you in business class if they knew what you’re like off the clock,’ I say to her.
Once the initial excitement has worn off, I sit back and take a deep therapeutic breath, stretching out my legs in the space in front of me. After the events of the last two days, I still can’t believe we’re actually going. And all three of us as well. I still feel really sore about Sara, but Cat and Amber have been my friends for a lot longer. Plus, thanks to Lottie’s insistence that I get out and have real experiences, instead of taking the easy route and doing things online, I now have new friends in my life (Cameron, Jana and Trudy) as well as a hot new bloke (fingers crossed!).
‘Was that your phone buzzing there?’ Cat says from the seat next to me.
‘Oops, I still need to switch it to flight mode.’ I reach down to retrieve it from my bag, expecting to see a message from my mum, who now knows I’m going away, and has been bombarding me with advice on staying safe abroad. But it’s not from her.
Is it OK to say I thought that kiss was phenomenal? James x
I let out a restrained squeal of delight .
‘What is it, honey?’ asks Cat. ‘Is that him?’
‘It is.’ I’m already grinning like a love-sick idiot. ‘I can’t believe how this has all turned out. I thought there was no way he’d be interested anymore after everything that went down last week. Amber, what did you say to him?’ I look across the aisle at her and note that she’s studying her folded up tray table a little too hard.
‘ Amber …’
‘Mmm-hmm?’ She tries to appear innocent, but fails miserably.
‘Amber, what did you say?’
‘Not much. Just that your self-esteem was on the floor, and that I’d slip him fifty quid if he’d make the first move.’
‘ You didn’t! ’ Cat and I squawk in unison.
‘OK, I made that up.’
I exhale with relief.
‘The bribe part anyway.’
‘You’re joking, right?’ I say. ‘You didn’t really tell him that. The truth please.’
She glances from me to Cat, and back again. ‘I’m not joking. That’s what I told him. Not word for word, but I said you’d been hurt, your confidence had taken a knock and if he messed you about, he’d have me to deal with. He was surprisingly receptive to the straight talk.’
I stare at her in disbelief. ‘Amber, I don’t know whether to hug you or wring your bloody neck.’
‘You got a date and a snog out of it, didn’t you? And I’m guessing he wants to see you again. Seriously, sometimes I wonder why I bother.’
Sadly, she has a point. ‘All right. Thank you, Amber, for setting me up. I do appreciate it. But next time could you maybe share less about my… vulnerabilities?’
‘Can’t promise that.’ She shakes her head decisively .
Cat and I roll our eyes in a resigned fashion. We both know I’m fighting a losing battle.
‘So, Emma,’ says Cat. ‘That’s been quite a change of heart with James?’
‘Yeah, why did you think he wasn’t interested anymore?’ asks Amber.
‘Well…’ Now it’s my turn to examine my tray table. ‘I wasn’t as grateful as I should have been when he came to my rescue on Friday night. I might have indirectly accused him of being a bit… stalkerish.’
‘ You dipshit ,’ Amber scolds me. ‘That’s why he left the bar after he told us what happened to you.’
‘In my defence, I didn’t know that you’d invited him along. It wasn’t ’til the day after that I realised you guys were right about him – when Cat told me you’d done that, Amber. And by then, I was convinced that he hated me.’
‘I suppose it was a reasonable enough assumption,’ says Cat. ‘It was the second time you’d told him where to go.’
‘Exactly. And I wouldn’t have blamed him for it.’ I turn my attention back to my phone and tap out a reply to James, playing him at his own game.
It’s absolutely fine to say that. It was certainly one of the best I’ve had… x
I hit the ‘send’ button and within moments he replies.
Just one of the best? Seems I need to get some more practice in. x
This sets off a flutter of flirtatious messages, which ends only when we’re reminded over the PA system that all phones should now be in flight mode.
‘Oh, you’ll never guess what,’ I say to Cat and Amber. ‘ James’s parents are Lottie’s neighbours – the ones who’ll be looking after her when she gets out of hospital.’
‘You’re joking. ’ Cat’s face is a picture. ‘Tell us how that came about.’
I fill them in on my date with James and how I was terrified that his mum had told him everything I’d shared with her.
‘That’s hilarious ,’ Amber hoots. ‘It could only happen to you, Emma. But at least you already have the parental approval.’
‘I guess.’ I cringe and settle back in my seat, where I indulge myself by delightedly reading James’s messages over and over.
While doing this, my eyes keep being drawn to his mobile number. For some reason it looks familiar. Perhaps similar to the number of someone else I know? Then, a thought. Surely not. I open up an image in my photo library and flick between that and WhatsApp, doing a quick comparison.
‘ Oh . My . God .’ I clamp a hand to my mouth, utterly astounded.
‘What is it?’ Cat calls across.
‘Uh… give me a moment.’
I switch my phone out of flight mode, tap out a message to James and wait impatiently for his response. My phone sounds seconds later, leaving me gobsmacked.
‘Just when I though this day couldn’t get any weirder.’
‘ Spit it out ,’ Amber demands.
‘OK…’ I try to clear my muddled mind. ‘So, you know how I used a scrap of paper I found on the shop floor to choose my lottery numbers?’
They both nod.
‘Well, when I bumped into James at the bank on the day my win was confirmed, he mentioned that he almost gave me his phone number on D-day night, because he was concerned about me.’
‘So?’ Amber prompts me to elaborate.
‘So, I just asked if he wrote the number down. He said he scrawled it on a piece of paper he got from the shop keeper, but then ripped it up and put it in his pocket when he realised it wouldn’t be well received. Anyway, he must have dropped part of it on the floor because it turns out I picked it up and used it to choose my ticket numbers. The first couple of digits were missing so I didn’t recognise it as a mobile number.’
‘What? So, you mean…’
‘Yup. I’ve checked his number against a photo I took of my ticket when I was paranoid I was going to lose it somehow. There’s no mistake. It’s my winning numbers. In a different order, of course. The ticket shows them in numerical order. This is… unbelievable. ’
‘Wowsers.’ Amber looks amazed. ‘You found yourself one hell of a lucky number there.’
‘Yeah, you did!’ Cat is high pitched with excitement. ‘James’s mobile number hasn’t just brought you a fortune, you found him too.’
‘Easy,’ I warn her. ‘He’s not quite my new man yet.’
‘ Oh, come on! ’ Cat and Amber yell at me in unison.
‘OK, OK.’ I assume a defensive pose with a coy smile. ‘The signs are positive, so I guess I must have a lucky number after all.’
‘That’s better.’ Cat reaches across and ruffles my hair. ‘Honey, is James not wondering why you asked him that? It seems an odd question and I assume he doesn’t know about your win yet.’
‘Yeah, he is actually. I’d better message him back. ’
Cat and Amber sit back in their seats, while I quickly sneak a response to James to say that I’ll fill him in when the time is right (that’s all I can commit to for now) before switching my phone back into flight mode. I then settle back in my own seat again as the plane pushes back from the gate, taxis to the runway and takes off.
Looking out of the window, watching Edinburgh and the surrounding area disappearing beneath us, I feel an overwhelming sense of relief at leaving behind the roller-coaster that has been the last few weeks. As well as a sense of expectation and hope for the future. With Lottie, Cat and Amber by my side, and my well-meaning but infuriating parents at slightly more of a distance – I know I’ll be just fine.
To be continued in Another Lucky Number…